Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray The Lord my soul to keep,
And if I die before I wake,
I pray The Lord my toys to break.
So none of the other kids can use ’em…
Amen.

-Shel Silverstein

The reason I chose this poem to post on my blog is that it reminds me of my childhood. I always said a prayer similar to this(not identical, mind you) before I went to bed every night. Also, we were very selfish with our toys. If a toy was yours, it was Yours. Not his, not hers, yours.
We weren’t big on sharing, unless it was your best friend: a lofty title indeed.
Furthermore, Shel Silverstein meant a lot to me too. I have several of his books full of poems, and they are all almost falling apart due to years and years of use. Shel Silverstein is every kid’s dream. He sees things from a child’s perspective, he makes things rhyme, and his poems are always a little silly. What’s not to love?

When I was little, my world was centered on transformers. Hour after hour, the sound of plastic hitting plastic filled the house. Yes, the same transformers from those movies. When I first saw the movie, I became transfixed. Everyone in my life plunged into this world along with me.

My best friend Jack came over sometimes. Transformers.

My parents went out to eat and I had a babysitter. Transformers.

Nothing special was going on at all. Transformers.

Every trip to the store was an opportunity to convince my mom into buying me one more of those shape-shifting toys (Mom remembers this too). What was it about these robots that so held my attention? Was it the mechanics? The roleplay? The power? I think it was the power. As a child, I had no power. Children have no power, so to be able to control these transforming, shape-shifting, beasts… it was amazing. It was empowering.

Despite the fact that I never play with them anymore, I still have my transformers. To throw them away would be throwing away two or three years of my childhood. I could never do that.

Photo Credit: Me