My Lego Dollhouse

If you've been following my blog (or if you know us in real life), you'd know that my husband has a thing for Lego.

Ok, that's really putting it mildly. My husband has a real obsession with Lego. I mostly just tolerate this with a mix of mild amusement and despair. I suppose it could have been worse -- at least little plastic toys are fairly harmless. Unless you step on them, that is.

Then I discovered Lego Friends. For you non-Lego junkies, it is, quite simply, girl Lego. Launched fairly recently and targeted at girls, it's got girly-er figurines, comes in pastel candy-coloured hues, and is based on 5 characters, girls of course. The sets are mostly building related -- a house, a vet, a beauty shop, a cafe, etc., depicting the town they live in, which is called Heartlake City.

When this was first launched there was some controversy and a whole lot of unhappiness, mostly in the US, about why girls had to be marketed to differently. Especially since Lego in its purest form is quite the ultimate gender-neutral toy. I could see where the angst was coming from. I would hate it if girls were only expected to play with girl Lego. But I also see it as a choice that we make as parents. We play a part in choosing the toys our kids play with.

Noey has actually been rather fascinated by the Lego Friends sets in the Lego catalogue. (Yes, the Lego catalogue is part of the regular reading material around our home.) So, I decided, in the name of gender equality, that there was no reason why he shouldn't be playing with pink Lego sets. I mentioned this to my husband, and voila! He comes home -- happily -- with a big dollhouse.

I have to admit, I was as excited as Noey was to crack open the box and get started.

Boys can play house too, even if it is with a pink one.

After a while, I took it over and told Noey it was my house though he could play with it, because I couldn't stand how he was messing up all the pieces. And because, well, how cute is this??

The completed house, and front yard.

The BBQ pit, the lawn mover, and a swing set at the end.

The bedroom. They even give you play/styling accessories, like the little handbag. 

And a close-up of the dressing table. Yes, the pink drawer can open. How cute are those perfume bottles? And the movie star lights above the mirror?

The kitchen. Don't you just love the blender on the counter? The fridge at the end can open and shut and has a box of milk you can put inside.

Noey expressing his creativity by messing up the people. He thought this was very funny. Boys and their slapstick humour!

So yes, I had a lot of fun with my girl Lego. Would I buy another one? I don't see why not. These sets are pre-defined, but that doesn't mean we have to be limited by that.

Case in point: Out of the blue, my son astutely asked me today in reference to the house: "Where are the stairs?" Indeed, where were the stairs, given that this was a two-storey house? I laughed and told him that we could build them tomorrow, the way it's always been done, with some Lego bricks and a good dose of imagination.