Yep! I'm one of those...

Nancy, the lady I nanny for, gave me a new Little People Schoolhouse toy this week, as a gift for me and for her children to enjoy while at my house. On Monday, I brought it into the house and had Dan take it out of the box. While Dan was taking it out of the box, he also removed the batteries (since everything on the toy, also served as a button that made some sort of annoying noise.) Yep, I'm one of those. I have the "no toys with noise" rule in our house. There is something that makes my nerves cringe every time I hear a fake sounding "vroom" coming from truck, rather than a child. I hate listening to the alphabet song-you know the one. A-B-C-D. A-B. A-A-A-A-A. I don't think I have ever heard the song all the way through, since the children keep pressing the button repeatedly. (perhaps, that's just one reason why I hate toys that make noise!) Nancy tells me that she believes that the toys educate the children. My response is threefold. Yes. It does educate them. At pressing buttons. (not really, what I think she was going for). Secondly, isn't that my job to educate them as their nanny? And perhaps her job as their mother? Thirdly, my personal observation. Nancy's house is full of toys with noise. When we are at their house, all I hear is the toys making noise. The children aren't talking. While at my silent toyed house, I hear the children. They are talking, and using their imagination to tell stories and make the noises that animals/cars etc. make.
It's just a personal choice. If others choose to have a household full of toys that make noise, then so be it. I have no qualms about that. But personally, I prefer that batteries are never included. Okay, that's not entirely true. There are a "few" toys that make noise that I wouldn't mind owning in the future (such as the word whammer or the fridge phonics from Leapfrog, and perhaps a nice ocean wonders aquarium that sings the baby to sleep) But I guess my biggest "rule" is that I don't the toy to make a noise that the child should be able to make (like a truck that goes vroom). I don't really want the toy to interfere with the child's imaginative play.
I was talking with some other people my age that grew up without noisy toys. The one mentioned that her parents finally broke down and bought her a baby doll that 'drank milk and peed.' She said it was fun for a while, but then that doll got tossed aside because it didn't fit in with her imaginative play. She couldn't make the baby do what she wanted it to, because it was only useful for one thing (okay two: drinking and peeing).
Most of us grew up in the age where toys didn't include batteries or made noise of any sort. And I do believe that most of us turned out fine. I hope to raise my children in an atmosphere where toys don't need to make noise to be fun. Or need batteries. Do you know how hard it is to find toys like that? Dan and I went looking for a car for a seven year old boy (his brother) that didn't require a remote control. We found one. Just one. (this may have something to do with the fact that Abbotsford seems to lack toy stores and the fact that almost every toy requires batteries). It was rather disappointing. Perhaps a good baby shower gift would be a large pack of batteries in varying sizes.
I may be "one of those." But I'm proud of that. And I love the children's voices as they use their imagination to make up stories as they play. Perhaps that's why Nancy is taking back her gift and exchanging it for one that doesn't make any noise. For that, I am extremely grateful.

A simple thought (or two)

I was thinking the other day. If men did what their wives asked, we wouldn't need to nag them. Therefore, its the men's fault that we wives nag. They should have just done what we asked them to do in the first place and then wouldn't the nagging stop?
(side note: we don't really have this problem in our marriage, since Dan is a good listener! And, since I told him this thought. He agrees that I wouldn't have to nag him if he listened the first time.)

Second thought: Am I the only person in the entire world who doesn't know how to make KD without reading the directions? I made the kids Kraft Dinner today and the little girl (who is 3)got mad at me. Don't you know how to make it? No! I don't. The first time I ever had KD, I was a teenager. And to be honest...it was gross! In fact, it still is gross (especially when smothered in Ketchup). It was interesting that i didn't even know macaroni came in a box until I was a teen. My mother always made it from scratch. And now, I make it from scratch (you know, real ingredients like flour, margarine and hark! real cheese) So, sorry I don't know how to make it.

Sunday Community

Yesterday in church, I saw something that made me smile. Actually, I think it made a lot of people smile. About half way through April's sermon, an elderly East Indian gentlemen walked into the sanctuary and sat down in one of the pews in the middle of the church. He listened intently as April talked about poetry, the arts and Christianity. (at least I think that's what she talked about. Sorry April, but this event kind of made me lose my focus and therefore forget what you talked about). At the end of the sermon, which had a slight focus on giving (as it was Thanksgiving), so we were asked to bring up our offerings of money, food for the food bank and items we had brought from home that we are thankful for (eg. baskets of nuts, quilts, sketch pads). April talked about how in the African tradition, if someone didn't have anything to bring forward, someone would give the empty handed something that they brought. Everyone would then be able to bring an offering forward. She asked us to do the same and share with those who didn't bring anything or forgot to bring something. The little children came and sang a song that goes something like this, "There's enough for all, if we would learn to share it. There's more than enough for you and me..." As the children sang, the entire congregation got up and came forward bringing their money, food and items of thankfulness. I personally saw many people share what they brought with others who didn't have any. But the thing that warmed my heart the most, was seeing this elderly East Indian gentleman get up and bring forth his offering. I saw him take his money and throw wads of bills into the basket. I couldn't believe that this visiting man would take part in this part of the service (as this isn't mandatory among visitors). After the service, I sought out this man. I wanted to know his story and what brought him to church this Sunday morning. I overheard him talking about how this couple invited him into church. He left the church quickly before I had a chance to talk with him, as the couple who invited him whisked him away. But I love how the Indo-Canadian community is mixing with the community at Emmanuel. (I even found out that a bench was erected outside the church for the elderly East Indians who sit outside the church every day.) I think it would be fantastic to mix the two cultures. It would also be a challenge as we figure out how to integrate a new culture into the church, without making them feel unwelcome. We have been talking a lot about community at Emmanuel and what makes a community. Perhaps this should be a part of the discussion. It's an exciting journey we have begun!