That's Gotta Hurt

Oliver took a digger today pushing his new Tonka fire engine down the street. He was so excited to be racing along with a "fidah endine" that when the engine hit a bump he went head first over the top and scraped his face on the concrete. Ouch!

The fire engine, along with an ambulance and a tractor with it's attendant horse, cow, rooster, sheep, pig and of course farmer, are all new additions to our household. They all make noise (lots of noise!) and have lights that flash. They are the result of a pitched battle that I fought a few days ago with Ryan on the subject of toys, and represent a major retreat from my former position. Here's the thing, I am a real Scrooge when it comes to toys. I feel that less is more. I don't like buying lots of toys because:

• I want to choose playthings carefully so that they will foster creative play. I believe that toys should be "tools for play" and the best toys are the ones that are relatively open-ended and don't need batteries but do require imagination on the part of the child.


• I don't want to encourage materialism or consumerism by setting up the expectation that anytime we go shopping Oliver will get a toy or a treat. I don't want to create the false impression that "things" will make you happy.


• I feel like if he has fewer toys he will actually play with the ones he has.


• I think it's more important to give kids rich experiences than a closet full of toys. So rather than buying lots of toys, we draw, we read, we play ball, we make forts, we go to the park, or the playground, or the children's museum, or the science museum or have playdates.


• I don't want to have a whole lot of clutter around the house (Admittedly, a major part of my resistance to a lot of toys is totally selfish, so sue me.)

So, truly, I almost never buy toys for Oliver. He gets great toys from his grandparents and I figured that was enough. Ryan argued that Oliver LOVES cars, trucks, buses, airplanes, construction equipment, in short, anything with an engine and that we were depriving him by not letting him have more cars/trucks. I countered that what he needed was not more cars and trucks but art supplies. I busted out my litany of reasons why he didn't need toys (see above). Ryan laughed. I realized that I need to loosen up and that I am being a major spoilsport, killjoy, wet blanket, Debbie Downer, etc. In short, NO FUN. So, I totally fell off the wagon. In the last two days I've bought him three new battery opperated vehicles and we spent the day watching the movie CARS. Twice.

Oliver was over the moon.

I'll say it here, Ryan, you were right, I was wrong. I'm glad that Ollie has two parents so that we can more or less keep each other on track and that hopefully in doing so we will raise happy, well-adjusted kids.

In other news, here is the sight that greeted me on Saturday morning. What goofy guys!