Wednesday, March 08, 2006

His Batteries Are Dead

I have come to an important revelation about toys. Manufacturers have crossed the line in the number of toys produced that require batteries. It has reached the point of insanity when every toy that enters our house requires AA or AAA or C batteries. I remember the good ol' days when toys were extremely special if they required batteries (like the doll that would eat and then wet her pants or my brother's programmable remote control car.)

Now, you may be asking yourself, "How did Stacey come to such an amazing and profound conclusion?" (interpreted to mean, "Will she just get to the point already?!") I realized this because of my children's attitude about batteries. My boys now think that if something doesn't work correctly, it needs new batteries. If there is something wrong with the computer, bathtub, couch, etc., one of them will say, "Maybe it needs new batteries." If I disagree with them or try to explain that the broken item doesn't require batteries, they will just look at me with a look of pity for not understanding the world of battery operated items.

At the end of last week, the boys were playing in the other room and laughing so hard. They came into the room where I was at and I asked David what they were playing. He told me they were playing the battery game. I asked him about the game, so the boys decided to show me the game. Nathan would lay down on the floor and not move at all. David then said, "Nathan your batteries are dead. I will get you some new ones." He then put new batteries into Nathan's back, and Nathan immediately jumped up and started dancing around the room. Then he threw himself back down on the floor. David looked at me and said, "Uh-oh, his batteries are dead again."

A little frightening, isn't it? I think I can use it to my advantage though. Every once in awhile, I threaten the ultimate punishment of taking the batteries out of a toy, and it usually gets the desired results. When they are running around like wild animals, I may have to threaten to take their batteries out if they don't calm down. I'll let you know if it works!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

A few years ago, J was making paper airplanes and flying them through the air. K wanted to try, so I made one for her. She "flew" it, but it crashed straight to the ground. She turned to me and said, "Wooks wike it need new bawweries!!" :) SS

Anonymous said...

Maybe you can take the batteries out at bedtime!! Grandma s