Dreaded words await: Some assembly required
While children around the globe are anxiously counting down the final days before Christmas, there are almost as many parents approaching the day with just a bit of apprehension.
The tension comes from those three little words we see on toy box after toy box — some assembly required. It’s such a small phrase, such harmless-sounding wording, especially when your in the store shopping and Christmas is still in the distant future.
But as the days count down and the calendar switches from November to December, the daunting task of assembling Christmas toys begins to grow larger. When the countdown drops to single digits and the presents move from the closet to under the tree, that’s when the fear really starts to build.
Buying Jimmy that bike he wants might seem like a great idea in the store, but it’s another thing all together when daddy is the one who has to take a box full of various-shaped objects and make it into something which actually rolls.
Bicycles, tricycles and swingsets are some of the most challenging toys. Anyone who has discovered Christmas is as much about skinned knuckles as it is about mistletoe can attest to that fact.
The biggest challenge to toy assembly has to be understanding the directions. We’ve got to remember that these directions, for the most part, are written by someone who speaks Japanese as their first language. That wouldn’t be so much of a problem if the directions were smoothly translated to English – and made sense – but that isn’t a luxury we always enjoy.
For many parents, Christmas is a day where the kids rip open their presents in a matter of minutes, then they spend the rest of the day trying to put everything together. This isn’t always a challenge met with favorable results.
Some of us are left hoping Uncle Roger, who is awfully handy with a set of tools, makes a holiday stop by the house. Other times, dad is left to go it alone.
Finally getting the toy together can also be accompanied by mixed emotions. There’s usually the problem of having extra parts leftover. The directions don’t help matters any by clearly stating there should be no extra parts. As parents, we’re left to hope little Jimmy’s new bike doesn’t fall to pieces when he gets going about 15 mph down that big hill.
Then there’s always the reassuring sign of spending hours to assemble the toy only to find your child has more fun playing with the box. These are all things we can look forward to with Christmas just days away.
We here at the Standard would like to take this time to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season. And all the parents out there who will soon read the words “some assembly required,” we wish you good luck.