Is there anywhere more depressing than a chain store toy shop?

So tomorrow one of my nieces turns five and being the terribly unprepared aunt that I am, I was waiting until I got paid today to buy her present. Normally I'd try and get most of it in work partially because of the discount and as someone who is perpetually broke, it helps. But also because it's a lot less hassle that way, I already work in the children's section so I can be carefully making my selections while I work. Due to some bad planning on my part and my week off work, I was far too broke to make this happen so this is why I found myself driving up to World of wonder, the nearest aptly named mega toy store.

Naming it just a toy store seems almost like a misnomer as it's not a toy shop as I remember them but this giant warehouse with stacks and stacks of toys towering above you in every aisle. Having had the dubious pleasure of panicked present buying here before I feel qualified to say that a large percentage of what they are selling is total and utter rubbish. A whole lot of crap that kids probably wont play with for longer than five minutes before giving up. There is something so souless and depressing about these places and nothing about them gives off any of the potential for fun that I would mentally associate with the word toy shop.

I find once I go in there I am almost mesmerized by all the cheap and not so cheap tat they are selling and find I have forgotten everything I know about my niece, questioning whether she would like any of the toys on sale here. After the first twenty minutes I started to despair thinking I'd end up spending a good hour here and then walk out empty handed which would leave me facing a very unimpressed five year old tomorrow but with a few helpful hints from my sister I managed to make a quick exit and was left with one only one problem. How exactly do you wrap a bouncy ball ? I guess I'll be finding that out later

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