Mom Attacked for Selling Her Kids' Toys on eBay

on February 23, 2011 at 9:33 AM

Beyblades I try to pretend that kids have a right to their personal property. I really do. But when you're standing at the door of what used to be a playroom that now resembles the Midwest right after a twister blew through, it's hard.

Personal property?! In the family home? My LEGO brick imprinted right heel! I think mom and dad own all the property. And if a mom feels her kids' toys should be sold because her kids deserve a little punishment, then I stand by that mom. But one mom is getting a lot of flak -- she's been targeted by 4chan for trying to sell her sons' toys on eBay.

Word has it her boys used their Beyblades -- spinning Japanese magna toys (pictured) -- in the bathtub, ripping the enamel to shreds. Mom got a $500 estimate from the repair guys, so she decided to sell the Beyblades on eBay with a photo of her heartbroken sons and their precious toys to cover the bill.

4Chan took up the kids' cause, shooting bidding up to $999,999. No surprise. That's how the site rolls. They've covered the "oh poor kids" side quite nicely.

But here's how I roll. I think moms have it tough on the toy front. The economy was in the toilet last year, and yet the U.S. Toy Industry continued to see sales growth of 2 percent because parents just can't say no to their kids. And it's not just us. Lay down the law asking guests not to bring toys to your kid's birthday party, and you're branded a grinch ... and ignored completely.

Everywhere I turn, my kid seems to be getting something new from someone. Grandparents. Friends. Even something seemingly innocuous like a box of Valentine's candy seems to have a stuffed animal attached or a little dinosaur hiding inside. And it's hard to donate it away when you know Granny expects to see your kids playing with X when she shows up at her next visit.

They have so many, it's hard to teach them any responsibility. You take one away for any of a myriad of lapses -- consistently leaving them outside in the rain, scattering them around the living room floor and refusing to clean them up, destroying the bathtub -- and they just move on to another toy, no harm done.

I wouldn't touch the toys that are properly cared for or the treasured toys, but this is why I've been known to grab a garbage bag (or two) and just start shoveling doll shoes and dried out chunks of Play-Doh right in. This is why I ask my daughter quarterly to pick out a few toys to donate "to the poor kids." This is why I think the mom who sold her sons' Beyblades on eBay was doing exactly what needed to be done.

What do you think? Are their toys their own, or do you retain rights over them when they use them inappropriately?

Image via clogozm/Flickr

About the author Jeanne Sager

writes articles for The Stir by day, slays closet monsters and bounds through bedtime stories with her elementary schooler by night. Diet Pepsi courses through her veins. The Phineas and Ferb soundtrack reverberates through her brain.

Filed Under: jobs & money, toys

Comments (69)

sassykat122

on Feb 23, 2011 at 9:37 AM

Absolutely retain rights over them. My house, my rules, with a little leeway involved. But if he doesn't show proper respect for them or me the toys absolutely will get chucked. I don't blame the mother. How many times did she probably tell her sons to not do what they did? The money's coming out of her pocket, not theirs, so she gets to find a way to pay for the repairs. No poor kids here, the kids will probably remember for a long time their mother means business

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on Feb 23, 2011 at 9:38 AM

I should put in there though that putting her kids picture up with it was probably a little much

Facebook comment from Sara Jennings

on Feb 23, 2011 at 9:39 AM

She's the parent. She can sell whatever she wants. Especially if they disobeyed and messed up the tub.

Mommy_Waller

on Feb 23, 2011 at 9:46 AM

Moms absolutely have the right to give and take away as needed. They are the ones cleaning up the messes these things leave behind. I read in a magazine not too long ago, and my sister has been doing it for about a year successfully now (my son is too young for this yet), that one mom had a 'Toy Closet' she kept all the new toys that were bought in. If it was a birthday etc. She'd have her kid choose one toy to give up for each new toy she kept. When the child does something good( make her bed, clean her room etc.) She gets to choose a toy out of the closet. Every time toys are left out, they go into the closet, and they don't get the option to get them back until they earn it. And whenthe closet gets too gul, mommy donates the items that haven't been used in a while. It works.

KnittinMama

on Feb 23, 2011 at 10:21 AM

Yet another step toward letting the kids run the house. I agree she probably told them no more times than needed. They did they should be punished. I know a lot of mamas that let their kids rule the family. All I can think is if you dont have the balls to be an adult how can you expect to successfully raise children?

poshkat

on Feb 23, 2011 at 10:39 AM

i feel for her. those guys are jerks. shes trying to teach her children a lesson and these guys are undermining her authority as a parent. people need to start minding their own business when it comes to how people raise their children (unless the child is in danger of course). i dont agree with her putting up thew picture, a story would have been enough but she is the mother, she paid for those things and the kids ruined the bathtub with them.

bsawyer84

on Feb 23, 2011 at 10:54 AM

When they can afford to buy the toys, they can claim rights over them. My little half-brothers have a ton of toys and they have no appreciation for them and are fairly obnoxious but my little half-sister (other side of the family) has very few and they are always very neat and she is very polite. Correlation? Hmm.

Nonmember comment from Micky

on Feb 23, 2011 at 10:56 AM

I wonder if these people paid her for those toys. My thoughs are that my money paid for them, therefore they are mine also.

KTMOM

on Feb 23, 2011 at 11:09 AM

How old were these kids? One one I hand, if they kids were older and really and truly knew better, I say go for it MOM! If they were little though and poorly supervised, I would say that is a bit harsh.

cassie_kellison

on Feb 23, 2011 at 11:21 AM

I reserve the right to toss, or give away as long as Im paying for them. When Ds gets old enough to pay for them then I might feel differently. I am not going to hang on to a broken toy for sentimental reasons.