An Allegory
My daughter is 10 years old, and she loves stuffed animals. She’s never met a stuffed animal she didn’t like, and her room proves it; I’m certain that she has more stuffed animals then my wife has shoes. She’s constantly on the lookout for new stuffed animals, because she knows that adding a new, unique member to her over-ripe family tree is exciting! She can coddle this new addition and show it off to her friends and family. When the newness wears off, it takes it’s place in the panoply of her collection where it is no less loved then it was when she first acquired it.
She’ll never turn down the opportunity to acquire another dog, another cat, another bird, bear, panda, koala, lion or tiger. She’ll see a stuffed animal in the store and will be drawn to it, regardless of it’s pedigree, and she’ll want it. If she has the money, she’ll buy it. She’ll bring it home and she’ll love it like she loves any other of her stuffed animals. She doesn’t nitpick; I’ve never heard her complain that this animals eyes are too big, or the yarn mouth on that one is crooked, or that the fur on that one isn’t as soft as the fur on this one. Each animal stands on it’s own two (or four) feet regardless of how it stacks up to the animals that she already owns.
She plays with all of these animals. She plays with them by lining them up and pretending they’re in school, or on some kind of anthropomorphic adventure together. I got yelled at last night because I stopped by to tell her it was time to take her shower; I had interrupted her, had pulled her from the imaginary world that she had immersed herself in…where she was having fun. She always has fun playing with any and all of her animals, no matter how many cats she has, no matter how many have large eyes, or small eyes, or crooked yarn mouths, because she loves stuffed animals, regardless of their sameness, or their differences.
-
-
#2 written by Chris Smith 1 year ago
Well, the way I see it, the beauty of it is that she saw it for what it was, and didn’t complain that it didn’t screen her calls, make her breakfast, or fly like an airplane. There’s a lot of stuffed animals out there: some are animated, some come with accessories…she has a lot of options, but she picked the one that did what she wanted it to do OUT OF THE BOX, and didn’t expect it to be any more then what it was.
And if you think she’s not influenced by hype, you are sadly mistaken, my friend! She’s seen ads on TV for stuff, and has whined about wanting it, as kids do. But even if and when she gets that thing, if it doesn’t live up to the hype, she frowns, and it gets dumped into the playroom without ceremony. She doesn’t run to the Internet to register her disgust or claim that the toy is a failure that will be off the market in 6 months.
Kids have a certain level of Zen to them. We lose that over time, which is really kind of sad.
-
OK, you’ve disabled my devil’s advocate-fu….
So here’s a follow up. How much of our lack of this Zen quality comes from a herd mentality? Y’know how hard it can be to like the game everyone hates, right? Suddenly you’re expected to defend your liking of it…
So (in my case at least) I either gird my loins for battle, or just opt not to talk publicly about the game I love that everyone else hates.
I hope your daughter can keep her Zen for a long time to come!
-
#4 written by Chris Smith 1 year ago
The herd mentality is HUGE. HUGE. We’ve agreed in the past that neither of us is immune, so we can get all uppity and say NO ONE is immune. Hell, I’ve tried League of Legends because it seems EVERYONE is talking about it!
But LoL is not for me. The game doesn’t suck. I don’t think it’ll close down in 6 months. It’s not on “life support” or anything based solely on my personal opinion. It’s just not for me. I can lay that down and walk away, and be content. Other people can’t.
But loving something in the face of overwhelming opposition…I see the issue. You want to talk about it, but don’t feel that you can in any meaningful way because all you get is negativity. But then again, you won’t find like minded souls if you keep to yourself…
-
-
-
-
-
My own daughter may not have quite as many stuffed animals as your but she makes up for it in the fierce affection she shows for them. In particular she has a 1m high teddy called “Big Ted” from whom she is inseperable.
A few years back when she was eight we went on a “holiday of a lifetime” trip to Australia (the opposite side of the globe to us). In these days of tight luggage restrictions Big Ted would have to be left at home as he would fill an entire suitcase. After much negotiation my then eight year old daughter agreed to leave him at home.
On the morning of our departure we stood in our hallway awaiting the taxi to the airport surrounded by cleverly packed luggage bags that contained everything we would need for our six week trip. Just as the taxi arrived my beautiful daughter broke down in tears. “I can’t leave Big Ted” she howled.
I don’t know how she did it but my wife managed to do a very quick re-arranging of luggage to free up a suitcase for Teddy while the taxi man waited patiently outside. Big Ted accompanied us to Autralia and to every destination we have visited since.
-
This reminds me of the feeling I get if I get interrupted in the middle of any intense and immersive game session. “Can’t you see I am saving the world here!”
Any game that can take me on a journey has a place in my heart, despite it’s other flaws. Unfortunately games aren’t as simple and tangible as soft toys, hard to evaluate them after just one squeeze.
But the good news is we don’t ever have to lose the wonder of mental escapism.
-
-
- Comment Feed for this Post
/devil’s advocate mode = TRUE;
However….
Has she ever obtained a stuffed animal where the manufacturer had spent months promising her that this was the BEST STUFFED ANIMAL EVER and that they’d spent millions of dollars developing that stuffed animal to be something truly unique…only for her to find that it’s just a nice stuffed animal when she finally gets it home?
The beauty of both the young and stuffed animals is that they’re pure and innocent experiences, uninfluenced by hype.