One way to save money on toys
James wrote this in one of his entries, regarding his son's playthings:
"Think of all the money we could have saved"
And I'm inspired to blog about how I have saved at least a couple of hundreds ringgits on toys. Hopefully, some stingy or smart (or just plain poor, like me) parents will benefit from it.
Even before Bea1 turned 3 years old, I was really eager to get her one of those kitchen set. I even imagined a corner in the kitchen where I wanted it to be. She could play there on her own without harrasing me (I should also mention here that, I'm a full time working mom without a helper at home, and it is by choice). However, the price of one of those things really made me thought a trillionth time would it be worth it for me to part with my money (as papa22beas had made it clear that he would not have anything to do with it). Besides that, when Bea1 turned 3, Bea2 turned 1 when smaller parts in those kitchen may pose choking hazards for her.
I'd decided to wait for awhile, maybe for a day that I'm in stress and used that excuse to buy anything that comes to mind. In the meantime, I let Bea1 to just continue 'harassing' me in the kitchen. Initially, I used to be stressed up with her wanting to touch everything. She uses a stool to reach the counter, and she used to drop something almost every few minutes and asked me to pick it up for her. Papa22 beas just could not get her away from the kitchen. Having no choice, I just let her be there and tried to think of ways to make it pleasant for both of us (while making sure that the cooking is done). She loves onions and garlic, she can just stand there for half an hour to peel, and peel them. I was worried that some juice of the onion might get into her eyes, but on second thought she would learn something from it, but not from those dummies from the kitchen set toys. She loves cutting french beans to small pieces, and tear the cabbage leaves. I remember vividly the excitement on her face the first time I let her play with the squids, and I taught her the different names/parts of fish.
Last night, she hold a piece of chicken ribs and said "this is the mouth, this is the cheek...and over here is the eyes" I was about to laugh but thought, she was using her imagination (ok lah...did not have the time to explain as we never had a whole chicken at home, I will sort it out later).
And before anyone thinks that I'm too stingy, wait till you see the kids playroom. They have a castle-like tent, a table set, an activity table, tricycle and lots of other small stuffs mostly from IKEA. Well some of my kitchen stuffs ended up in there, too. Last night, Bea1 came up to me with a metal container in her hands, showing me a drawing that she just did on it. I was ecstatic, saying "wahhhh, pandainya anak mama..."
Anyway, now with a kid who loves the kitchen so much, there is also a challenge. She has been pestering me to bake cookies, arg...I'm not in the mood. Anyway, will think of something this weekend.
So, now do I really need the kitchen set?. At the moment, think we are ok with what we have in the kitchen....but who knows when the year end bonus comes;).
Added: Did I mention that no matter how badly she wanted us to buy certain toys, she would get tired of them after some time, but with the real kitchen at home ...she plays in there eveyday, and almost every cooking time...even Playhouse Disney Channel won't keep her away!
"Think of all the money we could have saved"
And I'm inspired to blog about how I have saved at least a couple of hundreds ringgits on toys. Hopefully, some stingy or smart (or just plain poor, like me) parents will benefit from it.
Even before Bea1 turned 3 years old, I was really eager to get her one of those kitchen set. I even imagined a corner in the kitchen where I wanted it to be. She could play there on her own without harrasing me (I should also mention here that, I'm a full time working mom without a helper at home, and it is by choice). However, the price of one of those things really made me thought a trillionth time would it be worth it for me to part with my money (as papa22beas had made it clear that he would not have anything to do with it). Besides that, when Bea1 turned 3, Bea2 turned 1 when smaller parts in those kitchen may pose choking hazards for her.
I'd decided to wait for awhile, maybe for a day that I'm in stress and used that excuse to buy anything that comes to mind. In the meantime, I let Bea1 to just continue 'harassing' me in the kitchen. Initially, I used to be stressed up with her wanting to touch everything. She uses a stool to reach the counter, and she used to drop something almost every few minutes and asked me to pick it up for her. Papa22 beas just could not get her away from the kitchen. Having no choice, I just let her be there and tried to think of ways to make it pleasant for both of us (while making sure that the cooking is done). She loves onions and garlic, she can just stand there for half an hour to peel, and peel them. I was worried that some juice of the onion might get into her eyes, but on second thought she would learn something from it, but not from those dummies from the kitchen set toys. She loves cutting french beans to small pieces, and tear the cabbage leaves. I remember vividly the excitement on her face the first time I let her play with the squids, and I taught her the different names/parts of fish.
Last night, she hold a piece of chicken ribs and said "this is the mouth, this is the cheek...and over here is the eyes" I was about to laugh but thought, she was using her imagination (ok lah...did not have the time to explain as we never had a whole chicken at home, I will sort it out later).
And before anyone thinks that I'm too stingy, wait till you see the kids playroom. They have a castle-like tent, a table set, an activity table, tricycle and lots of other small stuffs mostly from IKEA. Well some of my kitchen stuffs ended up in there, too. Last night, Bea1 came up to me with a metal container in her hands, showing me a drawing that she just did on it. I was ecstatic, saying "wahhhh, pandainya anak mama..."
Anyway, now with a kid who loves the kitchen so much, there is also a challenge. She has been pestering me to bake cookies, arg...I'm not in the mood. Anyway, will think of something this weekend.
So, now do I really need the kitchen set?. At the moment, think we are ok with what we have in the kitchen....but who knows when the year end bonus comes;).
Added: Did I mention that no matter how badly she wanted us to buy certain toys, she would get tired of them after some time, but with the real kitchen at home ...she plays in there eveyday, and almost every cooking time...even Playhouse Disney Channel won't keep her away!
posted by mama23beas at 3:39 PM
5 Comments:
Don't buy the kitchen set. My niece-in-law has one at home accumulating dust after only a month. They lost interest already and would rather see us bake cakes in real.
Admit it mama22beas. The kitchen set is for yourself. Hehehe. When I'm in the kitchen, I give toddler an old pot, a wooden ladle and her blocks to pretend to cook and baby gets the shiny pot handle to admire his own little face.
Ya, agree, certainly don't invest unless you have plenty of money to throw. Think how many books you can get with the same amount of money? Bake cookies? Easy, buy the pre-mix. Provided you have an oven la. And get some coloured sprinkles, oooo, Bea1 is going to love it so much.
Nooooo... don't buy it! Learn from me, you must ;)
Welcome shoppingmom...thx, more encouragement of not to buy!
Alamak mumsgather...pecah rahsia hehe. No wonder hubby did not want to get involved!
Chrissy...in my case, I never got such toys when I was little. Now got good excuse to get it!
The pre-mix! How come I never thought about that...off to the market tomorrow, I will be! Thx 5xmom. Actually, she saw one pack of those sprinkles, leftover from raya last year...that's why la pestering me now!
*bow to Master belacan*
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