Old is New Again

After a nice visit to Iowa, a wonderful thing happens. We get home, and Zachary and Elara are newly excited to play with all of their old toys! They enter the playroom with excitement and anticipation, happy to be reunited with their favorite playthings. Which is exactly why I started rotating their toys down to the basement, only to be brought back up again, when they start getting listless or bored with the current upstairs toys. It's like Christmas all over again, and I am suddenly the best momma ever for bringing up the Ramp and All-the-cars. The same ramp and cars they'd started to ignore in the corner of the playroom a few weeks ago. I don't have to buy them new toys, I just have to make them miss their old ones!

Also--note to self, you can also buy affection for old toys, by trying to remove them from the playroom with the kids watching. Suddenly long-ignored toys become long-lost friends that they couldn't possibly bear to be apart from. Trade they toys out like a ninja when they aren't looking. Or just wait until after bedtime.