I'm a Toys-R-Us kid

For some reason, I have the old "I'm a Toys-R-Us kid" song stuck in my head today, from the 1980's commercials.  Remember that song?

It made me remember when Toys R Us truly was a magical place.  When I was little, Toys R Us seemed huge.  The shelves reached up to the sky, and had every toy imaginable.  Beautiful, shiny bicycles with streamers in every color of the rainbow.  Dolls and Barbies as far as the eye could see.  And a veritable ocean of video games.

When I was little, we didn't have a Toys R Us in our city, so we would drive an hour to get to one for special occasions.  Birthdays, special accomplishments... a couple times a year, we would make the trip, and I would usually pick out a new video game.  (Yes, I've been playing video games since about 5 years old.)

Stepping into Toys R Us and picking out that perfect video game was just sheer excitement.  The kind of excitement that one just doesn't experience anymore after the age of 7 or 8; it was pure childlike awe.  It was being inside that place that was so huge, smelling of toy new-ness, and feeling so very lucky to be there.  I now wish I had realized how much I should appreciate being little at that very moment.  How briefly we human beings feel magical before reality takes its tole and we become grounded forever.

But today, I remembered that magic.  It's nice to have memories of those moments, and today in particular, I thank my Mom for them.  I'm looking forward to seeing the world anew once again through the eyes of my own daughters.

Happy Mother's Day to every woman who has helped a child see magic in the world.