Toys NOT to buy for xmas

[miggy]

Thought we could start a thread to warn people against wasting their money on certain toys for xmas. My vote goes to anything from the "ready steady cook" range. We have the popcorn maker-basically a light bulb that pops one kernel every 2 minutes, nearly as well used as the icecream maker which produces horrible slush from a sachet full of chemicals. Both have been used once and take up huge amount of space-utter rubbish!

my dd will often miss the odd nights bath and wears clean p.j's every night too! BUT i only wash her hair twice a week as she has masses and hates it!!!

Perhaps its my confession time then. We only wash DS's hair once a week although he usually has a bath every night (skip odd one if out late). DH does it on a Friday night and last week we instigated a sticker for his pjs if he doesn't make a fuss. I haven't washed it for months. If it gets dirty in between I wipe it with a flannel. He's a fairly tidy eater these days and we don't often end up with weetabix in the hair.

You guys are obsessed with bottoms & toes!

No, for the record, I do not make a point of changing their pants/knickers every day. But I said I was very fastidious about cleaning bottoms. Childminders/nursery have not commented, so I can't be doing that badly. Pants/knickers changing frequency will probably increase considerably when they take over their own bottom-cleaning full-time. I am more horrified at how disgusting their hands will usually be when I give up on the bottom duties.

The kids don't wear sox in summer at all and refuse to wear sox about 50% of the time in winter, so don't worry about changing them consistently, either.

Weetabix strikes me as dehydrated equivalent of its end product and therefore I fail to grasp the appeal. Anyway, my kids insist on corn-flakes for brekky 99% of the time, which can be easily cleaned off in a localised way.

Sending PJs with DS for sleep-overs will be easy enough. Am always amazed how well-behaved otherwise uncooperative children are with anybody besides their own parents.

Also following m2t's point. We do not use bubble bath - only a small amount of baby soap and water and flannel. Still on shampoo purchased by MIL at birth.

the worst for my dd is if she eats a sherbet lolly.(thankfully not very often).it sticks her hair to her face and neck.......

Good final point Zebra.

I give DS weetabix because he won't drink milk and I find it is the cereal that gives maximum milk intake. He has it with raisins.

Is this possibly the best Thread subject tangent EVER???

This thread is so funny, I thought my dd was weird insisting on wearing her robe to bed, or a fairy outfit, now I know not to worry. We also had a spate of wellies, but she seems to have grown out of that. My girls do love their pj's though since they are the only thing I will allow cartoon characters on, and they fight for the tweenie ones (they wear the same size usually) or the brum Tshirt!

I'm like that Crunchie - the only clothes with pictures on. Only not cartoons - far too expensive - Asda's own spacemen and police cars. Poor DS couldn't find his hair wash star amid all the planets and rockets....

How old are your kids Zebra because when my 5 year old is finished hurling practice his socks are soaking with sweat.

Have to second zebra on the fact that some children (fortunately including my own) don't seem to get particularly dirty. I remember horrifying a few (but not all) people a while back by saying that I only bath and hairwash them once a week. They get 2 sets of pyjamas a week except ds3 who gets breakfast over them quite often so normally 4-5 pairs a week for him. They get lots of showers in the summer, they get a shower when they go swimmng (once a week) and in between times they get lots of face and hand cleans. Eg, they will all get their faces and hands properly cleaned after every meal. And they get a clean set of clothes every day. I think the obsession with "hygiene" is unnecessary and very wasteful of water, although I do like my kids to look and smell nice.

When i posted asking zebra about what her kids where to bed i kind of then wished i hadn't as i was sure that i had taken her posting wrong! I have never known anyone do that before but maybe we are all too hung up on washing and changing clothes...i don't know. I hope you aren't feeling got at Zebra, as far as i'm concerned it's each to their own and i have found this one of the best threads. Do you do aything else unconventionally or does anyone else?

So there was I, hoping to get some good ideas on toys to avoid and what do I find?

I think we should ressurect the Am I dirty? thread.

For the record, I agree that kids don't always get dirty. Especially their feet. Why make yourself work when you don't need to? On the other hand, there's something nice and sleepy about a nice set of pjs or a babygro.

Top thread! Especially on an "absolute drivel on TV" night ... zebra, each to their own, I say (and I'll admit to having a shower/bath before bed instead of in the mornings, no time!).

Back to the PJ debate - pants on or off underneath? DS has them off...

And back to the what toys not to buy question - Sticklebricks ...

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You must have long hair. Mine sticks up everywhere, and a shower is the only solution in the morning.

Have a friend who sleeps in her clothes - always found it a bit freaky (sorry Zebs), like she never got to switch off and relax.

I like my long thick cotton nightie. Well sexy.

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19mo DD sweats terribly day and night. Her cot mattress (just finished with today)is already marked because of it. There is no way she could wear day clothes and then wear them again the next day. Also during the day she seems to get messy what with playing out, painting or food at nursery (do they wear bibs?) so those clothes couldn't be worn for sleeping in either. Besides DD loves her new teletubbies PJs so much.

It is an interesting idea though.

PJs and Pants : DS1 insists on wearing his pants. I suspect he doesn't feel dressed without them.

Toys not to buy : Anything plastic with an irritating noise.

Always shower in the morning too; feel dirty otherwise and my hair is a nightmare!

Well as I was saying about the popcorn maker....
Actually this has been far more interesting!
Zebra- dont they get really hot at night, mine all get hot and sticky even in cotton pj's
And just for the record, I wear nothing in bed,DH wears boxers, i bath at night (dont have time for that 30min book reading session in morning!) and wash hair in the morning. DH has bath in morning-there thats sorted then!

No pants under PJs - good to let a bit of fresh air in

I think we need a "what corners do you cut" thread. I know mine is the only bathing once a week and zebra's obviously the no pjs, but I'd love some more time and hassle saving ideas.

Going back to the original topic - I would second Blu's earlier post about the Chad Valley toy. Cheap yo-yos and cheap (thin) jigsaws are a waste of money.

Anything with lots of bits, that get lost immediately.