plastic, plastic everywhere

March 30th, 2008

It was The Bugs birthday yesterday. She, of course, got tonnes of gifts - so many that she hasn’t opened the ones from her friends. She was sick last week (her party was last Saturday since her uncle was in town and he loves to put on parties for the kids.)

She opened Nana’s when we were out for the birthday dinner last night. So, it started out quite lovely. She got a cute pink cotton backpack, which I’m jealous of actually. My mother thought it would be nice for her to pack some things in this summer when we take Fuss to his swimming classes.

Then, Nana gave her a huge box of lovely, lovely clothes. Yay - really, that gift is more for me!

Finally, and here’s the trick - she gave her an enormous plastic magical flower fairy cottage. Now, I must admit that I find this item very sweet. However, we are going with a Waldorf curriculum next year (more on this later) and I try to keep a Waldorf-inspired homeschool. So, I had just resolved to go through the house with a huge garbage bag (or 10) and get rid of all the plastic toys in the house. Then, this turns up.

Now……here’s where it gets dicey. Both the kids love the fairy cottage. Part of me figures since it’s fairy themed, it’s kind of waldorfy, but really, it’s not. Hmmm…..what to do, what to do…..

Enjoying the journey, Amanda

Entry Filed under: This N That

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1 Comment Add your own

1. Melisa Nielsen | March 30th, 2008 at 2:55 pm

You are struggling with something all Waldorf homes do from time to time. Have you talked to your mom about your ideas? It is hard to do when you know she probably spent a lot of time picking it out for your daughter. When we started our journey we made sure we let everyone know our intentions with the toys. We asked that they help out or if they didn’t feel like they could that they were welcome to keep the toys at their house for the kids to play with. It is a process though. One year for Christmas our children got so many toys from one grandmother that they didn’t open them all. They had asked for wooden trains - so after Christmas we took them all back to the toy store, exchanged them for what the children asked for, and all was well. When Christmas came around again, we talked to this grandmother again and asked that she try to stick with what we asked. She got upset. We told her that we understood that she wanted to give the children gifts they wanted and not ones that would end up being returned - when she realized that the children didn’t want what she had gotten and that we returned them she started asking the kids to help her shop. It sounds crazy but ended up being very positive for all involved. That was about 6 years ago and the holidays have been great since then. We make sure all the grandparents have copies of Magic Cabin, A Child’s Dream, Chinaberry, Rosie Hippo and other great catalogs as well as websites.

In the end… I have to say that things change so much as they grow, all you can do is your best. Lead and they will follow. Be kind - it is always better to be kind than right - helping the kids to understand that is what your path really is about. Love your family and enjoy them, grandparents too. Everyone grows so fast!

Many blessings.