Our simple Nugget

When Tio Jacob came over last week, he brought a Mickey Mouse plush toy with him. It was the first time that Little Nugget was exposed to a Disney character, and he took a liking to it. Luckily, I think it was more because of the high quality, soft casing that it was made of than because it was “Mickey Mouse”. Josh and I took advantage of the fact that LN doesn’t know Disney yet, and called the plush toy “Tio Jacob”. It was here that Josh and I made an executive decision as parents to name characters after family members. We are not naïve enough to think that this will work for the rest of LN’s life, but as parents, we can dream and enjoy it for as long as it lasts. We’re trying to delay the obsession with Disney anything for as long as possible. We have nothing against Disney or anyone who breathes it, but we’d like to keep LN under the Disney radar for as long as possible. Hey, we’re trying to live in the moment.

 

Remember, no judgment here. It’s simply what we feel will work best for our family, and our apologies beforehand to those family members whose names will be attached to characters like Eeyore, Ursula, or Hamm. Again, no judgment on these characters I just imagine that people would prefer to be Ariel over Ursula, or Buzz Lightyear over Hamm. For all I know, I’ll end up being Eeyore.

 

Seeing how Little Nugget carried “Tio Jacob” (Mickey Mouse) around our apartment, we decided to take him to the toy store to pick out a stuffed animal. We took a trip to the Topanga Mall only to find out that the only toy store that was there had closed down, so we tried Target. There was no selection of stuffed animals here, so the next place we could think of was Toys “R” Us down the street. I was excited about this trip because it would be the first toy we buy Little Nugget. No, we’re not bad parents, LN has just been extremely blessed in getting his toys gifted or passed down to him.

 

Entering Toys “R” Us, I felt like I was introducing LN to the magical toy castle where all the toys come to stay before going to a home. We led Little Nugget to the stuffed animal aisle, but he had other plans. What we thought he would like, he just looked at and shoved away. He preferred to push every button he saw, reposition as many shelved toys as possible, and imitate the sounds to every animal he saw. Once we saw that LN wasn’t interested in the stuffed animals, we walked through the entire store attempting to find something he’d want to take home. To keep it short, we ended up walking out of the store empty handed. What a cheap date our simple child is!

 

I was a bit confused as I thought to myself, “What child walks out of a toy store without a toy and dry-eyed?” Our child! The answer to that question made me really happy and proud. It made me realize that I need to take advantage of this time. I need to take in these moments where LN would prefer to play with a wipee box, a sweatband, and his tricycle. I need to take advantage that a simple cardboard box powered by an adult is the best rollercoaster out there. I’m soaking it all in while it lasts.

This box worked better than any toys we could offer him.

This box plus an adult pushing him in it kept him entertained longer than he sits for an episode of Curious George.

Some of Little Nugget’s favorite items to play with: a sweatband, wipee box, and his tricycle.
About a year ago, I took this empty wipee box and cut out different pieces of fabric, tied them together, and placed them inside the box for LN to pull them out. It took LN about a year to appreciate it. Better late than never.

Cheers to simple living and simply living!