My Love-Hate Relationship with LEGOs

I started writing this post in my head, as I was cursing the LEGO pieces I picked up after accidentally knocking into the coffee table and subsequently stepping on one. If you have LEGOs in your house, you might relate to some of my current grievances.

Why I Hate LEGOs

Is there really a good way of organizing LEGOs?

I’ve tried baskets, plastic containers, smaller containers to organize pieces into sub-categories, yet somehow they all get dumped into the same container. The organization system never sticks. You might wonder why in the world I even care if the LEGOs are organized. You clearly haven’t experienced a five-year-old mega-fit because he can’t find that ONE particular LEGO shape or that ONE particular character. If you haven’t found yourself in that situation, you will never understand.

Where do people put these LEGOs?

When building LEGO creations, a flat surface is needed. Since my son’s room isn’t big enough for a table, that leaves the floor. Have you stepped on a LEGO before? One time I stepped on a LEGO, jumped from the pain, and managed to step on the same LEGO again! The only alternative is for LEGOs to cover every flat surface available–kitchen table, countertops, coffee tables. I haven’t seen the surface of my coffee table in nearly a month, and, honestly, it’s really cramping the sense of style I’m trying to accomplish.

Do you really need to have all those direction booklets?

Is there a time I should wait until I throw the directions away? I mean, after he builds the miniature spaceship, will he take it apart and decide he wants to build it again? Likely he’ll just add the random pieces to the giant unorganized bucket of LEGO pieces (see grievance above).  Currently I’m chucking all those booklets into the trashcan because I am not ready to dedicate bookshelf space to them.

Why, oh why, do they have to cost so much money?

I don’t know if I really need to go into detail on this one. Any parent who has looked at LEGOs knows how much they cost. I know my son had his eyes on this Jurassic Park set, and the fact that most of these sets are $50 or above is outrageous to me because they’re just small bits of plastic.

Why I Love LEGOs

Now, I won’t say LEGOs are all bad. There are actually some positives to having those things in the house.

My kid has gotten really good at following directions.

I’ve seen him take a box of random pieces of LEGOs, follow page after page of directions, and end up with a helicopter with a whirly-gig or a car that tows other vehicles. A lot of times he gets super frustrated, but once he finishes he’s so proud of what he accomplished. What other toy can you think of provides that productive struggle for your kid?

It helps eliminate screen time.

I kid you not, he will sit and play with LEGOs for hours and hours. If he comes home after school and wants to play with LEGOs, I won’t push homework. Instead, I let him unwind and play. Plus, his creative play is out of this world. The elaborate stories he creates as he’s playing with his LEGO people is so cool to watch. I know he’s sharpening his creative skills every time he plays.

It’s a great father-son bonding time.

Most days I feel like a referee between my husband and my five-year-old, but, when they sit down and play LEGOs together, it’s like all is right in the world. I know those are the moments memories are made of.

They will be the toy he treasures most.

I know these boxes and boxes of LEGOs will not cover every surface of my house forever. He’ll probably stop playing with them as much when he’s older, but I plan to keep them all. I know it’s something my husband wishes he still had from his childhood. Whenever he’s grown and has kids, I’ll bust out the box of LEGOs and he can relive nostalgia.

I realize this is wishful thinking that he decides to have kids, and that I manage to keep track of a box of LEGOs for such a long a period of time. But, hey, that’s my fantasy right now, and I am, after all, just trying to look on the bright side of my current LEGO-crafted hell.

Jaime Mackey
Originally from Florida, Jaime has lived in Southern Louisiana for most of her life (so, that makes her a local, right?). She currently resides on the Northshore with her husband and son and teaches high school English. An enneagram 5, you'll most likely find her doing hot yoga solo, on her phone researching a random topic or sitting in the comfort of her home with coffee and a book within an arm's reach.

1 COMMENT

  1. This is my life! I feel like I live in a LEGO museum. I have no more storage or flat surface space available in our way-too-small shotgun house. It’s time to purge! The positives of LEGOS are spot on in this article. But it’s time to downsize. Middle of the night maybe?

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