We stayed up way too late last night, painting “custom” Legos. Yes, it was a wild night at the Gorntos.
I grew up going “Garage Sailing”. We would wake up at the crack of dawn, on any given Thursday, Friday, or Saturday and rush out the door, to hit the sales. You’d think as an adult, it’d be the very last thing I’d want to do with my time, but it’s not.
The treasure hunting aspect of garage sailing is really fun still.
So when the boys ask me to take them to the Lego store, I sometimes answer with, Let’s go try to find some Legos at garage sales. We bust out the handy garage-sale-mapping-app and try to decipher which sales are most likely to have Legos, based on their descriptions.
Then we head out.
Legend has it that when I was a kid, we hunted and hunted for something called Precious Moments figurines. Especially this one particular, very rare figurine called “Free Puppies”, the ultimate find. At every garage sale, my mom would ask if they happen to have any Precious Moments. Sometimes, they’d say, “You know, I might….” and wonder back into the house and return with one of the porcelain treasures. This was the ultimate victory.
And one day it happened.
Only this time, the lady invited my mom inside to look at her “collection” and when she returned, she was carrying the “Free Puppies” figurine. It was the ultimate treasure hunting prize! All that hunting taught me so much about patience, persistence, curiosity, never giving up and courage.
I’m happy to allow my boys those same experiences.
So when we arrive at a garage sale void of Legos, if one of them is brave enough to ask. . . they have a chance at the ultimate victory. On Saturday, one of them did just that. He asked about Legos and this sweet couple said, You know, we have two big tubs full in our storage. If you’d like to follow us over there, we’d be happy to sell them to you.
And so we did.
The couple was teary with gratitude to see my boy’s elation, knowing that their (20-year-old) son’s Legos were getting a second life and Noah’s courage was rewarded.
The rest of the weekend was spent in exciting discovery, digging through old, rare sets and mini figures. Searching for clues to which sets where hidden amid all the broken pieces. We cleaned off old attempts at customizing with Sharpie and re-customized with our own tiny little paintbrushes.
It was thrilling.
Our little escapade this weekend makes me wonder how many opportunities we miss in life because we’re too embarrassed, too shy, too uncomfortable, or too afraid to ask.
People are often ready and willing to help.
In fact, your request might be just what they’re needing to do, but they don’t quite know where to begin.
When you know what you need or what you’re looking for, the best place to start is to take a deep breath, then use your words, to ask.
You’ve got this.
to more love,
Crystal
