Why I Am Pro-Toy

Yesterday, a friend of mine posted a link of a blog post about a mom who took away all of her kids toys because her kids were always asking for new toys. So she took away all of their toys and even took away the comforter off of their beds. My friend had a posed a question, was this abusive? You can read the whole article here but while it's not abusive, I think it's mean.

Emily does have a lot of toys. Probably more toys than she needs, but for the most part she plays with most of them on a regular basis. We do purges of toys every once in a while, mostly at this point the toys that she's too big for get sold.

We have always treated Emily as her own person, and her toys are hers. Most she got from us or as gifts, but some she has used her own money to buy. They are her things and she would honestly have to do something really bad to have them all taken away.

Usually when she does do something that is punishment worthy, we take away screen time. No TV, no iPad, that sort of thing. At that point, I want her to have access to her toys so she can play. It's still a punishment but it also doesn't leave her with absolutely nothing to do.

Besides, it's not really nice to have my own toys and deny her own. We have a stuffed animal addiction throughout our family. Emily has a ton, in part because she has gotten several that were mine and Todd's when we were kids. Todd and I also have our own stuffed animals even now that we sleep and cuddle with.

When Emily's room became overfilled with stuffed animals, we made her a deal. If she wanted to get a new one, she had to pick three or four old ones to give up. This way we were all happy.

Toys are fun and a part of childhood. Emily uses her imagination to make up stories with her toys. For that reason, even though my house is full of toys, I will always be for toys.

Want Vs. Need - The Frozen Conundrum

Emily and her own "Olaf"

As you may have noticed, I love Disney. Disney World, Disney movies, Disney music. Because of my love affair with all things Disney, we went to see Frozen in the theater. I actually saw it twice because Emily and I went to the Frozen sing-along too.

The DVD came out the day before my birthday so I got it as a birthday present to myself. Emily and I have seen it about a dozen times since then. But we have no Frozen toys, clothes or other merchandise in part because of the scarcity and in part because my kid has too many toys to begin with.

Emily is an only child, and I know we spoil her. But we try to keep the spoiling to a minimum. She's no Veruca Salt and doesn't get everything she wants. So there is no way I would be willing to spend even a $100 on the hard to get Frozen stuff.

Nobody's kid NEEDS an Elsa dress. They may want it, but when faced with the choice of no Elsa dress or having to pay tons of money for one the choice should be easy. But apparently parents are trying to get their kids the dresses, no matter what the cost.

Yes, Disney dropped the ball with Frozen merchandise, but I'm sure they are already ramping up production. And as soon as September hits and the Halloween stuff starts coming out, there will be a ton of Frozen costumes to buy.

I did ask Emily what she wanted to be for Halloween. I thought she'd say Anna, Elsa or possibly Sailor Moon. But she said that she wanted to be a pirate! That we can do but she'll probably change her mind before October.

The world isn't fair so while it's hard to not give my kid what she wants she needs to learn that the world isn't fair and you don't always get what you want. I wonder how those kids whose parents are stressing so much to get them Frozen stuff will turn out in the end.

What Does Pooh Think?

Miss Emily and Baby Pooh

I watched the first two Toy Story movies a few times before I became a mom. But since then, I've seen all three dozens of times because they are Emily's favorites. Because I've seen these so many times, I wonder what Emily's toys think. But mostly I wonder what Pooh Bear thinks about his current situation.

Pooh had life pretty easy for about 20 years. He was cuddled and loved, but I obviously didn't play with him once I was a teenager. Then along came Emily, who loves him a bunch but also loves playing with him. He's gotten a little more worn because of her playing but he's still in ok shape.

Lately, he's been Baby Pooh. Emily wraps him up in a blanket and hauls him all around the house. The toys in Toy Story would have been really happy with this situation since all they want is to be played with. Pooh doesn't look very happy though. I somehow see him thinking, "I'm too old for this s***" ala Roger Murtaugh.