My thoughts on Toys R Us Closing

I'm sad.

There is the obvious reason, Toys R Us is an iconic part of our childhood, when I think of the toy store it's Toys R Us. It is where we went to buy our friends birthday presents, it is where we went when we had a little spending money. It was the place to go! I wanted to be a Toys R Us Kid!

My love of Toys R Us has only grown over the years and as I became a parent, Toys R Us became a part of my family's routine. When my husband and I were expecting our first child we made a registry at our Toys R Us/Babies R Us and looked at all of the things we would hope to use with our future baby. When we found out we were having a girl, we went to Toys R Us/Babies R US to buy her first outfit.

When we finally had our baby, our first outing was to Toys R Us/Babies R Us. As a first time parent we were starting to learn what we actually needed and decided to exchange a few gifts to get the items we needed. During that trip I learned that our Babies R Us offered a Mother's Room. This was a room dedicated to moms who needed a quiet, private place to nurse or change their baby. Which came in handy during this first outing. Our baby had a huge blowout and being a first time mom I had no change of clothes with me. I was able to buy an affordable change of clothes and comfortably clean my baby up in the Mothers Room and then rest and nurse her. This space was so convenient for us, that we planned all of our outings with a stop at Toys R Us because my baby I were both comfortable there and my husband could browse video games while we were occupied.

Skip ahead two years and we are expecting our second child. We bought our oldest a big sister gift from Toys R Us and soon had our newest baby. We had our first outing once again at Toys R Us with our second child, and of course, she had a blowout there too! Newborns man, I tell ya! I had packed an extra outfit this time, but forgot socks. Thankfully, I was able to just buy new ones at Babies R Us. Again, Toys R Us was still in our routine for outings. My two year old and husband had fun looking at toys while I nursed and changed baby. We would let them pick out an occasional toy, and often were able to find a great deal.

As my children aged, we would stop at Toys R Us on each of their birthdays. They would receive a crown, a balloon, and a shout out on the PA system. I cried there when we celebrated my firstborns first birthday, happy tears of course. We have let our children pick out their own birthday gift each year. I even stopped there for a Parent's Night Out event on my birthday this year and was given a crown of my own.

On top of all these happy memories, I have only been greeted by friendly staff over and over again. They have been familiar faces over the years, whom I have come to know thanks to their free monthly community events. We have participated in countless events over the years and I will be sad to not have them as an option for my family any longer.

So many people are excited for the incoming closeout deals and normally I would be too, I LOVE a good deal, but I am having a hard time feeling the excitement when I know we are loosing an important landmark for our family.

Toys R Us was so much more than a toy store for my family. They were a place that held our cherished memories, brought joy to our faces, and we looked forward to visiting on the weekends. Toys R Us in Racine, Wisconsin will be missed.