I couldn't agree more, Becky. My wife tends to want to go overboard in buying stuff for the kids, and I'm the one who puts the brakes on. If its the toy equivalent of junk food, then leave it on the shelf. The kids can play with it when we go to the store, and that's enough. The kind of things I want to buy for them are ones that will get long-term use, and encourage them to develop their creativity. Thus a doll house gets my vote over the latest electronic gizmo. I think a lot of the toys out there now are simply meant to serve as electronic babysitters. I don't like talking dolls; if the doll talks, the child doesn't need to make up the conversation. And a vocabulary of six or eight phrases doesn't go too far. Art supplies are always used. And the kids have tons of books, which we spend a lot of time reading. They probably have more toys than I did when I was little, but the things we have all get used.