When they don’t force you to. Alone. Do you secretly swipe your son’s Game Boy or your daughter’s Easy-Bake Oven and go to town while taking a trip down memory lane?
My 6-year-old has a container of Lincoln Logs that I play with more than she does. I don’t play with them by myself; however, she often insists that I create shops and restaurants with the notched miniature logs, so she has a place to take her doll house pals to shop and dine.
Of course, if I did swipe the play logs and constructed architectural masterpieces on my own, experts say I certainly wouldn’t be the only parent in the world to do so.
Apparently, these days it’s hip to steal your kids’ toys and play with them by your 30, 40, 50-somehing selves.
And that goes double if the toys you are sneaking are Legos.
According to a recent CBS News report, adult Lego lovers are coming out of the closet to proclaim their loyalty to the interlocking plastic bricks. Lego loving parents have even created their own acronym: AFOLS (Adult Fans of Legos). The group claims to have more than 40,000 members and the numbers are growing every day. What’s more, the adult members are not ashamed of their toy obsession:
“Lego is expensive, it’s still expensive,” one AFOLS member, who estimates that he has more than $40,000 worth of the tiny plastic pieces, tells CBS News. “So as an adult it’s like being a kid again. Instead of just buying one of these, I can buy four of these and take the pieces out and use them for what I want to do.”
Each year tens of thousands of AFOLS members gather at Brickfair, the Super Bowl of Lego Conventions. The convention draws Lego fans of all ages from across the country to a single venue where they can connect with other impassioned bricklayers. Some Lego loving parents bring their kids to show them that it’s cool to have a mom or dad who enjoy playing the plastic toys as much as they do.
“When you meet an adult fan of Lego by himself, you might get just a little hint of nerdiness, or maybe he disguises it well,” said one AFOLS dad. “But when you put 30 or more of us in a room together, the nerdiness rises from the floor like mist and it’s pretty palpable.”
What do you think? Would your kids think it’s cool that you play with their toys?
Related Articles:
Would You Buy Your Preschooler a “Twilight” Barbie?
Are You A Part Of The “Bratz” Universe?
Dora the Explorer is Getting a Makeover: What’s a Parent to do?