Ancient Things

I've just spent the nearly two hours not-so-patiently working with my ancient computer.  Why is being five years old ancient for a computer?  Five years ago, this thing was the fastest you could get.  You'd probably laugh at me if you knew how slow it can be sometimes.  Especially when I'm organizing pictures, and editing them, and viewing three or four pages on the internet.  What can I say?  I"m a multi-tasker.  My computer, on the other hand, is not a multi-tasker.  It is ancient.  And it struggles.  And my patience struggles.  And I want to throw it out the window.  Except a new one isn't really in the budget right now, and I'm pretty sure that throwing it out the window will NOT make it function any faster. 

You know what is ancient but doesn't struggle with anything?  This Fisher Price Original Finger People van, complete with wood panel stickers.  One of the treasures from my childhood that my mom has stored all these years.  It is much older than my ancient computer, and yet, it still rolls, it still holds Finger People, and it still has its stickers.  And Laci loves it.  She likes to put as many people in it as possible, and then some.  She hasn't yet grasped the concept of "full".  Then she pushes it around and watches the people bounce up and down, or fall out, depending on how many are jammed into it.  In case you were wondering, the critter in the back is a dog, made from wood, and must also be as old as I am.  It does not struggle with being an inanimate, wooden, plain old dog.

Laci also loves to pull this dog toy, which is supposed to "bark" when you pull it, but really, it just sounds squeaky.  It reminds me of a beagle toy Beth had when she was little.  Beth's toy also made a ridiculous squeaky noise when it was pulled, but of course, her dog was made from wood, and would probably still be with us today if it hadn't been chewed up by a real life dog.  At least that is what I think happened to it.  New toys just aren't the same, unless you buy those really expensive hand crafted toys, and that just doesn't fit my style.  Or my bank account.

I suppose the true test of any toy is the joy it brings to the child.  This toy definitely entertains Laci, so it's a winner in my book too.  Not that I would consider Laci a connoisseur of toys.  I mean, we're talking about a girl who walked around with two squash in her hands for over an hour this evening.  Yes, even vegetables can be toys.  But vegetables, unlike wooden toys from the 70's, will not weather the ages.