I don’t wanna grow up, because maybe if I did, I couldn’t be a Toys ‘R’ Us kid.
Or a Kay Bee Toys customer. Or any other toy store.
In case you missed the news this week, Toys ‘R’ Us plans to shut down or sell all of its 735 stores in the United States after 70 years of business. That follows a bankruptcy filing back in December, and word it planned to shutter 182 of its stores in January.
It’s easy to blame internet sales, the big box stores or anything else for this shift away from an icon of my childhood. However, I’d like to blame something different.
We don’t have as many kids as we once did. If you don’t have as many kids, there isn’t as much need for toy stores.
The U.S. Census Bureau reports there are already more middle-aged people than children in the country. By 2035, there will be more adults over the age of 65 than there will be under the age of 18.
The reasons are pretty simple. We’re having fewer babies. In 1960, the World Bank reports the fertility rate was 3.7 children per woman. In 2015, that number was 1.8.
America’s headed down the same path as Europe. Lower fertility rates mean smaller families. Smaller families mean fewer children. Fewer children means fewer toys needed. Now we’re seeing the result, no more Toys ‘R’ Us kids (and stores).
It’s a shame, too. As it is, our children seem to be in such a hurry to grow up. In our house, they quickly outgrew the Toys ‘R’ Us on Cable Road. By the time they were 9, they were more interested in roaming through the mall than the toy store.
That’s sad. Some of my fondest memories include roaming through a toy store, $10 in hand, during our family’s annual pilgrimage to the Chicago area for Easter. That Kay Bee Toys store in that mall seemed enormous. I honestly don’t know how my parents had the patience for us to walk up and down every aisle until we found the perfect toy.
That experience appears to be going the way of the Dodo bird. It’s easier to pop up your search window and find what you need, getting it shipped right to you. Maybe it’s faster to speed through the aisles at the big box retailer.
Sooner or later, though, we’re going to realize there’s more to life than living in the fast lane. There’s something to a life full of children in your home. There’s something special about getting things for your kids and watching them enjoy them.
I’ll just keep humming that song as I think about our country’s future.
I don’t wanna grow up, because maybe if I did, I couldn’t be a Toys ‘R’ Us kid.
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