Playing with the "Kids"

Dear Animal Lovers,
Why do we spend so much money on toys that we think our "kids" will love, but end up playing with for only a couple hours and then act totally bored again??
In actuality, they are completely content with regular household items to play with. My cat LOVES bags and boxes. I came home from the grocery store this afternoon, emptied the bag, and threw it on the floor to be thrown away. My cat instantly got inside of it and "lived" there for the rest of the night... until we played with him in it and he shredded it... He loves to sit inside open boxes as well, but the weird thing is he loves to sit on unopened boxes. We had a baby shower gift sitting in the kitchen for a couple of weeks and that was his favorite spot to sit (mind you it was a small spot for this large cat to nap on...). Naturally, my cats and dog love the laser pointer; it seems most animals do like "attacking" the light. My dog also loves to chase blown up balloons. I figured this out this past summer while trying to wrap my nephew's birthday present. I was curious if she would be afraid of the balloon (shes practically the size of a fully blown up balloon) or if she would play with it. Turns out, she LOVED playing with them. I found left overs tonight and between the paper bag and the balloons, the "kids" were having so much fun. Casually I look over at the toy box overflowing with dog and cats toys that get played with, but they REALLY enjoyed these simple household items. Typical "kids" playing with the wrapping instead of the toy.