I Can’t Stop Buying My Kids Toys

I hope I’m not alone in admitting I just can’t stop buying my kids toys. I’ve become THAT Mum. Before kids, I was all for, ‘don’t spoil the children yet to be born’ but well, life is hard and when supermarket shopping needs to be done or peace restored from bat s**** crazy shouty tantrumming and tired kids, sometimes toys and yes manipulation, becomes the easy answer.

Photo by Ruvim Noga on Unsplash

Throwaway, overpriced magazines, boxes of LEGO (ouch), colouring in books, cuddly toys, DVD’s, sweets, I feel like all my earnings are going on keeping my kids happy and they’re becoming utterly spoilt. So spoilt, that even when I, shamefaced, packed many of their pieces off to the local charity shop, my Mum (unknowingly) bought a load of the shizzle back.

Luckily, I must add, my kids on the whole don’t behave in a spolit way (even if they are)-they have impeccable manners and are pretty good kids, as kids go. It’s me and the rest of the adults in this family that have resorted to pushing material goods on them in a bid to please, and frankly, cope.

Well it has to stop. I’m taking a stand. There has to be a better way to surviving the tough times of parenting without resorting to emptying my pockets, even if that Hot Wheels car in Tesco Express only cost a pound, because here’s the thing, I’m spending a minimum of £2 a day on these boys, and my eldest is nearly 5 now, and that’s not including the more expensive items they both get regularly too. I know.

I’ve started sorting through all the toys which are currently suffocating their once pretty playroom, and bags, and bags are going to hospitals, charity shops, and friends with age appropriate children for the stuff that’s rarely used.

A lot of well-used stuff is going too because no one can play with 500 cars at a time. Who are these kids, the Beckham boys? I bet their playroom has fewer toys than ours.

I’m going cold turkey and so are they. They need to relearn that toys are earned and we’ve started with a reward chart on the fridge, not just for chores but for general, kind behaviour. Praise and reward. The meaning of money is now being taught once more, as it appeared to get a bit lost there, and I’m not buckling. Let them shout the supermarket down, no more toys will be bought unless they’ve been saved for, or it’s birthday time.

You with me?