Thank You, Hunks Of Plastic

Thank you, Julie Aigner-Clark. I'm not quite sure what your role in the Baby Einsten company is, but every book and toy claims to have been inspired by you. At three weeks old, Sam would lay in your activity gym for hours at a time. As soon as he was too old for the gym, I started putting him in your exersaucer. He would sit in that thing and play for an hour at a time - two or three times a day! Your bright colors and slightly terrifying characters got me through the first six months of Sam's life. Thank you.

Thank you, Fisher-Price. You created something special when you made the A-Z Learning Zoo. Sam loved lining up the animals and reading the letters on their chests. Because of you, my son knows what a urial is. He matched those animals to their letters on the mat so many times. I was able to watch several movies - uninterrupted - during the first weeks this zoo was in our house. Thank you.

Thank you, Target, for carrying an affordable train table the month Sam turned two. I never would have spent several hundred dollars on a table and train sets. Your reasonable prices brought the Little Tree train sets into our lives. Sam still plays at that table for hours on end. He drives trains, rearranges the tracks, and races his Matchbox cars. The sides of the table are decorated with stickers. If I can't find Sam, nine times out of ten he is in his room, quietly amusing himself at that table. Thank you.

And finally, thank you Grandma Barb and Grandpa Mark. About 25 years ago, you gave me the Fisher-Price Western Town. For any number of unknown reasons I have held on to that toy. It has now been passed on to Sam. I think the Western Town has made Sam happier than the rest of his toys combined. He doesn't sit and play for hours - he sits and plays for days. My recent addition of a $5 bag of animals from Target has cemented this toy into Sam's routine. Thank you.

Sam sits at the kitchen table playing furiously. "Hi, horse. You go in barn? Raining? Too wet? Yes, you go in barn. Oh, hi, mama cow. Where baby cow? In grass? Okay. Baby cow in the grass. Bunny, you go down slide. Go down. Whee! Kay, bunny? You okay? Kay. Sheep, where mama sheep? Baaa! Baaa! Oh no! Puma! Ahhhh! Mama sheep okay." (I have to admit I'm alarmed by the puma. It comes and threatens the animals at least once a day. There is no plastic puma - only the one in Sam's imagination - but it seems to pose quite a threat to his farm.)

Bless you, toys that will never decompose. As far as I'm concerned, you have earned the right to outlive us all.