#409 Making A Toy

Anyway.

We can forget about other people for now.

I have a more important matter at hand.

Junior.

My son born just last year, and my sparkling stardust.

The season has changed from winter to spring, and Junior is growing up fast.

Children his age change rapidly, so I can’t take my eyes off him, even for a moment.

Every day brings new impressions.

He has recently started to learn how to crawl, charging forward with his hands and feet wherever he goes.

“Don’t! It’s dangewous there!”

“You’ll fall! You’ll cwash!”

“This is making me feel so jittewy!”

I feel somewhat at ease with the earth spirits babysitting him at home, but I’m afraid something bad might still happen to him if I look away even for just a second.

“Is there anything we can do about this...?”

I want to make sure Junior won’t go anywhere dangerous or bump, fall into, or touch anything that can cause him harm.

Then it hit me.

Babies his age are curious. They will go for anything that piques their interest, and that is a risk in itself.

So, I thought, if I give Junior something more interesting to keep him occupied, he would stay in one place and be easier to supervise.

“Let’s give him a toy.”

Toys fascinate children the most.

They’re obsessed to the point that they even wail and throw tantrums in toy stores.

If Junior has grown physically strong enough to crawl, he should also able to understand the fun of toys.

It’d be a relief as a parent if his risky little adventures stop because of it.

In fact, Junior’s nursery is already loaded with a few toys, such as the wooden horse Mieral made for him and a rattle the Demon King gave him via Pandemonium Trading Company.

However, I think my son is now at the age where he is ready to move up a notch and play with more intellectual and complicated toys.

“That’s why I’m going to give him a new toy that makes him think.”

What immediately came to mind... is building blocks. 

As the name implies, you stack up wooden blocks.

You may wonder what’s so interesting about that, but wooden blocks come in various shapes and sizes and can be assembled into various objects.

They can be assembled in infinite ways and are said to stimulate children’s imagination and nurture their personality.

“All right, let’s make those building blocks!”

We’ve immediately shifted our focus all for the sake of Junior’s welfare.

***

And so, that’s how one thing led to another, but I came across a hurdle: the choice of material.

“What kind of wood should I use for baby toys?”

Babies are delicate in many ways.

Unexpected factors can be harmful to them.

Even though I say “wood,” its various constituents can have an effect on the human body and cause unexpected consequences.

Someone told me that a person who used a branch from the woods as chopsticks at a camping trip died because of the poison it had.

Although nothing that extreme is likely to happen, babies yet to have the resistance and immunity we adults have, so we must carefully choose our materials.

If I didn’t have such a concern, I would’ve just gone with cedar. But... Cedar for babies?

Don’t they cause hay fever?

Pollen may have nothing to do with wood, but remember that we’re dealing with a baby here. We must consider all possibilities, as unlikely as they may seem.

Is high-grade hinoki cypress okay?

With high quality comes with outstanding security. And besides, I want my child to have the best building blocks there are.

“But wait!”

I’ve heard that the characteristic smell of hinoki cypress is bothersome to some people, that’s why it’s more often used as a building material for baths and not tableware.

They’re not even used for rice boxes.

A baby’s sensitive nose might be adversely affected by the cypress!

Then what?

...Lacquer is definitely a no-no. It’ll give him rashes.

But if we varnish the surface after processing, what does it matter what kind of wood we use?

...No!

Children have a habit of putting anything they get their hands on into their mouths.

Even a block of wood is sure to be covered in drool if it gets into Junior’s hands!

Maybe... the varnish he licked enters his system and causes adverse effects!

Agh! I don’t know!

I know nothing!

I don’t know what kind of material is okay for a baby!!!

***

In the end, I had to ask for the elves’ help.

Come to think of it, I already mentioned they gifted Junior a wooden horse.

If that caused no problems, they might have the answers to my questions.

And so, I went to the woodworking team. 

“Building blocks? That’s quite the mundane idea, coming from you, Lord Saint,” says Mieral, the group leader.

It seems building blocks are indeed regular children’s toys even in this world.

They didn’t go, “What is this novel toy? Building blocks? Wow, marvelous!!!”

Well, that pattern gets a tad too old sometimes, so I don’t mind the anticlimactic response.

“What shape of building blocks would work best? A basic cube?”

“It would be better to have various kinds of shapes. How about adding triangles or something?”

“No triangles! They have acute angles! What if something goes wrong and it pierces Junior?!”

“You’re seriously overprotective of him, Lord Saint.”

“A shape that won’t injure him no matter what angle... How about something spherical?”

“For a building block, that seems very complex.”

I admit it; I’m too overprotective it’s making things even more difficult.

“How many blocks would be appropriate? Twenty thousand?”

“Please reduce the number.”

And so, I made otherworldly building blocks with the elves’ help.

***

But this time, its completion doesn’t mark the end of this story.

The success or failure of the project all depends on whether Junior will like it or not.

“Would Junior really play with the blocks?”

I fearfully hold the building blocks out in front of him.

“I thought you were just messing around, but you actually made this, huh?” says his mother, Platy.

Lo and behold, Junior picks up one of the building blocks in question!

“OHH!” cries Mieral and I.

“Is he interested in the building blocks? Can we call this a success?!”

“No, not yet, Lord Saint. Children always play in ways that exceed an adult’s expectation.”

It’s as Mieral says.

He could grab a block, swing it around like a toy airplane, and bam! That’s it. Game over.

However, our Junior was different.

He takes the block he grabbed and stacks it atop another.

“OHH?”

Then he takes another block and puts it on top of the other two.

“OHH!”

Even Platy joined us.

“Does Junior understand what building blocks are?!”

“That’s our baby boy! He’s smart!”

We’ve become like every doting parent.

Junior keeps piling the blocks, almost like he’s building a tower.

“...?”

While we struggle to understand his actions, Junior knocks down the tower with his own hands.

Clatter, clatter... craaaash!

Then he piles them up again from scratch, collapses them, and piles them up again.

This is just like...!

“Stone towers on the riverbanks of Sai-no-Kawara!”

Is he performing the act of eternally piling towers for his mother and father?!

“This is how Junior plays with building blocks...?!”

Babies never play like adults would.

I thought I knew full well what that meant, but...

...My son.

Why do you play in such a dark way?!

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"According to the legend, children who die prematurely are sent to the underworld as punishment for causing great sorrow to their parents. They are sent to Sai no Kawara, the riverbed of souls in purgatory, where they pray for salvation by building small stone towers, piling pebble upon pebble, in the hopes of climbing out of limbo into paradise." - onmarkproductions.com 

although it translates to Children's Limbo in English, i kept sai no kawara because the former makes me think of children playing the game with the same name...