I was babysitting the youngest granddaughter the other day, and realized she has reached the age where she likes to sit up more, instead of just laying in your lap. I was wishing for one of those soft foam baby seats they make today for just this purpose. I think they call them "bumbo" seats. Well I didn't have one, but this got me to thinking about what we had when my kids were babies -- not much!
I had a baby swing that I had bought at a garage sale, and it was a far cry from the one this granddaughter enjoys at her home. Mine was just an unpadded vinyl seat suspended on four metal wires, and you had to wind it up. No lights, no music, no padding, and only one speed. I would have to stuff folded blankets around my babies whenever I put them in the swing to prop them up. And if they went to sleep and the swing ran down, it was bad news. The cessation of motion would wake them if I didn't wind it back up, but winding it back up was so noisy that this usually woke them anyway.
My granddaughter's swing lights up, plays music, swings side-to-side, or front-to-back, and never needs to be wound! And it is soft and plush. But still, what I had was better than what my parents had, I guess. When my kids were babies, my dad told me that when he was young they would use an old horse collar as a baby seat! He even went down to the barn and dug one out, cleaned it up and brought it to the house to show me how well it worked, and he was right! It was just the right size to cradle a baby of a few months of age in a (more or less) sitting position. I even took some pictures of a couple of mine sitting in that old horse collar. Of course, it didn't move, so they didn't stay in it too long.
Baby walkers are also quite different today than when my kids were little. I had one walker that I used for all four of my kids, and it was handed down to me from my older sister's kids. It was, again, just a cloth seat suspended on four metal bars on wheels! No padding or any of that other good stuff. (There were times when they bumped their mouths on the metal bar in front, but no major injuries resulted.)
But have you seen the new baby walkers today? They are huge, round contraptions with a tray with all kinds of toys attached, and it takes a pretty stout baby to get them to move at all. And even when they can get it to motivate, the tray is big enough to keep them an arm's reach from anything interesting they might be wanting to explore! My kids' walker was small enough that they could reach into the bottom cabinet drawer and pull out all the pots and pans, and it would also get them right up close to that toilet paper roll! (I also learned to keep the lid down when they were in this walker.) They could scoot right up the bookshelf and pull out all the books or open the door to the linen closet and check out the sheets. Come to think of it, maybe that is why today's walkers are a little more restrictive!
Toys have changed a lot too. One of my most treasured toys when I was small was my "Dr. Doodle Duck." This was a wooden duck pull-toy on wheels with a medical bag under his wing and a pair of plastic glasses on his beak. When you pulled him, he went "quack, quack"! I know, but I loved that duck!
Another toy I loved was my dancing doll. Now I'm not sure where she came from, but Mom kept her in the top of the cabinet and I would have to climb up onto the kitchen counter to get her down. She was molded plastic, and her dress bodice was red and the skirt yellow. There was a metal plate with gears on the bottom, and when you wound her up, she would dance -- a little bit one way, then she would turn and dance a little bit the other way, over and over, until she ran down. I can still hear the way those gears sounded. And she also played music. I would give anything to have those two toys today. Even though you couldn't really play with the doll, I was enchanted just watching her, and I always imagined she was Cinderella at the ball.
And I had a little portable record player instead of a VCR or disc player! My parents bought me several Disney records that told the story and played the music, and I remember spending hours listening to "Bippety, Boppety, Boo"! The only pictures that came with this were the ones playing in my head.
Of course, we also had Slinkies! That is one toy that is still around today and still as much fun as it was when I was a kid. In fact, I think there is one in the toy box, all bent and twisted out of shape. Tinker Toys have been around a long time too. My dad and I could build some amazing structures from those, and we spent many happy hours on the living room rug building to our heart's content.
Times have surely changed, and I am happy that this generation has better gadgets and toys than I had; but still, I think the little ones might just find some Tinker Toys and Slinkies under the Christmas tree come December! And if only I could find a "Dr. Doodle Duck" or a dancing doll!
Tamela Weeks is a freelance writer in the Gentry area. She may be reached by email at tamela.weeks@ gmail.com. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 04/23/2014