I recently took a stroll through a toy store. I like toy stores because they have employees to make sure all the toys are picked up and on the shelves. Unlike my house, there's very little risk of slipping on a stacking ring and then having to spend the rest of the day figuring out if my health insurance covers physical therapy. While there, I saw a toy cell phone. These have been around for years. But my twin sons are a year-and-a-half old. As they experience the world for the first time, I similarly have my first encounter with the weird world of toys. And it did strike me as odd: Why would a kid want a toy cell phone? If they want to imitate my cell phone usage, all they'll be doing is pretending to send calls from their mother to voicemail. How much fun is that? But kids do like to mimic the skills of adults; and these toys allow kids to pretend to text while riding their Big Wheels.
Seeing these munchkin mobiles made me wonder, "Would I let my kids have toy cell phones should they want them?" What toys will I let them play with? Are these toys more bizarre today than back in grandpa's time, when the only things he had to play with for the first 15 years of his life were three Popsicle sticks and a shard of glass (but, darn it, he was thankful!)? What about how political correctness or environmental concerns are playing themselves out in the world of toys? Will coal-powered Thomas the Train be replaced by Thomas the Electric Vehicle? Whether we like it or not, toys are our partners in parenting. It's important to know what's going on out there!
The (not so) bizarre evolution of toys
First of all, how did we get to the current state of toys? It may appear strange to many parents to see toy cell phones andlaptops, and no doubt we'll soon see a Little Tykes cubicle, casual Friday-brand Pampers, and a My First Carpal Tunnel Inflammation wrist brace. But is this pint-sized work paraphernalia bizarre? According to Paul J. Croce, Professor and Chair of American Studies at Stetson University, it's actually the norm. "There've been trends towards kids culture separated from adults, but actually the tradition is towards toys as junior adults." Toy cell phones and laptops are simply taking their places next to erector sets, toy dump trucks and plastic stethoscopes and hammers. If these things strike us as peculiar it's because we have much different relationships with our cell phones and laptops than our kids do. To the parent, the laptop might be the thing that allows an endless number of e-mails to swamp an already busy life. To kids, that laptop is the thing mommy or daddy focuses on when they're not focusing on them.
The real new developments are fantasy toys (based on TV shows) such as "Power Rangers" and "Powerpuff Girls." Professor Croce mentions that, like many things in our culture, this shift began in the 1950ss and '60s when "youth as a distinctive culture really became strong -- certainly in music, but also with toys." Basically, before then most toys focused on helping a child pretend to be an adult with a profession. Now kids can pretend to "save the world before bedtime," as the "Powerpuff Girls" proclaim. I'm sure there are a few boys and girls who get their hearts set on becoming superheroes. But once they realize that profession has a very high barrier to entry (typically suffering chemical radiation or being from another planet), they change directions and focus on more realistic jobs.
Viva La Leche
The other evolution is how consumer capitalism uses an ever keener eye to study child-play, and then provides products to suit. Nowhere is this more evident that with the infamous breastfeeding doll. For those who haven't heard about this little chunk of plastic parental outrage, a Spanish company came out with a doll to promote breastfeeding as something that's natural (as opposed to giving your kids formula -- which critics say has about as much nutritional value as a Red Bull). Of course, some parents fear that this toy will fill the child full of premature questions, potentially leading to a teenage pregnancy. It comes with a special top for the girl to wear, with sensors that prompt the baby to suckle when held up to the chest.
To me, this seems remarkably weird. But again, it may not be as strange as it appears. According to toy expert Marianne M. Szymanski, president and publisher of Toy Tips and Parenting Hints Magazine, "Most moms who have toddlers or preschoolers at home, [their kids] will pick up a doll or teddy bear if they're watching mom breastfeed the baby, and hold it to their chest as if they're breastfeeding. It's a typical a situation, so the company thinks, 'Little girls are going to do this anyways, let's make a doll that actually does it.' There's controversy about this. A lot of people in the breastfeeding community like it, a lot of them don't."
I have sons, so I'm not too concerned about this doll. But if we continue the idea of toys as parenting partners, other parents must decide for themselves if this doll has the right dynamic for their households.
