Pingles Posted June 11, 2011 (Sorry, this started as a three-sentence post and became a Novella with very little payoff) My daughter got me into Lego Trains. She's two-and-a-half and a Thomas nut so we got her a bunch of Duplo track and the Thomas cars and she loves them. I had so much fun setting up her Duplo tracks that I wanted some of my own, having been a Lego fanatic for many years. As a kid I had TWO rails of the blue tracks. No trains, just the rails. I have NO idea how I got them. But I always loved them as a kid and wished I could get a train but never did. So a few months back I purchased a bunch of track, a Passenger set and an Emerald Night. I kept them a secret from my daughter, having suffered the heartbreak of the Toy Story Lego train in her grip. Each time she touched it she came away with pieces. She's been on a strict Duplo diet since. But she was in my office the other day and saw my bucket of old Lego pieces and asked to see them. She went wild for "Daddy's Legos" and I allow her to play with them when I am present. She was so well-behaved with them that I finally set up my track for her and allowed her to play with my trains. As someone has mentioned before, she does not like when they run by themselves. She insists on pushing the trains. It works well on the Passenger Train but my PF-converted Emerald Night gives too much resistance. So she calls it "Daddy's Train" and leaves it alone. But last night I was brushing my teeth and I heard her say "Oh no! It crashed!" I walked into my office and, sure enough, it HAD crashed. The poor Emerald Night was on it's side, in pieces. I was SO furious. But she's two. And adorable. I feel so silly being mad and lecturing a two year old on what fragile means. I got through about two sentences before I realized how ridiculous it all was. I guess I had convinced myself that she was no ordinary two year old and would play with big-kid Legos without a problem. Of course that's not true. She's two. She breaks things. It's what is SUPPOSED to happen. So this morning, before work I cleaned up most of the track, put away all but two cars of the Passenger Train and will make sure I'm supervising a little better. I keep thinking I understand what being a Dad is and she keeps surprising me. What a crazy, wonderful experience. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ManitobaMoe Posted June 11, 2011 (edited) So glad you didnt get after her. Lego is made to be taken apart, even if some times it is by accident. And great story, thanks for sharing Edited June 11, 2011 by ManitobaMoe Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
locoworks Posted June 11, 2011 LOL, know the feeling, my 5 year old niece came round who is a toy story nut and i happen to have the lego train which she has never seen before, i was squirming away as the trapdoor latch came off and then the side doors, the funny thing was the guilty look on her face as she tried to fix it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vgsprites Posted June 11, 2011 What a funny story. Glad I don't have kids yet, but I can relate growing up with younger siblings who liked to tear down my MOCs and make their own. Living on my own I don't have to worry about that anymore. What I do have to worry about is when my cats jump on my train table when I leave the office door open. Jumping up there to get away from the dog or just to look out the window the table is next to. I have to reset my cars and locos daily along with my trucks and signage if I forget about the door. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lightningtiger Posted June 11, 2011 Lesson you learn't in being a parent 'Pingles', 'Kids will make a mess, but you love them for it because it's those things you'll live with in your memory long after they have grown up and left home'. Let them make a mess, let them be loud, let them grow ! Thanks for sharing your story.....Brick On 'Pingles' ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arigomi Posted June 11, 2011 At least it wasn't permanent damage. My niece is almost four and when I babysit her, she has a habit of pouring water into other containers for fun. It doesn't help that she knows how to operate the water dispenser on the refrigerator. Recently, she poured water into a container of sidewalk chalk. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
teflon Posted June 12, 2011 @pingles. I somewhat understand you. I am a technic fan and I found that our youngest (now 3 years old) is enjoying large machines also. From time to time he lost a brick or two but we usually managed to find those. If not, there is always BL. And this love goes the other way around also. I have made used the little fellow as an excuse to purchase a lot of train sets. SO of course he is allowed to play with them. I had a lot of Emerald Night accidents, we managed also to drive the 7939 loco of the table. Yes, it hurts a bit seeing a bunch of overpriced plastic lying on the floor but the time together is worth quite a bit more. And remember, if you daughter destroys a train or two, that is a perfect excuse for buying a new one (or two or three). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DwarfSleepy Posted June 20, 2011 This is so recognisable! That's why I keep some trains to play together with my kids (like the 4560 railway express), and some stacked away just for daddy (like the €100 a piece santa fe carriages). I just couldn't bear watching those pristine windows being scratched! On the other side: crashing a few trains together with your kids is actually priceless! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mrblue Posted June 20, 2011 ... crashing a few trains together with your kids is actually priceless! ... and for the scratched once-pristine sfsc coaches there is still your mastercard! this would surely be the best credit card ad of the last years! anyway this "novel" is wonderful! right now I have only lego to play with, but I hope to be in your situation soon! have a nice lego day mrBlue Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
happymark Posted June 20, 2011 (edited) As a dad with 5 yr and 7 yr boys, I understand totally. they build, break and leave all the mess to me, and I have to sort them back :( well, but I think LEGO is a "toy" for them, it means to be broken, it means to be played.. but I need to enforce some rules in the LEGO room for sure.. (Sorry, this started as a three-sentence post and became a Novella with very little payoff) I keep thinking I understand what being a Dad is and she keeps surprising me. What a crazy, wonderful experience. Edited June 20, 2011 by happymark Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
badboytje88 Posted June 20, 2011 What a cute story. It sounds like your doing a great job at being a dad. Keep it up! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
22kane Posted June 26, 2011 Funny how our children want to play with our toys. I too have a young daughter and she is autistic. I have always had to keep my n scale trains hidden from her due to how fragile they are. Recently I have gotten back into lego and have acquired several train sets that I can usually keep around her. Your story makes me laugh because I see I'm not alone when it comes to sharing my toys with my 4 year old. I guess for many of us it's hard to let go of our youth and although there is a large community of people that probably think we are nuts we still have fun "playing" with our toys. My hope is that when my daughter is a little older and can understand how to play with Daddy's toys nicely we can share the hobby together. This is a great way for you and your daughter to have some bonding time, something she will remember fondly later in life. Good for you, not freaking out over the incident. You sound like a good guy and I'm sure your daughter really enjoys her time playing with "daddy's" legos. By the way- I won't let my daughter touch my Emerald Night either. Lol. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drevim Posted June 29, 2011 MY 7 yr old son thinks it's great to get my train going, then throw a switch and have it go into the "construction area" of track. I've rebuilt the front end of my train, and my on-track crane more times than I can count. He enjoys it, since it's 9V as soon as it derails, it stops, so no motor running issues, and I get to change and redo my layout often. I try to tell myself its a win-win scenario. right???? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sir E Fullner Posted June 29, 2011 I'm teaching my younger cousin about LEGO trains. I've shown him how my layout works, and the locomotives. He sure enjoys it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hoeij Posted June 30, 2011 I don't like the title of this thread "kids and trains don't mix". Of course they mix. Having kids enjoy the trains is great. If something breaks, who cares? As long as you still have all the pieces, it's no problem to put it back together. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Toastie Posted June 30, 2011 I don't like the title of this thread "kids and trains don't mix". Of course they mix. Having kids enjoy the trains is great. If something breaks, who cares? As long as you still have all the pieces, it's no problem to put it back together. I could not agree more - this weekend we will have (among others ...) a 10 years old train head over at our house. He is also a LGEO maniac, so that will seriously affect my stuff I guess. But nothing will break. That is the good thing about this quite expensive toy: "It" hardly breaks, if at all. Bricks may fall apart, that is the whole idea, otherwise they would not stick. So when the kids invade my office, I keep telling them to use whatever they want, because they can't break anything. Regards, Thorsten Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drevim Posted June 30, 2011 I could not agree more - this weekend we will have (among others ...) a 10 years old train head over at our house. He is also a LGEO maniac, so that will seriously affect my stuff I guess. But nothing will break. That is the good thing about this quite expensive toy: "It" hardly breaks, if at all. Bricks may fall apart, that is the whole idea, otherwise they would not stick. So when the kids invade my office, I keep telling them to use whatever they want, because they can't break anything. Regards, Thorsten I agree the title isn't quite right, but I don't think the original poseter was being malicious in using the title. I think there is a line where, in the case of a very young lego-er, that they need to be taught the proper way to treat a train layout. Especially if, as in the original post, the child trys to push the train by hand which could put stress on the engine parts. It is a toy - Yes. But I think we can all agree, while the blocks can be reassembled, no one want to have to replace motors. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hoeij Posted June 30, 2011 Especially if, as in the original post, the child trys to push the train by hand which could put stress on the engine parts. It is a toy - Yes. But I think we can all agree, while the blocks can be reassembled, no one want to have to replace motors. Yes, you don't want kids pushing a 12V train motor, or a motorized Emerald Night. I would take those off the track. For the very young ones, it's better to have simpler trains, they don't like motorized trains anyways, they want to push the train. For the ones that are a little bit older and that do like motorized trains, in one of my PF trains I put only 4 instead of 6 AAA batteries (I added some wiring inside the battery box to make this work). This way the train won't derail when it is in the top speed setting (at the train show, I sometimes let kids run one of the trains, but I don't want trains to derail because they could fall off the tables and onto a concrete floor. At home I don't worry about derailing trains.). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
andythenorth Posted June 30, 2011 (edited) What's to be furious about? It's lego. It's a TLG set. You have instructions. If it comes to pieces, you put it back together again. If she loses the pieces, you go to Bricklink and buy more. If she eats the pieces - well that's something else, good luck watching for those coming out Edited June 30, 2011 by andythenorth Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Toastie Posted June 30, 2011 If she eats the pieces - well that's something else, good luck watching for those coming out Hehe :thumb up: Yeap, that's about it! Should they come out though, a little soap and water is all you need. ABS is pretty tough with respect to the human digestive system ... Well, lets be serious, kids, don't eat the bricks. Regards, Thorsten Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pingles Posted June 30, 2011 I can't imagine ANY piece rare enough for me to dig out. :( Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
