My ds goes to pre school in the afternoon and my dd (18 months) usually sleeps. In this time I usually chill or do chores but in a moment of good will and Mary Poppins type endeavor I got out all the playmobil and made a little world of houses, snow ploughs and dinosaur caves. I might add that I quite enjoyed myself so it wasn't entirely altruistic but imagine my ds delight to come home and find his living room transformed into an imaginative haven.
However so taken was he with my efforts that he did not want anything moved out of place so when the 'giant baby' tried to trample on the dinosaur cave and upturn the camper van he was understandably very upset. My feeble attempts to encourage sharing did not last long because lets face it an 18 month old does not have the aptitude to share playmobil and would rather eat it.
I then tried to distract the intruder with books and shape sorters but with little success. I took her upstairs and she slapped me across the face. I am ashamed to say I shouted at her (loudly) so taken aback I was to be poked in the eye.
I put her in her cot and she broke down, wailing pitifully. I rushed downstairs to a boy wailing with equal fervor, who could not believe that the pirates had fallen over and the hospital bed dismantled. Who to console first I thought? So I reconstructed the b**y world as best I could and rushed upstairs to pacify the toddler with a cooker and some plastic brocolli.
My boy came upstairs to tell me it 'was the best playmobil world ever' and although I was touched I was more concerned that he go and make use of it while he had the chance.
The moral of this tale? Doing nice things for your children is not always met with the desired result and playmobil need to produce a pretend nuclear device to blow such worlds into oblivion