Opportunity Knocks

I keep telling everyone I know to watch “Mad Men”. The acting is amazing, the production design is impeccable—it’s just a terrific show. And unfortunately, I don’t think it’s doing that well in the ratings despite the constant media accolades and the fact that Jon Hamm won a Golden Globe last year. He plays the complicated, exceedingly dapper Don Draper. Rrrraarrrrr. And I’m allowed to say that because “Mad Men” also boasts the radiant January Jones, who seems to be a favorite with the menfolk. See? Something for everyone.

Watch it. There is a marathon coming up on Sunday, so it’s a perfect opportunity to catch up on the season so far. You won’t be sorry.

Plastic fantastic

Before we had Max I imagined that we would buy him mostly traditional, wooden toys. In my ideal world he would never hear the word “Barney” or desire a jittery Elmo doll. But this isn’t an ideal world, and I realize that eventually he’ll be introduced to all manner of cartoon characters who moonlight as cereal hawkers and show up on every child-oriented consumer item known to man. Someday he’ll be over at a friend’s house and he’ll catch an episode of Bob the Builder, and he’ll fall head over heels in love. And the next thing I know I’ll be reluctantly buying him a Bob the Builder toy back-hoe to match his Bob the Builder lunch box. But not the cereal! And not the toothpaste!

Because shouldn’t there be a limit? We buy 7th Generation diapers partially because of environmental concerns, and partially because they do not feature Winnie the Pooh or Mickey Mouse. Not that Max would notice or care at this point, but I notice and care. And I honestly don’t get it. Why do diapers, of all things, need to be emblazoned with cartoon characters? Though I will admit Pooh is a very appropriately named mascot for bum wrappers.

I’m not trying to deny the fact that I loved cartoon characters as I child, because I did. I particularly enjoyed Eeyore. I’m not sure what that says about my psyche, but that’s another subject all-together. Of course, the world was different in the 70’s. You might have had a Winnie the Pooh lunch box, but there weren’t five million products including Band-Aids and ice cream flavors that featured your favorite characters. That’s the part that drives me mental. I’m certainly no Adbuster. I’ve been known to desire certain cute products by the dozen. But it’s hard not to be somewhat horrified at the fact that children have become the ultimate target market. Lock ‘em in when they’re young and fresh, and they’ll be yours for life.

Sigh.

And back to reality. I’m ready to admit that my idealistic vision started to crumble the day Max was born. At this point he has plenty of plastic toys, and just today we bought him this:

He loooooooovvvess it. I looked around quite a bit and finally settled on this plastic fantastic extravaganza because unlike some of the other keyboard toys, it has a setting where it simply plays the keys as you strike them. The thing I didn’t like about so many of the other piano-like toys is that striking a key initiated some kind of inane song, and wasn’t anything like playing a real piano. And that was the primary intent—finding something sturdy, but piano-like. They offered nothing of the sort in the wood section at our local toy shop.

Of course, when he gets a little older I will have to get him one of these. I had the identical piano as a child and played with it constantly.

And despite my efforts, I realize it’s entirely possible Max will grow up hating all things musical and will demand shiny, plasticy, branded products by the dozen. And if that happens there will be lots of discussions about marketing that will most likely fall on deaf ears. And sometimes we’ll give in, and sometimes we won’t. But hopefully in the end he will at least think about the reasons why he wants something. And he’ll understand that the Blue’s Clues yogurt really doesn’t taste any different than the kind without a cartoon character on it. The goal is: small victories.

Beijing

Swimming, gymnastics
The Tivo is in high gear
I’m one with the couch

Sticky

These might be the cutest sticky notes I’ve ever seen. I spied them in a store today and though I REEEEEAAALLY wanted them, I resisted. I’m trying to be more careful about my spending, and have severely limited the amount of gifts I buy for myself. Which just means I’ll have to buy them for someone else. They would make a perfect birthday gift.