Mini-Housewives

Before I get started on this rant, let me just say that I fully understand the importance for children to emulate adults. But this has gone too far.

Lately, I've noticed some newer miniaturized toys (all of which are, of course, marketed to little girls), which seem to stress the housewifely arts. Just look at the pictures here! One is a tiny Dyson vacuum cleaner, which apparently works and picks up teeny tiny specks of carpet gunk. The other item is a "mini" donut maker (there's also a cupcake version). This kitchen uni-tasker creates lilliputian baked goods, which presumably little girls adore. Now, far be it from me to discourage neatness or cooking aptitude in children; as I stated above, I'm all for it. But, instead of spending bucks on these inferior child models, why not just teach your kid (notice I didn't just say "daughter") to vacuum using the real vacuum (easily done if you have a canister model), or make baked goods in the real oven. And don't give me the "safety" argument, either. I, a former sucker, bought my kid an Easy Bake oven. That thing got hotter than Hades. Burnt her arm. Made crappy cakes. Was one of the unsafest items in the house.

So, teach your kids to really bake. Or, teach them to really clean. It could be fun. It's free labor. And free is always better than spending $34.95 on a tower of ineffective plastic.