June 25th Chat - Yeah! - Page 4 « Back to Group Discussions

[LeAnn A Doula]

Ithappened - I just met a woman who had twins at term, they were 7.5lbs each! So, you're not alone. :) My guess on why twins are born earlier is part Dr preference - less can go wrong if they take them as soon as they are matured, part the simple fact that its harder on your baody to maintain two than it is one. But that's just an educated guess, I haven't really looked into it.

Newmum, Lily, and Keuriweo - Yes, yes and yes! We are also really going to try to keep the stuff to a minimum. No TV/media tie-in's, no plastics, etc. Although its tough to resist some of the cute decor stuff but I'm trying to be strong! I'm hoping that as a family we'll be able to create enough of an active culture that it'll out weigh the stuff they don't have that their friends may have when we get to that stage.
 

[Tizzy]

So far we've been pretty successful with keeping the commercialism out of our household :) Mind you our oldest is only 5.5yrs old.

It was pretty funny, someone asked them if they liked Pokemon and they just gave her this blank look.

Unfortunately when everyone around us doesn't share the same philosophy, a lot of STUFF ends up being given to us/the kids. It's so freaking annoying!   Don't get me wrong, I totally appreciate how generous everyone has been to us, but there's only so many broken el-cheapo plastic toys one can handle without starting to fume....

[Veritas Vitae]

I really want to push for low commercialism/plastic toys and instead have a few solidly constructed and sustainable toys, but I feel like it is going to be a losing battle, and that we will be given a lot of things.  Luckily, B is on the same page as me and we regularly try to declutter and get rid of things that aren't necessary, so it might just mean returning/donating a lot of things.  I think the idea of a swap-in/swap-out system is great.

[ilovetchotchkes]

Originally Posted by Veritas Vitae 

I really want to push for low commercialism/plastic toys and instead have a few solidly constructed and sustainable toys, but I feel like it is going to be a losing battle, and that we will be given a lot of things.  Luckily, B is on the same page as me and we regularly try to declutter and get rid of things that aren't necessary, so it might just mean returning/donating a lot of things.  I think the idea of a swap-in/swap-out system is great.

It is absolutely a losing battle. 
Its also one of those, how shall I put it, if you give in to ONE battle, you don't have to lose the whole war. Find a commericalized toy that you can LIVE with and mention it to your relatives that your kid loves it. It will help cut down on the crap you can't stand. (For me its Thomas the Tank Engine and Dora and crew) 

Example: our house is RIFE with Sesame Street items. The kid is a FREAK for Elmo. I draw the line at certain things- like sheets and a whole themed room, but he's got a bunch of stuffed Elmos, Sesame street play set, that sort of thing. 

However, he's got MANY more toys, and I've put my foot down on "NO DISNEY". All disney stuff ? gets donated. I HATE DISNEY. There's also very little that's thomas and there's NO Dora. Also, i figure, some of the stuff, if its just TOYS and they're not watching the show, I don't have to be inundated with it. 

I was all "MUST HAVE NOTHING BUT DELICIOUS WALDORF AND FREE TRADE TOYS FOR MY SMOOSHY" it didn't happen. :( However let me tell you, nothing NOTHING has the allure that an ipod/iphone/ipad has vs ANY OTHER TOY IN THE HOUSE. :D

[Ninetales]

I lost the battle, too, tchotchkes.  But I wasn't super adamant about it in the first place.  Like you, I just set boundaries, which funny enough, is also Dora for me.  Luckily Elsa's tastes change frequently anyway, and I'm not super strict on toys because if she doesn't know what it is, it's just another doll or whatever.  More power to anyone who tries to keep that stuff at bay - I just found it more stressful in the end.

I do feel bad about how much tv I'm letting her watch right now.  We get outside for as much as possible, but between 11 and 2 we have to be inside.  It's just too hot.  Even when we do go out, she gets miserable in the heat pretty quickly.  And unfortunately my packing and nesting compulsions are bringing me to giving in a lot easier on tv so I can get stuff done.
 

[Tizzy]

tchotchkes, that's like us too, we've "given in" with Thomas. But it's very moderate, sure they know who the characters are and have a few of the authentic Thomas trains, but they also have a TON of no-name/Ikea trains to go with.

We have a few Thomas DVD's, as well as a Bob the builder, a Franklin, a Pingu etc.  But really, they like to watch documentary type movies LOL  I didn't do that, that's just what they like to pick out from the library. And Bill Nye.

Same with books, they muchly prefer the real non-fiction books about specific subjects like Jets, Volcanoes, firetrucks and so on. And I will encourage that as much as I can without being weird ;)

But even so, MIL gave DD this dumb ride-on plastic popper toy that drives me insane already. Oh and my mom gave her this silly singing teapot and kitchen thing last year.

Thankfully the older two make pretty good requests anymore, for example the 4yr old asked for a hickory tree for his birthday

[ithappened]

DS1 really has no toys unless someone has given them too him- he has a few toy cars and helicopters which are 'second hand' from friends kids but we don't really have toys-- he has a lot of books and thats about it.. no TV either.. our apartment is just WAY to small for anything in terms of toys-- he spends a lot of time playing with stuff in the kitchen or playing on my DH iphone various stuff.. but thats about it..
 

[ilovetchotchkes]

Originally Posted by Tizzy 

tchotchkes, that's like us too, we've "given in" with Thomas. But it's very moderate, sure they know who the characters are and have a few of the authentic Thomas trains, but they also have a TON of no-name/Ikea trains to go with.

We have a few Thomas DVD's, as well as a Bob the builder, a Franklin, a Pingu etc.  But really, they like to watch documentary type movies LOL  I didn't do that, that's just what they like to pick out from the library. And Bill Nye.

Same with books, they muchly prefer the real non-fiction books about specific subjects like Jets, Volcanoes, firetrucks and so on. And I will encourage that as much as I can without being weird ;)

But even so, MIL gave DD this dumb ride-on plastic popper toy that drives me insane already. Oh and my mom gave her this silly singing teapot and kitchen thing last year.

Thankfully the older two make pretty good requests anymore, for example the 4yr old asked for a hickory tree for his birthday

Yeah, my uncle gave my son a thomas train set for his birthday BUT he has no concept of ANYTHING aside from its a train with a face. THAT i can live with. We are NOT buying the DVDs or movies PERIOD. The faces seriously creep me out for some reason- they're so static that it actually makes me.... shudder. 

I swore that once the weather got warmer we'd watch LESS tv, but we've been watching more- its been 102 here a couple of days, and there's JUST. NO. WAY. 

[rebecca10]

Originally Posted by ilovetchotchkes 

Yeah, my uncle gave my son a thomas train set for his birthday BUT he has no concept of ANYTHING aside from its a train with a face. THAT i can live with. 

That's us too. And this morning my daughter asked why the train has a face . . . hmm, I didn't have a good answer for that. Still if it helps my generally pretty girly girl actually play with trains (and it might since one of the primary things the trains do is go to the doctor, where Thomas always needs his eye examined :) ), I'll take it.