The toy that drives this mom mad

Every child has that one toy that drives their parents mental. Most children probably have more than one.

For Christmas, we bought Austin the Backyardigans Karaoke machine because every time he played at Lilo’s house, he practically sought it out and played the same song over and over again. We briefly debated on whether or not to buy it for fear that it would drive us mad – but figured what the heck – he likes it and that’s all that matters, right?

Surprisingly, it doesn’t bother me at all. He can press the button that says ‘Hi, I’m Austin, are you ready to go-go-go?’ 85 times in a row, and I can just tune it out. He’s happy listening to the music – even singing and dancing to it – so it doesn’t bother me one bit.

Then there’s the toy that Nana (Ryan's mom) gave him, that as he unwrapped, she looked at me and said “I’m sorry”. What was it? The Busy Bee drum set – a bunch of music instruments shaped like bugs.

Again, almost a month later, this is a toy that he loves and the more he bangs the more it doesn’t bother me.

So what’s the one toy that drives me mad? It’s the stupid little barking dog that my grandmother gave him. It’s not even a ‘real’ kids toy – it’s one of those Hallmark plush toys that run on batteries. Some of them sing, this one walks and barks. You put it on the floor, it walks three or four paces, stops and makes this annoying yipping sound.

And Austin loves it.

He gets excited every time he sees the dog. He cuddles it, he kisses it, and he knows how to turn it on. He’ll turn it on and leave it sitting on his lap. He’ll turn it on and watch it walk. But worst of all, he’ll turn it on and then walk away to play with something else but get mad if I walk over and turn it off.

I tried removing the batteries and telling him the dog was sleeping – he got upset. I tried hiding it – but he looked everywhere for it until he got upset and I caved and helped him find it.

So I guess I’m doomed to listen to the yip, yip, yip of this dog – at least until Austin finds the next great toy and I can make it disappear.