What Do Your Childhood Toys Say About Who You Are Today?

Comfort & Joy Collective: For the Love of the Weekend

What Do Your Childhood Toys Say About Who You Are Today?

When I was a kid, my favorite toy was my VTech Whiz Kid. It wasn’t just a toy—it was a tool for my work of play. Whether I was pretending to be a grocery store clerk, training to be the “smartest person in the world” with my “computer,” or creating a make shift cash register for the video rental service my sister and I set up in the kitchen with our clunky VHS tape cases, it was more than just play—it was serious business.

Recently I stumbled across a TED Talk titled How Your Childhood Toys Tell Your Life Story by Chris Byrne and it caught my attention. It suggested that the toys we loved most as children are clues to our deepest interests, our unique gifts, and even our calling. For me, it was like holding a mirror up to my younger self and asking, “Did my toys really inform who I am today?”

Christmas 1987 tells everything about who I am today: the typewriter, the stationary, the baby doll that was supposed to look like me, the “get in shape girl” set, and the etch a sketch. From being a writer, a mom, writing you “letters,” and having a daily walking practice, this picture says it all!

A letter I wrote to my mom on that very same typewriter and stationary from the photo. “Work hard out there, Mom!”

Take a moment and think: What was your favorite toy? How did it make you feel? And what would your younger self say about the person you are today?

For me, it’s a question that has brought me smiles this week (especially when I happened upon a bag of items from childhood that reminded me that in my case the apple hasn’t fallen far from my childhood tree).

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Want to hear more about what’s bringing me comfort and joy this weekend?

• I’m sharing one simple thing that is connecting my past and present.

• Explore how having the right “shoes” in life makes all the difference.

• And don’t miss February’s Book Club announcement!

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