Most annoying kids’ Christmas toys? Dori really likes No. 3 on list

When it comes to searching for ideal kids’ gifts to leave under the yuletide tree, parents (and grandparents) have cautionary tales: some Christmas presents, they warn, are downright infuriating for adults.

That’s what writer Jessica Delfino found while surveying 100 other parents about otherwise popular kids’ gifts they found “too loud,” “too sticky” or downright “depressing.” In a piece published in The New York Times, Delfino provides “An Unofficial Ranking of the 10 Most Annoying Kids’ Toys” that might tempt their way into your home.

The Dori Monson Show took umbrage with No. 3 on the list: an ant farm. Not only did Dori dream of getting this gift when he was a kid, he bought it as an adult (more than once) – supposedly for his own daughters.

“I love those ants. All they do is work. They build tunnels. One grain of sand at a time,” he said. “I’m thinking about sending a bunch of ants to Sound Transit.”

But one of Delfino’s toy-testers reviewed it this way: “I thought it’d be fun to watch their little society build,” she said. “Instead, it became a daily reminder of the Sisyphean futility of life as they slowly buried their dead until there was one ant left wandering a horrorscape alone, wishing for the sweet embrace of death to take her, too.”

Ouch.

Delfino’s Top 10 list of Most Annoying Kids’ Toys looks like this:

1. Talking baby walker
2. Slime
3. Ant farm
4. Play-Doh
5. Glitter shaker
6. Talking puzzle
7. Rock tumbler
8. Kinetic sand
9. Harmonica
10. Furby

Dori’s listeners had their own thoughts on the subject. Many agreed that Furby belonged on the list. In the late 1990s, this electronic robotic toy with an owl-like appearance grabbed kids wish-lists by storm. More than 40 million Furbies were sold over nearly three years.

Listeners’ texts pouring into Dori’s Friday show also included these gift peeves:

• “Clacking/popping lawn mower” and “That push/pull toy with popping balls (Steve in Duvall and Sandy in Olympia)
• “Tickle Me Elmo” (from the 425, 206, and more)
• “Perfection and Operation (board games) drove me crazy!” (from the 425)
• “Bop It” (from the 253)
• “Airsoft guns. It’s been 15 years since my kids played with them and I’m still finding little plastic beads all over the place, inside and outside!” (from the 253)
• “Nerf guns are fun when you have one, but (not) if it’s just kids having them and you’re getting hit in the face…” (from Chris in the 808).

Listen to Dori Monson weekday afternoons from noon – 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.