BETWEEN THE LINES: NOT QUITE READY TO MAKE A HOLIDAY LIST AND CHECK IT TWICE

Made your holiday shopping list yet? What about the wish list of gifts you'd like to receive? With temperatures as warm as they have been in recent days, I haven't even begun to think about buying Christmas gifts. Usually I wait until that last week or two before the holiday so it really feels like Christmastime.

But it seems that retailers are ready for me to go shopping NOW. They've already put decorations up in area stores, and Christmas music is playing over those in-store music systems.

If it's not enough that local retailers are bombarding me with holiday songs and gift suggestions much earlier than I'd like them to, the television industry is gearing up for the season as well with everything from holiday specials to advertisements.

Mixed in with the holiday programs and special holiday deals, I've seen plenty of television commercials for Internet sites touting the best and greatest selection of toys and gifts for the holiday season. Everything from etoys.com to Kay-bee and Toys R Us have sites for ordering gifts. Maybe those Web sites help cut down on long lines at the stores, but isn't going to the store part of the fun of picking out the perfect' gift.

Toys should always be fun. However, I've noticed lately that retailers are marketing toys that are teaching children skills that relate to work whether that work be cooking your own food or hammering in a nail.

Commercials for Fisher Price toys show a girl at her kitchenette cooking a meal for her dolls. Later in life she'll know how to boil water and cook a meal for her family. Another commercial for the toy manufacturer shows a young boy hammering and sawing boards so he can build a fancy doghouse for his pet Scruffy.

I had my fair share of dish sets and dolls as a young girl. Who doesn't? But why do all the toys girls get have to revolve around work and chores like vacuuming, washing dishes, ironing or cooking. Boys get toys like battery-powered race cars and space warriors that combat evil forces trying to overtake the world. It seems they have fewer toys that teach boys about chores.

I'm just as much in favor of a strong work ethic as the next person, but do our children's toys have to teach those lessons so early. After all, shouldn't the children be allowed to enjoy their carefree, playful days as much as possible without having to think about jobs and chores and responsibilities. They'll get enough of that as an adult later on.

Even my parents fell for the marketing ploy of chore-like toys. As a child, I got a typewriter for Christmas. I thought it was fun to pretend to be working like all the adults in my world. My mom says she knew that I would need the skills for a job some day so the toy was a "practical" gift. It didn't hit me until now just how practical a toy that plastic typewriter really was.

So I guess that shopping cart and cash register for the make-believe store were lessons in cutting coupons, making change and managing a household. After all, everyone needs to know how to make change so they can get their first retail job. I just hope the job is more fun than some of the toys for children. Laura Johnston is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.