By James Bow

I recently came upon a set of walkie-talkies that we gave the eldest on her birthday. A lot of thought  went into that present. The eldest had been asking for walkie-talkies ever since her friend across the street had shown her how a pair worked. My wife ordered a set, wrapped it up, and it was one of the highlights of the eldest’s birthday.

Coming upon the walkie-talkies, I realized that I hadn’t seen my daughter play with them in over a month. They were discovered under a pile of other toys in the corner of the playroom.

So much of our kids’ consumables aren’t made to last. It starts right from when we get out of the hospital with our newborns in our arms, I think. Go through the baby aisle in any drug store and you’ll find special kids’ dishes, cutlery, cups, not to mention the ubiquitous baby food. I was startled at how quickly we ditched some of these items. We didn’t spend a lot of time on baby food; a food mill served just as well, shredding what we ate into a mush that toothless babies could savour.

It’s one thing to go through a lot of kids clothes; our children grow fast but still need to be clothed. And through online communities like Kitchener Freecycle, and physical communities like the mothers in our neighbourhood, we’ve joined an ecosystem where clothes aren’t just passed from eldest to youngest sibling, but then to the neighbour’s child down the street. We’ve saved hundreds of dollars this way.

But so much of the goods we buy on behalf of our kids play to the cuteness factor, and more than a bit of guilt. How can we walk past that cute little plate with Dora the Explorer on it? Do we not love our kids enough that they should have this stuff that ultimately does not get used?

Another item that the eldest wanted very much for her birthday was a heavy-duty modified top called a beyblade. In this case, I could see this coming, as I noticed early in September a group of boys playing with these spinning battle devices.

Then, a week after that, more boys were playing with them. A week after that, some girls joined in. I remember from my own childhood how fads could grip schools, so that parents were pestered to get the latest and the greatest because “everybody else has one.”

And yes, your kid would jump off a cliff if everybody else was doing it.

Today, nobody at school was playing beyblades. The eldest’s beyblades are in a plastic baggie in a cupboard. Fads are fickle things, and we’re out $20.

Would the economy collapse if we as parents took a moment to think about whether our children really need all of these items? How many people would we put out of work? Then again, how much would we save, and what real necessities could we spend our money on instead? My children are still playing with Lego and enjoy a set of wooden trains, parts of which are over 30 years old.

I think many companies across the world are counting on us not asking that question.

Then again, I had the walkie-talkies sitting out on the dining-room table when my eldest happened to pass by. She snatched them up with a gasp of delight, showed them to me and said, “Daddy, look at what I found!”

Then she immediately zipped upstairs to play with them with her sister. And that, right there, is why toy companies have us right where they want us.
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James Bow is a writer and a father of two in Kitchener.
You can read more about him online at bowjamesbow.ca
or follow him on Twitter at @jamesbow.