If All the Other Parents Bought Their Kids a Bridge, Would You Buy One Too?

Noah opened his very first...um...first birthday present yesterday, courtesy of Miss Zoot. While I was busy freaking out over some criminally adorable clothes, Noah managed to get his hands on his REAL present: a fairly realistic-looking cell phone that rings and beeps and even played a birthday message recorded by the Zoots. (Which unfortunately we managed to record over within the first 10 minutes of play -- the phone now plays a few seconds of my screeching something about a wee corduroy blazer.)

The phone is definitely a hit -- Noah even tossed aside the packaging in favor of the actual toy. But it made me realize that...oh yeah. NOAH'S BIRTHDAY.

We're not very good at the whole "presents are for special occasions" thing yet -- we didn't buy Noah anything for Christmas, yet are still ankle-deep in toys that we've compulsively bought for him. So he pretty much has everything a one-year-old could possibly play with. Push toys, stacking toys, sorting toys, talking toys, singing toys -- if the package made some vague promise about encouraging creativity or improving motor skills, I bought it.

But still. NOAH'S BIRTHDAY. Seems like a good time to turn over a new leaf in the random-parade-of-toys department and start keeping gifts confined to special occasions. Right?

Oh, FINE. I just want another excuse to buy Noah something shiny.

ANYWAY, my point is that I was poking around online for toys this morning and suddenly saw this:

Hmm. What?

And in a very weird coincidence, an email from the folks at Compete arrived just a few minutes later, asking me to check out their latest blog entry:

It’s that time of the year parents.  You know the one…when your competition is already combing the malls of suburbia in search of the holiday must-have of 2006. 10 years ago an annoyingly giddy electronic doll named Elmo was all the rage among toddlers—fueling mass hysteria among Santa’s little helpers (a.k.a. parents). Well those toy wizards over at Fisher-Price are at it again and have dreamt up another beauty this year….. Will there be enough Elmos to go around this time, or will parents once again be driven to extreme measures to secure one for their child? Beats me, but as the father of an Elmo adoring 2-year old, I’d probably be wise to make the obligatory pre-order on Amazon sooner rather than later.

So at first I totally laughed. Seriously? A big secret teaser campaign over another Tickle-Me-Elmo? An EXTREME Tickle-Me-Elmo? Whatever.

And yet...

I was in kindergarten when the Cabbage Patch Kids hit. My mother got up at the crack of dawn to wait in line outside of ToysRUs for the chance to clobber other parents over the head in order to buy me one. And she did. (Buy me one, that is. I don't believe it ever came down to clobbering.)

Then it was the Care Bears. My parents looked everywhere in the weeks leading up to Christmas and couldn't find one. So my mom went to the fabric store, bought a pattern and sewed me a Cheer Bear her own self.

As I read that entry on the Compete blog, I started to get this...itch...in my fingers...the overwhelming desire to click right back over to Amazon and pre-order an Elmo. God, maybe I should get two, for my nephew, just in case my sister hasn't heard of this yet and then we won't be able to find them by Christmas and we will just be the LAUGHINGSTOCKS of the playground because ALL THE OTHER BABIES HAVE T.M.X ELMO WAAAH.

Then I remembered that my nephew is six months old and like Noah, has no freaking clue who Elmo is.

So my ridiculousness aside, have you ever caved to a toy fad? Was it because it was something your children really wanted...or because of some competitive parental peer pressure?

Also, has anybody ordered that stupid Elmo yet?

Comments

[mdvelazquez]

I've done the great toy hunt several times, but I don't have kids. I need to get a life, right? ;-) Anyway, it has been because the child/kid was into whatever the must-have was (e.g., PowerRanger).

My husband did the Tickle me Elmo for our dog the last time and I am tempted to do it this time for our current dog (purse do), who absolutely luvres noisy toys.

[Missie]

My attitude is this: You will have many many years to go trekking all over creation to find him the birthday/Christmas/Easter/Arbor Day toys he really wants when he is old enough to tell you what he is interested in, so while they are young? Get them whatever YOU want, and save the stress for later years.

I started the hunt/gather present process when my son turned about 7 and really got into Star Wars. I try to find him what he wants, but if I can't? He still gets great presents and learns that not every single thing on his list is going to appear under the tree. (plus his bday is in January, so I can usually find whatever he missed at Christmas by then).

I am not into this "I better buy this because all the other parents are" thing, cuz I am all rebel-ly-crazy-edgy like that. Yo.

[mdvelazquez]

I meant that our current dog is a purse size dog. Sorry.

[Ninotchka]

I caved to Beanie Babies when my oldest was 2. Lord help me. And I cared about THE TAGS, MY GOD, THE TAGS...THEY MUST BE PRESERVED AT ALL COSTS for about 2 seconds. OK 5.

[Brian]

My daughter loves Elmo. "Elmo" was the seventh word she ever spoke. She has two Elmos that she drags around the house, sleeps with, feeds, and in general, must have around her at all times.

I'm already considering buying a back-up Elmo in case one of the other two goes down.

[Shrinkingmom]

I once spent an inordinate amount of cash on just the exact Yu-Gi-Oh card my 6 year old HAD to have. I still can't believe I did that, but he was the happiest boy ever that Christmas Day.

[Momish]

I think it is wise to wait until this type of insanity is necessary. I used to say (pre kid) that I would never, ever be that way. But now that I have a child, I know I will eat my words in a few years. It's just so hard to say no, especially to things that really do matter to a child. If I can afford it (time and money wise), I am sure I will be in line like all the other moms, club in hand. I plan on taking advantage of the choice I have now to remain sane before she can talk and I have to listen to those words "must have or I'll die!" P.S. My daughter has that cell phone and LOVES it!

[HollowSquirrel]

No, I have not, but I was just overseas and they had the same ad in a kids' toy catalog there, but it was for a new Ernie (of Bert & Ernie fame)...same backlit, hazy ad but with a different silhouette & tagline. But I left before the new Ernie hit the stores. Good thing, too, because I probably would have gotten sucked into buying it.

[Heather B.]

One of those tamagotchi pets. Ya know those virtual pet things that you'd have to feed and take care of but it was a little game thing..? Well it was big in 1997 and I had to have one and then got one and then promptly forgot about it.

And I'm totally for taking advantage of a birthday solely for a visit to Toys R Us.

[Lawyerish]

Oh, man. My mom totally did the Toys-R-Us brawl thing for Stars Wars figures AND Cabbage Patch Kids. God bless her. Consequently, my parents' attic is stuffed with all this junk like the Millenium Falcon, Yoda's swamp and a Cabbage Patch Kid Pony.

Oh, and she made me -- with her own two hands -- an Adoption Doll.

I will never, ever be as kickass a mom as mine was (and is!).

[Frema]

My parents went nuts looking for a Playstation for my brother in their inaugural year. I remember my mother crying about how she knew she spent more on his one gift than our smaller ones and she felt bad but he didn't want anything else and she didn't know what to do. Damn toy and video-game companies for doing this to parents!

Also, just wanted to say that I love it when you weave narrative in with the obligatory blog links. :)

[jozet]

We did the great tamagotchi search, too. However, my DD had earned the money to buy it and the tamagotchi hasn't been tossed aside. Yet. I've found that with my girls, only about one out of every five "must haves" - and they don't say "must have" often - about one in five is a winner (i.e. play with it longer than one or two weeks). One of them that I did search high and low for, and that still is a fave toy, is a Princess and the Pauper Barbie duo that sings. Yeah.

[Black Belt Mama]

I don't know if you know this or not, but the big craze with the tickle elmo is that he said something "special" on a certain date. I think that the person holding the Elmo with a special message won something. It was more like playing the powerball than actually playing with Elmo. Since we already have more Elmo's than we know what to do with around here, we're not going for the hype of the new, although I am quite sure that someone in my family will try to get it.

For his birthday, you should take him to Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster PA. It's not too far from you. It's a great park or little ones. I took my 11 month old on a train ride, log flume ride and several others.

[Rock Chalk]

Just fyi ... my daughter discovered Elmo at about age 14 months. Noah may not know the furry, red monster NOW, but I guarantee he will know who he is by Christmas. Guarantee! I don't know how she found out about Elmo -- it's like a little baby network or something -- but she figured it out. Oh, and she LOVES my old Tickle Me Elmo, circa 1996. I was in college when my Mom bought it for me; so it's still in good shape.

Plus, Elmo is awfully cute.

[Contrary]

Ha. I had a connection at K-Mart the year Furbies were huge. I got three of them. I didn't need three of them, but I kind of panicked and bought as many as my friend the store manager would let me buy.

Oh, and I do the most awesome Cabbage Patch Doll imitation. I'm just saying.

[Dana]

I am lame because that Tickle-Me-Elmo fad 10 years ago? When I was a hs senior I bought one for MYSELF from my friend who worked at Toys R' Us. Now my kids have it and it is the single most annoying toy ever created.

I've never caved and gone with toy fads. My kids get what they need and nearly all they want but I can't stand toy-begging, which provokes one of two answers: "Tough" and "You want that? Well, people in Hell want ice water."

[Robbin]

Nope. Haven't ordered the Elmo. But we do have that phone.

Me, I am an Elmo lover myself. Other than those videos, my kid wants NOTHING to do with the television. I know that should be a good thing, but it has made me appreciate Elmo. There's nothing like an Elmo video to guarantee 30 minutes of peace and tranquility.

[Melissa]

Ours last year was the "Barbie Princess needs to eat two cheeseburgers with her ugly ass purple horse with wings", that my then 4 year old had to have. She was in love with it for exactly 2 days and has not played with it since. But I'd do it again, just for the look on her face that morning. If it's as easy as ordering the Elmo, I'd say go for it. He may love it. Kids do tend to love Elmo....maybe I need to look at that thing.

[janny226]

My son was never into any of the Sesame Street characters (unless Ernie's duck counts) but my home is awash with merchandise from the Cars movie from this summer. I was buying stuff even before the movie came out, but he's so quirky in his interests that it could be a once-in-a-lifetime obsession. (If not, we've set ourselves up for a pricey future...) We also have a lot of Thomas the Tank Engine stuff but his interest in that isn't worth the price tag. It's dad who insisted we buy the expensive wooden track system; son is happier with the cheaper Takealongs but Noooo, we've spent good money on the wooden track, dammit, we cannot pollute it with noncompatible plastic!! Anyhow...oh yeah, Elmo...I am pretty cynical, having seen it advertised in my supermarket circular. How great can it be if I can pick one up next to the milk? Then again, I tend to avoid movies with too much hype just on principal and then, years later, go "This was good, why didn't I see it sooner??"

[Angie]

I don't have kids, but I have two little girls (daughters of friends) that I spend waaaay too much money on for birthdays, Christmas and "just because."

I like to buy them picture books that are fun, but educational. My personal favorites are "The Paper Bag Princess" by Robert Munsch (excellent feminist story for kiddos who are into the princess thing... Princess Elizabeth rescues her prince in a dress she makes herself out of a paper bag- very Project Runway- after a dragon destroys her castle. Her prince turns out to be kind of a jerk, and the last line is "They didn't get married after all" as Princess Elizabeth dances off into the sunset by herself) and "How to Bake an Apple Pie and See the World" by Marjorie Priceman. So good.

Anyway, for M's 4th birthday last week, I got her a storybook of Navajo legends (the little girl on cover looks just like her) and... sigh... a big pink feather boa, some play makeup and a fluffy sparkly birthday wand and she LOVED everything... except the Navajo storybook. She wore the boa for the rest of the party and adored the wand. That glass-breaking parchment-rolling sound you hear is my women's studies diploma flinging itself off the wall and mailing itself back to university...

[callistawolf]

TMX Elmo sorta freaks me out. I'm sorta glad my oldest is too old and youngest too young for it.

I remember when my mom made me a Cabbage Patch doll from some sort of pattern when she couldn't find one in the stores for me. OF course, I didn't really appreciate it as much at the time as I do now. Ungrateful brat.

[Patchie]

I was spared the Elmo insanity. My oldest disliked Sesame Street--i don't know if it moved too fast for him or what, but he even turned to me at age two, in a hotel room, where I had turned the show on to get a few minutes of peace while I packed--and said, "Elmo is TOO silly." He said the same thing about the Wiggles, too.

We're a Pooh Bear and Bear in the Big Blue House family, I guess. And there never seems to be a Bear frenzy around Christmas.

[shannon]

I'm one of the friends with a daughter angie (see above) buys presents for, and I can attest to the beauty of both "The Paper Bag Princess" and "How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World." I buy them for my friends' little girls now.
Gabs will be 4 in November. I'm busy looking for Backyardigans things and Cars panties (which she told me she wanted this morning). We got lucky, Gabs hates toys that sing and make noise and move. Tickle Me Elmo scared her to death.

[Tara]

At 16 (and a half?) months, my son's too young to notice the toy fads, so I'm not freaked out about it.

And even though Dylan LOVES Elmo, he already has 2 Elmo dolls which he rarely plays with. I am NOT forking over $40 (or whatever the TMX costs) for another Elmo to sit around and gather dust. (There. I feel better--I have TAKEN A STAND. Good practice for the talking-back stage, right?)

If my son happens to see a Teletubbies doll, though. . . well. That might be a different story.

[Jessica]

I was barely a year old when the Cabbage Patch madness started, and my mom managed to snag one for me pretty early. I think she was working at Wal-Mart that year.

I don't think that Conner (13 months) is old enough to catch on to a toy craze, but he does like the online Elmo Chicken dance game. And I really didn't like Tickle me Elmo. He was kinda freaky.