Let me tell you about my youngest teenager. He is sensitive and funny with more bounce than Tigger. He's a talented singer and dancer, he is thoughtful and kind and he would not hurt a fly.
He also has periods of anxiety and since it's coming into exam season I was happy to buy him the squishy he so desperately wanted.
"What on earth is a squishy?" I hear you ask. Well if you haven't heard of them yet you soon will, especially if you have school aged children.
Squishys are foam characters which are a bit like stress toys. They are sometimes scented and the best ones are incredibly soft and when squished, expand very slowly back to their original shape.
Cheaper ones are usually more shiny and re-inflate much more quickly but are still fun to collect and very satisfying to squish.
On Saturday I treated all three younger children to a squishy each in our local town. They are cheap and cheerful and they really enjoyed choosing which one they wanted through appearance and of course the all important squish test.
We took home a cat in a cup, a random animal in a pink onesie and a packet of fries. Yes really.
My son (13) is the biggest fan and against my better judgement I told him he could take it to school just this once as long as it stayed out of sight. He was desperate to show his friend who lives in a different town.
I know I know - I did think it wasn't the best idea but to be honest my main concern was that it would get stolen.
I did not expect some horrible little urchin to take it out of his blazer pocket and rip it to pieces in front of him.
My son claims he doesn't know the nasty bully who destroyed his new toy. I sense he is worried about repercussions especially since he probably shouldn't have had it in school anyway. (Although I don't see any difference between his squishy and the furry bag adornments all the girls seem to have to stroke and fiddle with.)
All I know is that when I heard how upset he was when he called me to tell me what had happened it broke my heart.
Luckily I was out and about and was able to divert and pick up another fries squishy - unfortunately even though it was from the same shop it's not the same in quality or appearance. It seems these things are flying off the shelves and the shopkeeper can't keep up with demand.
When I got home and realised this I got the glue out and had a go at repairing his original toy - can you believe there are YouTube tutorials on squishy repair online already! It's drying as I type this - you can see the rip lines in the picture below but at the moment it's holding together. It will never be the same though.
I wonder about the character of a child who would wilfully destroy something precious belonging to someone else. It was pointless and cruel and if I was his parent I would be mortified.
I feel so helpless as my son cannot understand why someone would do this - he would never deliberately break something belonging to someone else and would be horrified if he did by accident.
We don't have much spare cash so even this little toy is special to him- we almost never buy toys outside of birthdays or Christmas and he is worried about the fact that I paid out twice but of course I didn't see why he should lose something that means so much to him because of the selfishness of someone else.
I just feel so sad that a child of that age has their innocent pleasure ruined by someone who should be equally innocent. Is this the kind of person that goes on to beat their partner, steal charity boxes or scam old ladies? It feels like it to me.
All I have to say if that child every reads this (unlikely I know!) is SHAME ON YOU. My son is worth ten of you.
He also has periods of anxiety and since it's coming into exam season I was happy to buy him the squishy he so desperately wanted.
"What on earth is a squishy?" I hear you ask. Well if you haven't heard of them yet you soon will, especially if you have school aged children.
 |
| The original Squishy we bought on Saturday |
Squishys are foam characters which are a bit like stress toys. They are sometimes scented and the best ones are incredibly soft and when squished, expand very slowly back to their original shape.
Cheaper ones are usually more shiny and re-inflate much more quickly but are still fun to collect and very satisfying to squish.
On Saturday I treated all three younger children to a squishy each in our local town. They are cheap and cheerful and they really enjoyed choosing which one they wanted through appearance and of course the all important squish test.
We took home a cat in a cup, a random animal in a pink onesie and a packet of fries. Yes really.
My son (13) is the biggest fan and against my better judgement I told him he could take it to school just this once as long as it stayed out of sight. He was desperate to show his friend who lives in a different town.
I know I know - I did think it wasn't the best idea but to be honest my main concern was that it would get stolen.
I did not expect some horrible little urchin to take it out of his blazer pocket and rip it to pieces in front of him.
My son claims he doesn't know the nasty bully who destroyed his new toy. I sense he is worried about repercussions especially since he probably shouldn't have had it in school anyway. (Although I don't see any difference between his squishy and the furry bag adornments all the girls seem to have to stroke and fiddle with.)
All I know is that when I heard how upset he was when he called me to tell me what had happened it broke my heart.
Luckily I was out and about and was able to divert and pick up another fries squishy - unfortunately even though it was from the same shop it's not the same in quality or appearance. It seems these things are flying off the shelves and the shopkeeper can't keep up with demand.
 |
| The replacement Squishy bought today |
When I got home and realised this I got the glue out and had a go at repairing his original toy - can you believe there are YouTube tutorials on squishy repair online already! It's drying as I type this - you can see the rip lines in the picture below but at the moment it's holding together. It will never be the same though.
 |
| vandalised squishy |
I feel so helpless as my son cannot understand why someone would do this - he would never deliberately break something belonging to someone else and would be horrified if he did by accident.
We don't have much spare cash so even this little toy is special to him- we almost never buy toys outside of birthdays or Christmas and he is worried about the fact that I paid out twice but of course I didn't see why he should lose something that means so much to him because of the selfishness of someone else.
I just feel so sad that a child of that age has their innocent pleasure ruined by someone who should be equally innocent. Is this the kind of person that goes on to beat their partner, steal charity boxes or scam old ladies? It feels like it to me.
All I have to say if that child every reads this (unlikely I know!) is SHAME ON YOU. My son is worth ten of you.