Comments on: Our Parenting Philosophy On Kids’ Toys (+ How To Get Family On Board)

By: Allmomneeds

Allmomneeds — Fri, 10 Apr 2020 13:40:21 +0000

As a mother i always let my daughter draw and make new things, thanks Lia!

By: Lia

Lia — Thu, 09 Apr 2020 03:59:59 +0000

I have three kids, including three year old twins, a boy and a girl. My son will turn anything into a sword. Today it was a chopstick. Yesterday it was a fairy wand. This morning he grabbed a butter knife in the kitchen and began parrying. We were tired of watching him waving various hard sticklike objects around and finally relented and got him a foam sword and shield at Legoland and now it is his favorite toy by far. He slept with both for days. I used to be anti toy weapons but son is truly interested and enjoys this type of play, and I don't think encourages aggression. My daughter is actually far rougher in her play without any weapons . Anyway, during the quarantine we found a sword workout on YouTube and have been doing that. It is a good workout!

By: Nicolette

Nicolette — Mon, 24 Feb 2020 03:48:02 +0000

I am not a mom but still loved this post. I remember years ago a family friend had a boy and that was the first time I heard about the no play weapon rule. At the time I thought it was a bit harsh (my brother legit thought he was Davy Crockett when he was little) but their reason totally made sense when I heard it. They lived on a 500 acre ranch and hunting was a normal part of their life. They wanted their boy to grow up thinking all guns were real so there was never mistaking one for a toy. I will also add as I’ve grown older, seeing kids play “shoot” each other, even just pointing fingers and making noise, really makes my stomach turn.

By: Parenting Passage

Parenting Passage — Mon, 17 Feb 2020 12:40:05 +0000

Thanks for sharing this :). Learned a lot from the philosophies you shared.

By: CM

CM — Sat, 15 Feb 2020 19:00:00 +0000

did you make that Disney Castle in the picture?!!
i would love to see a tutorial for it, and want to make one myself 🙂
thanks for the amazing posts!

By: Megan

Megan — Sat, 15 Feb 2020 09:28:16 +0000

This is great. I really try to encourage family to limit their gifts but i find if i suggest things that my daughter would really benefit from, we get that AND other presents too. It frustrates me so much.

We regularly go through her toys and cull. She is 4 1/2 now and gets involved in the decision making. We are going on a holiday to Disneyland (from Australia) in August and i have told her that every toy she is ready to let go of and we sell, that money goes into her bank account to save for something special on our holiday. She is really excited about this and has let go of some baby toys finally.

By: Carly

Carly — Fri, 14 Feb 2020 15:01:56 +0000

I LOVE this post and definitely plan on applying some of these "rules" to our home when the time comes to have a family. Funny story -- my parents had the same rules about weapon toys -- they just were not allowed in our home. My brother was obviously exposed to more of those types of toys as he got into elementary school, but my mom wouldn't budge. One morning he bit his toast into the shape of a gun to play with. My mom could not believe it.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Fri, 14 Feb 2020 02:56:31 +0000

Curious if he goes to a Montessori or Waldorf school? Seems like you follow a lot of that philosophy other than maybe rotating toys.

We were able to squash the too many toys thing for birthday by setting up her college fund and asking for contributions to that. They can even do it online.

I do have regrets on some of the toys we got her during the first year (she just turned 2) but we’re moving soon so I plan to use that as a way to purge. I’ve already noticed the less available the more she plays with what she has vs going from one thing to another every 30 seconds.

By: Heather

Heather — Thu, 13 Feb 2020 21:59:01 +0000

Really appreciated this post! We are adopting in March – and I’m already feeling overwhelmed by the amount family wants us to have. There are many awkward conversations ahead, I’m sure.

Thank you for sharing!

By: Victoria

Victoria — Thu, 13 Feb 2020 21:11:01 +0000

I don’t have kids of my own yet, but I share a lot of these opinions about toys. A lot of this is because of how I was raised. My mom had a strict no motorized vehicles rule. My sister and I would love to play with the Barbie jeeps you can sit in at the store, or at our friends’ homes, but we weren’t allowed to have one. We did have bikes and scooters and skates. My mom would say, “I want you girls to learn how to push yourselves.” Kind of corny, but to this day I agree with that philosophy.

Video games were also not allowed in my home as a kid, and because of that I have no interest in them today. They do not excite me, and it’s not something I would ever spend my time learning or playing. My boyfriend, on the other hand, loves video games (and the violent ones! yeesh!) and still plays them today at 31. This is already a big debate for us on the topic of parenting.

You talk about violence and “fighting moves.” Very young, my mother enrolled me in karate (I really wanted to! I don’t remember where I got the idea or how I became interested). It sounds violent, but the practice of karate actually teaches self discipline, control of your own body, and appropriate times to practice self defense (in class!).