Childhood present spinoff: what did you want that your parents wouldn't buy you?

[Anonymous]

Another horse here. I didn't understand why we couldn't just keep it in our garage and why our one acre lot wasn't big enough. I was told you had to have at least five acres to have a horse.

When I was in college, my parents moved to a farm. So I asked again. They tried to get me to live with them while I went to grad school. I said only if I can finally have my horse. I went to grad school in another state (on my own nickle). See, Mom and Dad, kids who turn into grown ups know how the blackmail thing works, too!

I had an Easy Bake Oven and a Lite Brite and loved them. Also a Dressy Bessy, a Raggedy Ann doll and a Big Wheel. Also the Barbie jet plane thingy and a really cool hoppity horse that my parents still have, as well as those crazy faux stilts can thingies from the Romper Room (you won't know what I talking about unless you are over 40). That said, I never felt at all privileged growing up. I wore lots of hand-me-downs and money was often somewhat tight, at least to hear my mom tell it. I can't believe people were pining for something I had - it was usually the other way around for me!

[Anonymous]

A lamb! I swear, and I know its wierd but, I asked for a baby lamb every Christmas and birthday for like 5 years!!! We lived in the total 'burbs and my dad worked for IBM so we moved every 2-4 years so how in the heck did I think I would have ever gotten a lamb???!!!

I never did like Barbies but got a beautiful case with clothes and several Barbies from a neighbor with a grown-up daughter. I promptly cut the hair off them all - I thought it would grow back I guess. I now know that those Barbies I got from the neighbor, with all the clothes and stuff in mint condition, would be worth tons of money today. They were originals and it was so dumb that someone gave them to me.

I LOVED Romper Room and those "cup w/string" stilt walkers. We had those. Also, the tough blown up hobby horses that you jumped around on in the back yard.

I REALLY wanted our own trampoline and never got it. My cousins had one and we were crazy on it.

The year I learned a lesson was when I begged for an "Inch-Worm" ride on toy. It looked so fun on TV in the commercial. I got it and you actually had to work really hard to make that thing go up and down. It stunk!

[Anonymous]

This post makes me feel pretty great and should appreciate my parents even more. I don't think I ever didn't get anything (not that I wanted everything either). I got all these things you mentioned. I did want a sister and never got that but that's ok. I'm sure there were things I wanted though and just don't have a burned in memory about them.

[Anonymous]

PP you are so right about the inch worm. I got one but I don't remember how old I was...must have been 2.5 I guess. Anyway it was so hard to use and not at all fun (and I didn't ask for it either.) My older sister babysat kids during the summer and one of them sat on it and broke the seat, then my parents separated and my mom remarried and lived in the house she kicked my dad out of. My dad got good and drunk one night (the main reason my mom kicked him out) and used my inchworm to break out the windows on the main floor of the house because he was so pissed at my mom for letting another man live in his house. Ahh, lovely memories of the inchworm!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:After reading 5 pages of this thread, I'm kinda feelin' like a cliche, but here are mine:

1. Lite Brite (little parts to get lost and/or stepped on);

2. Easy Bake Oven (fire hazard/we already have an oven); and

3. Barbie Dream House (sexist, demeaning to women, etc.)


Regarding #3 and all things Barbie, I wonder if it was a sign of the times that so many of our moms opposed Barbie, or whether people on DCUM would do the same, even though they coveted her? I only have a DS, so I likely won't have to address this issue in my own family.

I'm one of the PPs that wanted a Barbie doll but never got one because my mom was anti Barbie (of course, my youngest sister got one-my dad bought it for her!). I have a 3yo DD and am pretty anti Barbie and anti Princess but more in that I don't encourage the interest. If DD ever asks for a Barbie, I'd probably get her one-but only after a year or two of begging

[Anonymous]

Any of the big Barbie items..the car, the Dream House, the wedding get up for Barbie. My dad said it was all "junk" and too expensive! Now I say that!!

[Anonymous]

Hungry Hungry Hippos.

My brother also never got the Millenium Falcon and he still holds a grudge for that. (Btw, my son is getting the MF this year!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any of the big Barbie items..the car, the Dream House, the wedding get up for Barbie. My dad said it was all "junk" and too expensive! Now I say that!!

I think our barbie had a car and I totally remember getting the camper trailer and being so thrilled my barbie had somewhere to sleep. I am pretty sure the camper was a gift for me and my sisters. We were never getting the barbie townhouse because it was too expensive and ofcourse toy marketing being what it was you wanted your barbie to have a better life than most people. The only other thing I remember was asking for a dog for Christmas and getting a stuffed animal dog instead of a real one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1. a pony
2. a brother

LOL. My kids are asking for a baby brother too. The pony might have a better chance of happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't remember a Sears catalog, but I remember the JC Penney catalog. I would flip from page to page and write down what I wanted.

I'd forgotten about Cabbage Patch Kids! I wanted one, too, and instead I got a "Cabbage Patch Kid" that my grandmother's neighbor had made for me. I was so disappointed...her face was cloth instead of plastic. It was so big, it could wear my old baby clothes. I named it Elizabeth Anne and it's still in my old room at my parents' house.

My mom's friend made three like that for two of my sisters and I. There must have been a McCall's pattern for them. I can't remember what I named mine, probably Helen or Louise, but I love that you named yours after me.

[Anonymous]

A hamster and a little brother. I am the 4th of 5 kids and always felt I lost out by not having a little brother. I do have an older one, who is pretty awesome, but it just never seemed good enough.

[Anonymous]

bumpity bump bump

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any of the big Barbie items..the car, the Dream House, the wedding get up for Barbie. My dad said it was all "junk" and too expensive! Now I say that!!

I think our barbie had a car and I totally remember getting the camper trailer and being so thrilled my barbie had somewhere to sleep. I am pretty sure the camper was a gift for me and my sisters. We were never getting the barbie townhouse because it was too expensive and ofcourse toy marketing being what it was you wanted your barbie to have a better life than most people. The only other thing I remember was asking for a dog for Christmas and getting a stuffed animal dog instead of a real one.

You are funny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't remember a Sears catalog, but I remember the JC Penney catalog. I would flip from page to page and write down what I wanted.

I'd forgotten about Cabbage Patch Kids! I wanted one, too, and instead I got a "Cabbage Patch Kid" that my grandmother's neighbor had made for me. I was so disappointed...her face was cloth instead of plastic. It was so big, it could wear my old baby clothes. I named it Elizabeth Anne and it's still in my old room at my parents' house.

My mom's friend made three like that for two of my sisters and I. There must have been a McCall's pattern for them. I can't remember what I named mine, probably Helen or Louise, but I love that you named yours after me.

I went to college with a girl who was family friends with the guy who created Cabbage Patch dolls (before he sold and made a fortune). She had one sitting on her bed... it was not the cutest thing - cloth face and all. She said she could get me one, but I was a broke college student, and my dad wouldn't give me the money to get one. Fast forward, the creator sold to Mattel (or whoever), and that original one would have been worth a small fortune. Oh well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't remember a Sears catalog, but I remember the JC Penney catalog. I would flip from page to page and write down what I wanted.

I'd forgotten about Cabbage Patch Kids! I wanted one, too, and instead I got a "Cabbage Patch Kid" that my grandmother's neighbor had made for me. I was so disappointed...her face was cloth instead of plastic. It was so big, it could wear my old baby clothes. I named it Elizabeth Anne and it's still in my old room at my parents' house.

My mom's friend made three like that for two of my sisters and I. There must have been a McCall's pattern for them. I can't remember what I named mine, probably Helen or Louise, but I love that you named yours after me.

I went to college with a girl who was family friends with the guy who created Cabbage Patch dolls (before he sold and made a fortune). She had one sitting on her bed... it was not the cutest thing - cloth face and all. She said she could get me one, but I was a broke college student, and my dad wouldn't give me the money to get one. Fast forward, the creator sold to Mattel (or whoever), and that original one would have been worth a small fortune. Oh well.

From Wikipedia
"The dolls attracted the attention of toy manufacturer Coleco, who began mass-production in 1982.[6] The Coleco Cabbage Patch Kids had large, round vinyl heads, (originally of a different, hard plastic), and soft fabric bodies, and were produced from 1982–1989, many at a factory in Amsterdam, New York. After Coleco went bankrupt, the Cabbage Patch Kids were later mass produced by other companies, including Hasbro, Mattel, Toys R Us, and currently Play Along. Mattel started producing them after cancelling production of My Child dolls.

At the peak of their popularity the dolls were a must-have toy for Christmas.[7][8] Parents across the United States flocked to stores to try to obtain one of the Cabbage Patch Kids for their children, with fights occasionally erupting between parents over the hard-to-find dolls. In later years, Coleco introduced variants on the original Cabbage Patch Kids, and derivatives of the original line of dolls continued to be marketed. Hailey Theeuwen was the first known Cabbage Patch doll."