I’m sure I’m not the only Mum who struggles every birthday and Christmas with what to buy my youngest child. The eldest is easy, as it’s a blank canvas each time, and we can just go with whatever she’s into. Also, being nearly 4, she’s now very vocal about dos and don’ts when it comes to present buying!
My son, however has just turned 2, he loves imaginative play, jigsaws, books, hurling himself into dangerous situations, basically the same things most 2 year olds enjoy. The trouble is, we’ve got most of the things he enjoys already, as we bought them a couple of years ago. Whenever anyone asks us what to buy for him, our answer has always been the same, as it’s the only thing we don’t already have: “Something for a boy!”
All the toys we had up until little boy came along were either unisex or feminine, and while he’s quite happy to play with them, we wanted to give him other options. He loves his garage, though spends most of his time standing on the heliport to give him easier access to the top of the sofa (an excellent place to roll from)!
He adores playing with his Sister’s doll’s house, and a friend suggested Playmobil and bought him a fab Police Station, so we went to Toys R Us to see if we could find something to add to it. I thought by doing this on a day that the children were at nursery would mean we could get in and out quicker. However, I did go with my husband, and I kept losing him, only to find him each time in the Star Wars Lego section!
That said, and to cut a long story short, we never made it to the Playmobil section, as my husband stumbled across the Imaginext section. We’d never heard of it before, but as soon as hubby saw the Imaginext Batcave I knew we were going to be taking it home!
Of all the presents we’ve bought for our son, this was the biggest hit of all, he absolutely loved it. Yes, he prefers to have Fifi and the Flowertots operating the doors, and our daughter thinks that the jail is in fact a shower, but they will happily play with it together for a lot longer than they independently play with anything else. They even prefer it to watching the TV!
I don’t think youngsters really get gender specific toys, and that’s not why we necessarily wanted ‘boys’ toys’, it’s more so we have variety for both of the children, but while our daughter was making an ever expanding list of Disney Princess related products for her own birthday list, we were really struggling with what we could get for the little man, and this hit the spot perfectly. I love the fact that all the imaginative toys are mixed and matched. In just one morning, we saw the Police call Batman in for extra backup after the ‘villain’ was caught publically defecating. He was then sent to Madame Gazelle’s school so she could teach him, Peppa, and Fifi to do the right thing! We also witnessed a trip to the (Little People) zoo, on Grandpa Pig’s Train, and a breakdown for Daddy Pig’s car which resulted in needing essential maintenance at the local garage!
With minds like that, it’s no wonder that being a Mum brings with it so much enjoyment. I wonder what adventures are in store tomorrow?!
itsamumsworld 