No gifts?!?! You are horrible parents!!!
Posted on March 15, 2007 - Filed Under Uncategorized
Some of you might be wondering, “Where’s the ceremony?” over Maggie’s birthday. Well, our normal excuse regarding lack of material here applies: We’ve been pretty busy. That said, we aren’t too busy to have fun for the occasion. I took off work today, we’re going to have a party on Saturday, and some family (Erin’s parents and brother and my sister) are coming to visit. (This will be their first trip to Mtn. Home, so it will be interesting to see all their reactions to our little locale.) It should be a good time.
I also wanted to talk about the answer to the question I fear we will be asked: What did you buy her for her birthday? I fear being asked this because, as you are about to see, the answer is 1. lame and 2. long. We didn’t buy her anything specifically for her birthday, pretty much the same way we didn’t get her anything specifically for Christmas. Here’s the lame aspect of the answer: We want to buy her stuff that is fun but also beneficial to her learning and development. There are a great deal of toys out there which are all former and no latter; in our opinion, they are a waste when there are toys out there which do both. Well, we have been saying for sometime now that we need to do the research to find out what specific items do both of those things most effectively for her given her age. In other words, we want to know what stage she is at mentally and that will determine what toys we buy. We have failed to do that research; that’s where the lameness come in.
Okay, now for the length. We all know, if we stop and take a look around, that our society is obsessed with consumption and materialism. Erin and I have been heading down a road toward an honest attempt to severely limit this in our lives. The problem is, the drive to consume, to buy things, is so incredibly ingrained in us that we can’t seem to break away from it. We think we need that thing; we know we don’t and that we’re just fulfilling some desire which isn’t going to make our lives any better. I know this flies in the face of everything we believe as a society. We think our possessions make our lives rich. The problem is, while we are rolling around in this supposed richness, we are missing out on the things which will make our lives truly rich–experiences, family, love, learning, seeing. We long to raise Maggie while modeling this view. Our struggle to de-program ourselves has inspired us to do our best to not indoctrinate Maggie to be a typical materialistic American. That’s the long reason for us not responding to the myth which says we must buy her a bunch of stuff for this occasion.
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4 Responses to “No gifts?!?! You are horrible parents!!!”
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We got Johnathan a cake and a magna-doodle for his second birthday. That was all he needed. He has a closet overflowing with clothes and you can’t traverse the living room nor the kids bedroom without battering your lower extremities against neglected toys of all shapes and sizes.
As for a toy recommendation, Lego Quattro Bricks went over very well with John for his first birthday. They help develop a sense of spatial relationships and are compatible with Lego Duplo Bricks and regular Lego Bricks so they can be a part of playtime for years to come.
–Stephen
Thanks very much for the tips and the reassurance that we are not bad parents because we were stingy with the gifts.
You’re not bad parents. I wish I had that much resolve when it comes to Wesley! However, I must say that for Christmas he didn’t receive but two things from us as I am starting to feel overwhelmed with so many toys that he more than likely does not need. His 3rd birthday is fast approaching and I haven’t bought anything yet. It might just be cake and ice cream this year! You’re going to be fine as parents — keep up the good work!
Your Friend, Karen
Omg thats not a bad parent rigt now im grounded and do you wana know why my brother stabed me … im gona let that sink in ……………………..
yep i got stabbed and im in trouble i was told my brother has anger issues i sholdent have botherd him was i was napping in a chair and he satbed me in the leg and when he went for a scend satbed i took the nife from him and held him on the ground lol u think u have it bad …btw wounds healing fine