Maybe it was when you stepped on a LEGO brick (for the 14th time today). Or when you found little LEGO creations in every nook and corner of your house. Maybe it was when you were warned to “never ever touch” some sort of sprawling creation in the middle of the living room floor. Or when you couldn’t remember the last time you made it out of the store without a stop by the LEGO aisle.
That’s when you realized it.
You’re a LEGO mom.
I remember specifically when it began in my house: Spring Break 2018. My twin four-year-olds and their two-year-old brother were going stir-crazy. They were driving me batty. Preschool had given some structure to our days but no school loomed in front of us for an entire week, and it was a cold one at that. We did what any mom in my situation would do: drove to Target to wander the aisles.
I found some small LEGO sets for $4.99. They were cute. The box said they were for ages “4-99”.
Hmmm… I thought, Let’s give these a try.
We got home and I set my twins up at the kitchen table with their new toys. I even remember taking a picture of them, thinking, Maybe they’ll like this.
That became the understatement of my life.
My son immediately zoomed through the instructions, building — unassisted — the four small figures inside. My daughter created at her own will, beginning with the instruction book and then letting her imagination take off from there.
That was all it took. They began begging for more LEGO sets almost immediately.
Within two months I was searching for ideas on LEGO storage (we’re a separated-by-color family, thank you very much). I perused eBay and Amazon for obscure sets. By the time June hit, my four-year-old son was manning a lemonade stand day after day to raise money for his new obsession— and raised $100 himself to purchase the coveted LEGO Batcave.
It became a whole thing. The obsession around here hasn’t let up for one moment since. At this point our house might be more full of LEGO bricks than actual bricks.
Wondering if you too are a LEGO mom? Here are a few signs that you might be headed in that direction…
- You can name at least a half-dozen different product lines off the top of your head. Bonus if you can name five specific sets from each line and their current prices.
- You carry a LEGO VIP card in your wallet. *raises hand*
- You’ve seen The LEGO Movie, The LEGO Movie 2, The LEGO Batman Movie, and/or the LEGO Ninjago Movie more times than the number of adult movies you’ve seen in the past year combined. “Everything is awesome!”
- You’ve been to LEGOland. And your kids liked it more than DisneyWorld.
- You’ve searched the dark corners of the internet for sets that have been retired. *raises hand again*
- LEGO storage has become a major issue in your household. By color or by set? What to do with the instruction books? How about the completed sets? And just when you think you’ve contained it all, a holiday or a birthday hits and you’ve got eight brand-new ones to deal with.
- You can walk down the LEGO aisle and know every set your child(ren) owns. Even though they number in the dozens (hundreds?).
- Other people look for deals on InstaPots and Roombas on Prime Day. You search for LEGO sets. Obviously.
- You’ve found yourself wandering the LEGO aisles even when you’re at the store without your children. It’s just a habit now.
So LEGO Moms, I see you. I see you in the aisles at the store trying to talk your kids down from “just one more” set, trying to see if they want to spend their birthday money on something— anything— else. I see the small creations that seem to just appear in your home: on the bookshelves and behind the picture frames and perched on window ledges. I’ve sighed that sigh when the room that I swear was clean only an hour ago is now an explosion of bricks of all colors and shapes and sizes everywhere— including matted into the carpet. And I feel your pain when you step on a brick. Ouch.
Feel free to add to this list. What makes you a LEGO Mom?
