I am highly offended by the crap they make and sell as children's toys these days. Who needs a 3 foot tall Barbie princess? There are so many garbage toys that in no way exercise a child's mind or imagination. So many toys that a kid will beg for nonstop from now until Christmas just because his friends all have one, only to ignore it after playing with it for 5 minutes.

I know, I know...that is how kids are...but IT ISN'T! That is what we have turned kids into by giving them everything that they ask for. By stuffing their rooms with so much junk that you can barely get the kid in there to sleep. We entertain them every minute of every day with tv and movies and video games and toys that do nothing but occupy their time and they have no need or desire to entertain themselves. We can change it, if we are willing to listent to a lot of whining for awhile.

When they are bored give them the choice...A) find yourself something to do...or B) complete a household chore. If you have a list of chores that they can do whenever they say "I'm bored" I guarantee that they will stop saying it. Either that or your house will be cleaner. Teach them to use their brains to think instead of just imitate what they have seen on tv and they won't BE bored. Stop accepting this inability to entertain one's self as normal. It isn't.

Parents need to fight their way out from under the corperate toy maker's thumb, ignore all those saccharine sweet commercials and start giving their children the tools to make their own toys instead of shelling out thousands of dollars a year on "5 minute toys". Keep the kid supplied with markers and glue and scissors and paper and tape. Make sure they have a big box of PLAIN Legos. Not the fancy ones that have special wing pieces and prebuild drawbridges...the ones that are nothing but rectangles of different sizes and shapes. Or Lincoln Logs. Don't by a cute little fake plastic vacuum...let them play with the real thing. Don't buy your toddler a pretend laptop...let them help you wander around the internet! Instead of a fake cell phone, teach them how to use the real phone appropriately and let them call Grandma or a cousin or a friend. Not only are they learning a useful life skill, but they are getting some genuine one-on-one time with a real person. Can't beat that.

I wish the heads of every major toy company had to sit in a room full of kids who's brains had been melted by these idiotic toys every day for a week...no, a month...make THEM figure out how to entertain a child who's attention span has been cut to a fraction of a minute. Not that it would make a difference...

Okay...I'm down off my soapbox. Sorry. I now return you to the regularly scheduled programming...