Why Are My Kids Obsessed with Weird Stuff?

Kids these days… if they aren’t asking you to play Fortnite, they’re begging you to go to the shops and pick up plastic mini grocery store items. 

Well, my kids are at least.

Over the years my son and daughter have both developed insanely strange obsessions with certain toys and games. Sure, a few of their obsessions I sort of understand. Such as my daughter’s love of Beanie Boos (the big-eyed stuffed animals in the above pic) are actually pretty cute.

But some of their other obsessions, I’m lost. Seriously. So. Lost.

A Love for Surprises 

Take the latest craze to hit our household – anything that comes in surprise form. Teeny egg hatching animals. Massive egg hatching animals. Smelly things that come out of a bag. Itty bitty well-dressed children that pop out of a container. Itty bitty animals that also pop out of a container. And the latest, half-unicorn, half-rainbow creatures that come out of a giant pink egg.

Yep. We have them all.  If it’s smelly, stuffed, little and easy to lose, then you can be sure my daughter is collecting it. And you can guarantee your little one will want it too!

Why Play When I Can Watch Other Kids Play on YouTube? 

Of course, I don’t mind buying her itty bitty toys to collect if it means it will keep her quiet and occupied. But the problem is, she prefers to ignore the teeny tiny collections she has scattered around her room and watch strangers play with THESE VERY TOYS on YouTube instead.

Honest to God, child. You literally have the exact same dolls gathering dust in the corner. PUT THE IPAD DOWN AND GO AND PLAY, DAMMIT.

She’s even started asking random people to “Subscribe to my channel  below.” Unreal.

It’s 6am. No, You CANNOT Play Fortnite

Moving over to my son, who has become the latest victim of the Fortnite craze. I only recently gave in to his constant requests to download the game and we have very strict rules in place about when he can play.

But that doesn’t stop him from asking me constantly if he can play Fortnite. He spends around two hours every week playing Fortnite. And probably 15 hours asking me if he can play Fortnite.

Before Fortnite it was Minecraft, which I didn’t mind so much. At least it’s building shit, not just shooting shit. And before Minecraft it was Pokemon Go, which you may remember involved kids running around the streets searching for virtual Pokemon. Yep. That was fun, wasn’t it?

One is never enough

On the toy front, my son has also succumbed to the peer pressure of certain toy fads.

Different-coloured Beyblades that all do the exact same thing? All that my son couldn’t possibly live without? And that my son hasn’t touched in months? Why, of course. We have about 800 of them.

Fidget cubes, Fidget spinners, funny-looking overpriced figurines (I think they’re called Ooshies??). Nerf guns. SO MANY NERF GUNS. Honestly, the list goes on and on.

And here’s the thing – I know this isn’t the end. Oh no. Because I still remember obsessing over certain toys and certain video games when I was a kid. Not YouTube though. That’s a new one.

But I still recall my collections of Pokemon Cards, Cabbage Patch Babies, Pound Puppies, Quints, Beanie Babies, Polly Pockets and Pogs. Clearly collecting random toys is all part of the childhood experience.

Let’s just hope this Youtube/Fortnite/mini surprise obsession ends soon. And, while we’re hoping for things, let’s all pray that Pogs never make a comeback. Ever.

Do your kids have similar obsessions with toys and games? Check out our story on how to store these collectables (and avoid sucking them up in the vacuum cleaner).