Toys

Merril and I have been visiting places that we don’t normally go to.
Recently, we have visited either toy stores, or toy sections.  What we were looking for, were toy musical instruments.  We found some, but it sure has been an eye opener.
We visited “Toys are us” at Morayfield, and boy were the shelves stacked.  It was impressive how the attendants seemed to know their stuff.  Maybe I subscribe to the lazy mans’ shopping guide, but if I see an attendant, I tend to ask them the best place to look.  The one I asked sent us straight to the right place.  We ended up purchasing a pack that had a number of instruments called “my first band.”  The age group it was for, was 3 plus.  I think I just qualified.
All the instruments’ made close to the right sound.  All that is, except the trumpet.  Merril suggested it might need to be played with the lips shaped as one would play a normal trumpet.  When she did this, I thought I heard a sound reminiscent of a trumpet.   She only did it briefly, as it was difficult.  I tried it, to no avail except the sound of heavy breathing, which is not the sound I was going for.  Kmart had a pretend mic which we got.
I find it amazing the number of toys on shelves.  We arrived home and reviewed catalogues.  The big ticket items were toys.
It is just me, and I don’t pretend it is right for everyone, but I have trouble comprehending the need for the purchase of these toys.  Every year I hear the railing against the rampant consumerism of Christmas, but every year the “must have” toys are purchased, and discarded in no time.
I can’t talk though as I have never had kids.  Well, this may not be correct.  My wife informs me we have had 27, who have all left home.  I must have been a terrible dad, as I have no recollection of them.  It is a pity, as I would like to have some sort of shared good memory with them. Oh well.  I can’t undo the past.
Some of the happiest kids I ever saw, were in a small community in north Queensland.  They were playing hockey and their sticks were literally sticks.  We then all went to a local watering hole for a swim.  We all had the time of our lives.  The most trouble I had, was with someone else who came on the journey, and tried to claim my rock was his, and he kept throwing me off it.
I know I am not the marketers’ friend.  I reckon all we need to make us happy is something that suffices for what we have in mind.  I guess I have been that way all my life, and I doubt I will change now.  If I need it, I need it, and if I don’t have it or something close, I get it.
Of course for me it is different.  I like my presents to come loaded up in semi-trailers with traffic control in place, and to need a fork lift to unload them.