Toys and other things
Wednesday, 25th June 2008 by Julie
It’s amazing how few of the things that will amuse a not-quite-one-year-old boy can be classified as “toys”.
As I write this, Jonathan has discovered a large sheet of clear plastic – a bit like the material used for overhead projection transparencies – and he is jerking at it vigorously with both hands making the wonderful (to him anyway) sound of cracking and crunching plastic. Other more colourful and obviously baby-oriented toys are being ignored in favour of this novelty item.
In some ways, it does make managing him a lot easier. Just present him with something a little unusual that (1) definitely doesn’t come from any legitimate toy manufacturer and (2) doesn’t appear to have any inherent play value to the adult mind, and you’ve got a winner.
But naturally, the “toys” he finds for himself are far superior to anything an adult could come up with, so the general roving around the house in search of fresh playthings requires a fair amount of parental vigilance.
The current sheet of plastic joins other unusual items in the favourite playthings Top 10, like a fold-up hairbrush, the cardboard packaging from his Plum baby food, a wooden spoon, an empty plastic hand-soap dispenser, the bathroom scale, any kind of paper, and the tea-towels in the kitchen.
(The interest in the tea-towels is unchanging – as long as they are hanging temptingly on the little rail above the oven, young Jon will be absolutely unable to resist trying to pull them down!)
That’s not to say that he never plays with conventional toys, but it does encourage us not to try too hard when it comes to providing him with new ones!
