Reason #65 – I make my son play with rubbish
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Reason #65 – I make my son play with rubbish
Aug 12The stores are full of educational toys: handmade toys made out of smooth, sustainable wood; toys designed by learning experts; toys so full of colour and texture and sound that a child who uses them is instantly made happier and cleverer.
Yet my son plays with empty Coke bottles and cream cheese tubs.
Bathtime toys
Before anyone starts throwing pity parties, let it be said that this is not because of money issues (Though I will certainly not mind if you click on my advertisers; thanks for helping a single mom out!)
I could totally afford to buy C fancy-pants toys. Even crunchy handmade wooden ones.
But I won’t.
I give him rubbish, real literal rubbish, to play with.
Travelling toys
“Why the cruelty?” some will ask. “Why the stinginess?” “Are you, horrible woman, giving that poor boy garbage instead of toys so you can spend the money on wine and chocolate instead?” “Does that poor little angel even KNOW what a real toy is?”
Trust me, he does.
In fact, C has toys up the wazoo.
Playtime toys
And yet he chooses not to play with the baby Elmo, the beeping mobile, the fluffy rattle or the book with textures. He ignores the stacking cups and the many, many stuffed animals. He scoffs at the rattly rings and the musical puppy (just out of the frame, but there nevertheless.) And this is just the stash he keeps at my mom’s house.
With all the toys in the world to choose from, C chose the empty Coke bottle I was going to throw away, and actually dripped real tears when I took it from him.
Real tears, I tell you. A sight seldom seen at our place.
This is why, if C wants to play with rubbish, he gets rubbish. And for Christmas I will give him a large box full of non-biodegradable waste and this note:
Querido C:
it seems you are a freegan, and I respect that. Thank you for not making me spend more money on stupid educational toys. All the dough we save on Fisher Price will come in pretty handy for paying your Med School in a few years.
You have earned yourself a nice reward for being such a good boy. I hope you enjoy all these Coke Zero bottles that I lovingly emptied and collected for you!
Con amor, Mamá.
–
I know I promised no more polls, but I have bloggy homework tonight. Would you please help this blogger out?
You can choose up to 3 answers. I look forward to reading more about your selections in the comments!
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my son at 1 had an empty bottle with a marble rolling inside, the SPOONS OF DESTINY (measuring spoons)and the SPATULA OF DESTINY (ok we stopped being too creative naming everything he played with).
i just removed the labels from any soft drink bottles to he didnt have to be subjected to early images of branding blahdiblah.
you have a most intriguing blog, and thank the heavens for your pain in the arse mum, otherwise you wouldnt have started your blog, perhaps.
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ofthesea Reply:
January 23rd, 2011 at 9:23 pm
Welcome chez 1000! And bring on the Toys of Destiny! XD
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Updated environmental Bad Mom Post:Reason #65 – I make my son play with rubbish. Read it now! http://1000reasonsimabadmom.com/reason-6... #ignorethepoll
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My inlaws just got my son a stuffed bear that plays music, teaches shapes, colors, numbers, letters, and even manners! He would rather play with a plastic water bottle or the plastic measuring cups he’s figured out how to get out of the drawer. We are getting him a box of diapers, box of wipes, etc for his birthday since he’s not going to interested in what’s inside of the boxes anyways!
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ofthesea Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 4:53 pm
Let’s enjoy this while it lasts… because pretty soon they will be asking for &*%^ expensive sports equipment!
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Aren’t you just showing him how to clean up the environment??? Very responsible of you! Reuse!
jules recently posted The One Where You All Think I’m Cuckoo Crazy
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ofthesea Reply:
September 15th, 2010 at 8:25 am
Reduce, recycle!
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lol. Funny! At least you are saving money to put towards something else- like swim lessons or school!
P.S You have been awarded the Versatile Blogger Award http://closedlids.blogspot.com/2010/08/versatile-blogger-award.html
Lisa recently posted Versatile Blogger Award
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ofthesea Reply:
August 14th, 2010 at 8:19 pm
An award! How exciting! Thank you so so much! :)
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My boy is 10 now, but when he was younger, he would unwrap my Tampax applicators and walk around the house with the cardboard to his lips and proceed to use this as his ‘duck call’. So Coke bottles and plastic tubs are absolutely acceptable. Fairly certain you don’t need my approval on this.
From one single mom to another – High Five!
Sande recently posted Not Really An Opinion More Like an Observation
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ofthesea Reply:
August 13th, 2010 at 9:44 am
You just made me spit my coffee out. Da-yum! That is the only good reason I can think of for swapping to tampons with applicators!
…was that TMI?
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Sande Reply:
August 13th, 2010 at 9:53 am
Well, it’s all fun and games until they display their musical techniques with your personal plugs in front of company. And whatever you do – DON’T take it away from them. Never a good idea. Sorry about the coffee. I hate wasting coffee.
Sande recently posted Not Really An Opinion More Like an Observation
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Naomi Reply:
August 15th, 2010 at 9:38 pm
LOL!! My son see’s tampax and thinks they are candy…boy is he disappointed when he opens them to find a cotton mouse….lol
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ofthesea Reply:
August 15th, 2010 at 10:05 pm
A “Cotton mouse”! Genius! Another cheap toy for C!
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Actually, your URL could read 1000 reasons you’re a common-sense mom! #againstostriches Oh I forgot, I’m not on Twitter right now…
Anyways, totally agree, my son likes the same garbage yours does.
But really, he’s a shoe fetish. And in my house, we have a million shoes, all different! Enough to entertain him for the next few years.
And Santa? He’d better bring us wine and chocolate for years to come!
Maryline recently posted One of those American Customs
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ofthesea Reply:
August 13th, 2010 at 9:05 am
Oh yeah, I forgot the shoes. C loves the shoes!
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My 10, 7 AND 3 year old will REGULARLY fight tooth and nail over the roll from the paper towels. As for empty bottles, add water, food dye and glitter and they ALL are mesmerized!! lol
And yeah, the box, no matter WHAT the toy, the box is always the best!! (well no so much anymore for the techno crazed 10yo!!)
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ofthesea Reply:
August 13th, 2010 at 9:05 am
I agree, the box is the best. Heck, even I love boxes!
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My kids probably have thousands of dollars worth of toys that are designed to make them smarter. Do they play with these toys? No, they’d rather roll around in dirty laundry and use the laundry basket as a boat. Thousands of dollars down the drain. I could have used that money for wine & chocolate.
MamaOnDaGo recently posted Blogging Brings Families Together by Absolutely Narcissism
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ofthesea Reply:
August 13th, 2010 at 9:05 am
One word for you, mama: Craigslist
And then you can spend the money on wine & choc, and send some my way!
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My daughter’s favorite toy?
An empty cat food can.
Its name is “Rex.”
Daddy is so proud.
Nigel recently posted Reason 625 Why I Am a Cat Person
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ofthesea Reply:
August 12th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
My very own haiku!
I’m overjoyed!
So overjoyed
words fail me.
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Nigel Reply:
August 12th, 2010 at 8:55 pm
I’m here for you.
Go, me!
Nigel recently posted Reason 625 Why I Am a Cat Person
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My son is 3 1/2mo old and his fav ‘toy’ is a receiving blanket. He’s ok with Pooh Bear (pull the cord, plays music) but its not the same as scrunching that blanket and shoving a fistful (fist included) into his mouth.
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If you think he likes coke bottles NOW…. try putting some dry rice in it so it makes noise! My little big man (he who eats off the floor) LOVES a nice bottle filled with rice… he’s got one from some Gold Peak Tea right now!
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ofthesea Reply:
August 12th, 2010 at 4:45 pm
What an idea! Will do it tonight as soon as I get home and down a bottle of Coke Zero!
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A partially filled plastic water bottle will keep little man quiet for HOURS!
Laura @ The Things I Said I’d Never Do recently posted Writers Worshop- A Letter to my Son
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ofthesea Reply:
August 12th, 2010 at 4:17 pm
You said it!
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Oh. My. Gosh. Don’t even get me started. My boys will play with an empty shampoo bottle and a discarded microwave box for DAYS. DAYS!
Summer recently posted Realistically Speaking
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ofthesea Reply:
August 12th, 2010 at 4:16 pm
I give him my empty hair product bottles. Great minds, great minds.
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i recently read about being a minimal momma. totally agree. kids dont need tons of toys, they need imagination! Just check out my wordless wednesday post!
Hanan recently posted Almost Wordless Wednesday
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ofthesea Reply:
August 12th, 2010 at 3:11 pm
I got my blog name all wrong: it should be “1000 reasons I’m a Minimal Mom”.
I do expend minimal effort most of the time, surely it counts!
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Hanan Reply:
August 12th, 2010 at 3:21 pm
lol! I was thinking about getting commentluv, but i am looking into switching to wordpress hopefully soon!
Hanan recently posted creative ways to say thank you
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ofthesea Reply:
August 12th, 2010 at 4:17 pm
Get it anyway – it comes with you to other people’s blogs too…as you can see here ;)
My 3 year old has a tub full of toys in the living room. She repeatedly dumps them out and plays with the tub!
BTW- did you notice that the add on your site is for online parenting classes? PERFECT!
Cheryl recently posted Wun Werd Wednesday
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ofthesea Reply:
August 12th, 2010 at 2:34 pm
Wow, they REALLY are matching the ads to the content!
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Cameron does have a whole lot of bought toys – some I bought, some his grandparents or other relatives and friends gave him. But really? What better bath toy than old yogurt containers? He still loves those.
Hmmm … this might just inspire a confession …
Melanie recently posted I Procrastinate
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ofthesea Reply:
August 12th, 2010 at 11:26 am
I swear C prefers the empty cream cheese container to the fancy rubber duck and the pirate scrub-a-dub.
Yay confession! Bring it!!
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My 1 year olds fave toys are always garbage. The empty paper towel roll, the empty food container and so on. Makes me wonder why I spent so much money on all the unused “real” toys laying around cluttering up the house.
Teisha recently posted My Love-Hate Relationship With Camping
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ofthesea Reply:
August 12th, 2010 at 11:16 am
I stopped buying toys for C a while ago, and I suggest you do the same. I decided I’m not buying him anything unless/until he specifically asks for it by name!
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I love it when my son dumps the “it” toy his grandmother got him out of the big box- instantly forgets about it, and starts making plans for how the box is now a jail for the toys that piss him off.
I try not to look it, though;)
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ofthesea Reply:
August 12th, 2010 at 11:17 am
I promise I won’t tell her! ;)
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Polls are good! My daughter is the same way. I literally live in a daycare center (she has so many toys)! However the fact that she has just walked up to me playing with my shirt (playing dress up with it), and the days I cant count that we fight over the remote or the computer, the towels she drags around the house and the tupperware she drags out of the cabinets to play with all leads me to believe I should be saving every dime I have spent on toys (new and used) and spend it on myself (ooops) I mean on her future. ;-)
Your blog is awesome! It should be a prerequisite for all new/first time parents!
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ofthesea Reply:
August 12th, 2010 at 10:22 am
Remotes and tupperware! So true!
Isn’t it great that we have such economy/environment conscious kids? ;)
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Los niños juegan con lo que encuentran. Hasta había un anuncio de Master Card de un niño que prefería jugar con una caja de cartón.
José Paulo Zúñiga recently posted ¿Cuántos colores reconoce un hombre
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ofthesea Reply:
August 12th, 2010 at 10:22 am
“No tiene precio.”
Jajajaa!
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Thanks for your comment on my post (from 31DBBB challenge) I took your advice and added a question to the end. I did have a question at the beginning – I guess it just wasn’t noticeable. Stop back soon!
Sara R-The Millennial Housewife recently posted Coupon Organization System
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ofthesea Reply:
August 12th, 2010 at 8:32 am
Cool! I’ll pop over and answer this time! :)
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