English Grandpa of the Year I believe so strongly in nonsexist childrearing that I don't deny our grandson the sublime joys of his youngest aunt's My Little Pony collection. Twenty-three years ago I was appalled at her obsession. All the Ponies were gifts from relatives and friends who adored mocking my abhorrence of girly toys.
Michael, the oldest grandchild, is turning five. I wrote this about his first ontroduction to my My Little Ponies at age 3. I did not dump our entire collection into my husband Andy's lap. Michael did. Andy bravely sat still long enough for me to find my camera. He is not aware I am posting his picture to Facebook and Open Salon.
Andy confesses he is horrifed to observe his wife and grandson happily styling My Little Ponies' manes and tails. Perhaps someone should have mentioned the potential crime to the Justice of the Peace who married us when he asked if anyone knew why this couple should not be wed. I have gained in wisdom in the last 20 years. I used to be too self-righteously squeamish to give the ponies the necessary grooming.
Michael has had a few pieces of candy in his entire life. As a result, he is obsessed with it. He draws candy, talks about it, makes candy sticks out of playdough. He is staying overnight with us. I lay down with him as he went to sleep, and we had an incredible conversation about the respective merits of chocolate ceilings and chocolate blankets. We debated how we could eat the chocolate off each other in the morning without biting each other. Licking seems the only solution, but that might take too long.
George (from James Marshall's George and Martha) and the Little Ponies love all the candy sticks Michael made for them this evening.
Note the blue and black scrunchies in the background, necessary for pony mane taming.
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I have given Michael two dolls; he is attached to them and numerous stuffed animals.
(If you're digging through the children's toys of the 1980s, that is...)
and Grandma, it seems contrary to common sense to deny a child something and have this denial create an obsession. The little candy treats for the ponies was a little bittersweet (not in a candy kind of way, no, no, no) ::sigh:: Twice a year dental prophylaxis and daily brushing are way more than enough to counteract a few special day candy treats. Halloween, birthday, and Easter come to mind. I loved making my kids easter baskets every year when they still 'believed'. It was so magical and funny enough, they didn't eat the candy because they thought the chocolate bunnies and marshmallow ducks didn't deserve that! These treasures hung around until I finally tossed them a few weeks afterward.
Rated, nice piece
That said, my daughter's love affair with a new pony dies in a few hours and they forget they have them.
I say your grandson is a very conscientious child, remembering to feed his toys. How sweet!
I realize how sexist I was looking down at My Little Ponies. Molly also had a Care Bear collection. I was probably over influenced by her big sisters who were 9 and 7 years older than she. In general they were lovely to her. She lost games very gracefully, so she started to be included in family games by 5. But to teenagers, Ponies and Care Bears were toys to tease their little sister about.
Lunchlady, grandkids are an utter joy. I can get down on the floor and play with them, act out dramatic fantasies much better than I did when I was a harried mother. Michael and I had a wonderful time at the beach today. It was far too cold to go in the water, but the sand was perfect for making cakes, eggs, drawing on with a stick.
Leeandra, the rooms in our house are relatively small but we have a full attic with a regular stairway. So I could save the best of my children's toys from the 80s, especially a vast collection of wooden blocks and legos. We emphasized sharing toys. I remember how much fun my kids had playing with the toys my mom had saved. The legos are absolutely plain, none of the themed legos now sold which cramp children's imagination. I am a great believer in sand, water, blocks, dolls, art supplies as the only toys a child needs.
I didn't know about the calvary mounts, but I am sure that information will be needed. I was shocked when Michael told me he wanted soldiers for his birthday, since he didn't know what a gun was until about four months ago. The soldiers in his beloved Nutcracker ballet probably corrupted him.
Gabby, you are absolutely right that denial creates obsession. My parents were very strick with sweets, and my 5 brothers and I crave them. The dad of my daughter's father was a Nabisco cookie salesman and Chris worked at Carvel's during the summer. He never binged on cookies or ice cream.
Linda, I just learned that Crayola has this wonderful new gimmick. Buy a box of crayons and at the bottom of the box is a web site. If you log in, you can upload your photos and get a black and white coloring page to print out.. I was wondering how I would look in yellow, pink, and purple hair like the Little Ponies.
Dave, I was a puritan about Barbies as well. When Emma got money for her First Communion, she bought 5 of them. Soon afterward, they were beheaded or scalped, left floating in the pool or buried in the sandbox. A 3-year-old boy in Michael's Manhattan playground made my favorite Barbie observation of all time. "Mommy, he said, her breasts are all wrong. How can she nurse?" I didn't know about Little Pet Show and Polly Pocket, but Molly and her sister Jane were big fans of Strawberry Shortcake.
Professor Emeritus, I enjoyed the photos as well. Maybe we should have an Open Call on favorite childhood toys, either others or our children's.
Geezerchick, you are absolute right, and I have outgrown my knee-jerk feminist ways. It was the Little Ponies's colors that condemned them--all pastels.
Bellwether, this weekend was one of my best grandma efforts.
A 4-year-old girl and boy whose families are friends can go from playing dress-up together (in girlie stuff) to playing with Legos or more boy-oriented things. A 6-year-old neighbor boy rides with the 5-year-old girl next door on her pink Barbie Jeep.
As long as they ate something healthy FIRST? (And were therefore too physically FULL to consume anything substantial....) And as long as they agreed to brush their teeth immediately afterward, particularly in the case of hard candies, which are made nearly entirely of sugar, which settles RIGHT AWAY at the base of the teeth?
I'd allow it. No denial, no rebellion, no obsession.
Now? My teenager won't TOUCH anything that isn't alfalfa sprouts. Her adoring younger sister won't touch anything her older sister won't. They are both healthy eaters and athletic.
Worked for me. But: I always say - do what works for YOU.