Are You Kidding Me?

Ok, I can't remember if I have ever posted my opinions of children's toys on my blog or not. It would be a surprise if I haven't because I am very opinionated in this area. I won't go into much detail. I am a firm believer in classical NON-noisy toys. I think they build the imagination so much better than any of the modern toy manufacturers could ever provide. And it's beautiful to watch children play for hours with doll houses, blocks, and cars.

So Underdog and I were having a discussion about toys for Christmas last night. How do we encourage the grandparents to give something meaningful versus something that is going to last for maybe a few hours then be forgottten (OR, as is the case in our family, the buttons just get pushed over and over until mom feels the need to escape to the funny farm?) He found a link this afternoon that he thought related to our discussion and sent it to me. I thought I would share it here. (Check it out before you keep reading)

Let me just say, this is the most ridiculous idea I have seen in my entire life. For one thing it's a waste of money. If parents were wiser with their spending they could spend the $26.99 a month on toys that are worthwhile instead of wasting it on RENTED TOYS. Not to mention, what kind of child will this produce that thinks they must constantly get a new box of toys every month. It's like Christmas all the time. What do you do when Christmas comes along? Oh yeah, just give them that box of toys. Gee, that's real personal.

Sarcasm aside, this idea takes all the responsibility off parents to actually know their children and what drives them. Of course, most toys do that in general. You can know the heart of a child often by just watching or listening to the way they play with a toy. But I suppose that's not what it's all about really. Today's parenting is all about giving your child everything they ever wanted. It's alot easier than having to relate to them. Have we really come this far? Have we really come to the point where we think it's necessary to give our children so many different experiences to raise them that we would actually rent toys?

I prefer to simply stick with our classic toys. The nice thing about classic toys is that they re-event thenselves all the time. The dolls and kitchen cabinet carry a new adventure everyday. The wooden blocks produce a different tower everyday and it always falls down in a different way (but always producing the same amount of laughter.) The fire engine with no noise will have a different fire to put out tomorrow. The castle blocks will have a different king, a different enemy, and whole new damsel to rescue tomorrow. I don't need to change the toys for my children. They remake thier toys themselves. Why? Because we give them the tools to build their imagination. First and foremost, we give them Jesus. He's personal. We read to them. We have eliminated most electronic media. We give them great music to listen to - classical, hymns, worship music, jazz, even some oldies but goodies (and clean) from when we were growing up. We get out into nature as much as possible. We expose them to different learning experiences. We give our children life. Out of life they create new adventures for themselves. This is how children have been playing for centuries. Isn't this how it should be?

PS: I wander if they disinfec those toys before they sind them to you? Yuck!!!!!!