Tops, Toys and Plastic Mysteries of Childhood

I was thinking about the top – the toy that is. I remember sitting on the floor, concentrating on pushing the handle up and down, watching the horses do a run around the obstacle course inside the plastic bubble. The faster the handle went, the faster the horse went, it was fascinating! My toys were simple and few in number. One white plastic poodle that reminded me of rice pudding – hence loved dearly. One scratchy bear stuffed with wood chips. One plastic creature with a blue body and a giant orange head. (I still don’t know what that was). One stuffed bunny with an orange shirt, often making cameo appearances in childhood photos. The shortage of toys during the Soviet years almost seemed like a plot to promote reading, and in some cases imagination and creativity in future engineers, doctors, rocket scientists, and even artists and designers. At six, I was making puppet goats out of paper, and nailing wooden boards together to make a boat. In the spring, I set sail with an empty match box in the mini “river” that ran in the space between the concrete road and the sidewalk. I’d follow it all the way around the neighborhood until it would reach its final destination and disappear in the drain. I didn’t have much, but whatever I had seemed to be enough.

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A Pregnant Co-Worker

It’s amazing I’ve gone this long without ever having worked alongside a pregnant co-worker, until now. I met Jamee in the late 90s at an advertising agency. I didn’t really get to know her that well, but, for some reason, I just kind of considered her as the kid sister I never had. Our contact throughout the intervening years has been very sporadic, but when le•top started this blog, I immediately thought she’d be a great fit…little did I know she was just announcing her second pregnancy! WOW! What great timing; Jamee’s pregnant, and I’m getting her to write for a baby/kids/clothes blog! Tons of material (excuse the pun)! But now, as she’s getting ready to actually have the baby, it’s suddenly dawning on me that I’m going to “lose” her for a little while. Ack!! How will the blog go on without her? OK, never mind the blog, how will I go on without her? 😉 We’ve become closer through our mutual enthusiasm and ambition to create a great blog…community…for our readers. Jamee’s writing furiously now, so that we can schedule her posts to be published into the future while she’s on maternity leave, but wow, I’m sure going to miss that “kid sis” of mine. I value not only her creativity and myriad talents, but…you know how it is when you have a co-worker you not only like, but also highly respect…you turn to her for feedback, reality checks, constructive criticism and…venting! When your co-worker is a friend as well as a colleague, it’s doubly hard when they’re not around. How do people cope?!?

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