She fell asleep so peacefully and I placed her in her crib with her toy worm facing her. Worm is definitely an odd creature - neon green tail and a yellow head with bright pink antennae. Despite being a biologist, I hadn't realized that worms don't even have antennae until someone pointed it out to me. We are actually dealing with a space worm or a slug named Worm! When I placed the baby in the crib she opened her eyes a little, saw Worm and gave him a wide friendly welcome smile, and then fell asleep knowing her best friend is right there next to her.This odd friendship between baby and Worm is amazingly cute. Baby is as fond of the Worm as her own mother. Worm keeps her company when she wakes up at night or when she is having trouble falling asleep. My kid can easily spend thirty minutes playing with the worm. She talks to her best friend in their secret language, carefully touches Worm's face, tries to hold his tail. This often leads to baby accidentally catapulting the toy to the other side of the bed or turning the toy over so that it's facing away from her. This makes baby sad. Worm has abandoned her! I go there, put the Worm back where it belongs and the baby smiles with joy.
All this makes me wonder - What more does baby need? Well of course food and clothes and all that practical stuff. But what other toys does she need? It's so often seen that children's beds are covered with twenty or thirty stuffed bears and rabbits in all shapes and sizes. The child can pick a "friend" according to her mood. When she gets bored with one bear, she tosses it out of the bed and plays with another one. She can have enough stuffed toys to juggle them.
Is this really what we want to teach children? Friends are replaceable and toys exist to entertain her. I would very much prefer if she learned to entertain herself with the HELP of her toys. There's a subtle difference. If children just needed toys to be happy it would be so easy to fill the room with toys and toss the kid inside. But it's not at all unusual for a child to be sitting in the middle of a pile of toys bored out of her mind. Toys don't really entertain children. Children need to play and entertain themselves and toys are there only as an aid.I'm not expecting my child to continue playing with only Worm until the end of teenage. I just think that when it comes to toys, LESS IS MORE. This simple stuffed worm squeaks when you squeeze it so it will be excellent for a 6-month old who is already grabbing things. It's the only "social toy" that the baby needs for now. When baby is older, I want to choose her one ideal cuddle toy. This will also be a stuffed animal, but big and fluffy. One toy for one purpose is all that's necessary.
The goal isn't to save money but rather to keep the apartment clutter free. I would rather pick up the child's favourite toy and carefully place it in her crib than kick a punch of random toys on the floor into a neater-looking pile. As long as I have anything to say about it, Worm will never end up in such a pile. Lets just hope Siiri agrees with my view on toys and she won't end up pleading for a new toy every week. "
Mommy, I need that stuffed bear! I NEED it!"
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