Anonymous
Post 01/02/2020 12:35     Subject: Mom took apart my 6yr olds legos
OP posted an update several pages back. Sounds like Grandma realized she screwed up. Grandpa was going to help the boy reassemble.

So many people on here saying that Grandma was just trying to help clean up and the boy is coddled are missing the point. Cleaning up? Yes, a mistake. Scolding the boy? How dare she. Out of line on so many levels. That's the sticking point with me.

The thought of that happening to my (now grown, previously Lego-obsessed) son hurts my heart. Those sets were his prized possessions.

This child is going to remember what happened forever.
Anonymous
Post 01/02/2020 12:32     Subject: Mom took apart my 6yr olds legos
Grandma is 100% in the wrong. The playroom wasn't messy. It's obvious when a Lego set is assembled. They're designed to look finished. Even something that a child made that isn't taken from instructions is obviously different than a mess of random Legos in a pile on the floor.

Anonymous
Post 01/02/2020 12:30     Subject: Mom took apart my 6yr olds legos
I think grandma should re buy the set and then go home. She did a lot of damage —she will never apologize— and best put it into the past ASAP. Grandma is a mean snoopy b***ch
Anonymous
Post 01/02/2020 12:30     Subject: Mom took apart my 6yr olds legos
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:She made an honest mistake. Two of them. When she cleaned up your Lego’s when you were a kid they were all probably random blocks. I do t remember huge special $100 sets. So she made a mistake cleaning the blocks. Then she made another mistake scolding your son because she was working from faulty knowledge that they were just old blocks laying around. Your mom should apologize. If she is a good grandma then maybe she should help your son sort. It is on you to buy a new set if you want to. Your son needs to learn that people make mistakes. And that Lego’s are really just toys.


Bull pucky. I had the castle with the hill baseplate. My sister had the pirate ship. My brother got something with another raised baseplate (tan), although I don’t remember exactly what it was. All in the 1990s. My uncle had a huge Star Wars collection, 1980s. The biggest difference is that the big sets usually came with a base plate, and now they don’t.

She took apart multiple sets and mixed them together. It’s likely several hundred dollars to buy them again. I vote for grandma sorting the pieces.


https://brickset.com/sets/6086-1/Black-Knight-s-Castle
My castle was $85, which is why it was my only Christmas present from Santa.

I don’t remember which ship my sister got the same Christmas. I do remember that every birthday and Christmas for the next couple years featured either an Imperial or Pirate ship or building. All were “big” sets.

As I said, I don’t remember which set my brother got, but since he was 4 years younger, he was getting duplo sets when we got legos. I know he got the number train, letter building and numerous zoo sets.

Trying to say there weren’t sets 20-40 years and that’s why she didn’t know is ridiculous, false and shifting blame.
Anonymous
Post 01/02/2020 12:26     Subject: Mom took apart my 6yr olds legos
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Your mom has to separate out all the pieces into their respective sets. Then she’ll understand how much painstaking effort it is on the part of a SIX year old to put these together. Hand her the booklets, pour the legos on the dining room table, and tell her that’s her consequence. Other people can help, but she has to make a sincere effort before you let her off the hook.


THIS. Your mom needs to do this to make it right, OP. Not your dad and not your kid. Please stick up for your DS on this one. Poor guy!


That's ridiculous. My kids have SO MUCH FUN sorting their Halloween candy over and over, in different ways. They have fun sorting their art supplies in different ways. Legos are TOYS. What Grandma did just means the kid can play with his toy again. This is not a huge deal.


Obviously never felt with Legos.
Anonymous
Post 01/02/2020 12:26     Subject: Mom took apart my 6yr olds legos
Anonymous wrote:Even if the Grandma won’t act like a grownup here and apologize and help, is there room here for you to speak with your son about it, tell him that you are really disappointed in Grandma, that she should have asked first and that you wish she would have apologized in person, helped rebuild, and not snapped at him? You can explain that you talked with her about it and told her how you felt and that Grandma was willing to write this note. This way at least he feels that you are sticking up for him and that won’t stand for him being treated poorly. You can say if anything else happens like that again with Grandma or anyone he can come to you.


This right here. Should grandma apologize? Yes, and it's okay to ask her to do that. But then it's going to be up to her whether or not she chooses to cooperate with that request. Coping with the disappointment needs to be a separate thing from whether grandma apologizes "well enough" or helps with putting the set back together or whatever. All of those things are nice extras, but it's unhelpful in general in life to make your emotional response contingent upon what someone else does/doesn't do. One is a relationship issue and the other is your own emotional maturity. (e.g. it is more emotionally mature to learn to cope with disappointment and less emotionally mature to not be able to feel well unless certain things out of your control happen).
Anonymous
Post 01/02/2020 12:24     Subject: Mom took apart my 6yr olds legos
Anonymous wrote:This is a whole lot of nothing over grandma cleaning up a playroom.


The playroom was clean. It was a lego creation on a kid table. The kids playroom is supposed to have kids play things. Surely grandma knew this was 6yo play space. It’s not like she hasn’t seen him playing in that room for the last 6yrs.
Anonymous
Post 01/02/2020 12:22     Subject: Re:Mom took apart my 6yr olds legos
From this:






To This:


This is intentionally taking down a creation and making it difficult to rebuild. It’s malicious.
Anonymous
Post 01/02/2020 12:17     Subject: Mom took apart my 6yr olds legos
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Eh he’s 6. No way I’m picking a fight with adults I otherwise get along with because of a 6 year old’s toy, nor am
I subjecting anyone to sorting or rebuilding. If he wants to, he can. If not, whatever.


+1

Unless you have some reason to believe she did it maliciously, all you have is an old lady who put away some toys and thought she was being helpful. I absolutely would not yell at her or demand she buy my kid anything. I can’t believe you treat your mothers like this.


There's something really wrong with both of you, honestly. I mean that. Unless you have had literally no experience with Lego (in which case you should stay out of the discussion), it seems like you're both as psycho as the grandma. I feel sorry for your kids.


First PP - I have experience with Legos. They are a toy - this lady didn’t take apart a real NASA space shuttle. I also have experience with families and sorry but I won’t treat my parents/ILs poorly bc my 6 yr olds feelings are hurt over a TOY. No I wouldn’t kick her out, make her apologize to a person 1/10th of her age, buy him anything, or subject her to the indentured servitude of sorting and playing with legos. No way. He has to learn that feelings get hurt and when it’s about toys, he has to sort that out and no adult is going to coddle him over it. I mean she didn’t destroy his homework or his prescription glasses?!


Toys are important to children and he worked hard putting the Legos together. His Grandma was wrong no matter what it was


Making a mistake with no malice in the process of doing something positive (cleaning) does not make her wrong in any legitimate way.[/quote]


NP. Here is where I disagree. I believe grandma had malicious intent. Maybe she is more like the grandmother from Flowers in the Attic, than the grandma in Meet The Fockers.
Anonymous
Post 01/02/2020 12:15     Subject: Mom took apart my 6yr olds legos
Previous
Anonymous
Post 01/02/2020 12:15     Subject: Mom took apart my 6yr olds legos
She literally broke down something her grandson built. No grandmother to a little boy would think this is something innocent to do. Unless she is like 92 and totally removed from the roaring 20s. Then to scold the child?

OP, what did you end up doing? Sorry if I missed a precious update.
Anonymous
Post 01/02/2020 12:13     Subject: Mom took apart my 6yr olds legos
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Awww, no! That's for the birds! It sounds like an honest mistake and I agree with the pp who said that your mom probably didn't know the effort that went into building the sets.

She seems sorry- I would just move on from it. Explain to your DS that grandma didn't know.


Honest mistake means she maybe put each figure into two or three pieces pieces to move it. Actually dismantling multiple sets takes a lot of effort and time and is a conscious decision to break up a kid’s toy. Grandma is not owed very much in this scenario.


+1. Nothing like this architecture is a “mess” that needs to be broken apart and mixed into other LEGO pieces.

Anonymous
Post 01/02/2020 12:11     Subject: Mom took apart my 6yr olds legos
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My parents are staying this week and this morning I hear my son 6 start crying(he isn’t a crier.) Before anyone woke up she decided to “clean” the playroom” and took apart all of sons LEGO sets and mixed them together. When she saw how upset he was, she scolded him for not cleaning them up. He was mostly upset about the brand new Minecraft legos that he got for Christmas that he has worked for days on. They were on a kid table, so they certainly weren’t in her way, I can’t figure out why she felt the need to take apart already put together legos. Wasn’t like it was a bunch of scattered legos on the floor.


Your mom has emotional problems. If being cruel to a 6 year old is an emotional problem. Some would call it something else.


I would call it evil.
Anonymous
Post 01/02/2020 12:08     Subject: Mom took apart my 6yr olds legos
Anonymous wrote:Awww, no! That's for the birds! It sounds like an honest mistake and I agree with the pp who said that your mom probably didn't know the effort that went into building the sets.

She seems sorry- I would just move on from it. Explain to your DS that grandma didn't know.


Honest mistake means she maybe put each figure into two or three pieces pieces to move it. Actually dismantling multiple sets takes a lot of effort and time and is a conscious decision to break up a kid’s toy. Grandma is not owed very much in this scenario.
Anonymous
Post 01/02/2020 12:06     Subject: Mom took apart my 6yr olds legos
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Eh he’s 6. No way I’m picking a fight with adults I otherwise get along with because of a 6 year old’s toy, nor am
I subjecting anyone to sorting or rebuilding. If he wants to, he can. If not, whatever.


+1

Unless you have some reason to believe she did it maliciously, all you have is an old lady who put away some toys and thought she was being helpful. I absolutely would not yell at her or demand she buy my kid anything. I can’t believe you treat your mothers like this.


Agree. The worst thing about the internet is that I have discovered that most people are horrible, selfish beings. Grandmas clean up. They try to help. If your kid is “devastated” by this then he has a pretty charmed life.


What? He’s 6. Would you prefer that he live an uncharmed life? Your post is just dumb. Plenty of people are horrible, including grandmas. Why should they get special treatment.