Holiday regrets are a real thing: all that over eating you did, thinking you could fit into a size medium by Christmas when really you’re an extra large or maybe you forgot to go to Pottery Barn and get their discounted ornaments. Whatever your regrets may be, have you ever regretted a purchase?
Our two year old son is absolutely in love with Toy Story. What kid isn’t, right? He loves watching as Woody and Buzz start as enemies, then become friends. He loves when Woody finds out where he came from and when he meets Jesse, Stinky Pete and Bullseye. And of course, who doesn’t love when Woody, Buzz and all Andy’s other toys get to be play with Bonnie? It’s a great movie series and we have come to love watching them over and over and over and over….but have you brought it to the next level?
When shopping during the holiday’s for our son we were walking past the Disney Store when we saw that they had a Woody and Buzz talking figures. How fun would it be for our son to watch his favorite shows with his favorite little buddies right there by his side? We had to cave and make the purchase, not thinking about the noises or lights that would come from Buzz or the many catch phrases that come from Woody’s back. All we thought about was that these were guys that he was going to grow close to, like Andy did in the movies. We thought about the memories.
As we walked through the store, my wife noticed something else that we had to get; Buzz and Woody pajamas. “How fun/cute would it be if he were to have pajamas that he could wear and match his little friends?” we both thought. Yes, that would be super cute and we went ahead and made our purchase.
Before being a parent, I remember going to friend’s homes with kids and anytime they had a toy that made a noise I thought to myself, “I am never going to purchase any toys for my kids that make noise!” I caved. I couldn’t wait to see the light that would shine in my son’s eyes when, come Christmas morning, he would open this gift to find his favorite guys, Buzz and Woody. Was I going to deprive my child from having an imagination or keep him from playing with his two favorite people?
Well, you don’t think everything through when you are purchasing these gifts for your children. You forget about the fact that they love the noises that their new toys make. They love to throw things, and Woody is no exception, at the TV or sliding down the stair rail just like he does in the movie. And boy does my son love to take all his little friends to bed with him and Buzz can make that very difficult. There is nothing worse than lying in bed with your child hearing the voices of these characters over and over, but then the flashing of green and red lights from Buzz’s wings to keep you awake and wanting to play till the wee hours of the night.
Now what could be so bad about a pair of pajamas you might be thinking? Well, pajamas are not clothes you go out in public in. At least not in our house. Pajamas are clothes that you wear to bed, or around the house. Try explaining that to a two year old that already picks out his own outfits and has great fashion sense, but wants to wear his Woody pajamas to church. I know that people always say, pick your battles, but being a parent you have to set the rules and that is one that we are not breaking. We have had to use major bribery these past two weeks to get him into anything other than his Buzz or Woody jammies. I know the novelty will wear off eventually so for now we are enjoying the slight obsession.
After all this Toy Story obsession do I have holiday regrets? Absolutely not. I love seeing my son’s imagination go wild as he has many adventures with Buzz and Woody by his side. I love that he wants me to push on his back when he is wearing his Buzz pajamas so that he can do his karate chop. Watching my son glow when he knows that he has a friend that will always be there for him is priceless. So no, I do not have holiday regrets, except for the fact that I ate three bags of Sour Patch Kids in a matter hours and my teeth have been sore for days because of it.
You should never regret purchasing things for your children that will keep their imaginations going full speed ahead. These are the things that more parents should be getting their kids into instead of the iPad, Kindle or iPod Touch. I know that we have grown into a technology generation, but that doesn’t mean that a child’s imagination has to be lost because of it. As a parent I take great responsibility to encourage exploration, self discovery and allow my children opportunities to create play using their imaginations.
