Urban baby blog: Bad toddler gifts

Tis better to give than to receive.

Picture this: you?re at a familial holiday gathering with your two year old, and relatives start giving out gifts. Your toddler is so excited?by every gift she receives. Her little face lights up with every box she unwraps. She wants to immediately start playing with everything single thing she gets.

Now picture this: maybe half of the stuff she gets is completely inappropriate for a child her age. What do you do? You say thank you, of course, but then what?

What do you do when a well meaning friend or relative hands your two year old daughter a gift bag full of choking hazards?

When a toy says ?for ages three and up? it?s for a reason. Reasons like choking. And getting injured on fast closing things. And getting poked with pointy things.

You could take that person aside, and explain how his (very thoughtful) gift is not appropriate for someone under three. You could offer to give it back so he can give it to an older child, or donate it to a charity. But even if he takes it well (he probably won?t), you would then be tasked with ripping said recreational toddler death trap away from an excited teething child and breaking her (about to be impaled with a lawn dart) heart. ?It?s not worth it.

I let Adi play with her new ?big kid? toys until we got home. The bracelet she got of course broke right away sending chokey beads everywhere and the weird rubber band things that were trendy in 2008 also look like a fun snack. Soon after we got home I realized that all the dangerous stuff had to go. I just got to the point where I can leave Adi alone in her room playing for long periods of time and I?m not giving that up. I can?t hover over her to make sure she doesn?t die of tiny Lego induced asphyxiation (seriously, they make big toddler sized ones ? ?buy those instead!) I decided to rebox and rewrap any inappropriate gifts and donate them. To children who don?t have any urges to gnaw on those little Lego guys.

So now that the gift giving holiday season is ending, and you?re faced with having to hide or otherwise make disappear inappropriate gifts, remember the kindness of the people who thought to buy something for your child. Then tell your child that the bag of shiny esophagus sized marbles from her cousin went to go live on a farm, along with the old hamster who also suddenly disappeared.

RIP Hammy

When writing thank you notes, try not to be snarky. Say, thank you for the very thoughtful set of jacks. Leave out the part where your child tried to relieve her incoming molar pain by trying to chew on the bouncy ball. Then resist the urge to buy his child a Red Ryder BB Gun. He?ll shoot his eye out.

It?s the thought that counts. Please put some thought into the next gift you buy for a toddler. Her mom would appreciate it.

Rachel Figueroa-Levin is a soapmaker,?cofounder and educator at Urban Babywearing, a?hyperlocal Inwood blogger and organizer, a?political/life/religion/parenting satirist, and all around trouble maker.? She is also the creator of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg?s Spanish-speaking alter ego @elbloombito.? You can reach her via twitter @Jewyorican.?

Like this:

Be the first to like this.

Source: http://nbclatino.com/2012/12/26/urban-baby-blog-tis-better-to-give-than-to-receive/

colbert president huntingtons disease rob the firm new york philharmonic marines urinating on taliban critics choice awards