Child’s play

My children and I caught a bus to the local pool a few weeks ago. My 2 year old thought it was just the bees knees!

We got home and all she could talk about was the bus. It really was very exciting for the little girl.

A few days later I saw her playing with a toy cupboard from her dolls house. She’d filled the shelves with little toys and one was walking up and down the rows, finally it sat in the forward most shelf and the cupboard was being driven around while my 2 year old yelled “beep beep!”

Now at one point the apparent ‘driver’ gave all the passengers a kiss, I must have forgotten that part of our journey, and then said “thank you thank you!”

Her imagination really is amazing. Anything becomes a toy, even her hands on their own go walking and talking across the furniture.

I join in when invited but let her direct the play. Play is her work, it’s how she learns.

Being my two are 18 months apart so I really notice the difference such a small amount of time can make to a child. While the small one is bashing things together and pulling things apart the big one imagines them with voices, personalities and stories.

I swear yesterday Mickey was singing Twinkle Twinkle, or was it ABC?

You don’t need a lot of toys, and you don’t need a lot of plastic toys. Great wooden toys will last a long time. I knit toys for my two and they get a lot of hand me downs. This Christmas I’ve spent a whopping $150 on both children. Wooden blocks, train sets, good quality stuffed toys, textured blankets, wooden musical instruments, felted food, and books are all great choices.

I’m not buying it

Why is it every single time I mention that I’m not buying anything from the big toy sales people look at me like I just smoked a big bag of crack?

Am I the only person on earth who sees this as a money grab by the big department stores? Am I weird for not pre-planning the presents I’ll buy for my children half a year in advance? Is it weird that I want to buy more sustainable toys for my children?

The catalogue came and I flicked through it. To me it all looked like garbage, over priced, poor quality, over commercialized junk. And don’t get me started on the boys and girls separate sections of the catalogue.

Does every item have to feature some annoying character from whatever the latest Disney movie is? Does every toy aimed at preschool girls have to have Dora on it?

I told a friend that all up we’ll be spending $200-250 on our DD for her second birthday including a small party and cake. I may as well have kicked dirt in her face. Apparently it’s not enough. She’s turning 2!!

Maybe I don’t get it, maybe I’m not doing the right thing by going against the social norm of big presents and big parties but when I read these lists of what people ‘need’ to buy their children for birthday/Christmas it floors me. Hundreds of dollars spent when the kid would probably enjoy the packaging just as much, if not more.

I’m a mean mum, my kids are going to get a swing set to share, some PJs, and a DVD each to watch when we drive 1,300kms plus to visit family. That’s it.

In America the average spent on toys per child per year is $332, in Africa it’s $2.