Dear Jack: Dressing Yourself As A Super Hero To Open Your Gifts From Family

4 years. 

Dear Jack: Dressing Yourself As A Super Hero To Open Your Gifts From Family

Dear Jack,

A week ago was your actual 4th birthday, though your birthday party with your friends was the day before on Saturday.

That meant you had already opened your presents from your friends by the time Mommy and I let you open your gifts from us the next morning at our house.

Dear Jack: Dressing Yourself As A Super Hero To Open Your Gifts From Family

Sort of half-jokingly, I suggested that before you got started opening our gifts to you, that you should dress up in the super hero costume that your friend Madison had given you. (We actually let you open your gifts in front of your friends at your party; even though that’s nearly considered weird these days!)

Dear Jack: We Actually Let You Open Your Presents At Your Birthday Party

You didn’t hesitate.

To make things even better, you happened to already be wearing your Batman pajamas, which had served as your Halloween costume just a few weeks ago.

Dear Jack: Dressing Yourself As A Super Hero To Open Your Gifts From Family

So by the time you put on your costume, it apparently made you Super Captain Batman Jack!

It’s like you honestly believed that the red cape made you fun faster, because you were trying it out right, getting into super hero character before you sat down to open your presents.

Dear Jack: Dressing Yourself As A Super Hero To Open Your Gifts From Family

I want to be clear, you did not remove one item of the costume the entire time, including the mask.

Even if you never wear the costume again, which after seeing this, I’m pretty sure you will, it was worth Madison picking out this outfit for you just for this event alone.

Dear Jack: Dressing Yourself As A Super Hero To Open Your Gifts From Family

It was a relevant gift for more than one reason. Turns out, one of the gifts Mommy and I got for you was a Spiderman sleeping bag.

Dear Jack: Dressing Yourself As A Super Hero To Open Your Gifts From Family

Not only have you been using it to sleep on this week, given that everything is moved out of our house now since we’re moving out to live with some friends as our new house is being built, but I also envision your new Spiderman sleeping bag to be what you sleep on when we “go camping” in our backyard of our new house next summer.

Dear Jack: Dressing Yourself As A Super Hero To Open Your Gifts From Family

And fortunately, your mechanically-minded Uncle Andew was there to help put together a Techno Gears Marble Mania Quest maze; it took him only 2 hours, whereas the box warned it would take 3 to 4!

You provided great entertainment for our family as you opened your “Mommy and Daddy” presents. You really did make the best Super Captain Batman Jack that I have ever seen!

Love,

Daddy

Aside From Breaking Bad Action Figures, What Else Is “Offensive” At Toys “R” Us?

Today, with 20/20’s David Muir as my inspiration, I visited the Toys “R” Us down the street from where I work, equipped with my camera.

I wanted to find out what other potentially offensive and/or inappropriate toys can currently be found there.

Of course, the reason this is relevant is because headlines are revolving around concerned parents who do not approve of Breaking Bad action figures being sold at Toys “R” Us: Over 7,000 parents signed a petition to get the store to stop selling those toys.

They believe that the characters, like Walter White, who began selling meth to provide for his family after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, should have no place in a “kids’” toy store.

Appropriately, or should I say inappropriately, the Walter White action figure comes with a bag of meth as one of his accessories.

I get it that that’s not something I would want my nearly 4 year-old son playing with.

However, I wanted to explore the situation to make sure there’s not a double standard in place here…

Aside From Breaking Bad Action Figures, What Else Is "Offensive" At Toys R Us?

In other words, if certain parents are concerned over Breaking Bad action figures, does that mean they’re okay with other toys that are currently being sold there and have been being sold there?

Aside From Breaking Bad Action Figures, What Else Is "Offensive" At Toys R Us?

Let’s take a look at what I found…

Aside From Breaking Bad Action Figures, What Else Is "Offensive" At Toys R Us?

Near the front of the store are the video games. As you can see, several of them have the “M for Mature” rating, containing profanity, sexual content, nudity, alcohol, drugs, gore, and violence.

Aside From Breaking Bad Action Figures, What Else Is "Offensive" At Toys R Us?

As far as other action figures, Toys “R” Us also sells The Walking Dead (which is another popular show from AMC) in which you can run over a zombie with a motorcycle, Game of Thrones (which I hear is full of nudity), Chucky (a violent, possessed doll) and Friday the 13th  (featuring the popular serial killer, Jason Voorhies).

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/10/21/357841739/toys-r-us-under-fire-for-breaking-bad-action-figures

Aside From Breaking Bad Action Figures, What Else Is "Offensive" At Toys R Us?

Notice all the weapons here too; all currently for sale at Toys “R” Us. Granted, there is an indicator on each of these packages to tell you what age is appropriate for a child to have the toy.

But still, if we are to find these toys offensive anyway, I suppose the age indicator is slightly irrelevant.

Please note that these toys are in the same aisle as WWE wrestling action figures and Ninja Turtles.

Aside From Breaking Bad Action Figures, What Else Is "Offensive" At Toys R Us?

Which, speaking of…

I quickly saw the slippery slope here…

The age indicator tells me that Ninja Turtles, Transformers, and GI Joe are all appropriate for children under the age of 10.

Aside From Breaking Bad Action Figures, What Else Is "Offensive" At Toys R Us?

So I suppose the weapons are excusable because they are used to fight the bad guys… though you can just as easily buy them too, along with their weapons.

I feel like I’m definitely seeing some double standards here. This is my understanding:

There are people who are upset about Breaking Bad action figures being carried at Toys “R” Us because that glorifies drugs and violence.

Aside From Breaking Bad Action Figures, What Else Is "Offensive" At Toys R Us?

However, Toys “R” Us has been selling video games that contain profanity, sexual content, nudity, alcohol, drugs and violence that is easily arguably much worse that what is featured in the series Breaking Bad.

An action figure is just a representation; whereas a video game actually shows the content on the TV screen.

You can’t buy the Breaking Bad DVD series at Toys “R” Us, but you can buy these video games show here.

Not to mention, our society quickly dismisses the toy weapons of characters which cater towards children, in the name of self-defense and military.

If we should be offended Breaking Bad, shouldn’t we also be offended by the other stuff too, to some degree? Where do we cross the line? Apparently, with a bag of meth as an accessory… but not all this other stuff.

Aside From Breaking Bad Action Figures, What Else Is "Offensive" At Toys R Us?

These Are The Days Of Stuffed Animals Wearing Underwear (And Funny Drawings Of Anteaters!)

3 years, 10 months.

Dear Jack,

These Are The Days Of Stuffed Animals Wearing Underwear

I just want to bookmark which stage of childhood you are in right now. These are the days of you dressing your stuffed animals in your own “big boy underwear.”

It would be one thing if these specially dressed animals stayed indoors where only Mommy and I knew about them.

But… nope.

Each morning you choose an underwear-wearing stuffed animal to ride in the car with you on the ride to school. Then the privileged creature gets to be placed in your cubby all day while you learn.

At the end of each school day, with much pride, you remove your animal from the cubby for the ride home.

Let me just say it again:

Your animals are wearing your own underwear. And you are the one who picks out which pair of your underwear they wear, then you put the underwear on them.

These Are The Days Of Stuffed Animals Wearing Underwear

That’s hilarious!

But part of what makes this so funny is that you don’t appear to be trying to be funny or ironic, in the least bit.

It’s as if you are treating Ellie (your much worn-out purple elephant) and Pandy (your panda bear, who like Ellie, is also a $5 Kohl’s purchase from the check-out counter) as peers who are legitimately encountering the transition to “big boy underwear” as you are.

I don’t know how many other 4 year-old boys in America are doing the same thing right now, but I know that I did the same thing was I was about your age.

These Are The Days Of Stuffed Animals Wearing Underwear

Something else you’re doing these days that I feel is definitely defining you is your funny and creative drawings you do at school each day.

I think I might need to start up a special folder to start saving them in the Facebook page for Family Friendly Daddy Blog in a photo album simply called “Jack’s Art.”

These Are The Days Of Stuffed Animals Wearing Underwear

As for now, I’ll leave you with my current personal favorite; this picture you drew of “an anteater that ate a monster.”

Love,

Daddy

These Are The Days Of Stuffed Animals Wearing Underwear

Bogarting Toys Instead Of Passing And Sharing Them With A Friend

December 9, 2012 at 2:54 pm , by 

2 years.

Dear Jack,

I’m willing to admit: Sharing is a more difficult concept than it sounds.

For the past several months now, I have noticed, and having caught on camera, you bogarting your toys.

By that, I mean that you often carry around 2 or 3 toys at a time, holding them closely to your chest like you just got released from serving time in the slammer.

This is something you do whether you’re just with me and Mommy or you’re playing alongside a friend.

Based on my observations of the way you play with others, I’m assuming your daycare teaches that if a kid is already playing with a toy, another kid can’t just come up and take it away from you; forcing you to “share.”

When you’re forced to share, you’re not really sharing; not from your heart, at least.

In time, you’ll grow to understand the importance of truly sharing; meaning you willingly sacrifice something you care about, on your own initiative, to help someone out because you recognize the personal and moral responsibility of giving to those who have less than you do.

For now, what you usually do when another kid tries to take your toy is you quickly find a different toy and hand it to them.

I like that. It promotes a peace of mind for you, knowing that you aren’t forced to share the exact toy you’re playing with whenever someone else wants it.

Another reason I like this concept is because I don’t want you thinking you can just go up to any other kid and take his toy away. That could either make you a bully or make you be bullied.

I know that right now this is a bit confusing.

After all, at daycare, all those toys are shared among the community. But at home, those toys really are yours. Hence, the popular toddler catch phrase, “MINE!”

So I get it that you want to bogart your own toys when you’re not at daycare. You want to have a sense of ownership since, most of your weekday hours, you don’t.

Sharing is a challenging thing to grasp right now, beyond the rules of your daycare. One day, though, you will choose to share from your heart, instead of because of policy.

 

Love,

Daddy

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