pne | Christmas shopping for Amy (Reply)

Stella's sister had given her some money to buy a present for Amy with, and Stella and I went shopping this morning.

Good grief—I found it very hard to find a decent present for Amy. Part of this is that I'm not sure what things she likes to play with (she doesn't seem to be interested in any given toy for very long), part of it is that many of the toys were for really small infants or for children 3 and up.

But the biggest pain, I found, is that there were so many toys marketed at the age range "18 months and up" which incorporate "edutainment" of some kind or another, and/or that make noise and sing songs.

I didn't really fancy noise-producing stuff since I wanted stuff she could play with, that would be attractive through interaction rather than through some inane jingle (that would probably get on her parents' nerves within the week, anyway). And I didn't want to force-feed my toddler literacy and numeracy.

Hello? Is there anything wrong with having children simply play, or is that suddenly no longer politically correct? Does playing always have to be connected with learning in some way or another? Does she really have to learn her shapes and colours? Furrfu.

We managed to find something in the end—some plastic things you can stick to the side of the bathtub with suction cups that turn or tip over when you pour water in them, since she likes to take baths.