Rethinking Christmas Gifts: 5 Toys That Have Gone Terribly Wrong in my Home

Having toys in your home is a necessity when you have kids. Yes, they will play with a cardboard box for much longer and that is far cheaper than toys, but the toys are necessary. Plus, as a parent, sometimes we buy toys thinking that they are cool and we’ll enjoy them as well. Here are five toys that my husband and I, as parents, have had some unfortunate experiences with.

Leap Frog Learning Pal Violet: I preface this with the fact that Violet is probably our daughter’s favorite stuffed animal and when she decides to get rid of it someday, I will cry an ocean of tears. Violet is a singing, barking, personalized electronic stuffed animal puppy. She is educational and overall delightful, she even has a lower volume setting. However, when Violet’s batteries die, she alerts you to to this by barking. Now, if your house is like mine, when batteries in electronics die, it’s always in the middle of the night. Violet’s batteries started to die in the middle of the night at our friend’s house during a recent visit. I got up in the middle of the night, not knowing why she wouldn’t stop barking, fumbling around their house because I didn’t know where the lights were and trying not to wake anyone else up. I felt like I was trying to disarm a bomb in a movie. So, pro tip, when Violet starts to show signs of battery death, change the batteries immediately.

Melissa and Doug Let’s Play House! Pots and Pans Play Set: These play pots and pans are super cute. They look like real pots and pans! They’re made of metal so they’ll hold up when my children try to destroy them. They sound like a great idea, until you can’t HEAR anymore. These pots and pans are my sons favorite noise making toy. It got even worse when I decided to show the Sesame Street, “Let’s Make Music” DVD that features the band STOMP. These pots and pans do make music. Music that makes me want to take an Excedrin Migraine.  

Melissa and Doug Let’s Play House! Sweep, Dust and Mop! – Yes, finally a toy we can get behind. Teaching our kids that helping mom and dad clean will be fun. My daughter was always stealing my broom to sweep.  I thought this was a great idea …  until she gave her brother a giant goose egg on his head with the pole that holds the Mop, Broom and Duster because she was swinging it around and singing into it like Steven Tyler on the Walk this Way World Tour.

Little People Christmas Story Nativity – My daughter got this Nativity out yesterday to set up under our tree. I love this Nativity, so I was pretty excited to set it up right along with her. I mean it is cute, it sings and it teaches her about the story of Christmas. Well, my son moved all the pieces of this Nativity to the middle of the living room floor, where all toys apparently belong and left it there. While picking up crushed veggie straws, I stepped on the palm tree, stumbling like the Home Alone robber, Merv, when he entered the McAllister’s house stepping on the carefully placed, pain inducing Christmas ornaments. Pain Level: Lego. Here’s a tip: hide the palm trees.