So I would like an opinion from you all smarties. So it seems D and I disagree on something fairly important in this big 'ol game known as child rearing. See, I think random toys are for special occasions-birthdays, holidays, etc. I don't just buy Liam things just b/c I'm at the store. Now, keep in mind that Liam is rarely, rarely with me while I do my shopping--grocery or otherwise (Target). This is my alone time... and he's not a good shopping buddy anyway. I also often go on my lunch hour. So it's not like he's with me begging for things, and I'm oh, so adept at redirecting him. It's just not an issue. Now D rarely does any kind of shopping; he hates it, in fact. But when he does, he always wants to buy toys for L. And not like educational toys or things he needs. It's little cars and trucks, of which we have a household FULL of already, and are in fact constantly tripping over. When I made a comment about this once, D acted like I was some sort of mean, cheap martyr who didn't want Liam to have 'fun". (Again, because L is CLEARLY deprived of all things fun). He ran to Walgreens tonight after picking up L from daycare, and came home with a Hotwheels racetrack, cars, and Oreos. *SIGH*. Because L was "begging" for something. (which I don't doubt he was!) And it's not like D didn't grow up with "stuff", and now is over-compensating for that. He certainly had a comfortable upbringing, as did I.
So because D rarely goes shopping, as I mentioned, this doesn't happen often at all, but when he does, it has the same outcome. And I get annoyed. I guess I just don't want to raise a spoiled brat, you know? And I don't like a bunch of plastic junk. Although I certainly played with my share of Barbies, My Little Ponies and other "plastic junk" growing up.....so, somehow now I'm above it all? I don't know.
How do you view toys?
And because I just realized I never mentioned it, L's stats from his 2 year appt: weight: 26.4, height: 2 ft, 8.75 inches. He wears 18-24 months clothes for the most part, but is in fact, wearing some 12 months pants right now. Our little shortie :)
1 comment:
I don't know what to say one way or the other. I thought I would be stingier like you, because that's certainly how I was raised - we did NOT get random toys! Just for birthdays and Christmas. But, I haven't been like that at all. And it's not like we have tons of extra money - we have NO extra money. We're a single income family, and my husband has to basically work a second job (he's a Crossfit personal trainer and our garage is a gym) in order to let us make ends meet. It's just that we both get so much joy from watching the joy Noah gets when he gets something new.
I find it especially difficult when Noah becomes very interested in something new. For example, trains. About 1 week after his second birthday he became OBSESSED with trains. We had no train tracks, and only one or two random trains. But Noah was SO in love with trains (and still is). Unfortunately there wasn't a legitimate gift giving occasion until Christmas, which was 9 months later. So I bought him a simple train track with some trains, and he has played with those trains and tracks for HOURS every single day since we got them. I seriously think I could put away almost every other toy and Noah wouldn't be bothered, because he loves trains that much.
I don't know... I have a hard time sticking to what I originally thought - that there wouldn't be random gifts. I actually really like letting him pick out a little toy to have, because I love watching his joy. It certainly isn't every time we go shopping, though.
I'm a total sucker. I don't know what I'm going to do when we have multiple children. It's going to have to stop!
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