(Written for  Charlieblockhead.blogspot.com)

We are at the age now where my 1 year-old son is really watching everything we do. If we are sitting on the couch, he wants to sit on his couch. We eat with a fork, he wants a fork. My drink has a straw….well you get the idea. This is great and all when it comes to things that can be replaced easily enough. Straws, silverware, etc…can be wiped off or replaced if dropped. What about the TV remote though? The Phone? Car Keys? What do you do when the object of his desire is something you can’t afford to have broken or lost? The answer is simple enough in theory…you give him decoys. Old remotes, cordless phones that don’t work anymore, keys to locks long ago forgotten, all of these make perfect decoys. These are great. He loves playing with the remote ”Hey buddy here’s a remote of your very own!!” Won’t give the car keys back ”How about these shiny keys I got just for you?” He never knows he’s getting hussled and we don’t spend a grand at Target every month on universal gadgets.Pretty soon though you start to realize that the decoys begin making you appear less than sane. You get so used to seeing these decoys lying around that you forget that they no longer work and are now toys. You’re sitting there pressing the remote, nothings happening, and you decide you are either going to have to watch 6 straight episodes of Rosanne or get up and get batteries. Then at hour 5 ½ it dawns it dawns on you that you’ve got the toy remote. You walk in the room, see the other parent holding the fake phone, and immediately start whispering so you don’t interrupt their conversation. All because his toys are modeled to look exactly like yours.