Toy Thursday: Sick of those Noise Toys? Me too.

Thankfully we did not get any annoying noise toys this Christmas but we do have a few toys from Christmases and birthday celebrations in years past. If you did get a noise toy, I bet you are fed up with it right about now.

I remember our first annoying noise toy that we got for a birthday: the Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn Learning Puppy. I swear that toy is demon possessed. If you have one, you know what I am talking about. I remember that thing going off in the middle of the night talking in spite the batteries practically falling out and the switch turned off. The songs grew on your brain and the thing had no volume button. Oh yeah, that thing did not last very long at all in our house. Sorry to the family member who got it for us.

Another toy that I have found annoying in the past was a V-Tech learning bike that offers all kinds of learning opportunities. Simply put, the bike takes up too much room for a toy that we do not play with very much. And you guessed it, there is no volume control to control the blaring, annoying songs.

And from that moment on I distinctly told family members NO NOISE TOYS PLEASE.

Call me crazy if you want but why add extra electronic noise to an already noisy house of screaming kids. The flashing lights, the loud ditties, and the annoying word phrases almost over stimulate our kids into craziness. The sounds are often too loud for an adult let alone a young child. And how much learning do the kids really get out of these highly entertaining-only toys? Probably not as much as a hands on activity that requires creativity and imagination in your own noise making.

Last year for Judah's birthday, he got a drum with drum sticks. And I remember one extended family member commenting, "Be sure to take that home with you. I think it would get annoying." I have to laugh because I can handle the drum. The difference lies in natural noise verses electronic noise. The same is true for a fire truck that we have that makes sirens. Yes, it might be a little electronic noise but at least it is a natural sound we hear in society.

So I am anxious to hear what toys you got for Christmas that you have already put away. Also I would like to know what toys you find most annoying so I can make sure to add these to my NO NOISE TOYS PLEASE list for the future.