Legos were stressful. Legos were messy. Legos weren’t for girls.
Growing up we didn’t have Legos. And growing up I would ask for Legos after I saw my cousins open them at birthday parties and at Christmas. Watching them light up with excitement was something I never understood when it came to owning a Lego set. There were so many different sets. Harry Potter. Avengers. Star Wars. Disney. Even Super Mario Bros! One of my cousins had a whole city, and then one year, they got a Lego organizer that would make the Legos not as messy. There were so many options to choose from, but Legos were still messy.
We had Lincoln Logs, but nothing compared to possibly having the chance of building Elsa’s castle. Frozen was all the rave and so were the Frozen Lego sets. Of course, Frozen was a “girls” movie so my chances of getting the Frozen Lego set was in my favor, right? Wrong! But when I was at a friend’s birthday party, and she opened up Elsa’s castle, nothing hurt more. Her eyes lit up with the magic of Disney and with the opportunity to build the castle of everyone’s dreams.
Nothing will ever top the time I was at a friend’s house after VBS, and we were in her playroom and they had a whole area dedicated to Legos. There was a Lego table with drawers for all the pieces and the same organizer one of my cousins was gifted with. Not messy. There were different bins labeled with “Harry Potter,” “Disney,” and “City.” Not Messy. As we were in there, supposed to be playing, I was in awe at the Legos in front of me. I had no idea what I was doing, and being who I was, I asked if I could play with them. Without thinking about it my friend said yes and then I was stuck. I was sitting there with Hogwarts at hand not knowing what to do. It had nothing to do with never reading the books or never having watched the movies, I knew what Harry Potter was. I was never given the freedom to just have the Legos and do whatever I wanted. Legos were stressful.
From that point on, I avoided Lego DS games and Lego games for our family Wii. I avoided playing with Legos with my cousins because I didn’t want to feel that overwhelmed feeling again. Legos were stressful.
I’m 19 years old and now the Lego flower bouquet is all the rave on TikTok. They look so fun, and you see couples turn it into a date night activity. But Legos are still stressful and still messy. And it turns out that Legos aren’t just for kids, and girls can play with them too. There are also Lego sets that capture beautiful cityscapes and popular TV shows. The first time I ever saw the flower bouquet on TikTok I sent it to my boyfriend and told him that we should do it one day. We talked about the Lego set multiple times, but we never actually did anything.
For our one-year anniversary, he bought me a miniature Millennium Falcon Lego set. Star Wars is our thing and I love Han Solo. But Legos are stressful. This set only has 100 pieces opposed to the sets with 600+, so it was going to be okay, and since this was my first time he would be helping along this process. I had my very own miniature Millennium Falcon and a miniature Han Solo! There were not too many pieces and I got to do this with someone who has played with Legos for their whole life.
Spring Break now rolls along, and my boyfriend and I have some spending money and a local toy store has the Lego flower bouquet. The same bouquet that has been sold out everywhere is now in front of me, and I’m second-guessing if I want to build it. Legos are stressful. It comes to the time to build the beautiful trendy bouquet. The pieces are all in little bags that are labeled 1,2,3. And then the instructions tell us what bags to use and go over step by step. Legos are not messy. Legos are not stressful. We get to build Lego figures of the California poppy and lavender. Legos are not stressful.
The bouquet is finished and assembled perfectly in a vase. Legos are not stressful. Legos can be messy, but when you’re 19 you understand how to not drop everything on the floor. Taking time to do something my inner child has been dying to do since the age of 6 had the same feeling as meeting your favorite Disney princess. I got to build fake flowers and take my time to grow my imagination to make my boyfriend smell each individual flower.
And if you were wondering, yes, they did smell good.