What toys do you wish you had never bought or have you banne

[PrincessFiona]

We decided early on that we would not bring gaming systems (gamecube/wii) etc. into the house as well as Barbie. We ended up eventually caving on the gaming systems but ended up coming to the hard realization that they became everything we feared that they would be. Since putting them away this year, our kids have gone back to board games and talking to each other. Our 9 year old has taken off with his reading now! I wish we had never brought that stuff into the house...or maybe that we had been more aware of how powerful a distraction the game systems could become...so that we could control it better earlier. We were strict about not allowing violent games...I guess we can feel good about that.

I did get a doctor barbie and a pregnant barbie for Amanda eventually....more of a role model thing.....women can be doctors and mommies...I thought they were unique. I hate the Barbie chest thing though....she just seems too sexualized for my taste. It's ironic that I prefer bratz to barbie....when so many are opposed to bratz.

I also don't buy military toys. I know, I know...it won't cause little boys to think war is ok..and I'm not anti-military (I grew up with a dad in the military). I just don't want them playing war if I can help it. :huh:

I've just now caved on the make-up thing in the past year...but the only thing I let Amanda wear out of the house is clear lip gloss and clear mascara. She is finally going to be allowed to get her ears pierced in 2 weeks for her 12th birthday. It was my rule. I know...she was allowed to play with bratz but not get her ears pierced.

What kinds of things have you banned or did you plan on banning? What would you not buy if you could have a do-over?

[mommax3]

Re: What toys do you wish you had never bought or have you banne

My first thought on reading the title of this thread was "anything that makes noise!" and that is true for the most part, especially with kids that are preschool and younger.

Other than that......educational electronic toys were great for my oldest, but the other two didn't care too much about them since they had siblings to play with.

We have had a Nintendo 64, followed by a GameCube, which was followed by a Playstation 2 and most recently by a Wii. The kids can only play videogames on the weekends, and if they are snotty when we ask them to turn it off, or if they play without asking first, or if they fight about whose turn it is, they have to turn it off. It isn't a huge issue here, although it sometimes becomes one during the summer.

We have never had guns or weapons, either, except the things that come with laser tag. And water guns, I guess. Their favorite toys have been balls of all kinds, honestly, and blocks, legos and K'nex. Certainly different kinds of toys than my sisters and I had growing up! (I have to admit that I am a little nutty about legos myself!)

Sally

[medpedspouse]

Re: What toys do you wish you had never bought or have you banne

I gotta say..
when I first read the title I immediately thought about DH's toys.

There a re quite a few I wished I had never allowed in the house.

[Rapunzel]

Re: What toys do you wish you had never bought or have you banne

Welllll, I'm OK with noise-makers as long as they are actual instruments and my children are actually practicing!

But, we have banned those obnoxious little toy pianos!!! And, no gratuitous noise-makers (like all of the obnoxious ones that kids seem to get at parties).

We've got drums but they are the electronic kind that you can wear headphones with and control the volume if needbe.

I haven't bought the girls any Barbies yet. Not a one. I'm steering clear of the "fashion dolls".

I also really cannot stand any of the toys that stem from Saturday morning cartoons.

That means what we DO have are mostly toys that require the use of an imagination.

We have TONS of dress-up stuff, blocks of every sort, Legos, baby-doll stuff, kitchen things, etc. My son has a Lego robot system (totally and completely awesome, btw).

I also just purchased a bunch of outdoor toys (to encourage more fun in the sun).

As far as video games are concerned: We haven't forbidden them. Heck, we have a Wii, PS3, and FOUR Nintendo DS's. Instead we have limited the types of games for these systems. The DS's are primarily for educational games (such as My Word Coach, Big Brain Academy, Brain Age 1&2, Math Play, and Cooking Mama - that has really helped my six year old with her reading skills). For the Wii we've stuck to games that require a lot of movement. Dance-Dance Revolution is HUGE in this house. And, dh is teaching our son how to design his OWN video games (the warfare, 3D kinds with different levels). DS is following a big long tutorial and has made some pretty impressive game levels so far.

And, we do have a bit of violent video games but dh has promised to keep it to just "killing" robots - nothing that is biological in any way (not even monsters). The PS3 we mostly got for its BlueRay capabilities.

[Rapunzel]

Re: What toys do you wish you had never bought or have you banne

Oh, I forgot about the toy weapons thing! As some of you know I grew up around lots of guns. I shot my first actual pistol (with REAL bullets!) when I was three years old. My father would NOT allow us to have ANY toy guns - at all. He felt that they made it impossible for children to really learn to respect a real weapon - one that can kill you. He was petrified of us trying to "play" with one of his real guns.

So, we do not allow ANY toy weapons in our house - none. At all. If we wanted to see a gun my dad would gladly pull out several for us to look at, touch, etc. But, it gave him a teaching opportunity every time because we couldn't even TOUCH one of his guns until he carefully showed us how to check to make sure it wasn't loaded. Every time. And, we had to follow strict rules such as always pointing the barrel towards the ground or away from a person.

Our children are also learning gun safety and having toy guns in the house would completely trivialize what we are trying to teach them to treat with respect.

If your kids are going to be around real guns growing up and/or you have real ones in the house - then don't EVER have toy ones. Children - especially little ones - get confused over what the capabilities of real guns are when they play with the toy ones.

Re: What toys do you wish you had never bought or have you banne

My first thought on reading the title of this thread was "anything that makes noise!" and that is true for the most part, especially with kids that are preschool and younger.

Exactly! For me that would be electronic non-instrumental toys that make noise. We have this keyboard (instrumental yes but not it still doesn't count) that has hung in there with the same batteries for 6 years, survived being left out in the rain, remembered for moves...I don't know why we haven't "taken care of it".

[DCJenn]

Re: What toys do you wish you had never bought or have you banne

So far, we're doing pretty well both with the quality and the quantity of the toys.

We have four video games on the computer- we gave the broken laptop to Nikolai to use with a new monitor- and it's smack dab in the dining room and has no internet access (not ahuge worry at age 4 but as time goes on, he might as well get used to working there because that's where he'll be). We have no free standing tv based gaming systems.

Toys- he's primarily still interested in trains, Thomas and every other kind of train. He has a variety of track that changes up every day. and he takes his trains and goes and plays outside every day after school. In the summer, of course we have the pool and we've been working w/ him on the tricycle. (he's most unhappy about having to wear a helmet but too f-ing bad. we live on city streets)

I have purged everything that makes a noise powered by a battery except for the keyboard my MIL bought him and it's so cheap that it will die soon. (I hope. I'm slightly scared now that Nellie posted)

Jenn

[peggyfromwastate]

Re: What toys do you wish you had never bought or have you banne

I hate the polly pockets, because I have to pull the outfits on them-- it's a big struggle for me, even. Forget about it for Isabel. But she's totally into Kate's old set.

I don't mind Barbies, or Bratz. They end up decapitated and in the trash for the most part. :huh:

I really like the My Little Pony stuff. They don't get dressed up, and the play castle and stuff seems to keep Izzy interested. Luke LOVES My Little Pony, so it's a winner here...

Steven is really into transformers, and they are so hard to transform! I can't do it, and so I tell Steven that he has to wait for DH to help him... The transformers bug me, because I think they are just too much, but Steven loves them, and so... :huh:

Thomas is a bit out of control in our house-- taken over the basement, actually. It's a very bulky collection to start, esp if you have a table for the trains. I have been trying to get rid of the "baby thomas" toys that my sister sent out a year or so ago. They are super annoying, don't really work, and I'm always tripping over them...

Ultimately, our problem is not overcrowding of toys (I do a good job of sorting and tossing the broken ones) but it's the BOOKS. My word... Too many books, and they are everywhere.

[houseelf]

Re: What toys do you wish you had never bought or have you banne

err...We have enough lightsabers to outfit the entire neighborhood for galactic battle. We have the Darth Vader talking mask, a full knight's outfit with swords, a Nerf Bow and Arrow, and a couple of bright yellow Nerf guns. I have changed 180 degrees on this topic since my preparenting days. We're known as the house with the cool toys. All the kids come over and hunt Sith in the forest behind my house.

We have had to strictly regulate the gaming systems. We have a Nintendo DS and a Wii. DS is allowed to play from Friday after school until Sunday afternoon. This privilege can be lost and often is. Although they have lost some of their appeal, I had to be strict because he could exhibit some addictive tendencies towards gaming.

DD is a little young to really engage in a meaningful conversation on this issue, but I have tried to *steer* her choice of toys a bit. For Christmas, she expressed interest in Princess stuff, Littlest Petshop, My Little Pony, and play makeup. I caved and permitted grandma to get her the makeup (lip gloss and clear nail polish in a Hello Kitty case) and she has received princess-y stuff from other individuals. But I have run with the LPS thing. I feel like she will clamor for the girly stuff soon enough which can lead eventually to the slippery slope of tween type stuff. I'm going to give her the neutral toys as long as I can.

Kelly

Re: What toys do you wish you had never bought or have you banne

I've also bent my weapon rule Kelly. They will pick up a lego and make it a gun - it drives me crazy. I allow lightsabers - I figure they're not going to find one of those at a friend's house and kill someone with it. Nerf guns are allowed (and frankly, therapeutic if dh gets out of line). No life-like guns at ALL. They are NOT toys, and my kids have been (and will continue to be) instructed NOT to touch one (toy or real), and if a friend has one to leave.

Honestly - at the moment I say I wish I'd never caved on webkins. The kids are obsessed with them, and it irritates me to no end when they'd rather be inside on the computer than outside now that the weather is gorgeous. Their buddy decided to go home early today b/c I wouldn't let anyone on the computer and said they had to play outside.

[GrayMatterWife]

Re: What toys do you wish you had never bought or have you banne

We have (currently) only a boy, so the whole Barbie/Bratz thing doesn't apply.

I HATE TOYS THAT MAKE NOISE. I don't care what the toy is: a Tonka truck with "live action" sounds, a musical gizmo, a remote controlled toy--I hate them all. I just can't stand the racket. I have repeatedly asked my parents and in-laws not to buy them, but they do. After they leave from their overly indulgent visit, I remove the batteries. But he is free to keep the toy.

I have no problem with military toys or toy guns. He doesn't have any toy soldiers because he's never shown interest, although he has some water guns, but frankly, hasn't shown a whole lot of interest in those, either. However, he is not allowed to point anything (toy gun, fingers, makeshift gun, twigs) at another person or living creature and pretend he is shooting. He's done that twice. Both times, I have removed the offending object (luckily, it wasn't his fingers!) and thrown it out in front of him. He knows the rule. And he doesn't really complain about the rule--it is more generous than the absolute "no guns" ban at his school (they can't even include them in pictures or talk about them--it's kind of impractical and extreme, actually--I mean, come'on...he's a four-year-old boy).

DH shoots. I am sure when DS is much older (maybe 11 or 12), DH will teach him how to handle a b-b gun or something. I don't have a problem with DH teaching him about responsible gun use for recreational purposes (DH does not hunt), but I will not have firearms glamorized, so teaching DS to shoot should wait until he is older and understands that a gun is not a toy. As an aside, we don't currently have any guns in the house. I don't know much about handling firearms and don't feel comfortable with them in my house since we have no way to secure them (no gun case or built-in safe).

Re: What toys do you wish you had never bought or have you banne

Keep an eye out for some noisy packages of used toys arriving at your door.

[GrayMatterWife]

Re: What toys do you wish you had never bought or have you banne

I guess I should have added that we have no "game" video games. We have a Hooked On Phonics DVD game that DS plays on the computer sometimes, if that counts.

But then, we also don't have a TV in the living/family room, either. I think I am just prejudiced against noisy stuff being the center of existence.

[Michele]

Re: What toys do you wish you had never bought or have you banne

I like the noisy games too because then I know where Daegan is and what he's doing. When things get quiet, I get to looking!

I have banned first person shooter style video games from the house. Russ gets WAY to into them and it makes me uncomfortable. I'm also trying to limit the violence Daegan is exposed to, but really I don't police it that much.

I'm fairly anti-gun so I'd like to not have them in the house, but I'm realistic in that other toys can be held like a gun, so my plan is to not allow the point an shoot at each other type play.

Daegan LOVES MegaBlocks, but I hate picking them all up every day!! He's just starting to be able to help clean up....so I'm hoping for the day when I can make him pick 'em all up!

[Sheherezade]

Re: What toys do you wish you had never bought or have you banne

Until Michele posted, I couldn't think of anything I'd banned. Now it's all coming back to me! We don't allow first person shooter games or MA rated games. We also don't have any realistic looking guns. (We do have laser tag and a huge arsenal of squirt guns. ) I also like noise, Tara! We actually bought the electric guitar and the drum set without any prodding from the kids. Truth be told.....I'm the loudest one in this house.

DH does a pretty good job, too with all the power tools. Both my kids are as quiet as church mice.

DD has never had an interest in Bratz or Barbie. She prefers horses. Now, after purchasing about 123,000 stuffed animals, I'm starting to draw the line on stuffed toys. If you should need a stuffed - oh, anything - let me know. I've got it.