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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

pil old toys

17 replies

thegardener · 24/04/2007 20:09

pil have a old (27yr old) fisher price stacker, it makes me wince as it is quite tall(20ish cm)and the top is fairly pointy.

i feel obviously concerned that it could poke a child s eye out if they fell on it,
but i didn't stress my concerns when we last saw them, i just watch ds like a hawk.

Does anyone else have pil who bring out unsafe toys of their ds/dd?

Next time we see them i will just have to say i'm concerned about it & don't really want ds to play with it, perhaps i could suggest that we will buy another one to leave at theirs, what do you think?

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FrannyandZooey · 24/04/2007 20:11

What is the pointy bit made of?

and was it not you whose parents were going on about the weeble?

chirpygirl · 24/04/2007 20:13

PIL's ahve all toys that DH and his bro had as kids, some broken duplo type bricks with nice sharp edges, a necklace of cotton reels that fits nice and tightly round her neck and some other miscellaneous stuff.

I don't worry too much about it, I take her favourite toys when we are away anyway (PIL's live 200 miles away) so she plays with them mostly, and I watch like a hawk.

I did have to take MIL to one side and ask her to remove a very, very creepy pop up clown that makes a WOOOOOOOO noise as it scares the shit out of me!

chirpygirl · 24/04/2007 20:14

Meant to add that MIL made the effort to hunt them out in the hopes DD would play wiht them, and the majority are not dangerous, I used to play with much the same thing, so I think of it more as a nice thing than a worrying thing.

WigWamBam · 24/04/2007 20:16

MIL does this.

Luckily dd doesn't like playing with the dirty, dilapidated, booby-trap of a badly-made 40-year-old doll's house any more than I like her playing with it. Even if I were to replace it, MIL won't throw it out because her father made it (very badly, IMO).

MIL also keeps a box full of 40 year old Barbies, all with limbs missing and faces drawn on, and all stinking because they have been in the loft for decades. They were worn out and should have been binned 35 years ago.

If I suggest that I replace them, MIL would take umbrage (no change there, then). I think I'd probably come across as rather snobbish as well ... and anyway, dd is rather more discerning than MIL thinks she is, and her rejection of the toys is much more pleasing than having a row about them!

Original poster

thegardener · 24/04/2007 20:18

yes it was me who posted the message about mil & weebles.

she can be very difficult and dread saying things to her to be honest.

OP posts:

FrannyandZooey · 24/04/2007 20:23

Oh dear I think we can all relate to that

Just thought it kind of funny that she was worried about the weeble and you were worried about the stacking toy

is the centre part made of plastic, not metal or anything? I don't see how it could take a child's eye out, really

Wilbur · 24/04/2007 20:29

I understand if things are broken and therefore have got sharp edges, or if they smell terrible or make people sneeze from years in the loft, but in general, I think it's nice that people keep toys for their grandchildren. It must give them enormous pleasure and bring back happy memories to see them being played with. I hope my future dils, if I have some, won't mind me bringing out the brio train track. And since your dh presumably made it through his childhood unharmed from these death trap toys then it's probably fine for your ds to play with every now and then.

I have lots of fisher price stuff from my own childhood which the kids love, my mother had kept it all (and about 500 cotton reels) in hopes.

Lovecat · 24/04/2007 20:31

Oh, I feel for you!

My dad has a fetish for 'talking' novelties, like the singing fish, the singing hamsters, the squeaking ribenaberry, the dancing santas... omg, it's like living in a tat shop!

And he rolls them all out for dd whenever she visits, and, damn it all, she is of course entranced by them... no idea if they are dangerous or not, but noooooooo!

MIL is actually quite good, having been a children's playworker before retirement, and has 2 dolls, a pushchair and some linking brick things, all of which dd loves. However, FIL has a backscratcher that makes that 'mooooh' sound when you upend it, and she's forever going after it - now that'll take someone's eye out one day!

Original poster

thegardener · 24/04/2007 21:37

the thinish stick is made out of plastic & stands upright, i suppose over the years it has changed to a more stumpy stick. maybe i am worrying too much over this, like you say my dh is ok from playing with it.

i agree it must give pil a lot of pleasure playing with gs with dh's old toys.

thanks for your messages.

OP posts:

RedFraggle · 25/04/2007 10:13

Thegardener, my parents produced one of these for my dd to play with! pointy white stick with coloured rings that you push down, then press a button and they all explode off the stick rather violently?! My mum showed it to dd, who looked rather alarmed and then my mum said "eek, don't remember it being quite that vicious when you were little - I think maybe that shoudl go in the bin!" So thankfully I didn't have to say anything. My mum then double-checked all the old toys she had kept. Could you make a comment (when there are no old toys out) about the way safety rules for toys have changed over the years and half the toys you loved as a little girl wouldn't be allowed now?

inanidealworld · 25/04/2007 10:22

All that Wilbur said.

Original poster

thegardener · 25/04/2007 12:53

this stacker doesn't explode like the one mentioned & thinking about it it does have a slightly rocky base to it, which rocks a bit when you move it.

i think it is a good idea that you mentioned redfragle about saying about how these days toys are made with greater safety rules, i might ask my mum about some of the things that i may have had that probably wouldn't be allowed now & if it comes up in conversation i might just drop it in casually.

OP posts:

RTKangaMummy · 25/04/2007 13:00

I think the thing to worry about is LEAD PAINT

Original poster

thegardener · 25/04/2007 18:49

lead paint on toys?

OP posts:

ratfly · 26/04/2007 08:47

chirpy girl - we also have that scary clown. I remember being scared of it as a child, and now mum has kept it so ds can also be scared of it!

ProfYaffle · 26/04/2007 08:51

I can't imagine keeping any of dd's toys, I'll celebrate the day my home is a toy free zone.

WigWamBam · 26/04/2007 18:28

Lead in old paint is one of the reasons I don't like MIL's ancient doll's house, Kanga. Dh swears it's been repainted since lead was removed from paint, but there's no sign of it ever having been another colour, and it looks to me to be the original 40-odd year old paint - and so probably leaded.

But as I said, dd doesn't like the horrible thing anyway so it's not a huge issue!

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