Comments on Self Sustained Living: ARG, raining again!

Cardboard box....that is what I was thinking about...

2011-12-04T19:18:09.674-06:00

Cardboard box....that is what I was thinking about as I was reading all of this.... now matter what you give the kid, they toss it aside and play with the box!

I don't think renting toys is a good idea at all, for many, many reasons. For one thing, I would hate to be a kid, open my gifts up on Christmas morning, get all excited, then hear, "Enjoy them now, they will have to go back soon." Ugh! That would be horrible! As someone that has a shop at our local flea market, I can tell you that, for $24.99, you can get a lot more than 4 really good, nice toys at those flea markets and never have to send them back.
I think that something like a quarterly (or reasonable time frame) Toy Swap would be a good idea. Each child (or parent) could set a price on their toys and then trade for toys of equal value, periodically, to break up the boredom of their current toys. Then they are theirs to keep forever or swap again at the next Toy Swap.

Rain.... I can't believe that after such a heavy, record-breaking drought, I am getting tired of rain. I empathize with you. It has rained here 2 of the last 3 days, with more rain (and... eeek .... snow) moving in tonight and all day tomorrow. Not ready for snow.

There are libraries where you can check out toys. ...

2011-12-04T17:35:08.358-06:00

There are libraries where you can check out toys. I would not like that in a book library since the object would always be to find a toy instead of a book.

lol, renting toys? i dont think i like that idea.....

2011-12-04T14:24:57.506-06:00

lol, renting toys? i dont think i like that idea...with kids it would sorta be like rent to own especially if it got broken. when my son was three years old and xmas was coming up, we took him to toys r us to sorta get an idean of what he might like to have..by the time we made it to the middle of the store he piped up and said "dammit, all i want is a nintendo and two games". well, guess what. this mama listens well to her child. that is exactly what he got and nothing else. he was the happiest child for a very long time afterwards too. that was thirty years ago. i was the kind of kid who saved up the cereal box tops and gum wrappers and picked up stray soda bottles for the deposits..just so i could order my own toy. back in the day, some kids favorite toy/pastime was playing with a large cardboard box.... guess i sound like a grinch in todays world.. i have been quite productive this past week. been making homemade hair curlers from scraps and fiber fill..ended up with making 74..that is (lol) 74 buttonholes! now i gotta come up with ideas for packaging, pricing and marketing. it is not raining here yet, but i can smell it coming. i like the idea of kids being entertained with books...mama used to let me check out lots of books each week from the library. when it was bad weather for awhile, i can remember us four kids sitting in a row on the sofa reading the encyclopedias to each other.

Renting toys kind of sounds like credit cards, it ...

2011-12-04T13:19:43.078-06:00

Renting toys kind of sounds like credit cards, it costs to use them once you start.Checking out books can help build knowledge. Instead of renting toys maybe we should be encouraging the kids to earn them which can help bring about a better mindset of working for what you want. If it is for Christmas or a birthday then limit the toys to what the kid wants most.