Actress, author, and mother of two Mayim Bialik recently wrote a book about attachment parenting, Beyond the Sling. In it, she talks about how her household is free of toys with batteries. “If we receive them as gifts, we either donate them or we let the batteries run out and do not replace them.”
Not only does Bialik eschew electronic toys, she cautions against letting too much “stuff” take the place of actual parenting. “It is our hope that stuff exists that can give us a break,” she says. “And with the best of intentions, we seek out stuff. We of course plan to give [our children] undivided attention when they are playing with their stuff, but we all know that we get exhilarated at the thought of having our hands free to check email, cook, or do things that we want to do that do not involve playing with or entertaining a baby.”
