If you remember my previous post, I was debating whether or not I should buy a battery powered Thomas. I ended up buying a battery powered James for my son’s Christmas present.
I bought it from eBay for $15 including shipping, which is quite a steal as regular retail price is $29.99. You push the little start button and James can chug along the track with his light up. I couldn’t wait to see my son’s expression once he got this present. Lo and behold, my son was extremely excited but he hated the fact that it’s a battery powered. He refused to turn it on and prefer to drag James along himself. My husband made fun of me, “You went through so much trouble checking out deals on ebay for something he hates”. O well, the things you do for your kids… : )
The funny thing is last year I came across a similar situation where I was insisting on buying a Dirt Devil vacuum cleaner toy that looks like this:
This happened to be a popular item at that time and I went from store to store trying to find it. I finally got it just a couple days before Christmas. My son was happy, but I realize he could careless about what kind of vacuum he got. In other words, he would’ve been happy with any vacuum.
Parents tend to unconsciously buy toys that they want, not what their children want. Perhaps to compensate their childhood or simply because they are a victim of marketing ploy. In reality, what children want is pretty simple. They just want you to play with them. You can create a school bus out of a cardboard box and they will have a fabulous time as long as you play with them.
Tags: battery powered james, thomas the train, toys
