This post is sponsored by Target.
My childhood was immersed in the colorful world of little girl’s toys. My sister and I played happily with baby dolls, Barbie dolls, My Little Ponies, baby carriages and play kitchens. My memories are saturated in make believe with all of our female cousins and friends, but mostly I can remember getting lost in our pretend stories every waking moment and using every chance we could get for creative playtime. We didn’t have iPods and we weren’t allowed to play video games, but we had tons of toys for creative time with each other. I have a lifetime of daydreams tucked away in my mind from when we were young, carefree and creative.
When I found out I was pregnant with Jack, I was ecstatic. I didn’t have a whole lot of experience with boys, and the times I did spend with them as a child I was generally getting into trouble doing ornery things. I struggled with the notion that I wouldn’t know what to do with a son but I was thrilled with the challenge and accepted it wholeheartedly. Jack never did really fill the mold of my predetermined notion about what little boys were supposed to be like; he has always been patient and loving, creative and quiet with tempered excitement about things like sports, trucks, and trains. However, in the ways that Jack surprised me with his non-gender specific preferences, Beau has made up for in spades. Beau is the boy child that I had expected; he loves everything from basketball to soccer, snakes and worms, digging in the dirt and getting into trouble at every turn. The one thing that they both agree on, though, is their affinity for all things Super Heroes, so when The Avengers, Age of Ultron gear made its way in to Target, I knew this was going to be a wonderful display of brotherhood the way I remember sisterhood with Brianna, my sister who is just about as much younger than I am as Beau is to Jack. Make-believe in the purest form.
Jack and Zoe spent a lot of their toddlerhood playing the same things during our long hours stuck in the apartment. They didn’t have much of a choice but to agree on what to play together, but there wasn’t ever an issue with it, either. Zoe would stack her princesses on top of Jack’s race cars and they would somehow marry the two in a way that made them both happy, bending the gender divide however they saw fit. Jack and Beau have a brilliant relationship too, and it’s so much different than the way they play with Zoe. They are competitive and aggressive, battling and racing and trying to out-roar each other in all ways. The Avengers toys like The Hulk masks & Fists, Captain America’s helmet and shield, and Ironman’s interactive, noise and light activated gloves have already provided the boys (and I) with endless storylines and entertainment. They so enjoy being indulged by their innate, wild tendencies and in a way that I can’t help but truly enjoy watching. And as much as I encouraged Zoe to get into the mix with the Avengers Superhero gear, she opted into sitting and playing with Evvie instead.
I certainly never knew what to expect about having boy babies, or how different it would be from what I remember as a child growing up with mostly girls and women around me. It’s been the most delightful journey, though, watching the boys playing together and truly having an absolute blast shooting hoops, building train sets and watching shows with quintessential superhero figures and the awesome toys that come along with them. The Avengers items at Target have been such a blast to have around in our toy chest arsenal of make-believe props for my boys plus their friends and neighbor buddies to play with at any given time, and I’ve so enjoyed watching their relationship blossom in ways that I perhaps never could have dreamed about for my sons and daughters.
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