Nope. I never did. And in fact, flipped out like a mammal when my mother insisted I should share my toys with my cousins who were visiting. I had one of those Barbie styling heads, one that I'd had for probably well over a year and that I carefully played with. In a matter of thirty minutes they TRASHED it. Totally snarled the hair and after they cracked and destroyed the play makeup, went and got their mother's real makeup, which of course, wouldn't wash off.
I absolutely howled at the time, screaming that I knew I shouldn't have let them play with my things.
And thing is, that's just my nature. My things are my things and I take care of them and expect others to respect them. They get one chance and that's it. And while I had an older brother and sister, I essentially grew up an only child and didn't have a huge number of playmates my own age, so I had control over most of my toys.
When my kids were that age, they weren't drawn to marking or maiming their toys in any way. I think we had one or two incidents of crayon drawing on the wall/television. They're far more likely to misplace things-- they're horrible slobs, than to destroy them. Of course, I was also Mean Mommy and didn't allow them to have scissors until they were old enough to understand that the damage they could inflict was fairly permanent. I also had a policy of not letting them use electronic equipment as toys (like cell phones/remotes/car remotes). I know a lot of people we knew thought I was the meanest most uptight person on the planet, but in the end, it's saved us a lot of heartache in terms of setting boundaries and knowing what's acceptable to play with and what's not.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2009-01-07 01:45 pm (UTC)I absolutely howled at the time, screaming that I knew I shouldn't have let them play with my things.
And thing is, that's just my nature. My things are my things and I take care of them and expect others to respect them. They get one chance and that's it. And while I had an older brother and sister, I essentially grew up an only child and didn't have a huge number of playmates my own age, so I had control over most of my toys.
When my kids were that age, they weren't drawn to marking or maiming their toys in any way. I think we had one or two incidents of crayon drawing on the wall/television. They're far more likely to misplace things-- they're horrible slobs, than to destroy them. Of course, I was also Mean Mommy and didn't allow them to have scissors until they were old enough to understand that the damage they could inflict was fairly permanent. I also had a policy of not letting them use electronic equipment as toys (like cell phones/remotes/car remotes). I know a lot of people we knew thought I was the meanest most uptight person on the planet, but in the end, it's saved us a lot of heartache in terms of setting boundaries and knowing what's acceptable to play with and what's not.