The Toydirondacks

     I have decided that the cure for any child's obsession with Thomas the Train is buying that child... a train table. The cure for wanting a robot is... using piggy bank $ to buy that robot. The cure for a love of fire trucks very well might be... asking Santa for that very shiny, big firetruck with the extra long ladder!  Get the idea?  Seriously, I was confronted with my child's mountain of toys when just yesterday I heard a really loud clatter from the family room.
     It was Liam and he was buried by a mountain of toys.  "I was standing on the exercise ball and trying to reach my favorite game!" I heard Liam tell me from underneath a pile of blocks.  Before helping him I ran upstairs to get a camera (worst best mom ever, right?).  To be truthful, I think I asked him if he was okay and he did say he was (maybe).  Okay, so he really was fine.  The ball had possibly shot him backwards so he was not crushed by the actual shelving unit.  Or maybe he was saved from the shelving unit because part of it landed on top of the toy kitchen?  Whatever.  In this mountain of toys was the aforementioned pile of blocks and kitchen but also his "favorite game" (Ants in the Pants), puzzles, trains, an assortment of mismatched and out of proportioned plastic dinosaurs, musical instruments and much more!  I tried to rescue a basket of Potato Head accessories but they also slid into the mess making more trouble.  After cleaning everything up, we found our last misplaced toy- Harry Hungry Hippo in the "cars" basket.  What mess had we gotten ourselves into?  And I don't mean a literal mess.  I mean the mess of the fact that this mountain of toys only contained about 15% of the toys we own.  Maybe even less if you include outdoor toys!
     I swear I don't spoil Liam and Josh and neither does Bill. We don't buy our kids "souvenirs" or anything really.  I usually buy stuff for Christmas/Hanukkah (but I'm mindful of the fact that they both come so close together), birthdays and "garage sale season".  Liam will occasionally cash in his piggy bank $ for a toy too.  It's just that they accumulate, these toys. They seem so appealing and so necessary... and then they sit on a shelf ready to be knocked over.
     The other morning, Liam said to Bill and I, "Mommy, Daddy, do you know what an I-Pod is?  My friends have I-Pods."  Mind you, his neighborhood friends are 10 years old.  Mindfully, we asked Liam, "What is an I-Pod?"  He told us that an I-Pod is for playing games.  Does an I-Pod really have games on it?  I don't know but I'm pretty sure that's not the main purpose and if he doesn't know the main purpose, should I really try to go out and buy him this new gadget?  And Yikes!  Is this what's to come?  A graduation from this mountain of toys that each cost between 25 cents-$30 to the gadget gifts? 
     My conclusion is this.  I admit to seeking out special toys that I remember loving as a child.  My kid had to have a Sit-N-Spin, for example (I swear, that's the name of the toy) and also a Cozy Coupe car.  I admit to buying toys purely because I think it would just solve the boredom problem in our house- that Liam and/or Joshua would just spend all of their hours consumed by this magical toy (think: train sets, Chutes and Ladders, Leapster, etc...).  None of this has amounted to much more than a few minutes here and there of amusement or possibly learning.  Liam and Joshua were obsessed with this Color Roller push toy my mom brought over (too early for Christmas) for about a day and a half.  Now not so much (sorry Mom). 
     So what does all of this mean?  Toys don't bring children prolonged happiness. Toys don't teach kids. Toys don't prevent boredom or help you avoid TV watching.  Toys are just that, toys.  And regardless of how little you spoil your children, you will likely still end up with a mountain range of toys spread around your house and that nagging urge to go out and buy just one more toy that could solve your house's boredom crisis or add that hint of nostalgia for your own childhood.  Now where could I find a new or used Lite Bright?