Jonathan M. Ward
After I stopped playing with children’s toys, I never gave them a second thought. To me, it felt like people around me were going through way too much trouble figuring out what toy would be the exact perfect one for their child. ‘These are just toys!’ I thought. ‘Who cares?’
I felt this way for the better part of my adult life until I became a father myself. When my first kid – my little boy Ryan came into the world, everything changed. I grew obsessed with making him as happy as possible while giving him the best opportunities for development. Things didn’t improve much when my daughter Alyssa was born either. In fact, now I had twice as much research to do, because – and this may come as a shock – boys and girls are not entirely the same.
I hear people around me saying the same things I said before I was a parent. They say I should relax, it’s not that big a deal if my child gets the second-best toy available, rather than the absolute best one – and I understand, they have a right to their opinion, even if they are wrong.
It sounds a bit crazy I know, but once you start to research the different educational and developmental benefits toys can provide, you can’t help but start obsessing about the tiniest of details. Or perhaps it’s just how I processed all of that information.
Whatever the case may be, in the world today there are literally more toys than you can count, and almost as many toy companies and manufacturers. Top-level scientists are working around the clock on creating the most effective learning tools packed into the most engaging toys possible, and somebody needs to get to the bottom of it all.
I hope that my unhealthy level of enthusiasm when it comes to discovering the best possible toys on the market, as well as learning about the most efficient ways of using them, can give you a lot of value in your own parenting experience.