Commercials. Whether you love them or hate them, it's hard to avoid them. Advertising and marketing is such a huge part of our society, and they start trying to catch us at an early age. Over the past few weeks, every time a commercial comes on Bailey shouts out " I want that mommy!" It really doesn't even matter what that is. From cereal, to barbies, to weird dolls that pee and poop (I'm sorry, those just gross me out!) to commercials that are selling pet food (she wanted the dog), it's easy to see that my child is being influenced by these commercials.
While I could go on and on about this topic alone, my real reason for writing this post is a little different. See, one of the items above is an item that I hoped I would never have to buy for my child. I'm sure there will be several of you that don't understand this, but it's how I feel.
I HATE BARBIES!! There, I said it, I feel better now. I'm not really sure why I hate them, but I really, really do. As a child I think I maybe had a total of about 4 barbies and never once owned a Ken doll. I think the only accessory I ever had was the barbie stretch limo...which was by far cooler than barbie herself. I had baby dolls, but was never hugely into them either. I preferred playing dress up, or coloring, or playing restaurant...which involved making "salads" out of weeds in our yard. I guess I was never, and am still not, an overly "girly" girl. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a tomboy either. I lay somewhere in the middle...I think.
So you can imagine how horrified I was when Bailey kept repeatedly saying she "wanted that" every time a barbie commercial came on. Of course, we don't go buy her things simply because she says she wants them, but I'm hoping this barbie fascination is strictly tied to marketing. Does that make me a bad mother? Not wanting my child to play with a certain toy just because I can't stand it? I mean, if she really wanted a barbie, I would never stop her from having one...I'm just not going to promote it.
Do you have something that you hope your child never wants to play with? If not, maybe just lie and tell me you do...to make me feel better!
2 comments:
I've never liked Barbies either-- when I was little, there were "Gem" dolls (remember those?) and Barbies. I preferred Gem because she was more "real"! I hope we avoid the Barbie craze with G.
You went through THREE cell phones in a month? WOWWWEEEE!
~Elizabeth
Confessions From A Working Mom
I'm crossing my fingers that transformers don't enter my house but I'm pretty sure I can just forget about that with 3 boys! Wes has probably been waiting for years for this very day. Agh, I guess that just means I'll get to soak in the tub while they play.
I had Barbies when I was younger but I'm with you, I much preferred to play school, restaurant, or store. I guess that's why I grew up wanting to be an entrepreneur!
Colin has started watching commercials too and now "wants" everything too. They clearly know what they're doing and who they're marketing to.
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