Hoarding and its rewards

I'm afraid it's another baby picture, but it will be the last for a while. Everyone departed this morning and we were left with lots of tidying up . . . and peace and quiet. It's been a wonderful weekend though.

Before she was whisked away, Ella was playing with some toys I had given her and it set me thinking. I'm a hoarder. I am loathe to throw anything away, not because I think it might come in useful someday, but because of the sentimental value some things have. So I have held onto toys and games that our children had and now the grandchildren play with them when at our house.

The two rattles Ella holds in her hands in the picture are nearly forty years old. They were bought for Ella's mother and have been used by several babies across the generations. The red and yellow one in particular is a favourite with all babies. It was designed to fit perfectly into a young child's grasp and I can remember vividly the moment each child learned to grasp it. It also made me think: why have baby toys got so complicated? Do they really need battery driven toys that spin and whistle etc? The adage should be - not what can it do, but what can the child do with it. Well I think so anyway.

Yesterday evening we all played Buccaneer, a board game from another era, which I unearthed and blew the dust off. Complete with little ships and treasure (diamonds, rubies, pearls, bars of gold and barrels of rum). Does anyone else remember this? Everyone (including the 3 year old and almost 6 year old) had an excellent time with this ancient game.

I have today discovered that Buccaneer, a Waddingtons Board Game, is not made any more and that the edition we have is a collectors item, worth around £40. I'm not selling!