{Curb Alert!} What I Thought Was A Baby Toy

Last week I was driving up the hill to my in-laws' house when I saw a big toy for an older baby or young toddler at the end of someone's driveway. You know, the kind of stuff I got rid of because I was so sure we were done after two kids. Of course I quickly pulled over to take a look at this beastly toy that I have no room for in my house. It needed a little cleaning but was in good shape and in working order. Into the van it went. And of course the kids started up with 20 questions. "Is that for us?!" "Why are we taking that?" "You mean we get to play with that!?"

Disregard the FILTHY fingerprints on my back door from kids who love to play in the mud and make frequent trips in and out.

Did I mention I was heading up to my in-laws' house to drop the kids off so I could sit in the car dealership waiting area alone while waiting for work to be done on the car? Well of course the kids wanted to play with the baby's their new toy right away. So I left the toy with the kids and my M-I-L actually cleaned it up for them. She's the best. Afterwards though, it came back home with us. (Hey, I tried.) :)

Why is it that older siblings are fascinated with baby toys? My six year old had more fun for days, crawling through the door, pushing the buttons, and singing and dancing to its songs. It was also her idea to turn it into a puppet theater.

A couple years ago, my parents got a nice family of puppets for my daughter for her birthday. Around the same time, my friend Naomi made a bunch of adorable sock puppets (with yarn hair and ping-pong ball eyes) for the girls for Christmas. They've always loved playing with these puppets but have never had an official theater. Sometimes cardboard boxes suffice until I break them down for recycling. Here is a videos taken a couple months ago where you can see combination of items used to create a make-shift puppet theater.

Well, the other day, they ended up blocking off a corner of the living room with this new baby toy and were taking turns doing puppet shows for each other. Hubby and I got called in to watch.

And for fairness, gotta include at least one of her sister's shows:

I'm kicking myself for not grabbing the video camera for the first show put on by my oldest. It started off with the man walking back from the grocery store (don't ask me where she concocted that idea from!) and the woman walking back from "the beauty store." As they met on the sidewalk, they began kissing. Big, open-mouthed puppet kissing, (with the six year old giggling in the background). "Then they walked back to his house. He laid down on his bed and the lady laid in the groom's chair." So apparently somewhere between meeting on the street and making it back to his place they got married? ;)  "Then, all of a sudden, she felt a little lump growing in her belly!" This is where hubby and I began trying not to pee ourselves in laughter. Hey, as far as a six year old is concerned, they are all immaculate conceptions! :)  "Sure enough, she was going to have a baby! Then... she pooped out the baby!" At this point I was in tears of laughter. The puppet family continued to grow with the now mom feeling another lump growing in her belly, which she preceeded to pee out the second time around. And then the whole happy family had a big hugging and kissing session. "The End!"

I hope you enjoyed that insightful peek at how a six year old views the creation of a family. And all because I picked up this free "baby" toy on the side of the road.