Toys to grow old with

Toy production and marketing make up a multi-billion dollar part of the economy.
In our house, we're living proof that marketing toys directly (or indirectly) to kids makes the world go round. But the things that actually get played with are a whole other matter.

1. Balloons, they really are all that, apparently.
2. Blank deposit slips and stamps keep even toddlers officious.
3.Skipping ropes.(occasionally skipping comes up, but moving things up and down stairs suspended by these darlings is really what they are for).
4.Crib mattresses, no child should be without a crib mattress to slide down stairs, create walls for blanket forts and make tunnels for cars.
5.Sticks. They may just be compost or less to you, but to a child, they can be a companion.
6. Expired membership, credit and library cards Do not shortchange your child. They are just itching to play with currency why not spare yourself identity theft by giving them a wallet stuffed with fake cards instead?
7.Vinegar, baking soda and spices and containers to swill them together into. Be prepared to deal with very quirky combinations in your coffee mug.
8.Blankets, they are just not for sleeping anymore. They are shelters, invisibility cloaks and wedding veils just waiting to happen.

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Growing Versions

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