I rarely buy toys. Really. We have some stock, which we got when a man was born, then once in a while something small is brought by friends, sometimes the family buys something. Besides, I don’t like having too many things at home – of course minimalism is still far from me – but in general I try not to buy if I don’t have to.
My, or rather small, favorite toys are books and yes, in cool bookstores with large sections for children I choose and choose, sometimes I buy one too many and as a result we probably have an excess of books. But sometimes I have to buy a toy too. Or rather, I want to. There are times when I see my son show a special interest in putting one thing into another or throwing something that reminds him of a ball. And then that moment comes when I go to the store to buy a toy . A specific toy .
There is one chain of toy stores, probably known to everyone, which monopolized the market quite strongly. I hate her. Honestly – going to the store of this chain, especially in a shopping mall, is a real ordeal for me. I made a promise to myself that I would never go there with my baby. Because in my opinion, all a child can get there is hysteria. I have nystagmus at the entrance. I am lost among the stalls arranged illogically, the noise of playing and barking toys and a merry song flowing from the loudspeakers. Me – although I go there with a firmly defined purpose, in search of a specific toy. And a child who falls into a place like this must be getting hysterical. Which can often be seen in specific cases.
But that’s not the point. I went once, just before our vacation trip, to get a ball and butterflies. Such for swimming, worn on the hand. Of course, the only one I got was with the Dori fish, because the film was just hitting theaters. In the case of football, I had a greater choice, it was also with the image of Spiderman. All toys are branded with Disney characters, possibly Winnie the Pooh, because you can’t sell an ordinary ball. And then you have to buy another thing with a likeness and another, then a plate with a likeness, a backpack with a likeness, and clothes with a likeness. And even petals with a likeness. Nice business, huh? Another time I wanted to buy a little piano. The child likes to press and play something, so it seemed to be a hit choice. But no! You can’t buy an ordinary piano. You can only buy a piano that makes the sounds of angry English songs every time you press a key, and it has buttons that emit pigs, cows, or a car, and it is obligatory that everything lights up every time you touch it.
Educational toys are my favorite category at this store. Sic! Intended for toddlers in the first year of life, glowing furiously like a funfair with sounds that massacre the ears. People! And yesterday, when I went to get the queue, because the child is at this stage, they were only disgusting plastic wagons, with of course the smiling face of the locomotive and, seriously, the ugliest plastic casts I have ever seen in my life pretending, I don’t know what, probably embankments. And from the entrance I was attacked by dozens of the same barking and jumping dogs with unnaturally large heads.
What I am getting at. Well, my point is, ladies and gentlemen, we have a flood of horribly ugly toys. Awful! Such that it hurts. It hurts me so much. And after all, what we give children to play has a huge impact not only on their development, but also on aesthetic preferences. So what will such a child like when he grows up, since his whole life has played with pink plastic in a disco accompaniment? And the monopoly of one chain means that there is nowhere to buy something else. In Warsaw, an alternative are the few shops for rich people that have nice, cool toys, but they cost like gold. And every parent knows that a toy sometimes only lasts for a day… ..
I know it can be tough, but sometimes it’s worth thinking than buying a mockery. Because it may turn out to be our child’s favorite toy.