Weekly thread: Kid Stuff You Hate
One word: PIÑATAS
I cannot stand piñatas. They bring out the worst in everybody, and they make kids so very sad. My 9-year-old agrees. They had a piñata at camp a few weeks ago and she was like OH DEAR GOD NO PLEASE NO. She also told me that when there are piñatas at birthday parties she attends, the birthday honoree almost always gets the least amount of candy and ends up despondent. (I cannot confirm that this is true, but I feel like it might be.)
I mean, think about it. Does it seem like a good idea to blindfold small children, give them baseball bats and then tell them to swing at the air as hard as they can? Even when nobody ends up in the hospital, the experience is still abysmal, because as soon as that piñata opens up, kids flee to the site of its open wound, fighting to the death over its innards. It’s an activity that rewards violence, selfishness and greed, and I’ve literally never interacted with a piñata that did not incite at least one meltdown. I guess you could argue that piñatas build resilience — because yes, it’s good for kids to experience disappointment. (Though not concussions.) But really, there are better ways.
Also, while the origins of the piñata are contested, they almost certainly didn’t arise to give kids opportunities to compete over candy. Some believe the piñata originated in China — that to bring good luck in the New Year, people covered animal figures with colored paper and filled them with seeds. They would then beat the figures with sticks until the seeds came out, burn what was left and gather the ashes to bring good luck. In Mexico, piñatas are a Christmas tradition and are about so much more than fighting for candy, too — breaking them signifies breaking “with the deadly sins in order to be able to receive Jesus in a more purified state,” according to the director of the Museum of Popular Art in Mexico City, who was interviewed for NPR.
What are the kid toys/activities/rituals that you cannot stand, and why? Share in the comments. AND BRING ON THE RANTS!
Party bags. Waste of time, energy and money
Opening gifts at the party. I know kids are excited to watch the bday kid open the gift THEY chose for them, but UGH. I'm mulling over the idea of this year just asking each kid to bring a wrapped new or gently used book and then doing a book swap. No gifts, no gift bags, everyone goes home with a book. I suspect the kids will hate it. :)