Why Do We Buy Toys?

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Empty McCafe cups from McDonalds, empty pop bottles, and silverware in the dishwasher.  What do these three things have in common?  They all make the list of Nick’s favorite toys.  Yep, you read that right.  My son loves to play with dirty dishes and what Jason refers to as Nick’s trash.

Do you ever have days when you look at your kid, shake your head, and wonder why you even buy toys for them?   I don’t buy Nick a ton of toys, but when I do I spend a lot of time deciding on the purchase.  I wonder about whether or not he’ll like the toy.  Is it right for his age and development?  Is it too much like other toys that he has?  So much thought, energy, and money spent, and yet he’d be just as happy if I sat him on the floor and gave him an empty pop bottle.

Nick’s enjoyment with non-toys started when he was only a few months old.  As soon as he could see well enough to notice the ceiling fan he was hooked.  My mother always joked that our ceiling fans were Nick’s most expensive toys (sadly that wasn’t true).  His enjoyment only grew from there.  We assume his obsession with coffee cups came from us drinking from them so much around him.  Do you know what it’s like to be out somewhere and to have to beg someone at the counter to give you an empty cup so you can appease your hysterical child because you won’t let him have your cup which is full of scalding hot coffee?  One day a lady even came up to us and said that we needed to video tape Nick playing with the cups and send it to America’s Funniest Home Videos.  She said she thought it was adorable and she would totally vote for him.  It’s gotten to the point that I clean out McCafe cups and keep a few stashed in the cupboards so I can pull them out when we have coffee.

I shouldn’t make it sound like Nick doesn’t care about his toys because he does, but it is amazing that he can be as happy to stand at the dishwasher and sort the silverware as he is to play with his cars.  I suppose that as long as he’s happy I shouldn’t complain.  Still it amazes me how much joy he gets out of things that we care so little about.  Oh the stories we’ll have to tell him someday.