161 Pieces
Lego is Fun!
We have managed to dodge the Lego bullet for six years now which is pretty good considering she saw what could be done with Lego and the possibilities - we've been happily Lego-free for six years.
Until today.
You see, she was gifted a few Lego kits for her birthday and despite the fact that we quickly took them away and hid them in the basement thinking she would not be wise to our ways, well...she was. She wanted to play with her Lego.
And it is her Lego. At least for now. Eventually it will be the Dog's (or more specifically, in - or through - the dog) so she has every right to play with her toys. It's just all those little pieces to step on.
But upon opening the box - this isn't her parent's Lego. This isn't some old potato chip tin that your mother filled with random Lego found or handed down over the years and you were to spread it all over the living room floor and use your imagination to build something.
Those days are over. The Lego of 2025 comes with a mission statement: Build me, and you will get what's on the box:

This is IKEA style LEGO. There's bags of unknown parts and some vague images that are supposed to be instructions and there you are: good luck! They did break down the building of the kit into 3 sections which is nice. I thought she would get bored after doing one little section but nope, she needed to finish the entire thing.
The box says 4 years and up and I think they're being just a little optimistic that the 4-year-old is going to figure out where to put some of these pieces.
She actually had no problem reading the directions and finding the parts and how/where they went. Where she had a bit of struggle is getting some of the pieces to click as they should and she would give up.
This is where we actually might buy more Lego as it's good practice for her not to give up. I told her that this was her birthday gift, and not mine and that I can help but I am not doing it for you just because you decide it's too hard. I know I am a pushover for her but even Dad has limits.
It took "us" about an hour and a half to build this thing and save for a potty break she stuck with it until the bitter end. A few times she even exclaimed "This is fun!" so I guess Lego isn't so bad after all.
The question/problem I have with this new and improved Lego is now what do we do with it? It's already built and the chances of it getting built again are pretty slim. It would be like doing the same crossword puzzle twice - it doesn't make any sense.
And it's not like the Lego of old where you could all just toss it in a tin and then the kids would make something out it. With this kit thing, every piece has a specific function so you can't take the cash register part and re-purpose it to make a spaceship or something.
Currently she's got the thing assembled on our kitchen table and it will stay there for a few days until the novelty wears off (or the dog has eaten most of it) but then what? Toss it in a box and hide it in the basement? I already threw out the instructions so we can't really re-build it and besides why would you want to?
I guess this is the world we now live in: single use Lego is here.
Lastly, for the life of me I cannot figure out why the farmer girl has no left hand from just above the wrist:

Tragic Lego farm tractor accident maybe?
All this to say if you're in need of a pre-assembled Lego farm kit with most of the pieces, and a one-armed figure - give me a call - I've got you.