Thomas Rant: Kids (adults) and Consumerism
This is a continuation of the Children and Consumerism.
Ok my kid is obsessed with trains and by default Thomas the Tank Engine.
We wonder how kids get so into consuming things so quickly?
We do it to them.
Case and point: Jake’s 4th birthday party last weekend. We had a train themed birthday party because it seemed like the right thing to do.
Anyway we did have a great time!!
First up making trains from shoe-boxes
Next lisa leads train songs and a killer version of “Conductor says”
A real crowd pleaser.
Lucky us Sir Topham Hatt arrives for a visit.
Sir Topham Hatt does what he does best. He reads from the book of Thomas.
My sister went all out with this “unofficial” thomas the tank engine cake.
Well done Becca!!!
Emma the night before preparing the loot bags.
What she is holding shown below:
 This is my favourite thomas tidbit we got this time around. This little holds thomas propaganda stickers. Its only purpose is to spread the good word.—>>>All the kids got these in grab bags |
 |
 Extra bag to store thomas stuff in. |
 Really cool drawbridge that has actually caused Jake and Kyle to pla togther co-operatively |
 New thomas shoes |
 new thomas socks with laser hologram stickers |
We also got this great book with photos from the popular tv series originally narrated by Ringo Starr.
This brings the grand list of thomas stuff to:
Metal Thomas trains ($10-$15 each)
Wooden Thomas Trains ($20-$30)
Lego Thomas Trains
Miles of Plastic, wood and Lego track
Thomas mining company
Large wooden roundhouse (I think this one alone is more than $100)
Cranky the crane
2 Thomas hats
2 Thomas T-Shirts
Thomas Lunch pail
Thomas Books (about 20 of them)
Thomas Videos
Thomas Video Games (Yes it’s true)
Thomas Shoes
thermos
socks
stickers
tatoos
colouring books
paints
halloween costume
pjs
plastic roundhouse
the wooden roundhouse is not Thomas (and therefore was cheap)
Not bad eh?
This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 17th, 2006 at 5:29 pm and is filed under Family, Rant. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
5 Responses to “Thomas Rant: Kids (adults) and Consumerism”
Love this: First up making trains from shoe-boxes and the human train and then WOW! Sir Topham Hatt! Is that way cool?
Now - I am looking at the list and at first, I thought, yea, that is a bit much, but then I started thinking about the items.
You live in Canada, so, the kid is going to need some socks, t-shirts, pjs and hats, shoes. Take those off the list. And, the books and art supplies are necessary for healthy development. ANYTHING narrated by a Beatle gets a free pass — that is just a rule. He has to eat - so - the lunch box and thermos do *not* count.
I think that leaves you some trains (would you prefer guns? swords? Ninja Turtles - like MY son had!?). I saw Legos listed and, frankly, I think kids should be required to use Legos at least one hour a week.
But, I still know what you mean. Having said that, I don’t know for sure what we expect. Walden’s pond, perhaps? I suppose we could drag our families off if we can find a piece of wilderness remaining. But, Mike, the blog would have to stay!
So, what is it in that simple, peaceful existence we are after? If you figure that out, I am *confident* you can squeeze it in between videos and video games.
You must know how lucky he and his sister are to have you and Lisa. My kids understand the blessing they have being born and raised in a wealthy nation and having had everything they needed, and more, much more.
I think we can instill good values in kids in a highly commercial world. We certainly don’t have much choice but to try.
Articulating what those values are, first, is the trick, I suppose. Pretty obvious to me that you and Lisa have a beat on that.
I love your family pics - and those kids are adorable — all of them!
You are right Amy trains are way better than guns. Jake is not really interested in that stuff yet (never I hope). Perhaps we should look into getting some sweaters and coats too!! You are also right about the Beatle thing. They can do no wrong.(except selling their songs to MJ and then the songs get rented to NIKE)
Amazing how you always put a positive perspective on things.
On the plus side I have learned tons about trains too. I now know what tenders, sidings, coupling, breakdown crews, and points all do.
I have also been amazed at the various skills, social and developmental that Jake and Kyle has learned from playing with trains. You have to plan the track, build the track, manage your train, co-operate with the other trains etc.
I liked the laser holograms, as I’m a sucker fur technology. Becca’s cake was great, but … the piece-o cake Lisa saved for me tasted better than a virtual cake, for sure.
You know, Mike, my learning along side my children from when they were small to even now, as teenagers, has been the most fun part of being a parent. For some reason (duh!), I didn’t expect that. I knew I was going to teach - but I didn’t know I was going to learn. So, I totally get what you are saying and I understand your joy discovering the world right along side your kids.
Do you know that is how I found Joomla!? My daughter and her high school team were engaged in an academic competition, wanted to build a very sophisticated website. I knew we needed a database and a programming environment - but I knew Madi liked dating more than learning loops and iterations. So, off to find a CMS - and the rest is history.
Kids are a great excuse to learn. You never have to justify why you are tearing down a toy train track.
Amy
Thanks for sharing your experiences with your kids. It is a wonderful adventure and I look forward to what I will learn.
Another hidden plus for parents is getting to do all the kid things over a second time.
It is great being a kid again!!
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