Mother Throws Away Her 6 and 3 Y.O. Children’s Toys To Cure Their ‘Addiction’, And Internet Claps Back
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It’s an undeniable fact that children love toys. It is believed that toys and games have a positive effect on children’s development, however, there are many parents who believe otherwise.
Take for instance a blogger named Ruth, who decided to a share a story explaining why she got rid of her children’s toys. In her article, she says she got ‘fed up’ of cleaning and re-arranging all the playthings that her 6 and 3-year-old children own, so she packed them all up and took them away. Ruth says that this idea was inspired by an incident she had during a family trip. During the trip, her daughter asked her to buy a toy. “While we were waiting to be seated, my oldest daughter Maggie spotted the Build-a-Dino Workshop in the gift shop and although we immediately said “no way,” from that moment on she could think of nothing else,” the mother writes in the article. She was very disappointed, that her child “fixated on the one thing she couldn’t have rather than the cool sights we were actually experiencing”.
Ruth claims that she noticed a difference in her children’s behavior 4 weeks later, when her children stopped asking her to buy things. “Had I not experienced it with my own eyes, I would’ve never believed that an addiction to stuff could be broken that quickly, ” she says. While she insists that this approach brought many positive benefits, not everybody agrees that it’s the right approach. After reading Ruth’s blog, a couple of Tumblr users were completely horrified by the situation and explained why no one should ever do this to their children. Read the comments below and tell us in the comments which side are you on! (Facebook cover image: Pixabay)
More info: livingwellspendingless.com
After a blogger named Ruth shared an article “Why I took my kids’ toys away (& why they won’t get them back)” Tumblr users decided to explain why no one should ever do this to their children
Image credits: Donnie Ray Jones
Tell us in the comments which side are you on!
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I agree with one of the responses - the one and only reason her kids stopped complaining is because she's trained them to know that she cannot EVER be trusted. They're bewildered right now, and scared of her, but they're going to be angry and in the end, they're going to abandon her completely. ...///... Hopefully they won't be so damaged by this abuse that they can't rebel. If anyone deserved to lose custody of her children, this person is the one.
I do not give in to buying EVERY toy my kids wanted but to ban them from playing with their toys because it will stunt their growth, that is too extreme. They need their toys to supplement their imagination and learn. I let my son bring his favorite hotwheel car to school. Compared to my daughter he is an introvert and his car (his equivalent to a favorite stuffy) makes him feel comforted and is an ice breaker with his classmates as he is in Kindergarten. Besides kids are also individuals with totally different interests from their parents. I guide my kids and I do not want to break them by rigid standards. Just because they stop whining and complaining does not mean they are not nursing a heartache. I agree that their silence may mean they cannot trust their mom and her reaction/ retribution if they voice out their complaints.
@AuntMessy. If she's not already a single parent, she soon will be. She mentioned how the husband had a hard time adjusting to this new approach. It even said that the woman confessed to not talking to her husband about it before doing it. "This is not a democracy!" Excuse me..they're 3 and 5. She seriously needs to be removed from their lives before she does permanent damage to those kids.
Play is essential for mental health and intellectual growth. That's not even a dispute. No kid ever melted (but might have melted down) if their parents didn't buy them every single thing they ever wanted, but to deny all playthings to a child is abuse. Did you notice that bedroom? There aren't any books in there, and I'm betting there aren't any in the entire house. That should scare the crap out of his parents - does he only have one parent? ...///... It's a good think your son likes his HotWheels car! He can put it in his pocket, after all. One woman told me that when her daughter went to kindergarten she threw fits because she couldn't take along her life-sized Raggedy Ann doll. The kid couldn't even lift the thing! They eventually compromised and went with a tiny replica.
I'm 38, and I still have Blue the velociraptor in my handbag. often when I'm stressed I put my hand into my bag and feel her, or take her out, move her limbs and open and close her mouth. makes me feel happier and calmer. just a little plastic dinosaur. I have more and better ones at home, but she's my pocket sized bit of dinosaur comfort to take with me wherever I gos funny thing, my 12 year old niece was showing me her dinosaurs. she has the lego ones, and showed me Charlie, Delta and Echo, then told me like admitting a secret. I HAVE got blue, but I take her with me in my bag. <3
@Aunt Messy *Gasp* I took a look at the picture and it looks like a functional, cold room in a hospital facility. Mom needs to have herself assessed by a psychiatrist. It might be OCD she is venting out on her kids.
My dad used to love misleading me and my brother by giving us a made up answer when we asked him about something. He found it hilarious when we later repeated that answer when someone asked us about it. I don't thing he really *meant* it in a nasty way, but the end result is that we will never trust anything he tells us unless we can double check it even now. It also made us generally distrustful of people.
Not even suitable to be called "parenting". Disgusting.
I just saw one of those hoarding shows and when the hoarder was asked if she knew why she did this she said it was because her father was in the military so her stuff was all she really had because they moved so much. Then her dad got annoyed with all of her stuff and burned all of it...all I can think is best case scenario, these kids become hoarders as adults. This is just awful, those poor kids.
I was about to write the same thing: they will hate her and they will abandon her.
Typical 6 and 3 year olds aren't going to be all that interested in the cool sites and experiences that entrance adults on a family trip. Basically, what she admitted to was punishing her children for behaving like 6 and 3 year old children. How mature and adult of her.
Or they would be interested, but WITH their favourite toy. Immagine how she would have enjoyed seeing her favourite dinosaur by the flowers, for example. Some kids practice empathy with their toys, and that empathy will be applied onto people too.
My mother threw away all of my toys one day while I was at school, at around age 8 or 9, because I couldn't keep my room clean to her standards. She also cut off all my hair because she didn't like dealing with the tangles. I'm still scarred by both things. IMHO, the woman in this story is selfish and bordering on some kind of mental illness. She seems like someone who should not have had children. I do not have children because I feared becoming like my mother. And yes, I've been to therapy, but I don't think there's enough therapy in the world to heal some scars, so I felt it best to remain childless. All the money she's saving on toys should be saved for therapy bills for the kids, because believe me, they're going to need it.
Oh my god, those things are exactly what my Mom did to me too. She threw away all my favourite toys because "they were laying on the floor of my room" when I was in school at about the same age and used to cut my hair really short. I tried growing my hair out as a preteen and she cut it off against my will when I was about 12.
I cut my hair short because I felt like it...I'm so sorry for you
My mother let her boyfriend take my toys away. 42 now still not forgotten. It's theft, stealing. I also have chosen to remain childless due to childhood abuse. I understand wear your coming from.
I agree with one of the responses - the one and only reason her kids stopped complaining is because she's trained them to know that she cannot EVER be trusted. They're bewildered right now, and scared of her, but they're going to be angry and in the end, they're going to abandon her completely. ...///... Hopefully they won't be so damaged by this abuse that they can't rebel. If anyone deserved to lose custody of her children, this person is the one.
I do not give in to buying EVERY toy my kids wanted but to ban them from playing with their toys because it will stunt their growth, that is too extreme. They need their toys to supplement their imagination and learn. I let my son bring his favorite hotwheel car to school. Compared to my daughter he is an introvert and his car (his equivalent to a favorite stuffy) makes him feel comforted and is an ice breaker with his classmates as he is in Kindergarten. Besides kids are also individuals with totally different interests from their parents. I guide my kids and I do not want to break them by rigid standards. Just because they stop whining and complaining does not mean they are not nursing a heartache. I agree that their silence may mean they cannot trust their mom and her reaction/ retribution if they voice out their complaints.
@AuntMessy. If she's not already a single parent, she soon will be. She mentioned how the husband had a hard time adjusting to this new approach. It even said that the woman confessed to not talking to her husband about it before doing it. "This is not a democracy!" Excuse me..they're 3 and 5. She seriously needs to be removed from their lives before she does permanent damage to those kids.
Play is essential for mental health and intellectual growth. That's not even a dispute. No kid ever melted (but might have melted down) if their parents didn't buy them every single thing they ever wanted, but to deny all playthings to a child is abuse. Did you notice that bedroom? There aren't any books in there, and I'm betting there aren't any in the entire house. That should scare the crap out of his parents - does he only have one parent? ...///... It's a good think your son likes his HotWheels car! He can put it in his pocket, after all. One woman told me that when her daughter went to kindergarten she threw fits because she couldn't take along her life-sized Raggedy Ann doll. The kid couldn't even lift the thing! They eventually compromised and went with a tiny replica.
I'm 38, and I still have Blue the velociraptor in my handbag. often when I'm stressed I put my hand into my bag and feel her, or take her out, move her limbs and open and close her mouth. makes me feel happier and calmer. just a little plastic dinosaur. I have more and better ones at home, but she's my pocket sized bit of dinosaur comfort to take with me wherever I gos funny thing, my 12 year old niece was showing me her dinosaurs. she has the lego ones, and showed me Charlie, Delta and Echo, then told me like admitting a secret. I HAVE got blue, but I take her with me in my bag. <3
@Aunt Messy *Gasp* I took a look at the picture and it looks like a functional, cold room in a hospital facility. Mom needs to have herself assessed by a psychiatrist. It might be OCD she is venting out on her kids.
My dad used to love misleading me and my brother by giving us a made up answer when we asked him about something. He found it hilarious when we later repeated that answer when someone asked us about it. I don't thing he really *meant* it in a nasty way, but the end result is that we will never trust anything he tells us unless we can double check it even now. It also made us generally distrustful of people.
Not even suitable to be called "parenting". Disgusting.
I just saw one of those hoarding shows and when the hoarder was asked if she knew why she did this she said it was because her father was in the military so her stuff was all she really had because they moved so much. Then her dad got annoyed with all of her stuff and burned all of it...all I can think is best case scenario, these kids become hoarders as adults. This is just awful, those poor kids.
I was about to write the same thing: they will hate her and they will abandon her.
Typical 6 and 3 year olds aren't going to be all that interested in the cool sites and experiences that entrance adults on a family trip. Basically, what she admitted to was punishing her children for behaving like 6 and 3 year old children. How mature and adult of her.
Or they would be interested, but WITH their favourite toy. Immagine how she would have enjoyed seeing her favourite dinosaur by the flowers, for example. Some kids practice empathy with their toys, and that empathy will be applied onto people too.
My mother threw away all of my toys one day while I was at school, at around age 8 or 9, because I couldn't keep my room clean to her standards. She also cut off all my hair because she didn't like dealing with the tangles. I'm still scarred by both things. IMHO, the woman in this story is selfish and bordering on some kind of mental illness. She seems like someone who should not have had children. I do not have children because I feared becoming like my mother. And yes, I've been to therapy, but I don't think there's enough therapy in the world to heal some scars, so I felt it best to remain childless. All the money she's saving on toys should be saved for therapy bills for the kids, because believe me, they're going to need it.
Oh my god, those things are exactly what my Mom did to me too. She threw away all my favourite toys because "they were laying on the floor of my room" when I was in school at about the same age and used to cut my hair really short. I tried growing my hair out as a preteen and she cut it off against my will when I was about 12.
I cut my hair short because I felt like it...I'm so sorry for you
My mother let her boyfriend take my toys away. 42 now still not forgotten. It's theft, stealing. I also have chosen to remain childless due to childhood abuse. I understand wear your coming from.