My boys have really gotten into Diego lately so we spend some time every day watching Nickelodeon. I rarely get the TV shut off in time to avoid all of the commercials, and this latest product has put me over the edge for brain exploding madness.
I am sure I'll hear from all you mothers of girls out there telling me this is harmless. And with all the R E A L things to worry about in the world, you are probably right. Still, I can't help but think that you are setting yourself up for disaster allowing your daughter to play with a product that encourages spending money on princessy-stuff. The commercial is completely disturbing as girls in princess garb use their "debit" cards to buy jewelry and tiaras. What killed me is that the amazon.com product reviews were all about how parents didn't feel like the product worked very well.
I guess the parents who put their foot down on this kind of thing just didn't comment. And I'm really not sure what it is about this particular item. I have often though various cash register toys (especially in combination with food) were cute and could be good play to learn tools. I don't know, maybe the Disney cash register reflects what I wouldn't want my daughter to learn . . .
Now, I'm sure I've offended some of you. And if you saw the copious amounts of train related paraphenelia at my house you would probably say, "Who has fallen for every commercial trick of the American advertising industry?"
Probably me.
11 comments:
I agree with you. There is just something slightly disturbing about that toy. Emily has a little cash register with fake money, but it came with food and things you would buy at the grocery store and no where does it talk about or encourage the use of a credit card.
I have never felt so grateful that my kids don't have comercials to watch. We all could do with less advertising.
I'm with Zippity--that's why we check out DVD's from the library and don't have cable. S-Boogie hasn't requested anything for Christmas yet, and I don't have any idea of what toys are out there. I also find that toy really disturbing. I read an article with an interview with a lady from Disney marketing and she said that when they released Cinderella on DVD they created 250 licensed products to go along with it. 250! It's ridiculous. Some days I feel like I'm just fighting an uphill battle to keep commercialism out of my kids' lives.
I was laughing too because when we were visiting my nephews I was thinking about how I was glad to have a girl first, because all their toys are action figures that shoot and stuff like that. We have a lot of basic toys that are not boy or girl--blocks, Duplos, play food and dishes, a train set, Mr. Potato Head, etc.
That toy is so wrong on so many levels. And that coming from someone who has a girl. ;o) Let's see, it teaches commercialism, vanity, how NOT TO use money, hm... I'm sure there's plenty of other things. While there's nothing wrong with playing princess and dressing up, some things just take the idea a little too far... I'd much prefer something like a cash register with a pretend grocery store and
money instead of credit cards. Actually, what I really want to get is a play kitchen for my kids. A really nice wooden one. Just not sure how to fit that in my budget. :p
Scallywag was probably five before he even knew the word "gun." Then we lived with my mother-in-law for a summer when he saw every Disney movie and began "pewpewing" (say that out loud and you'll hear the sound) everything in sight. We had to do Disney detox for several months and talk a lot about "proper" gun play. Of course, Pirate picked right up on that and at not quite three shoots everything he sees when he picks up a stick. Those are the moments when I wish I had girls.
This is one of those days I'm so glad we don't own a television. Sometimes I worry our daughter will constantly be out of the loop, but most of the time I'm grateful I don't have to worry what messages the magic box will feed her next.
About the gun thing--kids will always manage to pick it up from somewhere. We didn't have a television when I was growing up, but my mom thinks we figured out guns from reading the Little House Books and stuff like that. My mom always laughed because we would do things like bite peanut butter sandwiches into guns and shoot each other. Some of that is pretty normal, especially since it gets a reaction. I just figure I'm not going to buy toy guns and we will talk about what is appropriate and not. S-Boogie and her daddy have started bonding by watching Batman cartoons (not my favorite thing, but you have to pick your battles). So now I've had to talk to her about guns and pretending to shoot people and "bad guys". She may not know what a princess is, but she knows that Catwoman shoots people. Sigh.
I loved the Batman Cartoons. Every afternoon when I got home from high school early enough; they used to be on Fox.
We've never bought guns or swords either, but torn sheets of paper, bent or straight sticks, paper towel rolls . . . there are many things that are remarkably accomodating on that score.
Joe wanted to write the owners of some network he was watching because all they put on is commercials for 'girl stuff' I reminded him that we have DVR and that he doesn't have to watch the commercials.
Boys do turn everything into guns it doesn't matter that we have never bought them one.
Have you seen that commercial for that Dora head vanity toy? It is a little scary to me for some reason. Also it is a little sad that the 'princessize' her for their products.
btw, I used you conference issue analogy (I gave you credit) some one commented that they liked that part of my talk, so I am glad you shared and glad I included it.
It was a sad day when my daughter (then 4) left her Barbie cash register outside and it rained. She really did get a lot of play out of that toy. (And it may have helped her get over her I-want-to-be-a-cashier-at-WalMart-when-I-gro-up phase.) And now . . . get ready . . . here is the best advice I'll ever give you on teaching kids about money: when they begin asking for only name-brand clothing in copious amounts, and they're at least eight years old, turn that portion of the budget you'd normally spend on clothing over to them. We do it on a quarterly basis with the biggest allotment in August. I couldn't believe how it curtailed my older daughter's gotta-wanna-have-it list.
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