When Nicholas was three he was given a fold out paper house with three fully-equipped rooms that he just loved. Jeremy was two at the time, and since his big brother loved it he also loved it. So the three of us played with Maisy's (Pina) house a lot (available here in a more recent, greener version).
Did I love playing with Maisy? It was a very nice colorful toy, but my main role in the games was making sure that the house didn't get instantly trashed, and encouraging more gentle handling of the pieces and house parts. And as soon as the boys were finished, I would fold it back up, put it away, and not take it out until they asked for it again. At some point it was put way for years, until Rebecca started playing with it recently.
Now I don't supervise the playing activity. I fold out the house, tie the ribbons and let Rebecca play with it while I get a little time to get something done undisturbed. She's gentle with it in her two year old way and hasn't trashed it. Sure, the house needs some restructuring now and then, some of the pop-up parts have been reinforced with tape. Also, Maisy seems to have lost her arms, but has gained some nice tattoos. She did loose some her clothes too, and that just wouldn't do, so we had to make her a brand new wardrobe.
And now I often wonder whether I somehow constrained the boys' fun and play back then, or whether I just gave the paper house a fighting chance to withstand three kids ...
