Mormon Mom

I think I'm weird.

I was just chatting to a colleague about how leaving for work is difficult when the twins are at home (they've got a bit of a viral bug) because they are distraught that Mommy is leaving. She said her son, who is the same age as the twins, has rationalised it as Mommy work= Mommy has money= Mommy can buy me toys. And I said, my kids don't know how to ask for toys because they have no concept where toys come from.

Tis true. We hardly bring them shopping. Almost never. To them, toys just appear sporadically in the house, either kept from birthdays, Christmas, hand-me-downs or when I really like something and decide to buy it for them and they descend on it to devour.

Do they have concept of "buying" things and money? Yes, they do. But they think money is good because money can buy them apples and bread. That's what they tell us when they want us to give them money.

I'd like to keep it like that. Is it bad that toys do sporadically appear in front of them and for all they knew, a toy fairy or Santa Clause brought it for them? I don't know. But I do think it's better than them chucking huge fits and demanding that we buy them the latest Thomas what not. The one time I brought them to a toy store to buy Jordan a replacement beanie elephant, she picked more than one beanie, hugged them all and walked round the store a little bit and then left them on the floor. Evan got bored and ran out of the store to play with the escalator.

Yes, my children are country bumpkins when it comes to shopping and toy sections.

My colleague asked if I did bring them out. I said yes. To parks, to our friends' homes or to go for a swim (although that doesn't happen often either). I admitted very frankly that I didn't bring them to the mall much because 1. Mall time is Me time. 2. There's really not much for them to do there except run amok and get over-stimulated on toys and perhaps develop the ability to demand the toy. 3. It used to drive me crazy to see kids screaming and running mad in malls even as a teenager and I swore early on that I wouldn't add to the ruckus.

It doesn't mean that I disapprove of those who take their kids to the mall. It's just that I haven't seen the need to. So it makes me slightly Mormon and my kids slightly under-exposed, especially in Singapore where there is less to do with children. But hey, if it'll eventually help me bring up kids who don't demand PSPs, DSs, mobile phones with bells and whistles or the entire Barbie/ Thomas collection, I'm not changing it. Let their classmates laugh at them next time!

What a cruel Mommy.

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