When I was a kid, my dad would make us many different wooden toys. For some reason, he didn't really believe in plastic toys. He said that he thought they were badly made and tacky, but I think it was something else. My dad had lived in the family that, for many generations had believed in crafting their own equipment. They made their own
furniture, built their own houses, and grew their own food. They were farmers, tinkers, carpenters, and other artisans, accustomed to making their own way in life. For him and his ilk, it was always painful when mass manufacturing took over.
Of course, I wasn't aware of any of this when I was a kid. To me, the thing that mattered most was the wooden toys I would get. It was fabulous. I got wood blocks to build with , wooden dolls with intricately carved and painted faces, hand-made teddy bears shaped after my favorite cartoon characters and imaginary friends, and many other wonderful gifts. My favorite toy of all, however, was my wood doll house.
I later found out that my father started building that wood doll house at the time I was born. With most projects, he was pretty quick and to the point. With that wood doll house, however, he seemed to take his time. Wooden dollhouses definitely require a certain amount of attention that other wooden toys don't. Building a doll house is like building an actual home. The more attention you put into it, the better the results are. Wood doll houses need furniture, wallpaper, paints, floor designs, and all the other things that you need in a real house.
As a matter of fact, that wood doll house was somewhat of an obsession for him, as it was for me. By the time I was old enough to play with it, it was already mostly put together. Even so, there were many different decisions to be made. My dad and I would talk at length about what type of furniture to put in it, what kind of dishes it should have, what clothing the dolls should wear, and even the lighting it should have. He showed me a lot about carving and putting together miniatures, and I was very good with it. Children have small, nimble hands, and some skills are best learned when you are young. Not only was that wood doll house fantastic toy, but it also taught me patience, dedication, imagination, and quite a few craft skills.
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