On Wed, Apr 9, 2008 at 1:52 AM, ss <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Wednesday 09 Apr 2008 5:08:55 am divya manian wrote: > > Completely agree with this! I grew up with minimal toys not even the > > token robot or a barbie.
Same here, it was more fun climbing trees, playing football or 'goti' (marbles) with the boys than toying with those silly kitchen/doctor sets. The pressure to celebrate b'days is not new and when pestering me didnt get my friends anywhere they appealed higher and that year despite my protests, there was one which they all attended, whilst i happily played football outside. It was lot more fun to play langadi*1, kabaddi, seven stones*2, handball, football, badminton, than sit around with dolls. Besides the health benefits it taught team-spirit and that winning and losing is part of life. Today most kids are hardly interested in athletics unless their parents enroll them in the gym/club to play squash/football/basketball and lose that flab accumulated whilst watching "saas bhi kabhi bahu thi" (or whatever new (so-called) family drama that is currently a hit). Maybe computers and 24/7 TV channels are not the best innovations for kids after all. *1 - hopping on one leg and catching 2-3 persons running around a marked square/rectangle while team members stand around and cheer (jeer, as the case maybe :-)). *2 - breaking a pyramid of 7 stones and rebuilding it while no member of the team gets hit by the ball being thrown at by the opposite team (which consists of min 4 to 10 players each) > children toys that can become anything - typically blocks, cylinders and > spheres (which he cannot use to inhale and block his breathing). It is > remarkably difficult to get such toys in India. yup, still cherish the lego set of building blocks gifted to me ages ago. > A lot depends on how tough YOU are and what > values you have and whether you want your child to see reality or whether you > are living out your own fantasies through your child. Agree completely. Its more about "keeping up with the Joneses" and increasing the snob value amongst their inner circle.
