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Toys - Don't Spend too Much on Them:

When a baby is born, and that baby gets older and begins playing, and then gets even older and begins playing and understanding more, the tendency of parents is to buy many toys for the child. But, there is a secret here that no one is sharing. Babies (and toddlers) prefer non-toys to toys. You may have heard this and not believed it, or you may have never heard it, but it is true. Guaranteed, your baby's first Christmas that they are actually able to open presents will be such a huge disappointment to the parents. You will spend so much time and money trying to find just the right toys, the ones that you just know your child will love. Then, the day arrives to open the gifts. You will be more excited than your child (of course you will be, they have no idea what is going on), you can't wait for your child to open these wonderful presents and play for hours with them. Then, they open them. If you are lucky, they might look at the toy for a minute before they move on to the wrapping paper. They will take the bows off the presents, and empty out the boxes, pile them up, knock them down, and pile them up again. They will shake the wrapping paper, discovering that it makes quite an interesting noise. All the while, there will be a pile in the floor filled with toys that took a great deal of time and money on the parents' part. This is not a situation you want.

Baby's first Christmas is much better off with cheap, individually wrapped toys. The more wrapping paper and boxes you end up with after all the gifts are open, the better. Granted, your baby will eventually play with those toys at a later time. But, no matter how much they like them and play with them later, it will never involve the fervor that was shown for something as simple as present covering.

This doesn't just apply on holidays, either. I can't count the amount of times I have said the words, "If my baby has a choice between a roomful of toys and a remote control, they will pick the remote control." And, it's not just me. I would also be hard-pressed to try to count up the amount of times I have heard other parents say this. It is a very common theme among babies and small children. They want whatever it is they aren't supposed to have. They also like to be like Mom and Dad, so they want the things that Mom and Dad use. This is why most babies love remotes, telephones, and keys. All three of these items have common traits that appeal to babies: 1) Mom and Dad use these items the most, 2) All of these things either make noise, or have the potential to provide noise, 3) They are funny-shaped and small, 4) They are constantly being taken away from baby as soon as he gets his hands on them.

All four of these traits make these items very appealing, much more appealing than some toy that is constantly being handed to baby with permission to play. There is really no way around it, except maybe to buy your child the toy versions of these. This might occupy them some, but inevitably they will want the things that are not meant to be played with.

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