'Why?' Mum is confused and outraged by her son's bizarre favourite toy

“This rat trash toy is his most prized possession over all of the gifts that he asked for." 

It seems the more we try to understand the inner workings of our children’s minds, the further away we get.

Especially when it comes to their playtime habits. 

A mother has taken to TikTok to question her son’s fixation with his toys - well, one in particular.

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"Tell me why?"

Whitney Swaim starts off by showing some of her son’s vaaaast toy collection.

“This Ultimate Hot Wheels garage. So he got this for Christmas, and then he got this little shark one,” she explains. 

His grandparents also contributed to the big haul, purchasing him another toy for his cars. 

“Big Hot Wheels person. Loves Hot Wheels. He chose it from a catalogue, saying, 'This is what I want from Santa!' ” 

Of course, Santa delivered as per the request- however the obsession was short lived. 

“Tell me why he’s played with it maybe four times? Like, on Christmas and maybe the day after,” Whitney questions. 

His new favourite toy? A tiny, rubber dinosaur he got out of a $2 bath bomb. 

The obsession made abundantly clear after he lost it - cue meltdown! 

“I just spent 45 minutes looking for it,” Whitney sighs.   

“You would have thought it held all the secrets to our family! He was like beside himself that he couldn’t find it.” 

She says the habit is "unbelievable". 

“This rat trash toy is his most prized possession over all of the gifts that he asked for for Christmas." 

She’s been left wondering - like most parents - why do kids do this? 

What he asked for versus what he loves. Image: TikTok/whitneyjswaim

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"Stickers on a tampon "

Her comment section shared in the hilarity of the universal issue. 

“Toddlers love their little trinkets,” said one person. 

“My daughter put two diamante stickers on a tampon she opened and carried it around for a few weeks because it was her ‘pet mouse’,” a second revealed. 

“My 2-year-old has formed an attachment to an unopened Covid test,” a third added.  

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Then a viewer offered this explanation:

“The Hot Wheels is what's called a ‘close ended toy’ in child development. You can only play with it a certain way. ‘Open ended toys’ are like blocks, figurines, etc that can be played with in any way." 

Just goes to show—the best things really do come in small (and ridiculously random) packages!

Originally published as 'Why?' Mum is confused and outraged by her son's bizarre favourite toy