twinutero

Like most kids, ours want. They want juice, or cookies, or picked up. Occasionally, they want something new – desperately. Thomas is particularly prone to deciding that he must have this or that toy or he’ll be the most deprived child in history. To me, his wants seem random and irrational (he has enough toys to outfit a small daycare). Not so to him, of course.

I’ve tried several ways of discouraging this behavior. Explaining that he does indeed have enough toys to outfit a small daycare doesn’t make a dent. I’ve also tried keeping a list: when he wants something new, we write it down so when it’s time to shop, he can choose from all he desires. I’ve had some success with this, although we’ve never actually used the list to buy anything. He has always forgotten about it – which is the point.

The most effective and creative strategy, however is to make whatever it is he “needs”. He decided a few months ago that Lego Percy was necessary. (Percy is a train from the Thomas the Tank Engine collection; Lego makes a replica.) So we hauled out the Lego from the closet, built a green train and painted a number six, Percy’s number, on the side. He was happy.

More recently, Thomas decided that he wanted Sally, the female star of the movie Cars. He said “I want Sally,” just once. Then he said, “I want to make Sally.” I asked him what we needed to make Sally and he organized: an old Lightening McQueen car with only three wheels; a small Lego wheel to replace the missing one; some blue paint for the body; and some white paint for the face. (Cars cars have faces, like Thomas trains.) Not only was he perfectly happy with this rebuilt car, he initiated the rebuilding.

It’s not a complete victory against consumerism. He is, after all, still asking for highly-marketed, massed produced toys. But it’s a good start for a three-year-old.