Toys + Other Playthings

I like to think I’ve got some cool tricks up my sleeves for rainy days. But I’m still open to adding to my repertoire.Take these adorable shadow puppets from Owly Shadow Puppets.

As I sit here, gazing at my four month-old as she sucks the end of a silver rattle, I know I’m doing the right thing in limiting the mass-produced plastic garbage that enters our house. And enters her hands. And thus, enters her mouth. My latest focus: Dolls.

You can hardly sit down with my two year-old daughter any more without being asked to join her for a tea party. As long as you don’t mind that Puppy gets all the food and Llama bogarts the dessert tray, I guarantee you an enjoyable time.

Hear that squeal? That’s me having just rediscovered only my favorite ever (ever!) toy from my childhood – the bouncy thing.

I never really got the expensive silver rattle thing until I had kids (like everything else, right?) and my dear friend gave me the kind that come in the pretty blue box. Either my kid has extremely expensive taste or he just knows a good thing when he hears it, but that rattle is all but glued to his hand.

Needless to say, I was thrilled to hear about Hyena Cart, an online community where moms can sell their handmade wares–and the rest of us, luckily, can buy them.

If I were a designer, I would create excellent dolls that looked like turkey on rye. But thank goodness designer Esther Schuivens is Esther Schuivens, and her line of fabulous Esthex softies are inspired by a non-sandwich cast of characters.

I’m an old-fashioned kind of mom. You won’t find tubes of yogurt in my refrigerator, licensed characters on my kids’ sheets, or a portable DVD player in my car. I don’t care whether we’re driving five miles or flying five hundred miles – Dora is not my co-pilot.

Don’t be surprised if your little one starts asking why all the commercials on TV now have have scary, angry voices saying mean things about other people. It’s just the start of election season.

For those of you under the impression that we urban dwellers have wardrobes consisting of black, black, and black…well, you’d be right. But according to the City Girls magnetic dress up dolls there are a few other options.

My sigOth thinks I’m mean when I tell him I’m getting rid of half of my kid’s stuffed animals, but when she isn’t yet two and the collection is are taking up more of the crib than she does(to say nothing of the living room and two toy boxes), I think it’s time to start paring down. And then I come across these.

It took me three years to figure out that my daughter doesn’t care what the heck her ride-on toy looks like, just so long as it has wheels and she doesn’t have to work them. As for me…well, I care.

With all the bells and whistles – literally – that are the hallmark of modern toys, I’m always happy to find those that put a new spin on an old classic without the use of batteries–or the need for a bottle of ibuprofen for mommy.

I’m a huge fan of choosing wood over plastic when it comes to kids’ toys. My only gripe is that they often seem to be just for show, and not made to stand up to the drooly mouths and rough grips of actual children.

Throughout my life, I’ve always leaned on the excuse that I just wasn’t blessed with the spatial-relations gene, never realizing that this is actually a learned skill. Obviously as a kid I wasn’t playing with the nifty Dado Cubes from modern kids emporium Mason & Matisse.

I’m always stuck on what to get the newborn who has everything; particularly when that newborn isn’t the first to hit the household. All I know is, another package of onesies or flannel receiving blankets do not top my list.

Sure, your toddler loves that ratty old blankie – it goes everywhere that he does. But did you ever stop to think about what that ratty old blankie says about you and your style…or lack thereof? I shudder to think.