snack-a-doodle-doo!

My friend Benji told me to “Write a blog about waffles”. I don’t think he totally understands what I do, but who can blame him? Waffles are delicious! And if you’re anything like me, you are hungry ALL THE TIME. Like all the time. I could eat anytime of day or night. Friends ask, “Are you hungry? Want to go grab a bite to eat?” and I just look at them thinking “Have we met? Couldn’t I always grab a bite to eat? Yes yes a thousand times yes.” So now you know, I love food.

Why do I mention it? Because when I think back on my favourite games to play with as a child they were always games like Restaurant and involved fake food and pretending to cook and whatnot. (To this day I wish I owned an Easy Bake Oven.) I guess it had something to with doing what grown-ups do and playing pretend… it was an intoxicating mix, to say the least! When I brought my niece in to the store to get her portrait taken, we distracted her by giving her some toys to play with. She chose the fake fruit and was putting it in her basket and setting up her grocery store and all those things that I would have done at that age. Clearly the magic still holds.

When we got our shipment of new Melissa and Doug toys last week, it included a lot from their pretend food line and I’ve got to admit, it made me feel good to see that some things don’t change.

for chelsea

So today I was racking my brain trying to come up with a brilliant blog post (because the idea of posting without purpose bothers me, evidently) and my friend Chelsea suggested posting about babies and why they are cute. And while that didn’t seem like a particularly helpful suggestion, it did make me think of something else… so today I bring you a post on friendship!

We often have families come through en masse, or mothers and daughters, or grandparents and grandkids and they’ve all got their special bonds and reasons to be together. But when two parents come in – clearly friends from way back – with their kids who are now friends, it warms the heart. There’s just something wonderful about the bond you shared for so many years with someone in your life being passed on to your kids.

Because I work at a toy store, I’m constantly reminded of the value of sharing with others and the impact playing games together and dress-up and make-believe – all of it really – has on future development. Social skills that are invaluable later in life are learned with friends at early stages. In that vein today I recommend to you dress-up sets, board games and portraits of you and your best friend.

And because my friend Chelsea loves her puppy, and we’ve got a new puppy kicking around the store these days, I encourage more than anything hanging around man’s best friend, if you’re so inclined!

(We’ll post picture of Archie, the new puppy, soon, I PROMISE!)