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I love video games, virtual pets, and other fun electronics just as much as the next person, and appreciate all the efforts put into their creation. With that said; however, it breaks my heart to see the local and big-name toy stores around me disappearing. After a day of gaming, and surfing the web, to me there is something magical about having a plush to snuggle at the end of the day.
In the first Easter basket I ever got, I received an adorable little plush lamb. My basket wasn’t anything fancy, as my parents were both still in school, and constantly working part-time jobs to support me and themselves. Given that, I was alone most of the time, and played by myself. At the time, something in me hated the lamb, and treated it cruelly. One day while taking out my childish frustrations, I looked at the lamb, cried uncontrollably, and treasured it ever since. Shortly after this event, my parents separated, and I kept the lamb with me wherever I went until it disappeared.
I had forgotten about the lamb until recently; I couldn’t understand why I ever did such a thing to begin with (punishing something that was undeserving), and why I suddenly stopped. Then, it finally hit me, that my little lamb had somehow taught me that nothing given to me out of love was meant to be taken for granted, to be compassionate, and to respect even the small stuff for the effort that was put into them. Of course, at the time, I couldn’t explain the sudden change, but this stuffed toy gave me a lesson that I still remember till this day.
To me, there is just something that a tangible toy can do that cannot be replaced by anything cybernetic. You don’t need to “grow out” of anything that you love, despite what you may have been told about “growing up”, be it through toys or not. Everyone has something that gives them a bit of magic too.
