I remember this conversation from a lifetime ago (actually just 6 years but anything before D-Poo seems like someone else's life).. A bunch of friends... mostly newly married types... sitting around and chatting about the ludicrousness of people "these days"... about anti-bacterial Fisher-Price toys and how irrelevant that became the minute you put it on the floor!!! Or a table or a sofa or just opening it from its antibacterial package itself!!! Hermetically sealed for our protection it would be contaminated the minute it became useful!!!
Well, that was like I said BEFORE D-Poo!!! And now I see why the companies do it... because there are enough moms who will believe something if told often enough .. even biology PhDs!!! And so everything is elevated to a learning experience: Sucking your fist is now an exploratory mechanism for "baby" to explore the world. Flinging stuff around randomly just because you can is "developing fine motor skills" and toddlers refusing to eat is "determining how far they can push your boundaries" (the implication being the said boundaries are made of stretchy material depending on parents' temperaments!!!). And so things that all babies did around the world for centuries past without thinking about, this 21st century generation has elevated to an experience that they and the parents can benefit from!!!
Case in point: We went to the Children's Discovery Museum in San Jose. Before I proceed I have to say that as places go to take a kid to, this is much better than a Gymboree (overpriced kiddy toys and pointless activities as far as I am concerned) and all the other "theme parks" /kids' activities we are usually subjected to. It is a science museum for kids and is loads of fun for the adults too which usually never happens.
So there we were on a weekend enjoying ourselves quite a bit and while D-Poo entertained herself at one of the many "activities" (how I detest that word) designed to "help your child grow". This one was play dough... and for the uninitiated desi types who form my main readership this translates into "ATTA". Well here's their description of this age-targeted activity for toddlers and preschoolers:
"In this open-ended activity children are invited to explore play dough. They can strengthen fine motor skills by scraping, rolling or cutting the dough; express their creativity by shaping the dough and expand their sensory knowledge by touching, squeezing and simply getting messy!"
It really was too much to keep a straight face there in front of all the eager first time parents (pretty much no one with siblings) and make a dignified exit before I stated howling. Unfairly egged on by better-half I might add. Now, I have spent many an evening roughhousing with a ball of atta stolen from amma and gotten quite messy doing it I will admit. But I don't really think at any point we viewed it as a learning experience that was destined help us progress in life. Rather just one of the fun things we could do as kids and were encouraged to do. When did having fun stop being fun and have to be educational all the time? Why does blowing bubbles have to be treated as a co-ordinated skill level and running around screaming and having a good time seen as an invite to ADD (attention deficit disorder)? And why must children not speak loudly (admittedly this can get annoying in a theatre and in kids over a certain age but that is an exception) and always behave? Cos if they did all these things we'd be raising a generation of mini-mes with possibly all the weird freakishness associated with that character.
And so mommies, revolt against the organized play mafia and pick up your rolling pins and get into that kitchen.. for the time spent at home watching you do regular things like cooking and cleaning and working and being a responsible adult is the best learning tool you can ever equip your children with... And it's free!!!
Well, that was like I said BEFORE D-Poo!!! And now I see why the companies do it... because there are enough moms who will believe something if told often enough .. even biology PhDs!!! And so everything is elevated to a learning experience: Sucking your fist is now an exploratory mechanism for "baby" to explore the world. Flinging stuff around randomly just because you can is "developing fine motor skills" and toddlers refusing to eat is "determining how far they can push your boundaries" (the implication being the said boundaries are made of stretchy material depending on parents' temperaments!!!). And so things that all babies did around the world for centuries past without thinking about, this 21st century generation has elevated to an experience that they and the parents can benefit from!!!
Case in point: We went to the Children's Discovery Museum in San Jose. Before I proceed I have to say that as places go to take a kid to, this is much better than a Gymboree (overpriced kiddy toys and pointless activities as far as I am concerned) and all the other "theme parks" /kids' activities we are usually subjected to. It is a science museum for kids and is loads of fun for the adults too which usually never happens.
So there we were on a weekend enjoying ourselves quite a bit and while D-Poo entertained herself at one of the many "activities" (how I detest that word) designed to "help your child grow". This one was play dough... and for the uninitiated desi types who form my main readership this translates into "ATTA". Well here's their description of this age-targeted activity for toddlers and preschoolers:
"In this open-ended activity children are invited to explore play dough. They can strengthen fine motor skills by scraping, rolling or cutting the dough; express their creativity by shaping the dough and expand their sensory knowledge by touching, squeezing and simply getting messy!"
It really was too much to keep a straight face there in front of all the eager first time parents (pretty much no one with siblings) and make a dignified exit before I stated howling. Unfairly egged on by better-half I might add. Now, I have spent many an evening roughhousing with a ball of atta stolen from amma and gotten quite messy doing it I will admit. But I don't really think at any point we viewed it as a learning experience that was destined help us progress in life. Rather just one of the fun things we could do as kids and were encouraged to do. When did having fun stop being fun and have to be educational all the time? Why does blowing bubbles have to be treated as a co-ordinated skill level and running around screaming and having a good time seen as an invite to ADD (attention deficit disorder)? And why must children not speak loudly (admittedly this can get annoying in a theatre and in kids over a certain age but that is an exception) and always behave? Cos if they did all these things we'd be raising a generation of mini-mes with possibly all the weird freakishness associated with that character.
And so mommies, revolt against the organized play mafia and pick up your rolling pins and get into that kitchen.. for the time spent at home watching you do regular things like cooking and cleaning and working and being a responsible adult is the best learning tool you can ever equip your children with... And it's free!!!
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They do... for the artificial beaches on lakes in land bound places!!!
And as creative opportunities...