My Friends

I don’t believe I was a lonely child – even when I was an only child. I’ve always been happy by myself, content to play whatever game I could find (usually to do with sorting something). So why I called my collection of Little People “my friends”, I’m not sure. But even the box Mom put them in was marked “Melissa’a Friends”.

I am happy to say that Little People were one of 2016 inductees into the National Toy Hall of Fame. They were my favorite toys when I was small. The National Toy Hall of Fame accredits their popularity (since their creation in 1959) to the small reality they bring to a child’s world. They allow children to play in miniature versions of farms, houses, schools, airports and lots of other things. And while this is very likely true, my favorite dynamic of these toys is that they can be so neatly organized.

Yeah, yeah, I know. I was a strange kid. Just ask my younger sister Katey. If we played with “my friends”, set up time was a half hour max. Why? Well, each item had to be sorted into piles – chairs in one, tables in another, vehicles in a third and people arranged by age and sex. After this fun part was done, everything had to be evenly separated between Katey and I. Only after this meticulous process was complete could playtime begin. Tedious? Let’s just say I taught Katey patience…

I was more than sorely disappointed when Little People changed. Apparently, my small little figures (the same ones Emry and her cousins now play with at Grandma and Grandpa’s house) were choking hazards. At first, Fisher Price made the “little” people bigger. (I’m sure that did not prevent any child from putting them in their mouths, but you know….) Then they started to resemble people – really short, fat, round people that were no longer one color but actually wore something resembling clothes. The ones that live in Emry’s house, and barn, and Christmas village are very cute little people with unique haircuts, facial features and outfits. I honestly think they are quite cute and love watching Emry play with them….however, they aren’t very handy if you want to sort them into categories of color, age and sex. Personally, I think that is quite sad. Emry, who is very good at cleaning up her toys but doesn’t sort anything, could care less. She just loves to play with her “people”.