[dsenette]

i was listening to NPR (National Public Radio) this morning (yes...the monkey listens to NPR...morning edition in the morn and all things concidered on the ride home) and there was a story about people camping out at a toys R us (somewhere in cali i'm sure) all night for the Wii (stupid name), Tickle me elmo extreme (stupid toy) and the PS3 (didn't know it was ready...). is it me or has the american society just completely gone insane? when i was a kid (not that long ago)...not only did i never EVER ask for something for christmas (i do now...but only when i need something specific...like tires....or a serial controlled relay device for a fireworks display)...but if i had...and the store didn't have it...guess what...i didn't get what i asked for...but i got something else...and i was darned happy to have whatever it was that i got...

the only reason these parents are sleeping out in the cold is because their kids will go ballistic if they don't get that "IT" toy this year...why are parents afraid of their kids...."the store didn't have it", "it costs too much", or "that's a stupid toy...you're getting this instead...and be glad that i feed you , love you, house you, clothe you, and protect you, you little ingrate" should be perfectly good answers to children's tantrums right?...what's the deal?

Edited by dsenette, 02 November 2006 - 08:21 AM.

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Sounds to me like there is something wrong with the parents rather than the kids! I say send 'em all out to work after school and make 'em buy their own toys!

I don't really remember getting toys as a child (though I would have gotten some at Xmas and Birthdays, but with 6 kids it probably wasn't much). Two 'toys' I do remember playing with for very long times were both made by me. One was a bow and it was a beauty - could send arrows (also homemade) whistling through the air very fast and at a very long distance. The other I'm a little embarrassed about - a girl at our school contracted polio (the only child with it in our town) and was away from school for months and when she returned she had callipers and could only walk with her legs completely straight. My bro and I made ourselves two pairs each and for about three or four months raced home every afternoon, quickly changed out of our school uniforms and callipered up and limped all around the farm playing and doing our chores until we were called in for dinner (Mum forbad us from wearing them inside the house!).

[frantique]

Sounds to me like there is something wrong with the parents rather than the kids! I say send 'em all out to work after school and make 'em buy their own toys!

I don't really remember getting toys as a child (though I would have gotten some at Xmas and Birthdays, but with 6 kids it probably wasn't much). Two 'toys' I do remember playing with for very long times were both made by me. One was a bow and it was a beauty - could send arrows (also homemade) whistling through the air very fast and at a very long distance. The other I'm a little embarrassed about - a girl at our school contracted polio (the only child with it in our town) and was away from school for months and when she returned she had callipers and could only walk with her legs completely straight. My bro and I made ourselves two pairs each and for about three or four months raced home every afternoon, quickly changed out of our school uniforms and callipered up and limped all around the farm playing and doing our chores until we were called in for dinner (Mum forbad us from wearing them inside the house!).

[dsenette]

The other I'm a little embarrassed about - a girl at our school contracted polio (the only child with it in our town) and was away from school for months and when she returned she had callipers and could only walk with her legs completely straight. My bro and I made ourselves two pairs each and for about three or four months raced home every afternoon, quickly changed out of our school uniforms and callipered up and limped all around the farm playing and doing our chores until we were called in for dinner (Mum forbad us from wearing them inside the house!).

contracting fake polio (as weird as that may be)...sounds 10 times better than a tickle me elmo....

i remember as a child that there was no present that could win over going to my grandpa's workshop (with his millions of antiquated, slightly dangerous, but down right cool as heck power tools) and just making something....even if it wasn't ever to be usefull...just making a box..or fixing an outboard motor or lawn mower...anything like taht was better than any toy or video game

[Johanna]

/ Johanna stands on her chair and wildly cheers the monkey!

There is no toy as valuable a parent's time. If your kid pitches a fit because they didn't get *that* toy, you the parent shorted that kid in the "growth and development" process. And if you catch me sleeping in a Wal Mart parking lot it is because I have dropped dead behind the wheel of the family SUV.

At another family funeral today (we're thinning out this month, I guess!) a bunch of us cousins were talking about what we remembered at my Aunt Dorothy's house. She had a big pickle jar full of the most interesting buttons. We would spend hours sorting them, stringing them, making patterns, trading with each other and playing happily, and when it was time to go home, she's cut the threads and tell us we needed to leave the buttons for the next time we visited. It's been more than 30 years, folks, and 7 of us fondly remember the button jar. The button jar now belongs to her youngest son's family, and another generation or ten of little kids will be sitting on the floor finding the shiny ones, the tiny ones, the red ones, the lone one shaped like a star, for years to come. Their mothers will watch and hover, afraid some kid will stick a button up his nose, or choke, or stab themself with the needle and thread. Then they'll tell the kid where he messed up his design, or fret if an old "antique" button breaks. Today we remembered our mothers laughing in the other room, and as I think about it- we would never have fought over the buttons, or they would have immediately been put away, and we would have been scolded for not sharing. Our mothers wanted their time with each other as much as we cousins wanted our time together, too. We wanted to stay under the radar. Some of my kids' friends are so so starved for parenting (that's the "do your homework, brush your teeth, make your bed, set the table" kind) that they would stick buttons up their nose just to get attention.
Whew... got dizzy up there on that soapbox.
Johanna
ps Everybody call that elderly relative you haven't spoken to in awhile, or better yet, take some cookies and tea over and spend a few minutes. You won't regret it. Some of my cousins are kicking themselves today, despite being well aware that my aunt was in her 90s.

[harrythook]

Sometimes its easier said:

stupid name

(stupid toy)

gone insane

children's tantrums

Results in:

Some of my kids' friends are so so starved for parenting

Substitute toys for parenting and you get the monkey rant above. Unfortunatly when you say "my kids friends" your kids are open to and subject to the random immature act that "un-parented" children often do. That exact type of thing almost cost my 17 year old daughter her life.

Stick with your kids, and make the best life possible for them.

[sari]

I had a doll when I was growing up that was made out of cloth. She was made with 2 heads and had a full length dress. One head had eyes sewn on that were awake. When you flipped her over and turned the dress inside out, it was a nightgown and her sewn-on eyes were asleep. I still own that doll - she's somewhat worn and has lost a lot of her yarn hair, but I'm 46 and still treasure her. My husband still has his Zippy the Monkey doll, also worn and beat up. How many kids will treasure the latest Elmo doll when they're fully grown?

[dsenette]

How many kids will treasure the latest Elmo doll when they're fully grown?

odds are they'll play with the box it came in longer than the toy itself

[Johanna]

Nope. Today's parent will call the Elmo a "collecter's item" and refuse to let the child unpack it, risking damage to it, especially after that cold night in the parking lot. Toys that kids aren't allowed to play with makes about as much sense to me as plastic slipcovers on the couch, and good china you can't serve supper on. My stepdaughter has 40 Barbies she's not allowed to touch. You are right about the box. When we replaced our dryer, the kids made a clubhouse out of the box, and cut windows and decorated it with markers. They played in it for a week until it rained so hard the box collapsed. My son wants a PS3 for Xmas, so I told him to "get a job". I am the meanest mother on the planet.
Johanna

[dsenette]

so I told him to "get a job". I am the meanest mother on the planet

first you killed halloween...and now you shot santa?!?! you are evil!

[warriorscot]

Im with the monkey that is evil,i remember the christmas my parents got me a PS1, they had preordered it months before, it was one of the best christmases i ever had, in the end i played the thing for years until it broke, that was a good fad toy, my dad played it almost as much as i did when we got it as well.

A fad toy can still be a good one it just depends on the child and the parent and how its given, i really loved the playstation because it was the first thing like that i had that was my own before that i had my uncles old sega mega drive.

But most of the best stuff ive had is stuff that wasnt cue round the corner toys, likw oor willie books and corgi cars, star wars models, all collectors items some of the old oor willies i have must be worth a small fortune, but they are well read, you see toys still in the original boxes in auctions and i always think thats a bit sad, a toy should be played with.

[TaNkZ101]

Wow. I'm so sad. I cannot remember any of the Christmas gifts I got before I moved to Croatia 5 years ago... and I can only remember two out of the five since... man. And I'm 16!!! Ahh wait it's coming to me. I remember one of my favorites , it was a train and tracks set. I got it before I was 9 years old, I remember that, when we still lived in NYC. Wow I'm a pansy, tears are forming... I'm outta here.
The monkey looks scarier each time I see him