Would you take these toys?

[EnviroBecca]

I went by myself over to a friend's house, and he tried to get me to take home two grocery bags full of toy football helmets to give to my two-year-old son. They're about 3 inches in diameter, made of thin semi-rigid plastic, and have the logos of NFL teams on them.

I said no thank you.

My friend was very persistent. He said it's not fair for my partner and me to "force" our dislike of football on our son.

I said it's not about football so much as about not wanting a slew of small useless (by which I meant, they won't fit him or any of his toys I can think of) objects cluttering up our house and being left on the floor. I could tell that these were likely to break if stepped on and would have sharp edges if they broke. And I'm leery of cheap plastic toys with all the lead issues recently.

My friend said I was crazy. (He doesn't have children and hadn't heard about the lead in toys.) He said these helmets were not for strewing on the floor but for displaying, and my son would treat them with the proper reverence because he is a boy.

I told him to look around my house next time he comes over and see how many things that ought to be displayed on shelves are strewn around the floor.

He said it would be educational for my son to learn the names of the teams. It's geography. And it will keep him from getting beaten up in school.

I said that a map of the U.S. with the football team logos placed on their home cities would be just fine. I would hang it on the wall for my whole family to learn from. If he finds such a map, we'd be glad to have it. But I would not take the little helmets.

This is reasonable, isn't it?? He was really blown away that I didn't want them.

[mackysmama]

I know what helmets you are talking about. I wouldn't want them, and I'm not opposed to football. I am opposed to lots of crap in my house, though. And since my son and daughter are not into football and have no idea what the logos mean, they wouldn't know what to do to them. They would be stacked, tried on dolls, and eventually used to hunt bugs. I've got enough little plastic crap in my house; I don't need other peoples. BUT, I understand that his gesture was well-intended and I wouldn't want to seem ungrateful. I would probably have taken them and then gotten rid of them (given them to another kid probably). But, on the other hand, it sounds like them were special to him and he wanted to hand them down to someone special to him so maybe ask him to hold on to them for a few years until your son's world widens and perhaps it will include a like of football.

[greenmansions]

No I wouldn't take it. Got enough junk of my own, thank you very much.

However, if pushed, I'd probably take the stuff and drop if off at Goodwill. He obviously prefers to be rid of the helmets, and sometimes it's easier to give stuff away to someone you know. Once given to you, it's yours to do with as you like, IMO.

[KimProbable]

Clutter is clutter, and you can only decide what falls into that category if you live in the home. The helmets may be significant to him but if they're just going to be in your way in your home you're fully within reason to refuse them.

And who's ever heard of a two-year-old treating an object with reverence??!

[thebarkingbird]

well since he's so into being a sexist i'd just laugh and remind him that men know nothing about tending to children and you really can't have all those small parts around.

[mamazee]

One helmet, sure. Two grocery bags full of them????????????? We don't have space for that.

[onlyzombiecat]

Originally Posted by KimProbable

And who's ever heard of a two-year-old treating an object with reverence??!

:

I wouldn't take them unless it was to donate them or throw them away.

[chinaKat]

I'm gonna guess that the guy had good intentions... he probably fondly remembered collecting them as a child.

I'm also guessing that he *didn't* remember that he wasn't TWO when he collected them!!!

[phathui5]

I wouldn't have taken them to our house. We have enough stuff here. Now, football helmets that the kids can wear I would have taken, because those would actually get used.

[meganeilis]

To me, helmets that do not fit a child or are not part of a larger toy are not actually things to be played with. Why accept someone else's clutter?

[Mearow]

I would have taken them...and then gone straight home to list them on eBay! I bet they are collectable and if they happened to be a complete set, may do really well []

[MeepyCat]

I think it's pretty obvious that your friend has no children.

I'd have turned them down too. I can't imagine what my kid would do with them (besides throw them), they'd be a hazard underfoot, and we have enough junk. Which makes me just about exactly like everyone else here.

I don't even see that the dratted things would convey anything to your son about football.

[EnviroBecca]

Nice to know everyone agrees with me! I briefly considered the possibility of taking the helmets and selling them, but, this friend comes over often enough that he would ask what happened to them, and I just didn't want the bother of dealing with them. (I just recently managed to get rid of the pile of unneeded items that had filled a small room, first by having a yard sale, then by taking a big bag of baby clothes to a friend, and finally by taking the rest to Goodwill, which turned into a lengthy and stressful ordeal for reasons I'll refrain from ranting about here!) And then there was the risk that, in the short time they were in our house, EnviroKid would find them and actually want them and then they'd be all over the place and I would undoubtedly step on one in the dark and lacerate my foot and...

it sounds like them were special to him and he wanted to hand them down to someone special to him so maybe ask him to hold on to them for a few years until your son's world widens and perhaps it will include a like of football.

They weren't from his childhood. I think he got them at a yard sale or out of someone's trash. (That's where he gets a lot of things. His house must be 75% furnished with salvaged stuff! It's pretty cool.) I don't really want them around ever, so I encouraged him to find a slightly older kid who would appreciate them.

well since he's so into being a sexist i'd just laugh and remind him that men know nothing about tending to children and you really can't have all those small parts around.

Nah, that won't fly. EnviroKid is so coordinated and sensible that we let him play with regular-size Legos, marbles, pyramids, and other small things intended for older kids. It's the fragility that concerned me and the prospect of stepping on them. Just a few days earlier I'd stepped on a toy car left in the middle of the floor and fallen hard enough to bruise both palms and both knees!! : EnviroKid was very sorry and tucked me in with ice-packs and hugs, but he has not lost the habit of leaving toys wherever they are when he loses interest.

[rutabega]

Originally Posted by EnviroBecca

My friend was very persistent. He said it's not fair for my partner and me to "force" our dislike of football on our son.

And it was fair for him to "force" your son to like football? Yeah, I'd say you did the right thing.