Autism fact: Autism affects all ethnic and socioeconomic groups. Minority groups tend to be diagnosed later and less often.
I’m new to RJ Scott’s autism blog hop and honored to participate. I paused over the theme of childhood toys, though, because in my family, toys were very much a community affair.
I grew up the oldest of four siblings–two sisters and two brothers–and virtually everything given to one kid became part-owned by the other three. We had a healthy mix of dolls and trucks and building sets, and everything was played with and argued over equally, regardless of gender stereotypes.
My parents worked at giving us each “our own” presents on birthdays and holidays, but we kids knew the score. I might be the one to unwrap a set of matching silver six-shooters, but they weren’t really mine— they were everybody’s. The exception to this unwritten rule were the children’s books my grandmother bought.
In an effort to give me something (almost) of my own, my grandmother bought children’s books through a mail order service. The books arrived monthly, starting when I was seven or eight, and I’ll never forget how exciting it felt to be handed a broad, flat package and tear it open to find out what kind of book I’d be reading next.
My sister and I shared the books, and they were kept at my grandmother’s house, “safe” from our younger brothers. (The boys were deeply uninterested in books at the time anyway, so no one’s feelings were hurt.)
I probably spent hundreds of hours with those books growing up, sometimes in my sister’s company and sometimes not. I came to regard reading as a special time just for me and have discovered that my own son treats reading time with similar reverence.
As an only child, B. Coles has had more toys than any one kid needs. He’s eleven years old now, and non-electronic toys have lost a lot of their appeal. B.’s love of books and reading hasn’t wavered, however, and he takes great pleasure in receiving books. The photo above is of his current collection (and, he’s reminding me, his Pokémon cards in the yellow tubs on the bottom shelf).
For my giveaway, I’d like to gift someone a $5 Amazon gift card. Just comment below and tell me what your favorite toy or plaything was as a child and whether you had to share it. I’ll choose a name next Thursday.
Charity
I’m supporting The Asperger/Autism Network (AANE), an organization local to me that works with individuals, families, and professionals to help people with Asperger Syndrome and similar autism spectrum profiles build meaningful, connected lives. To donate and learn more, check out https://www.aane.org/.
Extra Dirty, The Speakeasy Book #2
If you haven’t checked out my latest release, it’s Extra Dirty, Book #2 in The Speakeasy series, which I co-write with Brigham Vaughn. It’s a lot of fun, if I do say so myself. 🙂
Blurb:
Love, served extra dirty.
Jesse Murtagh loves his life as a wealthy bisexual businessman dedicated to the pursuit of pleasure. With a circle of friends he trusts implicitly, he enjoys a successful career in his family’s business and as co-owner of Under, an uptown speakeasy, with his friend with benefits, Kyle McKee.
Music teacher and part-time DJ Cameron Lewis lives modestly in a DUMBO loft and isn’t interested in serious relationships. However, he’s always up for some casual fun.
Doing a favor for his friend Carter Hamilton, Jesse meets Cam and is immediately charmed. When Jesse discovers Cam’s other life as a DJ, he is further intrigued. Viewing Cam as a challenge, Jesse pulls out all the stops, but his usual methods to avoid serious relationships fail. Though Cam has no intention of becoming attached, he begins to fall for Jesse, unaware that Jesse’s feelings are changing.
Afraid of heartbreak, Cam pulls away, leaving Jesse bewildered and hurt. They remain friends until a series of misunderstandings widens the rift to breaking point. When Cam steps in to help Jesse through a family crisis, they realize they care for each other more than they’ve been willing to admit. Jesse and Cam don’t want a traditional relationship, but can they build a future that makes them both happy?
Available now from your favorite retailer:
Or from Pride Publishing:
K. Evan Coles 
The one I wish I had now was the Magical Musical Thing, shaped vaguely like a keytar (’80s, you know!) but with plastic touchpad notes. They sounded vaguely like a cross between an electric guitar and a synth, and someone who could read music (I couldn’t yet) probably could play real songs on it. The keys were super-sensitive, though, and once the family was awakened by something pressing on it in the middle of the night, and the droning note had my mom fearing it was a fire alarm. The batteries were a pain to replace, too, so out it eventually went. I guess I could see if they still exist on eBay or something, but my house is so full of books etc. that I should resist the urge. My brother was significantly older, so sharing wasn’t an issue…
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This Magical Musical Thing sounds fantastic! I can only imagine how much havoc one might have caused in my family’s home, but it would have been fun. 🙂
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I loved anything crafty and soft toys and my ASD son is the same ❤
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I think being able to share toys with our kids is a truly beautiful thing. ❤
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Thank you for taking part in the hop! Hugs, RJ XXX
p.s. Books were my whole life when I was a kid – and also coloring books and pens… not much has changed since LOL
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It’s very much my pleasure to participate, thank you for organizing ❤ I completely understand about coloring, too — I still find it soothing!
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I loved wooden blocks and teddy bears. Had to share those as there was always an older brother lurking nearby 😉
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Ah, I have some understanding of the lurking siblings — I think they can be both wonderful and the biggest pain in the butt ever. 🙂
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You had an awesome grandma! Mine used to send us baking on the bus even though she lived a long way away. My sister and I did have our own toys, but we shared most of them with each other and all the neighborhood kids. Everybody liked to hang out at our house because my mom is amazing and she provided a lot of things for us to do. We had a craft box, a dress-up box and lots of sports equipment.
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I am in love with the idea of baking on the bus! What a beautifully thoughtful thing to do. And your house being a hangout sounds very familiar to me — I think it’s so cool when organic micro-communities form like that and become easy spaces for people to hang.
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My faves were my Breyer horses. Did not have to share them.
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I had to look these up and I recognize them now! I think the kids next door to us had a set and I remember my sister being very partial to them. 🙂
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Hi, Ginger — you’ve won the gift card! If you’d email me at coles.k.evan (at) gmail.com, I can arrange that for you 🙂
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Me and my brother shared a lot of toys. Sure most of them were his or mine, but we shared and played a lot together. I remember building a lot of legos – and our parents swaring when they accidentaly stepped on the stray ones 😉
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Oh, man, the things LEGO do to bare feet – ouch! I’ve always been super into LEGO, too, but I don’t recall having many when we were growing up — Probably because one of my brothers would have turned them into weapons. LOL
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My sister had a Barbie doll set with house and accessories. I use to play with her when she let me.
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Oh, the Barbie doll house — love it! We had one and I remember very clearly that it had an elevator, which makes me think it was a Barbie Townhouse. One of my brothers used to put food on the elevator and crank it from level one to his mouth. Good times 😀
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Books for sure but I also had all things Barbie 🙂
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I was *very* into Barbie clothes and shoes myself, and Barbie was okay, too, haha! In general I like both clothing and accessories and Barbie’s were always super cool, and I’m sure that was a big part of the appeal.
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I loved my books, and my teddy bears. both were my favourite toys ever
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I love knowing that books can be such a special thing for children. Some of the books I loved most as a child — The Secret Garden and A Wrinkle in Time jump to mind — are still among my favorites!
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Books were one of my favorite “toys” growing up as well. Even though a lot of my books ended up getting shared with my younger siblings, as we got older, our tastes diverged, so we each had our own bookcases filled with our kind of stories.
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