After Sammy's swim lesson yesterday, I decided to pop into Target and buy some diapers and cleaning products. I thought that since we were there, it would be a good idea to peruse the toy aisles and get an idea of what the kids might like for Christmas--big mistake! First of all, I guess I didn't explain thoroughly enough that I wouldn't actually be buying any toys (apparently I needed to repeat it multiple times). Second, every toy for little boys had some sort of weapon attached to it. The one exception being the cars, which might explain why a certain friend of my son's doesn't seem to own any other toys other than cars.
Even most of the Playmobil sets, which I know Sammy really likes, were trying too hard to be realistic (pirates with guns and swords, knights with swords, etc.). Sammy got the Playmobil firefighter for his birthday and loved it so much that he bought the policeman set with some of his birthday money. I didn't pay too much attention to the accessories it came with until we got home and realized that along with the laptop computer, walkie-talkie and flashlight, there were two guns.
I'm thinking maybe Sammy won't get any toys for Christmas. He already owns a plethora of different building toys--legos, tinkertoys, wooden blocks, magnetics (all of which I consider good investsments, by the way). He also has a bucketful of cars, an extensive wooden train set, and a huge collection of dinosaurs (a favorite of his for two plus years now). Beyond all that, what could a boy wish for? However, I do want to get him gifts for Christmas, but what?
Sammy told me that if I buy him the pirate Playmobil set he will throw out the guns, but still wants to keep the swords. I have a done a little reading on the web and have found that while many experts will say that no violent play or toys should ever be allowed, many others believe the context and pervasiveness should be taken into consideration and not all violent play is necessarily bad. For instance, if children are pretending to be a policeman or knight or something of that variety, it is more acceptable than if they were pretending to be say a drug dealer or gangster that they saw portrayed on adult tv shows/movies. So maybe I could get the Playmobil pirates afterall--the only probably is whenever I see him play in a violent way, even when he is just making his dinosaurs attach eachother, I get a pit in the bottom of my stomach. Here are links to a few of the article I found, should anyone be interested:
Why is it that violent toys are only targeted at little boys, while the worst that is aimed at little girls is Bratz? Are the messages sent to little girls through toys just as harmful? For example, that appearance is paramount (think Barbie) and they need to be rescued by men (Disney Princesses)? I can worry about that some other year, I guess. Abby is only two and she is getting a play kitchen for Christmas.
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