For Christmas he wants anything . . .

For Christmas this year, Joey wants anything Thomas the Train. And Sally wants anything Dora the Explorer. Ok, I have real issue with this line of thinking. How is it that our children want things, anything, with some character on it: shoes, towels, clothes, dolls, blankets, hats, etc. Is our world so full of commercialized product that we can’t have toys for the sake of learning, exploring and creating?

Someone puts Dora on the Candy Land game and suddenly that is going to make a child want to play it more. Perhaps a parent will choose to buy that since Sally loves Dora, but shouldn’t we be buying toys for a purpose other than to clutter up our homes with more crap. Have we really learned nothing from the year of toy recalls? We are a culture consumed in commercialized products and I’m astonished that by this every time I step into Target. I wanted to find a bike helmet for my son without a character on it. Luckily, a local bike store stocked enough non-Dora/Diego helmets for those of us avoiding the cartoon character takeover of our world. Sometimes a set of colorful blocks can be something to stimulate a child, help them learn and grow. Putting Thomas the Train or Elmo on the blocks does nothing but endorse our need for this type of stuff in the marketplace—mostly, if not all of it, made in China. It’s even on my kid’s diapers. I really don’t need Elmo in my face every time I change her.

So this is for you Disney, Nick Jr, Sesame Street, Hit Entertainment, Marvel Comics—I am not buying any of your commercialized stuff this year. If my kids want to watch your DVDs, fine, but I don’t need the cast of High School Musical, Big Bird or the Wiggles (no offense Wiggles, cuz we love you) hanging around in my living room, kitchen, playroom, bedroom, bathroom and car.