Zürcher Spielzeugmuseum

Today Joey and I filled our morning with a trip to the grocery store (of course, of course) and then we curled up and watched a little David Attenborough.  I'm so eager to take him to the Zürich zoo--he loves his animals so much--but it's just been too cold today.  I myself wore two pairs of pants all day, and I made sure the kids had on double sweatshirts all day long.  Brrr!

After the kids came home from school and ate, we bundled up for a trip to downtown Zürich for our second, and more successful, trip to the Zürcher Spielzeugmuseum, or Zurich Toy Museum.  The museum is just two small rooms on the fourth floor of a tucked-away building, so I don't feel so bad that we missed finding it last week.

We had to fit three people and a stroller in there.

But it was absolutely fascinating, and Ella and Alex had a great time, too.  I was a little worried about taking Joey--I knew that toys behind glass might be frustrating for him--but, bundled up as he was, he fell asleep on our walk there and napped for the length of our visit.

Because I was planning on having to juggle Joey around the museum, I made up a little photo safari for Ella and Alex, a list of things they needed to look for and each take pictures of.  (I had a faint idea of what the store would have from the website.)  Well, they thought that was just great, especially when I told them they could have a chocolate prize if they worked together and found everything on the list.  Harmony reigned.  And I actually got a chance to look around and enjoy the exhibits.

The museum collection ranged from the 1700s up to the 1950s.  It was fascinating, seeing the values, traditions, fashions, and ways of life of the times laid out so clearly. And all of the toys were so cunning

Playing store: then...

...and (closer to) now

The kids got to play store, too, in a two-hundred-year-old toy
shop that a father hand-made for some very lucky children.

The kids had great success with their scavenger hunt: they found no fewer than two dozen elephants, and at least as many trains and monkeys.  And they chortled over their success: "Mom told us to find ONE stove, and we found, like, at least TEN! Oh BOY!"

Try to imagine a child playing with this one...yikes!

I love my cornball children.

They had a little corner with playable toys, so Ella and Alex snuggled in there for a little while before we went home.

Since we stayed so long, we didn’t walk home until 4:00, which turned out to be lucky. One of the watch stores near the train station had a glockenspiel that chimed on the four o’clock hour. As you can see, Alex was incredibly excited.  Just wait until Munich!

The chiming bells woke Joey.
He was...confused.

Joey was more than a little put out at missing all of the fun. He and I had an all out war when we got home over whether he could have juice.  So frustrated was he that I wouldn’t give in that when I went to change his diaper he yelled “NO! MY DIAPER! MINE!” and ran away, pants half way down his legs, clutching his soggy diaper to his chest.

Hm.

He’s lucky I didn’t have the camera for that one.  I totally would have put his little bum on the internet, too, except for the fact that he was immediately penitent, and traded an apology and a drippy diaper for a cup of water and a hug.

And he redeemed himself further by helping me with evening chores.

I suppose I’ll forgive him. This time.
Ella, too, kept Dennis and me in silent stitches over dinner tonight, asking overly-casual questions: So, um, how, exactly, are clones are made? Could she save up her money and buy a cloning kit? If she made a clone, would it think for itself, or could she be it’s master? Even if it thought for itself, would it have to obey her because she’d be kind of like it’s mother? Would the clone be the same age as her immediately, or would it be a baby?

When we answered the last question, and told her well, no, theoretically, if we could clone her, the clone would develop first as a baby, but it would grow up to be identical to her, Ella burst out “That! That’s what I want!”

Good lord. I can scarcely handle one Ella.

A couple of weeks ago I woke up with a little note on my pillow in Ella’s handwriting: “Let me be born! From: the eggs in your tummy.”  I think, once she realized cloning wasn’t the way to get the minions she so desires, she decided, instead, that this might just be the perfect way to get herself a baby sister. It leaves killjoy mom out of the equation quite neatly.

As I’ve told Ella, we’ll be having no more babies in the house. But even if I were wanting more children, I think I’d wait, just to prolong Ella’s campaign.  I’m finding it enormously entertaining.