The Oasis - A spot for FORT parents

[hepcat]

Muduh's post made me think of a little quandary I'm in...my daughter's birthday is coming up, and just this weekend she started telling me what she's going to get for her birthday. She's going to get a bird. He's duck shaped, but not a duck, he has his own car seat, he likes to play Go Fish with her, and so on. She has a lot of tales about this bird.

At first I thought, maybe I better run out for a stuffed animal. (We actually decided not to get her any presents this year, because she's having a party with 20 kids, and even if some forget that's a lot of presents for a 4 year old.) But after hearing the details about the "bird" get more and more complex, wouldn't it be spoiling her fun to have a concrete stuffed animal who really doesn't have a car seat or know how to play Go Fish? Anyone have any input?

[Google]

 

[AJane]

Wow, that's some imagination for a 4-year-old, hep

I think chances are she's going to forget all about this bird-pal when everyone arrives for her party and she's showered with all kinds of cool stuff. When my oldest asks for things that I won't/can't procure (a pet rabbit, one of those toy cars that actually drive :rolleyes, a pony - yeah, in your dreams, kid) I tell her that she can have one when she's bigger. It's just simple enough that it always works. Now when she asks for something and it's a "no", she says, "Can I have it when I'm bigger?" and I say, "Sure!" Hey, *bigger* can mean next year or when she's 21, right?

[Duxxy]

Hep I'd probably wait to see if she showed any disappointment at not getting the bird..this might be a case of 'if you can't give it to them in reality, give it to them in fantasy'
Unless she was really disappointed I'd probably treat the bird like an imaginary friend

[dagwood]

Adding to what Duxxy said...if she is really disappointed, take her to build a bear. She can create her own stuffed animal. That is a cool place.

[Muduh]

Originally Posted by dagwood

Adding to what Duxxy said...if she is really disappointed, take her to build a bear. She can create her own stuffed animal. That is a cool place.

Yeah and if you have a Walmart nearby, you can build an animal for about half the price of the "Bear" stores. That's a great idea dagwood.

[Duxxy]

what's this build an animal you are all talking about?? I've never seen anything like that around here

[Lucy]

Hey, parents. I rarely wander in here, but my cousin forwarded me this story that I thought you guys would get a kick out of. (no, he's not the teacher in question, I don't know where this came from).:

I've been teaching now for about fifteen years. I have two children myself, but the best birth story I know is the one I saw in my own first-grade classroom a few years back. When I was a child, I loved show-and-tell. So I always have a few sessions with my students. It helps them get over shyness and experience a little public speaking. And it gives me a break and some guaranteed entertainment. Usually, show-and-tell is pretty tame. Children bring in pet turtles, model airplanes, pictures of fish they catch, stuff like that. I never, ever place any boundaries or limitations on them. If they want to lug it to
school and talk about it, they're welcome.

One day this little girl, Erica, a very bright, very outgoing child, takes her turn and waddles up to the front of the class with a pillow stuffed under her sweater. She holds up a snapshot of an infant. "This is Luke, my baby brother, and I'm going to tell you about his birthday.
First, Mom and Dad made him as a symbol of their love, and then Dad put a seed in my mom's stomach, and Luke grew in there. He ate for nine months through an umbrella cord." She's standing there with her hands on
the pillow, and I'm trying not to laugh and wishing I had my camcorder with me. The children are watching her in amazement.

"Then, about two Saturdays ago, my Mom starts saying and going, 'Oh, oh, oh!'" Erica puts a hand behind her back and groans. "She walked around the house for, like a long time, 'Oh, oh, oh!'"

Now the child is doing this hysterical duck walk; holding her back and groaning.

"My Dad called the middle wife. She delivers babies, but she doesn't have a sign on the car like the Domino's man. They got my mom to lie down in bed like this." Erica lies down with her back against the wall. "And then, pop! My mom had this bag of water she kept in there in case
he got thirsty, and it just blew up and spilled all over the bed, like psshhheew!" This child is sitting on the floor with her little hands miming water flowing away. "The middle wife starts saying 'push, push, and breathe, breathe.' They started counting, but never even got past ten.

"The all of a sudden, out comes my brother. He was covered in yucky stuff. They said it was from Mom's play-center, so there must be a lot of stuff inside there for him to do."

Then Erica stood up, took a big theatrical bow and returned to her seat.

I'm sure I applauded the loudest. Ever since then, if it's
show-and-tell day, I bring my camcorder, just in case another Erica comes along.

[Muduh]

Originally Posted by Duxxy

what's this build an animal you are all talking about?? I've never seen anything like that around here

Duxxy a lot of shopping malls have a store called "Build a Bear". It has all these animals( bears are only one species) that are just the fabric, sewn together. The kid picks out which animal they want and an employee takes it to a machine that fills the animal with stuffing. They make a big production of having the kid hold a little plastic (?) heart and then putting it in the animal. Then they close the animal up with a stitch deal that is sort of like lacing shoes. The naked animal costs about 20.00, I think. BUT, who wants a naked animal, right? By coincidence, they have about 900 wardrobe items to chose from. Mr. Bear can be a farmer with overalls, shirt, hat and work shoes. I figure that ensemble, bear and all, will set you back about fifty bucks. He might like to hike in his spare time. Not to worry, we can outfit him. Go surfing? Yep, we can help. If he happens to be a cross dresser, we can get him a tutu and ballet shoes. Get the picture? Our kid has Mr. Farmer Bear and Fire Chief Dalmatian. He also has a couple of the knock offs from Walmart that I mentioned. They run around 20.00, with clothes. Better deal?

[dagwood]

I wish our Walmart had a build a bear type place. That would be better than the $40 ballerina bunny my daughter got for her birthday.

[Muduh]

dagwood, a lot of the Superstores have them. They are really cute. You can probably get two for very little more than one of the Mall ones.