One more Lego build...

"Last Christmas was the first at our house without building Lego on Christmas day. I miss Lego. My kids have started selling it and sometimes it's worth more than what we paid for it." Said Phil Gibbins, Head Teacher without hiding his loss, whilst happily playing Lego at Meltham Dads Kids Club. I reflected on his loss, knowing that the day will come when my kids will someday lose the love of shared Lego play and you can't help but feel sad.

I read an Instagram post recently that your baby has 1 summer, your toddler has 2 summers, your preschool child has 1 summer, your primary school kid has 6 summers and then they're at secondary school and Lego's not got the same attraction it used to have, as more grown-up attractions slowly take precedence.

Oliver Burkeman’s brilliant book about this kind of feeling - 4,000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals. His central argument is quietly galvanising; the average human life is just 4,000 weeks long or around 80 years. Rather than a reason to despair, he sees it as an invitation. Finitude, he argues, is what gives moments their meaning. Lego building together matters because it won't last forever. The Saturday morning building matters because one day it will be a memory. Burkeman's call to action is simple: stop waiting for the right moment and inhabit the one you're actually in. The window is open. Climb through it.

That's exactly why Dads Kids Club exists. Not to freeze time, but to help dads and male carers to show up  intentionally, during the windows that are still open. The Saturday mornings when kids still want to sit beside you on the floor and press bricks together. These moments are finite and they are precious.And there's an irony in Phil's story worth ending on. Those Lego sets his kids are now selling? According to researchers who studied 2,322 Lego sets from 1987 to 2015, retired sets returned an average of 10 to 11 percent annually on the secondary market - outperforming stocks, bonds, gold, stamps and even wine. Turns out the thing you built with your kids on Christmas morning didn't just create memories. It quietly became one of the best investments you never knew you were making.

Phil's kids, and my own, resell Lego and appreciate its secondary value, but we'd still rather have had one more build together. 

Do you remember your last Lego build with your kids — and did you know at the time that it might be the last one?

Scott

I'm Scott. Founder of Dads Kids Club. We're a dad-led Community Interest Company that invites men to get more involved in their kids' education - improving children's educational engagement, men's mental health and life opportunities for both. 

We invite, train and mobilise dads, step-dads, grandads, uncles and male carers to co-run screen-free, hands-on Saturday clubs at their children's primary schools. Men share skills, connect and bond. Children enjoy beyond-the-curriculum activities - building confidence, new skills and memories that last. We celebrate all masculinities, backgrounds, identities and beliefs.

If you work in education, family services, philanthropy or simply believe in what happens when dads show up - I'd love to connect.

📧 info@dadskids.club 🌐@DadsKidsClub (on Instagram)