The Joy of Buying Toys for My Child

This football is the first toy we bought for Ikaika.

Its not that he doesnt have an impressive collection of toys. We have so many toys for him that I tend to rotate them in and out of the closet so Im not swimming through primary colored plastic all day long. If he cant find something to play with he just pulls stuff out of the cupboards like every other kid.

I suppose this is the reason why I never gave much thought to buying playthings. With all the gifts, homemades, and hand-me-downs, spending our precious paper money on toys is a waste.

But the other day Mr A (QB) ran into this little football and couldnt resist. He gave it to Ikaika and the kid threw an overhand pass! That was it. We had to get it.

ICKEY LOVES HIS FOOTBALL! He spent the better part of an hour throwing and chasing it around the store, screaming laughing the entire time. When we got home, I was worried that this thing I just spent money on (albeit very little money, but still money) was going to get lost in the massive toy shuffle, but we play pass in the living room, tackle/tickle, play "fetch", pretty much any game imaginable and Ickey cant get enough. Its football season so we are always at a game or watching one on tv and its nice for the baby to have something that involves him in what he sees the adults doing.

The best part about this football is the strange satisfaction it gives me. When I see him happy and laughing, enjoying something I have provided for him...oooohhhh, its the best! I mean, I love giving gifts, but this is a whole 'nother level! Its just one of those wacky parts of parenting that you would probably have to experience to understand. Seeing my kid enjoying that ball - I would have paid any price for it! All my consideration based on whether it was $5 or $3.50 with the coupon went right out the window. I would have taken out another student loan just to get smiles like those!

This, dear friends, is why we go broke buying a bunch of dumb shit that our kids dont really need. It now makes perfect sense to me. Making our kids happy is like a drug and we as parents will pay any price for that kind of high. Unfortunately we cant all afford to feed our habit (myself specifically), so I need to be careful not to lose sight of the fact that hes done just fine thus far with hand-me-down clothes, toys and other thrift store finds or homemade goods. A special gift every once-in-a-great-while is fine, but an ounce of discretion is worth a pound of savings. Ickeys birthday is coming up next month so if I do wrap up a gift (which I highly doubt I will since hes too young to get the whole "birthday gift" concept anyway) it will most likely be this incredible football that I already know he loves.