Dad wants to forbid 7-year-old granddaughter from playing with collectible Barbie he gave her as a gift: 'Kids don't want toys they can't play with'

Would you give a child a toy they weren't allowed to play with?

Getting gifts for kids can be so much fun. Adults are hard to buy for. Odds are, they probably don't want anything because if they did, they would have bought it for themselves. But kids want everything, and they don't have the money to buy it for themselves. As an aunt or uncle, grandparent, or family friend, you have the chance to make a kid's day with an awesome present. And they're usually pretty easy to please, up until a certain age. They want things they can play with. They want things with a lot of bells and whistles that look fun and make fun noises. As much as they might be a pain in the neck for the parents to deal with, the kids want the toys. And they want all of them at once. 

But some people have a different idea of what an appropriate gift looks like for a kid. Maybe they've lost touch with their inner child and have some outdated notions about what children like to do. It's not your job to get it right every time, and it's definitely the thought that counts, but you don't want to make anyone's life harder with your gift. You don't want to give a gift that becomes a source of frustration for everyone involved. You want to make a positive impact, not a negative one.

That's what one grandparent was trying to wrap their mind around when coming up with gift ideas for a kid. They wanted to give them something that would appreciate in value over time. There is a nice idea behind this. It's thoughtful to think of something that will benefit them long term, not just short term. But the problem was, it was going to take a long time for that theoretical appreciation. And the parents weren't sure if that wasn't just going to cause more strife in the family. Read on to see what happened and what other family members and commenters from the far reaches of the internet had to say about it. 

Am I in the wrong for telling my dad that I wouldn't keep my 7 year old from playing with a 'collectible' birthday gift?

Commenters gave their takes on this family story.