Instead of My Toys, They Played With Peanut Shells

I was ready for them. I am, after all, the proud owner of a storeroom full of toys left over from my motherhood days — baby, toddler and school-age toys; artsy, scientific and dress-up toys. The grandchildren had toys aplenty to choose from. But instead of my toys, they played with a bag of peanut shells.

Before they arrived, I hauled boxes of toys up from the basement and lined them up around the den and living room so the 6-year-old and the 9-year-old could come across them for themselves.

Other boxes of toys — all clearly labeled — I left in the basement where my son and the two kids could go look for them — the Brio train, the Construx building set, the microscope.

One of those toys did get used — the interlocking sticks of the Lakeshore Fort Builder set. Twin caves were built in the living room, one for each kid, with a tunnel in between. Table cloths and bedspreads were pulled from closets to cover the structures. Comforters were taken from beds to cover the floors.

Instead of My Toys They Played With Peanut Shells

But the rest of my fabulous toy collection got pretty much ignored this week in favor of — a bag of peanuts.

Peanut shells, in case you didn’t know, can be made into peanut people and peanut babies. A half shell works as a hat or a cape. A dab of color from a marker makes eyes or mouth. A squirt of  glue and a little patience and you’ve got yourself a peanut person.

What started off as a snack at the kitchen counter turned into an afternoon in the dining room, making peanut shell people, peanut shell hats and wigs, and peanut shell baby cribs.

The microscope, the Brio, the Construx never left the basement this week. I’m keeping them handy. Because you never know.

More about grandparenting at, “Grandparenting Via Webcam — Helping Out Those Frazzled Parents. Sheltering at Home. Week 13 of the Pandemic Shut-Down.”     I’m lucky. I have a basement. Not everybody does. How do I know? I study the floor plans of the ritzy penthouse apartments in New York City. See, “I Brake for Floor Plans — I Like to See How Those Other People Live.”