Happy Birthday

It is August again.  The end of summer.  The last few days of relative relaxation before my metamorphosis from "Working Mother of Two" to "Mother With Guilt Issues Which Drive Her to Overcompensate for Working" is complete.

With less than four weeks to go until Mikie turns 8, we have started planning the birthday theme.  Theme, you ask?  Isn't the theme, "birthday party"?  No, to the "Working Mother of Two", "birthday party" would be an acceptable theme.  To the guilty-mom, "birthday party" doesn't say "even though I am exhausted and grouchy, I still think about you enough each day to imagine, create, and host an elaborate birthday party."  And, not one.  Because, with the exception of his first birthday, we typically host two birthday parties.  Sometimes more...

But, I digress.  I know everyone is hanging on the edge of their seats to find out what this year's theme is. . .

DC Superheroes

Yes, thanks to Lego, Mikie is obsessed with the DC Superheroes since June.  June 16th to be precise.  The day that Lego Batman II:  DC SuperHeroes came out in stores.  Around the same time, we discovered old Adam West episodes of Batman on MeTV.  We all get a kick out of watching them every Saturday night.  Hannah even runs around saying "Da-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-BATMAN!!".  She wants to be Robin for Halloween to Mikie's Dark Night, in spite of the fact that the men in the family tried to convince her she needed to be "Batgirl" or "Catwoman" because she is a girl. 

Mikie and I have started brainstorming games and activities.  I love brainstorming.  Executing these ideas, not so much.  I think he is expecting my "Guilt-Issues" alter-ego to sew costumes for all of his friends. 

During our brainstorming session, I thought it would be cool to create a comic strip for an invitation.  I was envisioning hours of sketching and drawing (or Photoshop) to get it to look authentic.  Low and behold, Lego has a "Comic Builder" on their website that lets you create your own story boards:

This took me about 15 minutes to put together, excluding five minutes to Photoshop a background color to the second cell (Robin was previously on a white background).  Of course, Mikie's reaction was, "Let's make a WHOLE COMIC BOOK."  To which I responded, "Sure, I'll just quit my job a write and edit stories all day."  If only that paid the bills. . .

That said, I do want to call attention to another special birthday.  Lego is turning 80.  I know our families think we are harboring an unhealthy obsession with Legos in our house.  Mikie's room is just short of a shrine to the small plastic bricks.  But, as a household with two engineers (possibly three), I can't help but appreciate this company.  First, you should see their factory.  I have not been in person, but StumbledUpon (literally) a tour of the LEGO factory on Gizmodo.  It is a manufacturing dream. 

Second, their quality is impeccable.  I live in New England, home of Hasbro, who gives a lot back to the community.  So, I hate to knock MegaBlocks.  But, if you buy a set of MegaBlocks versus a set of Legos, you can see first hand the difference in standards.  A Lego is rigid.  It is indestructible.  Heck, Google "Lego building repair" or click here, and you can find actual buildings where people have filled in missing brick work (the red masonry kind) with Lego bricks.  

A MegaBlock is more "plastic".  Yeah, I know, they are both MADE of plastic.  But, a MegaBlock is malleable.  We have had issues where the pieces won't lock together because the holes are ever so slightly smaller than the "bumps" on top of the bricks. 

Third is customer service.  Since purchasing the Death Star, we now have a few Darth Vaders.  But, prior to that, we had one.  One Vader, with one light saber, and one helmet.  Do you know how quickly Mikie lost that helmet and light saber?  And, you can't put another light saber with Darth Vader.  It must be red, because he is a bad Jedi (duh, Mom).  I went to the Lego store, fully expecting that I would have to buy another set with another Darth Vader to get a new helmet and light saber.  But, the sales girl told me, "just call customer service with the model number of the set you bought, and they will send you a replacement free."  Seriously.  I mean, do you know what mini-figs sell for on eBay?  That girl just saved me at least $20. 

Lastly, the part of my brain that must have been a Brand Manager in a former life thinks their marketing group is amazing.  Case in point:  the Lego MBA program.  It is a subscription program (just like a magazine) where you get a new Lego kit sent to your house every other month.  Each kit comes with some new Lego bricks, a book that shows you how to make three different designs from those bricks, along with giving you hints and building techniques from their "Master Builders" (engineer with the cool job of playing with Legos all day long).  At the end of each book is special Lego graph paper to help you use what you learned to create your own designs.  And, they have a special website where kids can upload and share their designs. 

In honor of their birthday, Lego published an animated short documenting the history of the brand.  It was featured in a trend site I subscribe to at work, and greeted me in my inbox at work this morning.  I found it fascinating.  Did you know that Lego originally made wooden toys?  Or how they got their name?  I'm sharing it, because, like everything else they seem to do, I think it has a great message.  Of entrepreneurship, innovation, quality, ethics.  Values I try to bring to my own work, appreciate in others, and hope to instill in my children. 

So, tonight, this mom says "Happy Birthday, Lego."

Tomorrow, my guilt-ridden alter-ego will continue to fret over Mikie's birthday. 

Love, The Trahans (who, sadly, do not monetarily profit from the sale of Legos)