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But I Waaaaant It
Christmas is coming (in spite of the August-esque temperatures in Manhattan), and I know this because suddenly the mailbox is full of peculiar toy catalogues from companies I have never heard of. I'm now particularly angry at the Young Explorers folks because they, through no fault of their own, caused a particularly annoying bit of unpleasantness to rear its little head yesterday morning.
Felix got a gander at this catalogue and immediately began to demand something. Interestingly, the something that he found so desirable is an item he already has, or more accurately put, a newer, "enhanced" version of a toy that we have. I didn't want to hear about it, and probably made matters worse by not taking him seriously. When I pulled out the original toy to show him he already had it, a complete fit ensued.
This was actually a first. Of course there have been moments where he has demanded things (ice cream, mostly) but he's easy to distract and I've never experienced anything quite like this.
As the shrieking went on at an unfortunate hour of the morning (the sun was up but coffee hadn't yet been made), a cascade of thoughts fluttered around, mostly about what other people would think of this situation.
One friend would certainly tell me that this episode was my fault for allowing my kid to be exposed to advertising and I should get rid of the television and hide the mail. This set me off thinking about one of the preschools Felix applied to, which has a "no branding" policy in which children are not allowed to show up at school with any clothing or lunch boxes or pencils or toys or whatnot featuring any identifiable character from popular culture.
Then I thought of all the jokes some other folks I know would make if they heard that the toy in question was a plastic cash register. (The one Felix has just makes a beeping noise, but the new version beeps and apparently talks.) I have known more than a few Socialists in my day and I sense what they would say about this sort of problem. It would do me no good to try to defend myself by saying that toddlers know very little about politics and systems of social and financial oppression, and a lot about beeping and talking.
Next, because everyone has a few literary theorists in one's acquaintance, I contemplated what people would say about the fact that he didn't seem to realize that the item he craved in a photograph was something he also had in real life. There are a couple of people who I know could deliver a twenty-minute lecture on the Lacanian mirror stage as it applies to contemporary catalogue culture and systems of desire without breaking a sweat.
But even all of the voices in my head didn't quite shut out the tantrum that went on, undeterred by attempts to: reason with him, play with the existing cash register, point out that no store would possibly be open, sourly say "it's good to want things," and ignore him.
Sadly, in the end there was only one thing to do, and here I was lucky that this all came down so early. I turned the problem over to his father, crinkled catalogue, sniffly nose and all.
Besides, the little one began his own lament, though one assumes it was inspired by a more primal need.
posted by Elise at 7:54 AM
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