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December 6, 2002/Tevet 1 5763, Vol. 55, No. 15
When it comes to gifts, do our kids get too much?
BETH OLSON
Staff Writer
Our home is currently inundated with toys.
My youngest daugh-ter's birthday fell a mere three days before the start of Hanukkah this year. Between a birthday party for 25 friends, a family birthday party, and a Hanukkah party with all of the relatives visiting for Thanksgiving, she received more than her usual allotment of toys. And even the usual is too much.
I know we're not alone, and the fact is that compared to most kids, mine probably don't even have that many toys. We don't have a playroom, so the majority of their belongings are relegated to their rooms. Most families I know devote an entire extra room to toys.
It doesn't end with toys. An entire closet in my office is filled with games and puzzles. We have four bookcases in our house and we still don't have enough room for all of our books.
When I was a child my family was always generous for birthdays and Hanukkah, but I never remember having so much stuff.
I remember the days when I could open a gift and play with it right away. There weren't 37 twist ties and plastic strings holding the toy in display-perfect mode in the box. It is environmentally appalling that packaging always outweighs the toys. And generally toys didn't need batteries. Now -despite our efforts to stock up on every size of batteries before Hanukkah - we always run out.
I fear what lessons we are teaching our children. When they have their own kids will they feel like they need to outdo what they had when they were kids? And so on?
I really have tried to tone down this year. Rather than buying toys, I've given my girls more practical gifts - a new jacket, a set of sheets and a quilt, fuzzy slippers - but my efforts have hardly seemed to make a dent. There are still gifts in unopened boxes stacked in our spare room.
At one point during the Thanksgiving/Hanukkah weekend, my uncle asked me if there were any toys I remembered playing with as a child. Despite the fact that I must have received hundreds over the years, there were only a few that I could remember.
One of my favorites was my doll. It had eyes that closed when it would lie down, but it did not talk, walk or use the toilet. My grandmother made clothes for my doll - sometimes with a matching outfit for me. My favorites were the tiny knitted sweaters with matching hats. I saved the doll and the clothes and my children still enjoy dressing their dolls in the clothes that my grandmother made for me (luckily the funky '70s clothes are back in style).
Which toys will my children remember when they have their own kids? Last year's highly-coveted Barbie air-plane? Probably not, since it has been sitting the closet, unused, for the past 11 months. The much-anticipated Gameboy Ad-vanced, maybe? Doubtful, since every holiday season brings new video game systems and games.
Despite my reservations, every year we still end up buying our fair share of high-tech gadgetry and the "must-have" toys for our kids. But I must admit that I did feel a rush of pleasure when my daughter's new battery-operated Polly Pocket Amusement Park with rides that actually work was tossed aside in favor of a doll with eyes that close when she lies down.
Contact the writer at beth_olson@jewishaz.com.
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