Thank you Scrappy Jessi for being our lovely hostess for today's post: Favorite Childhood Toys. I grew up in the 70's and loved all things related to Snoopy and Hello Kitty. I carried a purse that was filled with Snoopy pads and colored pencils and Hello Kitty papers and erasers. Of course, like our hostess, I was a huge fan of Barbie and all her peeps. I had the Farrah Fawcett doll and the Marie Osmond doll along with Barbie, PJ, the obligatory Ken, and a host of others. None of them escaped the scissors, except for Ken who was saved by his plastic molded hair. I also had a love affair with all things miniature: plastic farm animals, Liddle Kiddles, Weebles, and Fisher Price people. I spent hours playing with these tiny Disney characters. As you can see, they are scratched up a bit but I'm so glad that I still have them. (My parents' house and all our belongings burned when I was four years old so I have only a few cherished toys and even fewer childhood photos.) 
As for outside play, I loved my Big Wheel and my red Hippety Hop, but nothing was more exciting than playing in the treehouse or exploring at Grandma's farm or making mudpie pizzas in the street and watching cars run over them. One year, I decided to start my own business - a Shrinky Dink Club. I made Shrinky Dinks all afternoon and then wrote a letter describing what you would get, for a nominal fee, if you joined The Shrinky Dink Club. I was so excited about this idea. Each member would receive new Shrinky Dinks every month. I packaged about ten of these envelopes and then took off on my bike, placing the sacred envelopes in random mailboxes. Oddly, I never received any orders.
Oh, and I loved the Upsy Downsy characters shown here. These were kind of related to Liddle Kiddles but more on the funky, psychedelic side.
Probably more than anything though, I loved any kind of imaginary game. My older brother and I engaged in rich imaginative play where our dog, Sniffles, was the General in a make-believe army and we, The Doggies, had to fight off various foes who all had special powers. Before we engaged in our battles, we, the Sniffles Club, convened in the garage. My brother was the President of the club; alas, I was only a mere member. Anyway, the Sniffles Club met on a regular basis and we had secret rituals. For example, before we could begin our battles, we had to sing the opening song, then we conducted our business, then we battled/played, then we sang our closing song. And believe it or not, I can still, to this day, remember the words to those songs. We never told one adult about the Sniffles Club. Ever. Wow. I hope Baby A has as much fun in the magical world of play as I did. So many wonderful memories. Thanks Jessi for taking us down memory lane!
