Toys are a big part of any child’s life. Especially these days with the consumerist society and expectations of having presents at most occasions. As a kid it is great. Having a present at birthdays, Christmas visits from grandparents, occasionally from visiting friends or when she visits friends. There are always new toys to play with, and toys which always sit in the cupboard.
Some toys make the constant play list, and for Sophie it is sharks in the bath, blocks on the floor and making dinosaur houses, the dinosaurs, unicorn pillow and of course Windee. They keep ending up everywhere and we are constantly putting them away. I have broken a few toys by standing on them – such as a flashing wand and a ship. Sophie still doesn’t want to put anything away though. We are trying to order the house, and her room, but we are doing everything.
On the weekend I asked her to put all her soft toys on the shelf and what would have taken me five minutes took her over half an hour. She had a whole great adventure of every toy going in there, with an electronic candle in the “cave” which was guiding the way. Every time I was looking in she was halfway into the shelf, providing voices for all the toys (including the candle), moving things around and seemed to be having a great time. I guess it worked, all the toys were put away, I just have to be patient. Which is difficult. I see it as a simple job which shouldn’t take much time, but Sophie turns into a fun adventure and takes so much longer. It is fine in the middle of the afternoon, but when we want to go somewhere it is frustrating.
The other interesting things is when friends come over. All of a sudden toys which have been neglected for months are brought out, played with and fought over. She wouldn’t want to play with it normally, but if another kid has it, it must be hers. However she is very good with sharing – much better than some of the friends who turn up it must be said. It was funny watching Aiden walk around and try to carry as many toys as possible to prevent Sophie playing with anything, even though they were Sophie’s toys. I had to limit him to two, one in each hand. He had to choose what he wanted. That was a hard decision for him.
Sophie also wants to take the easy way with electronic toys. There is a wiggles keyboard, but she doesn’t want to play the keys, all she wants to do is play the prerecorded songs. Which can be a tad repetitive as she loves the Dorothy the dinosaur song. It does get more interesting / annoying when she keeps pressing the buttons and we have the first two seconds repeated endlessly. Maybe I need to get her listening to more electronic music.
Whichever way we look at it, Sophie has a lot of toys, of every variety and uses them in ways I don’t necessarily expect. There is a game toy I was given “Hammer – Beat Each Other Severely” which has two figures with a shield and a fist who beat each other. You win if the other head (on a spring / magnet) pops off. After playing for a while, Sophie wanted to make the figures kiss. I can’t imagine a boy wanting to do that. When she got a barbie doll the first thing she did was get it naked, and then she wanted to cut its hair off. It was quite funny. I don’t think that it has had clothes on since – at least six months now, and still has its hair.
Some toys make the constant play list, and for Sophie it is sharks in the bath, blocks on the floor and making dinosaur houses, the dinosaurs, unicorn pillow and of course Windee. They keep ending up everywhere and we are constantly putting them away. I have broken a few toys by standing on them – such as a flashing wand and a ship. Sophie still doesn’t want to put anything away though. We are trying to order the house, and her room, but we are doing everything.
On the weekend I asked her to put all her soft toys on the shelf and what would have taken me five minutes took her over half an hour. She had a whole great adventure of every toy going in there, with an electronic candle in the “cave” which was guiding the way. Every time I was looking in she was halfway into the shelf, providing voices for all the toys (including the candle), moving things around and seemed to be having a great time. I guess it worked, all the toys were put away, I just have to be patient. Which is difficult. I see it as a simple job which shouldn’t take much time, but Sophie turns into a fun adventure and takes so much longer. It is fine in the middle of the afternoon, but when we want to go somewhere it is frustrating.
The other interesting things is when friends come over. All of a sudden toys which have been neglected for months are brought out, played with and fought over. She wouldn’t want to play with it normally, but if another kid has it, it must be hers. However she is very good with sharing – much better than some of the friends who turn up it must be said. It was funny watching Aiden walk around and try to carry as many toys as possible to prevent Sophie playing with anything, even though they were Sophie’s toys. I had to limit him to two, one in each hand. He had to choose what he wanted. That was a hard decision for him.
Sophie also wants to take the easy way with electronic toys. There is a wiggles keyboard, but she doesn’t want to play the keys, all she wants to do is play the prerecorded songs. Which can be a tad repetitive as she loves the Dorothy the dinosaur song. It does get more interesting / annoying when she keeps pressing the buttons and we have the first two seconds repeated endlessly. Maybe I need to get her listening to more electronic music.
Whichever way we look at it, Sophie has a lot of toys, of every variety and uses them in ways I don’t necessarily expect. There is a game toy I was given “Hammer – Beat Each Other Severely” which has two figures with a shield and a fist who beat each other. You win if the other head (on a spring / magnet) pops off. After playing for a while, Sophie wanted to make the figures kiss. I can’t imagine a boy wanting to do that. When she got a barbie doll the first thing she did was get it naked, and then she wanted to cut its hair off. It was quite funny. I don’t think that it has had clothes on since – at least six months now, and still has its hair.
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