March 8, 2012

Raise Your Eyebrows and Pass Your Judgement,
BUT Don't Take Away My Son's 'Ove' Glove

I catch a lot of hell and grief about some of my parental philosophies.

OK....that may be a little strong, but I definitely get the raised-eyebrow, disapproving glare more often than not.

Editor’s Note: I definitely don’t claim to be a parenting expert, but I have developed some viewpoints and I’ve started to figure out what works best for Team Myers.

The biggest points of contention, regarding my parental decisions, revolve around the following areas:
• Schedule

• Juice

• Gifts
To keep this post from being too exhausting, I only want to focus on one of these areas today: The gifts. (I’ll compare juice to black tar heroin another day.)

I was inspired to write this post after Crash’s second birthday. Someone said to me: “Please tell me you got him a present.”

Their eyebrow was already raised before I got the chance to answer.

“Yes, we got him one gift.”

My response did not squash the follow-up glare of judgment
that implied:

"ONLY ONE GIFT?!?!?!?"

I didn’t respond, though, because I can sleep at night knowing that I bought my son something he truly loves – but more importantly, something he genuinely appreciates.

The gift was a cute little school bus made out of recycled material (right). TK and I got it for him because the boy has NEVER met a “bool bus” that he didn’t love.

Random question: Is there a World Record for the number of times you can listen to “The Wheels on the Bus?” Just askin’.

Anyway, that was it – one “bool bus” for little Crash.

Confession 1: There are moments when I wonder if I’m depriving my son. (This usually hits me when we walk down the toy aisle at Target, and he starts acting like a hoarder at a garage sale.)

Confession 2: I personally get bored playing with the same toys over and over again.

It doesn’t take long for me to regain my focus, though: Love. Appreciation. Not going to raise a spoiled brat.

That’s my altruistic mind-set.

But I also wanted to share my common-sense rational: HE’S TWO! He thinks Tupperware and red solo cups are entertaining!

I will always provide for my son, and try to give him everything he wants and/or needs. But until he stops being amused by pocket change and cooking utensils – why compromise the college fund for some toys that won’t be touched?

The picture below tells a wonderfully great story and does a better job of supporting my stance on gifts:


Here’s an itemized list of his self-created activity:

• The ‘Ove’ Glove

• Deck of cards

• Cookie sheet

• Kitchen tongs

• Mini- spatula

• Rubber spatula

• Three cents

• Toy car

• Washcloth

• My wallet

So raise your eyebrows all you want and share your disapproving point of view, but please do it as your kid plays with the mixing bowl and the oven mitts.

Editor’s Note 2: They do NOT accept the ace of spades in lieu of a credit card at Starbucks.

4 comments:

Amanda said...

I think we have the same son. I seem to remember as well that your little guy shared a 2-year birthday around the same time as mine. (Ours was February 11th.) Haven't read your other thoughts on scheduling or juice, but I'm pretty sure we're right in line with you. We do juice...and we don't do schedules...and he happens to be one of the most contented children that I know. Great post! - Amanda

Drew Myers said...

Amanda,

Thanks for the comment. Unfortunately, after reading your comments, I think we might be on different pages with scheduling and juice. BUT if I've learned anything as a parent – every kid is different and there is not a perfect science. I appreciate you reading the blog and really appreciate the comment.

Keep your eyes peeled for the blog post when I compare juice to black tar heroin. ;)

DM

Sue Bacsik said...

Are my children going to be mentioned in the "juice" blog? :) Just remember...you raise your eyebrows too big brother!!!

Monika Worsley said...

You are making a phenomenal choice....the more they have, the less they play with it. I have started packing up toys while my kids are at school and hiding them (garage/closets/etc.). They don't notice and then eventually (rainy day or holiday weeks) I can pull them out and it is like Christmas morning. My kids STILL play imagination type games using random things around the house rather than "toys" and I love it. Good job, Dad.

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