The Matter Of Toys

I heard a radio (yes, there is still such media) report on the lastest and "best" toy of the season. Sounded interesting. Apparently, this toy makes a fine companion for a child because it can read the kid's mood, and like a good psychologist, reflect it by making various sounds that studies show children like and respond to. Huh? But being, a curious sort, I went on line and there it was. The toy. The "toy" was something the size of an iron and looked about as appealing. It had a couple of glassy things at the front that were supposed to simulate eyes, but are actually the readers of the child's "mood", be it a haha or a boohoo. The cost was staggering, in my opinion, but these days toy costs are important to upscale parents who want their kids to flaunt what all the "best" kids have. Even like little Baron. Over three hundred dollars for a toy, makes me shudder, but  then I don't have a child to go into bankruptcy for. If one has a bunch of kids, it must push the mortgage and car payments well into next year. This toy looked to me, to be something a real kid, and all kids are pretty real, would play with to please its parents, and then put the thing on the shelf and get on with the wifi. But that's another tale. Toys used to be fun. They weren't there to educate or stimulate or do anything with children. They were to love, be it dolls or stuffed animals. They were to play with in a group, Monopoly, Scrabble, Chess, Snakes and Ladders. Kids want to have fun. Cost and psychology and education have nothing to do with fun. But children also want to please parents and will do just about anything they're told, to keep their environments cheerful. Not that parents are around much anyway, with work, socializing and meeting their kids' game and lesson schedules. It's mostly about making a date to play these days. There is little freedom to just be a kid out of parental or nanny supervision. It made me think of the days when a toy was something you brought to life and anything it did, was because you made it that way. That was kid power. Vehicles didn't have batteries, you pushed them and made their noises. Dolls didn't usually talk, and if they did, kids weren't fooled. Dolls don't talk. Games were fake-it baseball down on the spare lot with a ragged soft ball and one bat that used to be Dad's. Paper dolls were movie stars who we saw dance and sing down at the Odeon theatre on Saturday matinees. Our parents were good at "go out and play" and we did. We created our own worlds and games and none of them required plugging into a socket or using up batteries. Christmas was a tacky real tree with worn old baubles and maybe lights. It was all about fun and laughing and loving. Kids didn't have "moods", and life was ours to form in our own kid ways. No one yapped at us constantly. They usually wanted us out of the way so they could do adult things, and we loved it.