Comments on: plastic, plastic everywhere http://plattdiscoverycottage.com/blog/2008/03/30/plastic-plastic-everywhere/ A Cozy Corner of the Internet for Waldorf-Inspired Homeschoolers Sat, 19 May 2012 23:13:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Melisa Nielsen http://plattdiscoverycottage.com/blog/2008/03/30/plastic-plastic-everywhere/comment-page-1/#comment-5 Melisa Nielsen Sun, 30 Mar 2008 18:55:19 +0000 http://plattdiscoverycottage.com/blog/2008/03/30/plastic-plastic-everywhere/#comment-5 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. 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.

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