Comments on: Buy Fewer Children’s Toys, but Buy Higher Quality Items (68/365)

By: EngineerMom

EngineerMom — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 18:00:00 +0000

I encourage my parents and in-laws to get second-hand toys for my kids, and I buy most of their gifts at Once Upon a Child, Half-Price Books, or yard sales.

I agree about getting toys that last. My son plays with a set of blocks my grandfather made for my MOM when she was a kid! Wooden train sets, Lincoln logs, simple wood dollhouses, Duplos, good-quality stuffed animals (doesn’t have to be pricey – the ones at IKEA are surprisingly durable; we’ve washed my son’s Doggy numerous times, and it looks nearly new at over 3 years old), etc.

I would also add buying things like doll’s clothes at craft fairs, or making your own. They tend to be of a much higher-quality fabric and last a lot longer than the typical cheap clothes that come with the doll.

By: jim

jim — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 08:38:47 +0000

Hey Mark, what’s up. I’m sitting up having drink too. Fifth of jack daniels, tube of K-Y and some dvds.

By: Mark Gavagan

Mark Gavagan — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 08:32:10 +0000

Anyone out there? I’d like to have a drink and talk about my childhood.

By: Mark Gavagan

Mark Gavagan — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 08:20:09 +0000

Yeah I remember Christmas when I was a kid…dad gave me the stack of playboys from the year before that he was done with and mom got me a carton of cigs. Didn’t have to worry about where any of that was going to wind up. Smoked the cigs, and no one wanted the second-hand porn after I got through with it.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 06:56:08 +0000

Brittany really needs to work on her “Dutch Tilt.” It doesn’t just work with any composition. And her angle is far too extreme. She also needs to work on her Photoshop skills. Her histograms are virtually all too far to the left (too dark), always.

By: Elaine

Elaine — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 01:04:43 +0000

Just be careful when you sell or give your children’s things away that it is ok with them. My brother sold my dolls at a garage sale when I was away at school and I was really upset. I intended to keep them for my kids. My own children have over 2,000 kids books (we have a large family and instead of toys for gifts we encouraged giving books) and they have no intention of getting rid of them-they love them and intend to read them all to their kids. They also have treasured toys and dolls that they will always keep. We had our kids star the three things they most wanted on their Christmas lists and then supplemented those with items that fostered creative play-crayons, paints, legos, lincoln logs, blocks, play dough, large pads of newsprint paper. They could always keep themselves entertained.

By: jim

jim — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 23:14:30 +0000

I probably got closer to 10 gifts as a kid. Mom liked to buy a lot of gifts for us. A lot of the gifts were small value items. We didn’t usually get bigger ticket items. So I’d be more likely to get 10 action figures instead of 1 video game console.

By: Jane

Jane — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 21:40:43 +0000

We probably bought our kids 10 Christmas gifts or even more. It sounds like a lot, but when you break it down it isn’t. For instance, one was a $4.00 Berenstain Bears book. I just like to have lots of things that they can open on Christmas morning, because young kids love the act of opening gifts. We usually get them only one big gift each – usually a $40 or more item. But this year, my one year old’s big gift was a riding car that we bought used at a secondhand store for $10. He didn’t know the difference, and besides, gifts from Santa are usually unwrapped under the tree anyway. We also bought my older son used Thomas tracks and trains on ebay. He didn’t know the difference and we saved a ton of money.

Obviously when the kids get older I might not be able to get away with this, but I am encouraged by my nephews. They live in a pretty liberal and hippy community, and when they attend their close friends birthday parties, the tradition is for attenders to bring a used toy or something or other that they like. I love this idea. They are 10 and 12.

By: Katie

Katie — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 21:06:41 +0000

jackie, yes.

By: jackie

jackie — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 20:56:20 +0000

Are there really people that buy their kids 10 Christmas gifts?

By: Johanna

Johanna — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 20:35:36 +0000

There is no higher quality toy than gravity-defying Lincoln Logs.

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 20:16:06 +0000

We got our girls some used lots of Duplos off eBay after Christmas (they had some funds from relatives to be used toward toys they’d like). They both have been enjoying them to no end… they have other toys, but the Duplos just keep winning… and the great thing is my wife and I don’t mind playing with them either! I think we paid around $100 up front, but I’m fairly confident that $100 will get us several years of hard play.

By: Angie

Angie — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 20:13:31 +0000

It’s “artistic” because of the extreme angle right?