After all the Christmas gifts have been opened and played with, I begin the process of filtering out those toys that are so annoying that they are going to get lost!

So, why do I give the toddlers toys that have the potential to be so annoying?

That’s a good question that I’m still searching for an answer. I’m not sure, but it might have something to do with the grandparent part of me.

All I can say is that it seems like such a good idea when I buy these annoying toys. I imagine the joy on their little faces when they open the present. Little do I consider the vexation the toys are going to cause me soon thereafter!

Harmonicas – As I was shopping for stocking stuffers, I came across some toy harmonicas and remembered how much they enjoyed playing them. A harmonica is a fairly simple instrument for a child to learn to play and I do want them to grow up with an interest in music.

You might recall from a previous post I described how the toddlers found some harmonicas around the house and began to play them. Well, those harmonicas have since been lost, so I decided to let them try it again.

As soon as they opened them and began to try to play, I knew I had made a mistake. However, the toy harmonicas were so cheap that the toddlers could barely make any harmonica sounds come out, so my small investment in them made it easy for them to disappear after just a few days.

Bike horns – The toddlers both got bicycles for Christmas as they have now outgrown their tricycles. They also got bicycle helmets and enjoy wearing those more than they enjoy riding the bikes.

When I spotted these horns that attach to the handlebars of the bikes, I knew they had to have them. I knew they would be a favorite Christmas present, especially because of the loud and annoying honking sound they made!

But I reasoned that once I got the horns attached to the bicycles, they would be located outside. But Kaleb began to honk his horn repeatedly the moment he found it at the bottom of his stocking.

And by “repeatedly,” I don’t mean three or four times. I don’t mean five or six times. I mean dozens of times, maybe even hundreds or thousands of times! Or maybe it just seemed like thousands…

I couldn’t get it attached to the bicycle and the bicycle outside fast enough before I was screaming for him to stop!

I now have the horns attached to the bicycles and the bicycles are out in the garage. It’s cold outside so the toddlers can’t ride the bikes, but they like to honk the bike horns as they pass by them to get into the car. Kenzie honks it a few times but Kaleb can’t go near the bike horn without honking it “repeatedly” (using the above-mentioned definition)!

Those bicycles may have to disappear to the outside storage building until spring!

Swords – This one I have to thank my daughter-in-law, Jessika, for! She bought a rubber sword for Kaleb (actually for his birthday just prior to Christmas). She noticed that whenever Kaleb was at her house, he liked to play with a toy sword that his cousin, Joe, had in his arsenal of toys.

Of course, she was apologetic but just had to get it because Kaleb liked playing with it so much…

Of course!

But I have to admit the sword is not so much an annoying toy. It is a rubber sword, not plastic. It’s light and easy for Kaleb to handle. It doesn’t hurt (much) if he pokes someone with it and he can’t dent the furniture with it.

The main problem with the sword is that we actually need two. We need one for Kenzie to use to defend herself from Kaleb because he keeps trying to run her through with the rubber sword!

My list of annoying Christmas gifts, of course, could be much longer. I didn’t mention anything about puzzles or blocks that the toddlers don’t want to assemble but like every piece poured out all over the floor.

Or one particular “learning” toy that I discovered on Christmas morning required four D-size batteries and two AA batteries. That’s a bigger investment in batteries than the toy cost!

Or candy canes…

Why does everyone want to give children this insidious candy at Christmas that crumbles with every bite and sticky little pieces lodge in the carpet and the cushions of the furniture for the rest of the year? Can we ban handing out candy canes to children at Christmas?