...because we all have our motley moments!


Sunday, September 13, 2009

TOYS: To Play Or Not To Play...

My son has MANY toys... sometimes too many.

He has some REALLY REALLY nice toys. So nice that I don't want him to play with them because I don't want him to ruin them or lose pieces.

When he got these toys as gifts I was like:
"Oh, look at this great toy... wont that be so fun to play with?..... No- don't touch it!"

I know that it defeats the purpose of the toy to have it and NOT play with it... but I can't help it that I want to keep them nice. It is not like I NEVER want him to play with it... just not until he is old enough to respect the toy! (which will probably be too old to enjoy playing with it. )

I am not too worried about it right now since I can easily distract him with an empty 2 liter bottle. He can bang on that thing all day! Why is that kids like to play with containers (AKA garbage) more than other toys?


So, for now I will keep all his cute puzzles, and nicely crafted toys on the top shelf and leave the empty 2-liter bottles and boxes on the bottom shelf!

How do you handle toys in your house?

6 comments:

Rachel said...

We were given an AMAZING pop-up book about Noah's Ark at our son's baby shower, and after two near-heart attacks when he started pulling on the pages I finally put it away. I actually tried to give it away, but I noticed several other people had the same book on a high shelf, too! So, there it sits, and I have no idea what we're going to do with it.

I did order some nice wooden trains and cars that I was afraid I would be too nervous to let him have, but after a few little dings and dents, they look really loved. (Reading The Velveteen Rabbit helped, too!) One of the pegs broke on the train engine, and we sent it back to the company to repair, which they did free of charge by the way, and it was so neat to get the same beaten-up train car back with a new peg. One day I hope he will look at some of those nicer toys with little boo boos here and there and remember how much fun he had playing with them.

The book, though, is still off limits! ;)

Fawnda@Fireflies and Jellybeans said...

Yes! We have some pop up books that he is not allowed to have too! I almost have a heart attack when he touches them too.

Auntie Bee said...

I was that way for a while, until the day I realized some of the pristine toys that used to be too precious to let him have were now too baby-ish for him to play with, and then I regretted that the toys had not served their life's purpose. Ever seen Toy Story 2? :)

But when a pop bottle suffices, why worry?

But I totally understand about toys with parts. Those are worth keeping nice and high, as long as you remember to pull them down and supervise his play sometimes.

And both kids have pop up books that remain off limits. :) we read them together, and then they go back up up up high in the closet.

Unknown said...

yeah, I've had the same problem. Since Sage is now 4, she's old enough to be able to play "respectfully" (somewhat) with those types of toys (puzzles, kid card games, Barbies, etc.) but it's still hard because I have younger ones around the house too... I just take them out and let her play for a while, then when she's done they get put away again, unlike the other toys that are just strewn all over the house.

Donna said...

I agree with Auntie Bee. I don't know exactly what sort of toys you're hiding on the top shelf, so it's hard to comment specifically. If they are not age appropriate, by all means, they need to stay out of reach so little parts don't get swallowed. Otherwise, let him play, but supervise so that you can teach him how to respect the toy. Model for him how to put it gently into its basket when you're all done playing with it, let him have a turn, and then put it back on the shelf. Only take out ONE toy at a time, play with it with him, then model picking it up and putting it away (clean-up can be part of the fun at that age).
You may already be doing these things, but add a little dialogue to it so he begins to understand WHY you're being gentle and putting the toy away when you're all done.

Lindsay said...

I don't let my kids play with special toys when they are small, but then again I didn't really have any "baby" toys that couldn't be played with. But at age 6, and 4 my kids can play with anything in our house. The 18 month old however doesn't get to play with some of those things mainly because of small parts.

I had some dolls growing up that my mom wouldn't let me play with because they wouldn't look new and pretty anymore, but here 20+yrs later they still look new and pretty but never played with.

My oldest has a American Girl doll that is WELL loved. At first I was careful purely because of the price tag (even though it was a gift from Grandma), but I finally let go and let her play with it. The poor doll has crazy hair but she is well loved, so I'm okay with it!