Money tight? The kids want really expensive toys? Blame the toy makers for advertising!

It seems that some of Santa's Helpers--otherwise known as Mommy and Daddy--are a bit uneasy this holiday season, and they want the toy manufacturers to do something about it according to this AP story, "Meltdown fallout: some parents rethink toy-buying".

What do these parents want for Christmas now that family budgets are getting tighter? Well...how about "Please stop advertising your products to your target market: Our kids." Yes, it seems that rather than apply the word "NO!" and/or the phrase "We cannot afford that." as needed, these alleged ADULTS are passing the buck to someone else rather than do the parenting job they are supposed to be doing.

Like this poor excuse, IMHO, for a father who told the reporter :

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TOY_WORRIES?SITE=TXHAR&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
(Fair Use claimed.)

"Unfortunately, I will not be able to purchase many of the toys that my sons have asked for; we simply don't have the money," wrote Todd Helmkamp of Hudson, Ind. "By bombarding them with advertisements ... you are placing parents like me in the unenviable position of having to tell our children that we can't afford the toys you promote."

Huh? Parenting often does put the parent in an "unenviable" position. That's no excuse to avoid doing the job the parent signed on to do when they "made whoopee" once too often. Yet, that seems to be exactly what these overgrown adolescents expect:

"Parents have trouble saying no," said Allison Pugh, a University of Virginia sociology professor. She says parents often buy toys to avoid guilt and ensure their children feel in sync with school classmates.

"Even under circumstances of dire financial straits, that's the last thing parents give up. They'll contain their own buying for themselves before they'll make their child feel different at school."

See kid refuse to learn to deal with bratty classmates. See kid who wants social status his parents cannot afford to give him. See parents...roll over and play dead and get the stuff...they cannot afford?

And what kind of a lesson is THAT to give the kids?

Now...it gets worse. Some parents will do just about anything to spoil the little brats!

Amanda Almodovar...an elementary school social worker in Alamance County, N.C. [says]

"I had one parent who said she'd prostitute herself to get what her child wants. ... It's heartbreaking. They feel inadequate as parents.

I try to tell them, worry about your home, your heating bill - but they're the ones who have to look into children's faces, the children saying 'I want this, I want that.'"

Some lesson: Rather than teaching the kids that survival trumps the latest edition of "Guitar Hero®" or "2008 Holiday Barbie® Doll", a woman would actually sell herself on a street corner--break the law and risk fines and jail time--just to not have to tell the kids to "Shut the f*ck up and quit whining!"??

Houston, we have a problem... And the "problem" is...not here:

The Toy Industry Association has responded with a firm defense of current marketing practices, asserting that children "are a vital part of the gift selection process."

"If children are not aware of what is new and available, how will they be able to tell their families what their preferences are?"

Indeed, what product isn't advertised to the target market? If the ad is not deceptive or misleading, there is no reason to change, is there? Even if the buyer and the user are not the same person--parent v. child--it's not the toy makers who are responsible for making the choices about what ultimately ends up in the toy chest.

But then again...

The director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, psychologist Susan Linn, said she and her colleagues ... want the ads directed at parents.

"It's cruel to dangle irresistible ads for toys and electronics in front of kids - encouraging them to nag for gifts that their parents can't afford...It's just not fair."

And why should the parents be interested in something that they don't often want to use themselves? The real aim here is not to avoid being "cruel" to the kids, but rather is an attempt by those who would rather see people own nothing and buy nothing that the liberal assholes' own businesses don't or can't sell while lording it over anyone who they consider to be "politically incorrect".

So, what should the toy industry (and the rest of us) say to these "breeders" without "backbone" and their supporters? "F*ck you, babies! Life is like a diaper, full of sh*t. Deal with it."

I think that is a good article, thanks Rottweiler. Missy tell Logan I am not spoiling him this year no matter how much he gives me those googly eyes.

Forget it Im gonna spoil him

Dont waste your money on toys shop MACYS Jesus you girls know better