Nov 12, 2010

Tis the Begging Season (and it won't work)!


My son is almost six. His birthday and Christmas are close together, too close for me to catch a breath in between. I have always tried to get things for him that will not only be fun but also last for more than a week before he's bored. I stay away from most plastic battery operated anything. So far my plan has worked and we have a minimal amount of useless stuff in our home and he is entertained and challenged.

Until now. Since before Halloween this year, he has suddenly developed a case of the serious "Gimmie's". Every single toy or gadget ad he sees, he wants. The crazy part is most of the things he is begging for are toys for babies and toddlers. It's like he's never seen a Fisher Price ad before, or he thinks he missed out on something.

I have tried until I'm blue in the face to explain that he is too old for a walk behind toy, whether it plays music or not! He's also doesn't need a toy laptop that helps him learn to read, when he has his own real desktop computer and he is reading second grade books!

I can't understand what's going on. He has always wanted to do things that are advanced for his age and even when he was a toddler, he was not interested in most toys. I have known from early on that he was learning faster than his years and may be very bright (I don't like the word "gifted", he's just way ahead in many areas) so asking for baby toys has me baffled!

I'm hoping this is some kind of emotional phase he has to work out. Maybe he's feeling insecure about growing up? Or maybe he feels cheated that he never had all that plastic stuff?
I'm certainly not going to waste money on it now, so he's out of luck if he's planning on guilting me into buying any of it.

I do think it's strange how most of the holiday advertising seems to be geared for either children under six or for pre-teen girls. Maybe I just watch the wrong channels on TV, but I sure don't see much offered for 6-10 year old boys. Then again, careful what you wish for, right?

3 comments:

Lin said...

I've always hated those toy ads on TV. The reason he wants them is because he is just being overrun with those enticing ads non-stop now that Christmas is looming. Tell him to write down all the things he sees on TV to ask Santa for. Act all excited about them too, and then sneak in a few of your ideas as well. I promise you, he will totally forget all those baby toys by the time Christmas morning comes. You gotta work it with Santa too--give Santa the high sign when he sits on his lap and asks for something that you just know he's not gonna get. Most Santas are up on that.

One year, my daughter went on and on about one of those Barbie cars that the kid can drive. I gave Santa the sign and he went on to tell her that it didn't look good for that because he didn't have all the parts for those Barbie cars. It was GREAT! I didn't have to be the bad guy. I loved that Santa.

Holly said...

I have a 10-year-old nephew and am stumped for a gift. Maybe I should get him a walking toy. :)

Vixen said...

I am sure he will grow out of it soon. Mine did. Wait...maybe it phases in and out. My 26 year old has a serious case of gimmies this year, ha ha.

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