Lately, my kids have been given too many toys that make noise. They love them, of course. My son’s favourite is a swirling plastic glowworms on wheels that sings eardrum-piercing Chinese songs. My daughter favours the fuzzy fake puppy dog that wiggles his mechanical bum and moves forward all while barking a supposedly cute melody.
Late at night when they’re asleep, I have been known to remove batteries.
The problem is that my nearly four-year-old now knows that these toys require batteries. I can no longer tell her that the toy is broken without her first removing the battery casing and proclaiming that “It just needs batteries, Mommy!” Recently, she actually asked me this question: “Did you take them out again, Mommy?”
Another tactic has been to take them over to my mother-in-law’s apartment where the kids sometimes spend time. I tuck them into the bag I’m carrying and then pull them out when we arrive, proclaiming that they really wanted to play with them and so they just had to come with us.
The problem with this approach is how attached the kids get to the rationale, which means that they just have to bring them home again because they’re so fun, mommy!
Another friend suggested simply “leaving” them outside for other kids in the complex to “discover” but I worry that my kids will look at me with big watery eyes and ask me what happened to their little glowworm or puppy dog. Then I’ll be forced to admit that I heartlessly abandoned these toys for the sake of my aching eardrums and general sanity.
What do the good parents do?
(Comments greatly appreciated!)
Photos: Ember Swift
