The lives of inanimate things
Posted on | October 13, 2005 |
As a child I always imagined that when I left the room my toys had lively conversations and busy lives. I imagined them scooting about fighting or loving or adventuring (like in Toy Story but before I’d ever seen it).
And I’m starting to think maybe they do, because recently in our house TOYS ARE EVERYWHERE. Strewn about, always underfoot, our floors have become a battlefield or a ballroom for inanimate things:
The small, developmentally appropriate, carefully selected objects: brightly colored wooden blocks. Rattles. Board books. Stuffed animals.
The not so carefully selected objects that work just as well: mixing bowls, a wooden salad spoon, an empty water bottle, a calculator.
And the things he selects himself: our magazines (shredded), The Wall Street Journal (crumpled), my cell phone (is that why it’s suddenly beeping like it’s posessed???) and anything and everything that can be climbed upon, pulled on, or sucked on.
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8 Responses to “The lives of inanimate things”
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October 14th, 2005 @ 8:00 am
Youngest still plays this way — legos strewn about, books everywhere, papers scattered. He is excellent at the skill of playing happily for hours, but the MESS!
October 14th, 2005 @ 11:26 am
Love your blog!! Nice illustration.
October 14th, 2005 @ 2:54 pm
lovely drawing!
(and toys definitely have a secret life..)
October 14th, 2005 @ 7:56 pm
I was the same when I was a kid!
and sometimes still am. In our house our dog has all the stuffed animals and a few are mine, too.
I looove your drawing. Just lovely and so much care and love in it!!
October 14th, 2005 @ 7:57 pm
This is such a delightful painting. The bunny(?) looks as if he (she?) has a life spirit that awakens as soon as you’re out of range! And I’m sure your little Bean shows his full life spirit when you as much as blink your eye:> Your post reminded me of how, when I was a little girl, I believed my dolls and toys had feelings. Sometimes if I thought something unkind about a toy, I would actually feel so distraught because I imagined I had hurt its feelings, and then I would have to apologize. Of course it was just childish projection… but it seemed so real to me then!
October 14th, 2005 @ 8:30 pm
You really should illustrate a children’s book, Christina. The painting is wonderful.
I believed my stuffed animals chatted with each other when I was out of the room, too.
October 15th, 2005 @ 10:37 pm
I remember feeling like that too! Reading Raggedy Ann as a child affirmed it for me.
You have a beautiful blog!
October 17th, 2005 @ 4:05 pm
they hold dances, and they eat the cookies out of the cookie jar.