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The Toy Torrent
Tom Robinson is worried by the ever-increasing number of presents given to his son...
Even before Christmas the bedroom of our eight year old son was inhabited by dozens of cuddly rabbits, foxes, cars, trucks, trains, blackboards, whiteboards, hand percussion, kites, yo yos, slinkies, walkie talkies, etch a sketch, face masks, face paints, CDs, tapes, medallions and several metric tonnes of Lego.
Little is valued, none of it cared for. We never wanted it to be like this. As first-time parents we planned plenty of books plus a few well-made, well-chosen toys that the child would love and cherish. But we reckoned without the generosity of others.
From the moment he was born we were deluged with presents - and seasonal tidal waves of treasures and trinkets have overwhelmed us ever since. As each orgy of gift-giving subsides we dump duplicate toys at Oxfam by the truckload. It's obscene. Our advance requests not to waste money on presents offend friends and relatives alike. Meanwhile, the toy torrent rages on unabated.
It may be a clichΓ©, but things really weren't like this when we were young. A set of crayons was a prized possession, a drawing block something you saved up for. We simply weren't showered with felt-tips and furry toys by every adult of our parents' acquaintance. He simply has too many possessions for comfort.
This Christmas he once again ran the gauntlet of relatives, friends, those who know my work - and complete strangers who once met his Grandad on holiday. He gained a 22nd set of felt tips, seventh yo yo and two more Β£10 Taiwanese walkmen. There was the usual struggle to keep track of who gave what; and the blood-from-stone squeezing of thank you letters from the tip of his latest novelty biro.
As a reward, I let him play computer games in my study, surrounded by - what? Monitors, modems, pianos, printers, synths, scanners, samplers, sequencers, basses, box files, tables, telephones, tape decks, chairs, cables, mike stands, mixers, box files, videos, vinyl, CDs, faxes, photographs and... heaps of letters, lyrics and manuals strewn all over the floor. Nature or nurture - the poor child hasn't got a chance.
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