Wooden toys
My Stepdad was a dab hand at wood work, and he crafted me all sorts of brilliant toys in the first few months after he married my Mum. He made me a rifle out of an old broom handle, complete with trigger guard and an old screw for the iron sight. There was also a medieval castle, painted grey with turrets at each corner; and a garage for use with little Matchbox cars. These hand crafted toys were built to last and I remember playing with them for many years. He also made me a sword which he painted silver and a shield with a red crusader cross on the front. When we - children of the estate - played knights, the other kids would smash their plastic swords against my wooden shield and theirs would bend (I would expect that a child with a crusader shield might not very welcome on a West London council estate now)! It was early days in our relationship, and he was trying his best – I assume – to be a replacement father for me and in doing so had already done more than my birth father ever had.
I like these little stories, but don't know what to say about this one except we need the next 200 words. How does a new parent be accepted, I wonder? Everyone comes into a new relationship bringing baggage and encountering baggage.
ReplyDeleteEerily similar to my step-dad building me a wooden step stool and a shelf to put behind my kitchen sink. Of course, I was already a mama myself by the time I met my step-dad, but I often tell people he did more for me in my adult life than my real dad did for me in my childhood.
ReplyDeleteI liked this post. I can almost see your wooden toys.
I think my Dad would have done the same if I had been a boy, but he did build me a very smart rabbit hutch and a hutch for my guinea pig, which had two levels connected by ramps.
ReplyDeleteI could never persuade him to do anything similar for my Barbie dolls though.
Sx
Loved this story - I never had anything like that. Sounds as if he knew what he was doing since the wooden shield bent their swords!!
ReplyDeleteP.S. thank you for your kind comments on my blog sir.