I absolutely fell in love with this story. I hit the wall this past year with my own kids and the overload of toys they owned – but ignored. The simple toys work best for my son (4.5 years old). Blocks, LEGO, miscellaneous cars. My daughter is 10.5 and really wants nothing more than LEGO, some music instruments and books… LOTS of books.
Years ago my husband and I fell into a guilt cycle/trap of overcompensating with toys because we both work insane hours (we work from home, but that doesn't equal quality time with the kids). We have whittled it down and decided to focus on experiences not things. We are attempting to take long weekend trips with the kids instead of a pile of toys that will only go untouched. So far we haven't been able to carve out that much time (or money) to do it, but it's a start.
Growing up myself in a poor single-mom household in a town of blue collar families, I know that toys don't mean automatic happiness as a child. My neighborhood friends and I were like a gaggle of bandits running around the block pulling along one of the kid's reclaimed red wagon filled with the most amazing collection of sticks, rocks, and leaves you could ever want. It was fun, and it was enough.
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Do you agree with this mother? Can growing up without toys be MORE beneficial?
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The Boy With No Toys
Before he was born, his mother decided her son would have no toys. Abandoned by the father, she was already a single parent. She made a living cleaning for other people. Most days she took the bus ……
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You're a good mother Lynette. Long live the Legos!
Pros: I remember each one of the toys that were given to me, they were so few.
One thing I learned from being a parent. There are no perfect parents. 🙂
🙂
I can relate, my parents lived under the poverty line and could not afford toys. When I think back to my childhood, in all the ways that are important, I was a happy a kid as anyone.
We have limited toys for our son, on birthdays we just ask for gift cards, useful for buying books and drawing materials, he knows that he can get whatever he wants, but since we have made an effort to keep toys to a minimum..he doesnt crave them..and focuses on whats infront of him, books, art, music, maps etc…as parents we have complete control how we shape our children..upto us how we use that power
the toys and fantasy…
Screw that quality time with the folks nonsense! Gimme the toys! 😉 Seriously tho, I think like everything, moderation is the key. Toys teach rules, adaptation, learning, creativity, logical thought, and all sorts of stuff that books can't teach.
We had some toys growing up, but not that many. We played outside in the fields, played in the rain, snow, sun, etc. We had bikes and rode them just about everyday, my brother and I. We also did chores inside and outside. I gave away my Barbies to a less fortunate little girl as I got older and never really had that many toys. We had board games and played cards. I don't think kids "need" toys. Parents "need" toys so they don't have to occupy their children.
yes
This is the only way to raise a child. My son will attest to this. I raised him this way starting 33 years ago and he has some very fond memories of his child hood.
I agree Nature toy
There is difference between parental Love and every other othe love a child may have. As a matter fact, i happened to a living testimony of this kind of issue. Am from a broken family. I believe you know what that really. I have friends who are not from broken family. Whenever am with them, i do feel the family Love/tie between them which is what am missing. You know, because of this, i couldn't cope. So i had to console myself with smoking and some ocultic things. Latter in 2007 December, that God save me from these habits. There is nothing you can compare parental Love with. It is not possible at all.
God bless all.
How do we translate this to the Iranian – Pakistani conflict, I wonder…
I actually took the same route with my two year old. He loves his Legos. Every time he points at something with a letter I tell him what it is…. I do not light up like some toys, but I think he still finds me entertaining.
We never made a conscious choice not to give our chilren toys, but the money for big ticket items like wii was never there. When we did finally run into a small blessing, boy did our children let us know what really mattered. Theyre grown now and would rather play cards, scrabble or just be with us. Their choice in gifts is always personal or just a card. Ill take an "I love you."
The part about the garden has a particular connection for me. My father had a large garden in our back yard in D.C. My friends would come over and we'd pick a basket of cherry tomatoes, sit on the porch with a little salt and pepper and eat the whole thing.
We were the "Kool-Ade" house because all the kids like to come help in the garden
Hi Lynette, your thoughts really resonate. Well done for making changes; I agree that experiences are much more important.