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Toys and stuff for children... am I strange?
Any one else really picky about the toys they like for their children? I am boarderline Waldorf, but not THAT picky. lol... I like the Only Hearts Dolls, I am starting to warm up to the American Girl History dolls, I like things that are not marked with advertisements (like stuffed animals, or blankets with Barbie, Bratz, HSM, Hannah Montana, etc)...
Am I weird? I know I am not in my little circle of homeschooling, strict, nearly sheltered mamas. lol! But am I, in general, that far off the beaten path?
(Keep in mind my childrens birthdays are both this week...)
Love Val
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Val; Living the dream we have been working towards for over 5 years.
Mama to Alex, Cyan, and Logan. Wife to my very best friend.
Depends on what path you are on There is a big beaten path, aka what can be easily found at Toys R Us and Walmart, and then there is a meandering wooded foot path that winds along near the larger. It occassionally crosses the big path but for the most part just keeps it in sight and enjoys the quieter scenery along the way. If someone is not on your path then they go with what is readily available or on sale or makes noise Those on the wooded path will generally pick similarly to you unless they are at that moment crossing the bigger path (in which case there is lots readily available and flashing) or are in one way or another late and have to do the best they can with what is available.
Strange? no. In a minority? yes. When other people are buying for my kids its always a fun surprise to see what comes. I know my kids will enjoy everything because I have thoughtful friends that think of them, their age, their interest (all or at least one of those three things). I know that I will enjoy 'some' of it because many of my friends are like minded. I know that I will grin and bear some of it (for a season) because my mom did the same for me- and thats half the fun for the kid, getting something truly 'different' than their ordinary.
Sarah
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Also bearing in mind that finances being what they are- our preferences are not usually the cheapest. You mention Only Hearts Club dolls; $17each compared to a $9 sale Barbie. You mention American Girl Dolls; $90each plus shipping compared to wayyyyy less depending on what mainstream doll you want to compare it to. Waldorf dolls are the same price point, wooden toys are pricey (and your two olders are a bit out of that range or already have the key stuff like kitchen stuff). Organic clothing compared to mainstream fashion clothes? pricey unless you know where to look.
You have to admit that minimalists are hard to shop for and that its rarely our kids that are the minimalists, its us- and its not our birthday
Location: When I dare to be powerful -- to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.
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So very true. Sigh. Birthdays and Christmas are hard. At least most of the family has clued in. Roselle only sends books and toys that go along. PERFECT gifts in my opinion.
And we are minimalists, aren't we? That is a nicer way of saying it. We are minimalists... not picky.
Well I have decided, Cyan got so much Hannah Montana stuff yesterday that I have to sidetrack her a bit. So I think I may get her an American Girl doll sometime soon. I can't stomach the Hannah Montana stuff. Not because I am against anything she stands for etc (I don't even know what she is about, we don't have tv after all), but because she is SO marketed and I can not deal with the "I want!" at the store when she sees a HM comforter, HM sweatshirt, HM shoes, HM doll, HM sandles, HM smoothie cup... the list goes on. Can't do it. Will drive me batty! So I would rather hear about AG. And I feel HORRIBLE about it. Becuase I did grin and bare it. And I love my friends and love that they think of my children. But I have to guide them the way I see fit (and that keeps my sanity)...
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Can I tell you? K went through a several-month-long Hannah Montana phase. I bit my tongue. Okay that's not true...I critiqued the marketing especially, but then we talk a lot about how things are marketed etc. And then? She woke up one day and HATED Hannah Montana. She does not want to buy a thing that's HM (oh and we'd bought/been gifted a few crappy items that broke almost instantly, which helped LOL), she does not want to watch the show, does not want to be a famous singer/rock star now. Seriously - it's OVER. And it had little if anything to do with me...
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Any one else really picky about the toys they like for their children? I am boarderline Waldorf, but not THAT picky. lol... I like the Only Hearts Dolls, I am starting to warm up to the American Girl History dolls, I like things that are not marked with advertisements (like stuffed animals, or blankets with Barbie, Bratz, HSM, Hannah Montana, etc)...
Am I weird? I know I am not in my little circle of homeschooling, strict, nearly sheltered mamas. lol! But am I, in general, that far off the beaten path?
(Keep in mind my childrens birthdays are both this week...)
Love Val
I am very picky about what I buy for my kids, but... somehow they're not so picky.
For the baby (he's 1) I have only bought nice wooden and/or cloth toys. Someone please tell me WHY he is more attracted to plastic junk?!
My middle child is 3, and she has a variety of things. Lately she has mostly been playing with dolls, her dollhouse, and blocks. That makes me happy. But, when we are out and about she is drawn to the plastic-y, super junky stuff too.
My oldest is 6, and his latest thing is Pokemon. Other than that, he has always been most interested in cars and trucks. He has 8 million Matchbox cars and trucks and at least 4 million firetrucks, ambulances etc. He plays with them a lot though. He too, is totally drawn to plastic-y crap at stores.
I think a lot of it is payback. I so remember being a kid and wanting the junky toys and my parents telling me they would break... and I didn't care, I just wanted them.
Anyway, yeah I'm picky about toys too. Mostly, I let them keep stuff they are given and then when they forget about it, we give it to Good Will.
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Location: When I dare to be powerful -- to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.
Posts: 9,502
See, this is Cyan we are talking about. I can't tell her she can't have something, or I don't like it, because the FIRST thing that would happen is that she would LOVE it. lol... It would be her "favorite" thing and she would carry it all over and/or wear it all the time. So I have to get very creative with the way that I get her into things. Like when I really needed her to be done with the Arctic unit study we were on last winter. OMG... if I read one more book on Narwhals, and Polar Bears I was going to puke, but she was set... she wasn't done studying it. So instead of fighting with her on it, I rented an entire season of MeerKat Manor from Netflix......... Needless to say, with in a week we were studying Africa and the Okavango Delta.
I can't mention how much I hate something... or even why. She doesn't care. She is a 13 yr old in a little kid body. What ever I think is the worst, she thinks is the coolest thing ever. (Well, honestly, that isn't quite so true now... but for a long time that was the only way it ever worked. Now, she trusts my opinion more and has a bit more understanding of the world. Hopefully that grows with time....)
Don't you guys remember the posts where she said things like:
"I know it isn't good for my body. But it wouldn't be bad for my body if I just ate it today."
Yeah... she was 3 then... she has just gotten better at that type of argument since (and doesn't even make it an argument anymore.)
So anyhow... That is the reason why I am thinking of getting her an American Girl doll... Don't say you don't like HM... just say "WOW! Lets get this awesome doll and read her book." They are cool. She'll be hooked... and then the HM stuff can slowly, and stratigically disappear.
Distraction.
She will occasionally talk about how much she misses this thing or that... but that is easily glossed over with a "Oh, I am so sorry about that... hey, lets read another chapter in that new book we just got."
lol - a friend of mine picked up a cheap plastic doll Leila had been gifted (she's got several, intermixed with the waldorf dolls) and said "wow - I'm surprized to see this in your house.. it's not the kind of thing your kids usually play with." Cracked me up.
We're putting off the girls' birthday party until school starts again since everyone's out of town.. I'm scared to see what will come. Lindsey, however, already said that if she gets hannah montana and other things that she doesn't want, she's going to save them to donate to the angel tree at the police station at Christmas.
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I have to be that way with Katie too. If I hate something, she'll just love it even more. If I ban it, she'll want it that much more. I hear ya on distraction. I think it makes you creative.
I hear you mama. We've tried really hard to avoid the 'characters' but DD recently discovered Dora (thanks mom and dad ) and she looooooves her. Ah well. I doubt I could avoid it forever anyway.
I agree though, I am mostly just annoyed that I can't go down ANY aisle of the grocery store without seeing her face on something! It isn't like you can just avoid the toy section. Cereal, yogurt, fruit bars, bubble bath - even the flower section in the front had a 'garden set' with Dora. And guess where DD beelined to.
I love american girl dolls and their accessories. (I have a few myself ) I much prefer a few very nice quality toys to a load of junk, and my kids do too.
I think I'm very lucky. DD, at six, has learned the value of a dollar. She does not want to "waste" her money on "lots of junk" when she doesn't need things to be happy. She asked for somethings a couple days ago and DH asked her to look at the price and determine if that's what she wanted our money to go towards. She looked and immediately put them back saying that there were better things to do with her money. That's my girl! This is the same child who still hasn't spent a penny of her money in over years because she wants a horse one day.
She's also fairly good at understand why I dislike something when I explain it to her.
Step-dd said she dislikes holidays now because she gets too much stuff that's cheap, icky and breaks quickly. She says the things we give her rarely break and are "original". She hated that we didn't buy into commercialized things when she was younger. I don't know if it's lip service or what, because she's about as commercialized as a person gets (HM, Jo Bros, Camp Rock, "cool" clothing brands, Bratz, etc.), but she does seem to truly love unusual and unique things given to her.
I think I'll just keep on keepin' on. Obviously it's good on some level if that's what the teen is saying, right?
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There is a big beaten path, aka what can be easily found at Toys R Us and Walmart, and then there is a meandering wooded foot path that winds along near the larger. It occassionally crosses the big path but for the most part just keeps it in sight and enjoys the quieter scenery along the way. If someone is not on your path then they go with what is readily available or on sale or makes noise 
Those on the wooded path will generally pick similarly to you unless they are at that moment crossing the bigger path (in which case there is lots readily available and flashing) or are in one way or another late and have to do the best they can with what is available.
) and she looooooves her. Ah well. I doubt I could avoid it forever anyway.
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