Our house is a toy heaven, or maybe a toy hell. I guess it depends on your perspective. We have everything. And I do mean everything. We have books, puzzles and a train table covered in Thomas trains and wooden tracks. We have art supplies galore, trucks and cars and a trampoline. Dress up clothes and doll clothing. A toy kitchen chock full of plastic food and utensils. You name it, we have it. And it’s probably played with too… which is what makes it so hard to do a big cleanout. Every time I am just about to declare a toy finished, my kids find it again and thwart my plans. Maybe I’m just a big softie.
That said, every family needs a certain number of toys to ensure their survival in day to day life. Especially on those days when leaving the house isn’t an option.
What are these essential toys, you ask? I’ll let you in on my bizarre and personal perspective on the issue.
1- A Zen toy. Yes, you read it right. A “Zen” toy. This is a toy that transports your child into their Zen mode, makes their body relax and their mind ignite. Every kid has one, or maybe more than one. My son finds this in his train table. He could spend hours at his train table, “huffing and puffing” his trains around with a quietly content smile. You know… the smile that lights up the eyes and only lifts the corner of the mouth slightly. My daughter, until recently, didn’t have a Zen toy. She thoroughly enjoyed her toys, but none reached the Zen potential. Then, for Christmas, she was given a “Littlest pet shop” tree house toy. She loves it. Lies on the floor, on her side, putting her little animals in and singing quietly to herself. Her face rests into pure relaxation and her eyes shine with pleasure. For both my kids, it’s a priceless quiet. Not only is it low volume, but it’s the sound of tranquility.
2- A really great noisy toy. I know… noisy toys are a no-no. They induce headaches in adults. Some of them don’t even have off switches so they start up with the slightest unintentional bump. And at the worst times. Oh, like, just when you FINALLY got the kids settled down and convinced them to go upstairs for bed. Nothing like the sounds of that noisy toy to remind them that fighting bedtime is fun.
On the other hand, the right noisy toy can bring hours of entertainment if properly chosen and implemented. For Christmas, we put together a wish list. On said list, we added a music set. A really loud one. Cymbals, a triangle, a tambourine, and wooden sticks to hit together. When you add it to the drum and maracas we already had, we have a veritable child band. A parade. And wow, is it loud. Especially the cymbals, which my son loves to bang together gleefully while giggling madly. I joke about his being the energizer bunny. My daughter loves to pound on the drums while singing her own personal version of Elmo’s song. It may be loud, but it’s wonderful. A treat, despite the volume.
3- A technology based toy that allows you to accomplish an entire task (one that takes more than 10 minutes) without being interrupted multiple times. I know. It’s bad to put your child in front of Elmo/Thomas/Mickey Mouse just to get something done. Or is it? I know that some days we would have no dinner if it weren’t for Thomas or Mickey Mouse on TV. It keeps my kids happy, keeps them away from the kitchen (i.e. safe), and keeps them distracted enough to forget how much fun it is to hit each other and steal toys while taunting blatantly (i.e. saving dinner from being burned to a crisp). It also helps on the days when our imposed schedule makes a nap impossible, but the kids still need their down time to avoid major crankies. We put on some Thomas and cuddle on the sofa. Peace is restored. All is well.
4- The perfect car toy. You know… the toy that lives in the car and keeps the kids happy while you are driving them to lunch or some other time when they are waiting for something that will satisfy a desperate need. For my kids, hunger is that desperate need. Every time.
You would laugh if you saw our perfect car toys. Really. Last year, about Valentine’s Day, Target started selling these wire flowers covered by fuzzy material. They cost 1$ each and they came in a few different colors. I bought a few and put them in the car. For a year now, these cheapo flowers have been our faithful companions. They are beloved and they are the victims of unlimited creativity. They dance and they fly. They even sing sometimes. But the funniest is when they bounce along to the song of the day. It’s great! The best few dollars I ever spent.
I mean really. We adults obsess over our toys. (Cars, computers, shoes…) Why can’t our kids?
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