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The Things Kids Get Really Into
The very specific childhood phases that somehow take over the whole house
Mona Amin
March 29, 2026
Kids go through phases that can completely take over family life. When they love something, they love it loudly, repeatedly, and with their whole body.
One day it’s ducks, or skeletons… or Moana. Or the one book they ask you to read over and over again. And before you know it, that one thing has worked its way into your house, your conversations, your car rides, and somehow your family vocabulary too.
This month, we asked:
What’s something your child has been completely obsessed with?
And your answers were such a vivid reminder of how wholeheartedly kids dive into the things they love. Some of these phases are short, and others seem to last forever. Some definitely test our patience in the moment. But so often, they become the stories we laugh about later because they capture such a specific season of childhood. The random, hilarious, very real details of childhood are often the ones that stay with us the longest.
Here are some of the things you shared:
Dolls/babies!
The rainbow colors peekaboo lift a flap book. We read it about 20 times in a row before she will finally move on to something else.
Firetrucks
Our two year old is obsessed with skeletons. It all started with Halloween (obviously… because we don’t usually just had giant skeletons lying around). We picked up a life-size stuffed skeleton while shopping around in September and thought “oh this would be fun for the house.” We were right, it WAS fun for the house… for the next five months! Our daughter named him Big Skelly. Next came the five foot tall gold skeleton, who became known as Susan. Our daughter insisted they be involved in everything: from sitting at the dinner table, to playing around the house, and laying next to her crib for bedtime. We were finally able to retire them to her closet for now, but the skelly love lives on.
Pokemon!! All things Pokemon
Making gift cards(repeatedly) for family, friends, teachers etc
Chutes and Ladders. We played it so much that my husband joked with me about throwing it in the fireplace. And then the spinner broke. My brother fixed it, so he's Uncle of the Year in my daughter's eyes....not so much in my husband's eyes!
Dinosaurs
He tells everyone he talks to that he can ride the Ferris Wheel now. We measured him and told him he's so big now, that he can ride some big rides at an amusement park. When we looked up some of those rides for him, he fixated on the huge Ferris Wheel, and now we're planning a trip to Six Flags in the summer to fulfill his dream.
Cleaning up, which is honestly comical because I met my husband when we were both working at Disneyland and he was a custodian. We always joke that it somehow ended up ingrained in his DNA.
Skeletons! So much so that we had a skeleton themed birthday party.. in February LOL.
Legos! This is a new phase for us but I have a feeling it will last a long time (and honestly, I am fine with that!).
DUCKS! Our 18 month old has loved ducks her whole life. Two Halloweens of ducky costumes, any book with ducks, and most recently, checking her rubber ducky’s temperature with her thermometer - ha! As spring is coming in Minnesota we’ve been walking to the lake to visit the ducks. A highlight of the day!
Space shuttles for the past two years
Why these moments stick
Reading these, I kept thinking about how often kids go all-in on the things that capture their attention. They come back to the same book, the same character, the same game, or the same idea again and again. They talk about it nonstop, fold it into pretend play, and use it to explore how the world works.
To us, it can feel like a lot in the moment. But for them, that repetition is often part of learning, practice, imagination, and making sense of something that feels exciting, familiar, or fun.
And even when it takes over the house for a season, it also makes childhood feel so vivid. A skeleton named Susan at the dinner table. A Ferris wheel dream that turns into a summer trip. A rubber ducky getting its temperature checked. A board game spinner that somehow refuses to die.
These phases pass, but the stories around them tend to stay. They become part of family language, the little details you reference years later, and the inside jokes that still make you smile out of nowhere.
Thank you for sharing
Thank you to everyone who shared your stories this month. Reading them was such a fun reminder that parenting is full of phases that can take over the whole house for a while and somehow become the stories we remember forever. Between the skeletons, ducks, Ferris wheels, Legos, and space shuttles, these stories captured how funny, specific, and memorable childhood can be.
Our kids may not realize it, but the things they love so wholeheartedly often become part of our family memories too.
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On YouTube
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On The Podcast
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In The Media
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