Another strange thing I learned over the weekend (aside from a little bit about how Instagram works) was that there are YouTube videos where kids play with toys. And other kids apparently enjoy watching it.
I caught myself asking Wump why she wouldn’t just play with the toys, then realised that was a really Old thing to ask.
So, Wump and Toop spent some time watching some kid over in the US play with her Littlest Pet Shop toys. And then Wump wanted to make a video of her own.
And so we did.
And then we did the second part of the video. This one has a bit more Hollywood magic and special effects.
So this was a new phase in parenting and technological familiarity for me. I hope you enjoy the story, and the passive-aggressive little asides and comments. Wump informed me that I was not allowed to speak or laugh, and we did our best to keep Toop quiet but you can spot a few cases where she just would not be denied.
I’m not often driven to introspection or reflection, but the question does come up sometimes. The big question. So big, there’s just no containing it within the puny boundaries of a single set of punctuationary bookends.
Who are these mysterious and unsung heroes of obscurity and shadow? What is their origin story? Do they have a prequel trilogy? What are their secret identities? What are their public identities, for that matter? What are their powers? Their abilities? Their haunted pasts and troubled futures? Their modus operandi? Where do they live anyway, and when? What do they do for a living? Do they really have these fantastical adventures, or is it a dazzlingly intellectual and overwrought metaphor? Or is it perhaps a smug and post-modern sort of metaphor? Is it a plain stupid metaphor, hedged around with thick wads of plausible deniability, a soap bubble of illusory plot dependent upon readers who don’t dare question it for fear of looking foolish? A flight of fancy, having dozed off in front of the television during an episode of something suitably spaceship-oriented? Do they have a quest, a handler, a mission statement, a department-level development objective in five stages?
I am Hatboy.
https://hatboy.blog/2013/12/17/metalude-who-are-creepy-and-hatboy/
Well, I still don’t have any idea why KIDS would watch other kids playing, but I can certainly explain why *I* enjoyed this. And isn’t that what really matters?
I found it fascinating, and relaxing. Fascinating because she was actually explaining her thought process while playing, which doesn’t usually happen because kids aren’t usually narrating a video. At least, my kids didn’t play this way, YMMV. So that was really cool. One of my favorite moments was when the beds go upstairs, but she can’t just put them there. First, gotta find the stairs and put THOSE up. No shortcuts here! She took each thing up the steps, too! Very impressive adherence to reality. You know I approve!
Relaxing because it was a little kid playing, but there was no whining, yelling, crying, or other insanity. Just soothing, cute talking and moving stuff around. Those are the moments I really enjoy. I’m not a fan of all the hootin’ and a’hollerin.
LMAO another great moment, looking through the bin for stuff “It is so tiring.” LOL life is hard, kid. Get a helmet!
Incredible command of English, by the way. I wonder if my girls had as much, at her age. And that’s the only language they speak! I was listening carefully and I don’t think I heard any non-English words slip out. Maybe I’m wrong, but either way, this was really cool to see.
That’s cool, I really appreciate the feedback (and the View!). Yeah, Wump and Toop can spend ages watching a YouTube video of someone colouring in, or a kid playing with Littlest Pet Shops or whatever. And apparently it’s a pretty big thing on YouTube. Kids today, et cetera.
And it is pretty fun to watch, certainly I agree with you that the other 95% of the time Wump and Toop are playing there’s a whole lot of screaming and arguments and (at best) hooting and giggling. Which, while fun, is not what I’d call therapeutic. Now of course, this was only so calm because we were keeping Toop from interfering too much, and half an hour or so was about all of that she was going to put up with … but yeah. It was a nice, sedate little meticulous game. And even though I was lying on a hard wood floor doing the filming, I found it quite pleasant too. A couple of cushions next time, maybe.
She shortcutted a bit with the stairs in Part 2, but you’re right – it was all very strictly realistic. I was also amused by the fact that after he’d moved all the beds upstairs, the dad was done for the day and mum had to do the rest of the moving. Which, to be fair, was a lot of small stuff that needed to be rearranged and placed just so. I can’t see dad having much input there. I know, so sexist.
And yeah, I think she went all-in on the English because we were making a movie for YouTube, and she’s used to that being in English. When playing with Toop I’d expect a few more Swedish words to slip in, and sometimes they play exclusively in Finnish. It’s all about the narrator voice. Weird stuff.
Hey, if it were my kids playing, and realistic, one of the beds would have made it up the stairs, but not into position, and then Dad would have been done for the day. So you’re doing pretty good over there!
Hatboy's Hatstand 
Well, I still don’t have any idea why KIDS would watch other kids playing, but I can certainly explain why *I* enjoyed this. And isn’t that what really matters?
I found it fascinating, and relaxing. Fascinating because she was actually explaining her thought process while playing, which doesn’t usually happen because kids aren’t usually narrating a video. At least, my kids didn’t play this way, YMMV. So that was really cool. One of my favorite moments was when the beds go upstairs, but she can’t just put them there. First, gotta find the stairs and put THOSE up. No shortcuts here! She took each thing up the steps, too! Very impressive adherence to reality. You know I approve!
Relaxing because it was a little kid playing, but there was no whining, yelling, crying, or other insanity. Just soothing, cute talking and moving stuff around. Those are the moments I really enjoy. I’m not a fan of all the hootin’ and a’hollerin.
LMAO another great moment, looking through the bin for stuff “It is so tiring.” LOL life is hard, kid. Get a helmet!
Incredible command of English, by the way. I wonder if my girls had as much, at her age. And that’s the only language they speak! I was listening carefully and I don’t think I heard any non-English words slip out. Maybe I’m wrong, but either way, this was really cool to see.
That’s cool, I really appreciate the feedback (and the View!). Yeah, Wump and Toop can spend ages watching a YouTube video of someone colouring in, or a kid playing with Littlest Pet Shops or whatever. And apparently it’s a pretty big thing on YouTube. Kids today, et cetera.
And it is pretty fun to watch, certainly I agree with you that the other 95% of the time Wump and Toop are playing there’s a whole lot of screaming and arguments and (at best) hooting and giggling. Which, while fun, is not what I’d call therapeutic. Now of course, this was only so calm because we were keeping Toop from interfering too much, and half an hour or so was about all of that she was going to put up with … but yeah. It was a nice, sedate little meticulous game. And even though I was lying on a hard wood floor doing the filming, I found it quite pleasant too. A couple of cushions next time, maybe.
She shortcutted a bit with the stairs in Part 2, but you’re right – it was all very strictly realistic. I was also amused by the fact that after he’d moved all the beds upstairs, the dad was done for the day and mum had to do the rest of the moving. Which, to be fair, was a lot of small stuff that needed to be rearranged and placed just so. I can’t see dad having much input there. I know, so sexist.
And yeah, I think she went all-in on the English because we were making a movie for YouTube, and she’s used to that being in English. When playing with Toop I’d expect a few more Swedish words to slip in, and sometimes they play exclusively in Finnish. It’s all about the narrator voice. Weird stuff.
Hey, if it were my kids playing, and realistic, one of the beds would have made it up the stairs, but not into position, and then Dad would have been done for the day. So you’re doing pretty good over there!