We’re different kind of parents. Although we’re not so radically different that we only buy wooden toys for our Little Bit (I know of a family who does that), but we don’t have many toys for her. Sometimes I feel guilty about this when we go to other people’s homes and their same-aged kids are loaded with toys and Little Bit tears after everything and is occupied for about 3 hours, with no argument.
Then I hear the parents complain on how many toys their kid has, how it’s so hard to clean, and how it’s so expensive. Then why do it at all? Our daughter plays with pots and pans, dollies from the dollar store, scraps of fabric, and her own imagination. She’s pretty content with all of that everyday. She has a stack of blocks, a ball pit (yard sale find), and a bouncy horsey-thing. That’s pretty much it. Compared to her little friends, she’s pretty poor in the toy department.
But why do parents do this to themselves? Why spend all that money on toys that their kid rarely plays with? We let family buy for her.. for all holidays. It’ll change once she gets a little older and will realize that she’s receiving gifts from Mommy and Daddy.
Take away those bells, whistles, dings, doinks, boings, and see what happens.