Toys are a funny thing when you're a parent. You think you know your child, and you really do know them better than anyone, but it is so hard to hit the jackpot with toys. I can't tell you how many times I bought something thinking that he would just go nuts over it, and he could care less!
When he was just learning to crawl, I saw a little ball at TJ Maxx that lit up and played music when you moved it. He would go crazy for music and lights at that age, so I though he was going to be in playing heaven when I took it out of the bag. Wrong! 100% Wrong! He could have cared less. It was that month that he was completely captivated by the plastic tube my electronic milk frother came in. He pushed that around the floors for weeks. I eventually put it in the toy basket so he could find it and keep himself busy for hours. WTF? I'm sure that plastic tube had a warning on it that discouraged such behavior, but he loved that damn thing, and I wasn't about to take away something that was fun!
I have definitely hit it big with anything that involves trucks. He is such a boy's boy, and he loves anything with wheels. I do however want to cut my own ears off when I buy him something that makes noise. It seems like such a good idea in the store; like the fire engine I bought the other day that had a real siren sound amongst other work related noises. It was a great idea in the store as he carried it around happily in the basket like a baby angel. Then, we got in the car, and the button was pushed time after time after time until we got home. I was in a fire emergency nightmare! It was awful!
On the same trip to Target, I bought him the Splish Splash Pool. It looked like so much fun, and who could resist the verbiage on the the box. It talked about how much fun your child will have riding the dolphin and sliding down the whales back, and if your child needs a break from the sun, well, he/she can just hang out under the rainbow for a break. It was to be a garden of Eden in my own back yard. I was going to sit there sipping a Mocktail in my adirondack chair as he played fancily in his little resort. He always goes apeshit for fountains, especially ones that you can stick your hands in. The Splish Splash pool was this and more; the entire perimeter was a fountain that filled up the pool with about 4 inches of glorious water.
Well, we blew it up which took at least 45 minutes and the use of our neighbor's air compressor. We set it up and brought him down. His eyes lit up when he saw it. He pointed and squealed as we got closer. He couldn't wait to get down! Then.......he just stood there about 4 feet away and pointed at it. He would point, then look at us, then point, then look back at us. My neighbor got in the pool in an attempt to entice him in, but he just stayed put. I couldn't stand it any longer, so I grabbed him and sent him sliding gleefully down the whale's back. Once he hit the water he screamed and dog paddled through the air!
He had that look of flight or fright (or whatever it is) on his face. He was basically pawing at the air for his life and crying so bad! I grabbed him, and that is when I realized the water was like ice! No one told me that the water from the hose is a good 57 degrees when it comes out. It's like spraying snow on someone! It sucks! Poor little guy hated his Splish Splash pool. It could have been so much fun, but I wouldn't even put my feet in it. I decided that the damn Splish Splash pool was good for only one thing.....icing a sports injury.
Like I said, you think you know what your kids will love, and sometimes you do, but sometimes it just couldn't be more of a waste of money. At least Pigpen is big enough to point to and play with things in the store that he likes. Sometimes we'll push a truck around the isles of the store for about 10 minutes and then leave it there for next time.....sometimes we buy it, and sometimes I let him slobber on the $1.99 plastic ice cream scoop at Homegoods so he won't lick the handle of the shopping cart, and then we get to the register and I tell the girl, "we're not going to get that one."
What? You mean you've never done that.....
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