To be honest I wasn’t fascinated with dolls and toys as a child. I used to remain outdoors most of the time , loved to play sports and games with friends. Playing with toys was always a second option.
There were dolls, cars, doctor set, clay moulds, kitchen set and building blocks in my collection of toys. I even cooked veggies in one of my toy wok made of steel gifted by my aunt ! I had a red piggy bank which had a special place in my room till I was in class 10th. All said and done I was happier cycling along the canal, trekking the hill feature with our gang of society children.
As a child I enjoyed running around the trees with my friends in the society park. We assembled and play merry go round every evening. Girls used to bring their badminton rackets, frisbee, skipping ropes and boys were all for cricket. Mothers generally liked to watch their children playing and enjoying while fathers had lively conversation on current affairs.
Those days children were not enticed by internet and no one had heard about the social media bug in India. kids were more disciplined, receptive and interactive. The idiot box aka T.V. had not turned them in couch potatoes. Parents didn’t had to deal with obese stuff. I used to get a doll, a toy car or board games as birthday presents since there were no video / PS4 games in existence.
Now as a mother of two grown up boys I can say that sky is the limit when it comes to presents. Market is flooded with unbelievable options. People are rich man!
My sons had great collection of sports cars, guns and bayblades. All sizes of Shopkins as well as Funskool Superman toys adorned the showcases of my elder son’s room. He was so fascinated with action figures that he started imagining himself to be one of them. I was so scared at one point of time that he might not jump out of the window to check whether he could fly like Superman or not.
Thankfully the craze faded with time and understood the difference between real and fantasy. They have donated all their toys to an orphanage except this superman and a sports car which is very dear to my son no.1
Now both my boys have grown up, not interested in any toy story but still kids at heart ! They want to fly in the sky of opportunities and want to be superhuman beings.