I wasn’t sure how to make the topic more descriptive, but here’s what I want to discuss.
If you have kids, do they have toys that stay in different places - some for home, some at Grandma’s, some with a babysitter? Or do they take the toys they’ll want wherever they go?
When you were a kid, where did your toys live?
My answer to follow.
Up until September, my granddaugther (and her parents) lived with us, so most of her toys were here. She had some at her other grandmother’s place, but I think they were mostly shared toys with the other grandkids.
Now that they’ve got their own house, my daughter and SIL have divided her toys - some stay there, some are here because I’m their child care. And she’s got some things at the other grandmother’s for when she stays over there. I’m pretty sure if I didn’t keep her on a regular basis, the most I might have here would be some crayons and books.
Way back in the olden days, neither set of my grandparents had toys for us at their places. If we were going to be spending any amount of time with them, we’d take something with us. They were responsible for giving us all the sweet snacks that our parents wouldn’t allow, but beyond that, we were expected to entertain ourselves.
There were toys at grandma and grandpa’s house to play with, so I didn’t usually bring my own. And one particular incident really cemented it for me. I had a little red Tonka Toy jeep that I really liked, and took it with me to grandma’s house one day, and accidentally left it there. The next time we went there, I tried to take my jeep home with me, and grandpa said nope, you left it here, it stays here. I’m not sure what lesson he was trying to teach me, but what it did teach me was to never take toys to grandma’s house anymore.
My grandmother was raising my cousin, so there were toys there, but they belonged to that child. After that arrangement ended, there weren’t any toys around for visiting grandchildren. My grandfather was raising a different grandchild, so his home also had toys specifically for that child.
When my friends started having kids I created a whole playroom in my basement stocked with toys I bought second hand from Facebook groups. My mom had a great playroom set up in her house for the two granddaughters, too. They were pretty well used - grandma’s playroom more than mine (I didn’t host people as much). By the time the kids hit about 9 or 10 they lost interest in the toys. I liquidated everything in a huge toys-only garage sale and did quite well for myself.
Now the kids pretty much travel with their tablets and phones and no one needs physical toys.
I remember in the 80s my grandparents had a room in their trailer with a few dolls and a doll bed for me and my cousins. We didn’t spend much time there but they were there. When grandma died I got the doll bed and and a Barbie-sized Archie doll.
When grandpa got remarried he married an ex-Amish woman and moved to a farm. We had plenty to play with there outside, in the barn and the fields. But there was a little toy cabinet. There were mostly children’s Christian books, and a Magnetic gyro wheel I’m pretty sure the cabinet had been stocked some time in the 60s and never considered again. I did really dig that gyro wheel.
I chuckle when I think of the difference between mine & mom’s playroom and my grandparents’ kids cabinet!
I’ve saved a lot of my daughter’s and son’s toys that are now stored in a “playroom” in the basement for the grandkids. They also have a few toy items of their own they keep here. Probably overflow stuff from their huge supply at home. They’ll also bring things back and forth.
When I was a kid I had some toys that were kept at my grandma’s house.
All of these things with my kid. She has toys that live at both nearby grandparents’ houses, and she regularly takes toys between them and home. (When we’re actually allowed to visit grandparents, that is.)
1950’s - I don’t recall Grandma having any toys for us. There were plenty of books to read or color, and we could always go outside and play.
I was the first grandchild on both sides, but I lived quite far away, so my grandparents didn’t start keeping toys until I had a few cousins.
My dad’s parents had a cupboard underneath the television, and this had children’s books. Maybe some toys as well, but I just remember the Tom Swift books.
My mom’s parents had a small suitcase which had marbles and some sort of track for rolling the marbles.
I think both had Old Maid cards and maybe some other games. I started playing Pinochle when I was in elementary school, so I would play with the adults.
My parents have a laundry basket with toys, etc. for the toddler they would watch one day a week. They haven’t been doing that for the last 10 months and they really miss her, and she misses them. She has visited a few times, but no-contact, and doesn’t come in the house.
My grandparents had a set of Lincoln Logs and a Lite Bright.
Pretty sure they stayed there so their other grandkids could play with them when they visited.
My other grandparents were antique dealers that had an endless sea of stuff I could play with.
OK when I was a kid, one set of grandparents lived in the same two -family house we did, so no toys were needed there. My other grandparents (who lived about a half-mile away, but we saw them once or twice a year) didn’t have so much as a box of crayons.
When my kids were young, my mother took care of them and a niece and two nephews after school, so there were always toys at her house. My mother-in-law had a small apartment, so no toys were kept there.
My granddaughter doesn’t have any toys at my house, but that’s partly due to COVID- since my daughter and SIL don’t go out to socialize, there hasn’t been any babysitting happening.
My mom always kept toys around for any visiting children, including her grandsons. I still remember the pain of stepping on these plastic building blocks she had, that had 4 legs that would connect. Ouch! I don’t remember my grandparents having any toys around. I don’t have kids but I used to keep a few toys for visitors. Our close friends little ones are big kids now but I still have a couple of things. Sidewalk chalk, a couple of Nerf balls, colored pencils, some books. And many children’s videos, but my husband and I like those too.
I don’t remember any toys at my maternal grandmother’s house. There were a few at my paternal grandparents. My paternal 1st cousin and I were less than a year apart in age, but I don’t know if they were purchased for one or both of us or hand me downs from my older siblings.
