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baby gifts

sweden

"In Sweden ... there is a lot less emphasis on the 'stuff' and a lot more emphasis on time spent with the baby. Many of my Swedish friends, when having kids, didn't run out and buy a house, or a bigger apartment. They stuck around in their one bedroom apartments. 'Babies don't take up a lot of space' they kept insisting. 'They don't need space, but what about all their stuff' I countered. This got a lot of strange looks; 'what stuff?' They asked".
 read more Surviving in Sweden blog

india
Superstition

"India is a mysterious and beautiful country. And it is also one that hoardes a lot of superstition. I've been raised in a fairly liberal family and we were expatriates when I was younger so it is not that bad but it still exists. One of the strange baby gifts I received was a black kajal pencil (eyeliner). "Oh how nice" I expressed to the present bearer. "At least somone thought to get me something instead of the baby." "This is for the baby" she said. "To ward off the Evil Eye". see Indian Mom blog

Raising children as minimalists

"Some families are collectors [of] every modern convenience there is. You take your child to Mr. and Mrs. Smith’s house, and the Smiths have every imaginable gadget. Your child gleefully plays with the electronic games and toys, thoroughly enjoys the big plastic kitchen, and watches all kinds of DVDs. You may even feel guilty, thinking you are depriving your child of all this fun.

What can you do to counteract the materialism that still dominates much of our culture? go to naturemoms.com

A quote from Prof. Alison Gopnik

"There are no perfect toys and no magical formulas. One can visualize just how much money is spent on supposedly advantageous toys and DVDs! Children learn a great deal just through stacking bowls or hiding in a box, but most of all they are great observers of their environment. They research most intensely the people around them. So, parents and other caregivers teach their children best when they pay close attention and communicate with them. And most of all, when they permit the children simply to play." readmore logo


 

No More Junk Toys: Rethinking Childrens' Gifts

by Judith L. Rubin

"Some parents are creative in their disposal of "junk toys," as my husband calls them. "The worst toy our daughter ever received," notes one mom, "was a hard-plastic, realistic, talking doll. She purported to be your child's 'best friend' by using a set of pre-recorded diskettes that get inserted into her back. We were saddened to think there might be some lonely children out there for whom this doll might actually be enriching. The doll stands in the center of our peace garden as our scarecrow."

"But approaching friends and family about their gift choices can be awkward. As one friend put it, "I don't want them to think I disapprove of their taste." So the gifts wind up at the Salvation Army or the dump." read more www.mothering.com

 

 



Interested in more? Here are other articles:
US toys
time Sweden
North America India
gifts

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