Kids ask so many questions, and will inevitably end up at the infamous "Why did you decide to have me?" query. I will attempt a great answer when I am asked, but deep inside there is a hidden answer that holds a partial truth:

"I want to buy legos and relive my childhood vicariously through you."

I absolutely love(d) legos. Even knock-off legos. I had bucketloads of the Tyco brand*. I have many memories of my varied creations, and it is time to pass these wonderful times on to my children, whom I have chosen to have for reasons much greater than legos.

When we first got legos, my children did not automatically dive into the pile and discover the glory and fun that is to be had. They saw blocks, like any other blocks they'd seen at other kids' houses or in wooden, unlocking form. This did not fit with my expected response, but I rolled with the punch and fulfilled my civic duty and showed them what can be done. Now they understand that all sort of things can be invented.

Here are some of the lego-adventures from my childhood that may be reborn in my own children:

+ Demolition Derby
This consists of two mattresses fashioned into a slightly relaxed half-pipe (think: skateboarder). Participants create their competition cars from legos and then proceed to roll them at the same time from opposite sides of the half-pipe towards each other. *SMASH* Both sides view the damage and if both cars still contain their drivers and wheels, you continue until one car can no longer roll on wheels down the course. RULES: No tightening of parts between runs until a winner is declared. Driver must stay in the car after the hit. The driver has to be able to "see" where he is going. Set a max number of wheels and pieces, then start building your rig! This is quite fun, and we ended up outlawing certain pieces because of the devastation factor**. You may even have to take turns picking pieces before creation of the cars.

+ Projectiles
I almost shot my mom in the head with a lego cannon. I built a tall structure of legos with a long runner down the middle that allowed a particular piece to fit on like a rail. I capped a rubber band to the end of the rail and latched it to the moving rail piece, using a key fab jammed into the side of the cannon to hold the shot in place. I ran a complex array of string and tacks from the key fab's ring to the door knob on my bedroom. The next person to open the door was my mother, who was none too thrilled to see a lego fly at her head, narrowly missing against the wall. The invention was a resounding success, despite the accuracy issue.

+ War
My brother and I would build entire armies in separate rooms. We'd split the legos and require each to build a base and an army. The objective was to destroy the base of the other person. We'd take turns "attacking", which involved flying a ship to the other room and simulating gunfire/laserfire/missilefire. We worked on an honor system, which was much like rock, paper, scissors in that we'd agree one ship was greatly more powerful than the other. Once we'd made the appropriate amount of battle sound effects, flying, dodging, and strafing, the losing ship would "explode" in a very satisfying crumbling fashion. Parts lie where they fall. Eventually one army no longer has any ships to fly, and must defend itself against the incoming armada. Imagination greatly required.

+ Imitation
By far our most common practice, we used our legos to build facsimiles of our favorite anythings. I once built a rather impressive replica of the Thunder-Tank from Thundercats, complete with rocking arms which reveled shooting missiles. I built it for a match of lego War, which impressed my brother greatly, allowing the destruction of an intimidating vessel he had brought in. He agreed that the tank could be allowed to survive the match assembled due to the quality of the item and the fact that we watched Thundercats religiously.

If you have kids, by all means, get them some legos!***

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* From the Space sets, mostly.
** "The Drill" was no longer allowed in the half-pipe.
*** Yard sales are great places to find deals on legos. They're so expensive in the stores!