Lego Christmas Village

Sometime in elementary school my dad handed me a box of Legos. I built some houses and then said, “Now what?”

Dad, the creative engineer, probably said something like, “Use your imagination, create something. The possibilities are endless.”

I quickly stuck my nose back in a book and used my imagination in the way that felt natural to me. The Legos stayed neglected in the box. My non-interest in Legos stayed the same for approximately the next two decades.

This all changed in 2013 when I somehow stumbled across Lego’s Winter Village series. As soon as I saw the cottage set, I just had to have it. I thought it would be a super cute Christmas decoration. I’m not even sure why I even bothered to ask Kyle if I could purchase it. He has always loved Legos, so he immediately said yes.

When it arrived I tried to pass the construction of it off to Kyle. “I don’t know how to do these,” I explained.

Kyle got the directions out and showed me that it was all step-by-step pictures.

“Oh, I guess I could do that,” I said, still not particularly confident in my building skills.

As the cottage began to take shape I exclaimed, “Wow, this is cool.” I enjoyed seeing how each individual piece added up to make a floor, a wall, or a roof.

After the cottage was finished I realized that I actually enjoyed Legos, but that I only like the kits with directions. I still have no interest in just creating something from a box of bricks. Apparently, I’m not alone in this sentiment. A few weeks ago we watched a documentary about Legos. They interviewed one of the creators of South Park who explained that during the show’s early years Legos were what he did to unwind. After spending all day creating and coming up with new ideas for the show, he loved to sit back and have directions to create his Legos. When we got to this part in the documentary I paused it and turned to Kyle, “This. This is why I love our Christmas Legos. It’s a really tiring part of the year at work. And it’s totally dark by 5pm so the evenings are long. The Legos give us something fun and relaxing to do, but they don’t require creative energy.”

Thus, each December since 2013, we have spent evenings adding on to our Christmas village with new sets or deals found on eBay. We thoroughly enjoy this tradition and hope to continue, but we recognize that changes are in store once Will is big enough to reach it.