Why I don’t buy toys for my child
That isn’t entirely true. Just last week I bought him two toys: a bouncy plastic ball for $2.49 and a baby doll. I couldn’t stomach buying the blond, blue-eyed girl doll, so instead I bought the non-white, potentially gender-neutral doll. (The doll came with a purple headband, which I threw in the trash.) The doll came with a toy bottle and a rattle. We handed the baby doll to Drake and he lunged for the bottle, then put it immediately to the baby’s mouth. We didn’t show him, I swear. Is it innate, or just painfully obvious?
But, back to the originally intended topic of this post. I try not to buy toys for Drake. Obviously, sometimes I do not succeed. He has friends and relatives that have been very kind to him, and he really seems fine with the toys that he has. Occasionally, I feel as if I should be buying him developmental toys, or fun toys, or arts and music toys. I fret that perhaps he isn’t learning because we don’t have what he needs.
And then, he starts to play with the empty mustard bottle. And won’t let it go. And wants to sleep with it. Later, he takes the mini-loaf pans out of the cupboard and stacks and unstacks them.
He will find what he needs, when he needs it. And it does not have to cost money and be colorful and have batteries.
But a mustard bottle?
Oh, for the love of Mike.