Toys toys toys

Last night Chris and I broke our own rule and bought toys for the girls. We were at Target and they were so cute and being so good, we relented. It did not go well.

Zoe was immediately thrilled with an old fashioned tin Jack-in-the-box (so cute) but our princess, Athena could not chose. What we thought would be a great reward, turned into a tantrum inducing ordeal ("No honey, we're not getting the $29.99 Little Einsteins magna doodle where you can trace Van Gogh paintings, pick something else!") After going down each aisle, we ended up with some Backyardigans piece of junk (and she never watches the Backyardigans?) with little pieces that will get lost thus rendering the toy useless in the course of a couple of hours. I wonder if I can steal it and exchange it for the more practical "PlayDoh Tote" that I failed to convince her was a good idea?

We set this "No Toys" rule because, toys just seem to accumulate (gifts, hand-me-downs, etc), we have enough toys and typically a new toy yields about three seconds of interest before it is tossed aside. Plus all the recent toy recalls makes me fear all things plastic and made in China (which is Everything). Zoe's first birthday is fast approaching, and I hope we can stay firm with this policy. Books are lovely, keepsakes and clothing are fun and to illustrate what we mean when we say no toys needed:

Zoe's current list of favorite things, or what she has played with most recently:
A shoebox
Her shoes
The remote control
Mommy's computer mouse
Mommy's cellphone
A spiral notebook
A spoon and an empty yogurt cup
Her sister's school's product fundraising catalog
Her sister's sippy cups
A bucket
Mommy's empty Starbuck's cup and a straw (at the grocery store)
A diaper wipe (clean)

Here's what Zoe really needs for her first birthday:
A better pediatrician who can properly diagnose her constant facial rash.
An appointment with an Allergist so we can end this guessing game.
A new forward facing car seat (thanks Mom!)
Protective body suit to keep her sister from hurting her
Straighter front teeth
A photo session for her one year portraits (just to keep it fair)
The motor control to actually hold your own popsicle so that you don't have to rely on others to feed it to you
Her Mimi to come home and lavish attention on her
Lots and lots of kisses and love from her favorite toys of all, her family.