Unsuitable Gifts

Bree received plenty of presents for her second birthday. Many of these were not things Bree’s parents would like her to have. Since they had allowed her to open most of her presents, they are now slowly gathering them up to either give them away or pack them up and re-introduce them later.

Here are some gifts that will be donated. Some are still in their original packaging.
· Children’s Laptop
· Wiggles Electronic Drum
· Plastic Ride-on Car (Bree is in the process of learning to ride a tricycle!)
· My Little Pony
· Battery Operated Guitar
· Toddler’s Laptop
· Bratz Baby Doll
· Battery Operated Ambulance
· Play-Doh sets
· Electronic Alphabet/Phonics
· Children’s DVDs

Here are some of the gifts that are likely to be packed away until a later date:
· Giggle Wiggle Game
· Elefun Game
· Mr Potato Head
· Doll’s Pram Set
· Leap Frog My First Computer
· Pop-up Tent
· Puzzles
· Mega Blocks & Lego/Duplo

Most people think that children enjoy noisy, light flashing battery operated toys with lots of buttons to press. As a nanny, I find that they really like simpler things. There is a gift that Bree particularly likes. It is a set of plastic musical instruments (maracas, rain-stick, recorder, tambourine, drum-sticks and a pair of castanets) stored inside a bucket shaped like a drum. She loves the recorder but because she is not very good at blowing, she gets a pleasant surprise whenever she accidentally manages to blow and make a sound. LOL. She also loves looking at the beads inside the rain-stick, falling down noisily. (The noisy sounds are not created by the press of a button. The child is actually witnessing the beads making the sounds as they fall.) Another gift that Bree enjoys playing with is the Sit n’ Spin. I have seen wooden version of this toy used in child care centres and kindergartens. She is supposed to sit on the round platform with the steering in between her legs and steer to spin round and round. At this stage, she is learning to do it all by herself. She doesn’t like to be assisted but she does need help to get started. There is a metal version at the park but Bree still finds it too much to handle. Stella and her playmate, Lachlan on the other hand can’t seem to have enough of this. LOL.

I do not think that Bree’s parents are ungrateful people. They are just careful with what is given to their little girl. There are parents out there who do not mind the toys that Bree’s parents are giving away. This is why they are giving them away rather than throwing them out. Many of the toys (including some picture books) are also being packed away until Bree is old enough to use them properly. They actually wanted to keep the Play-Doh sets but they have been told that the Play-Doh may harden if kept too long. So, they are deciding whether to donate the sets as a whole or keep only the utensils that come in each set and give away the Play-Doh only. Meanwhile, Bree still has a wide selection of new and existing toys and books to keep her busy. I also noticed a big increase in the number of plush toys and dolls since her birthday. People obviously still find it easier to select plush toys and dolls for girls.