the five toys I love (and also hate)

Here are five toys that I love. And also hate.

#1 - the prize ball (aka: a superball with a face on it)

This isn't just any superball, this is what we affectionatly call "prize ball" because my son got it four years ago from the prize box at the doctor office. You know, that filthy treasure chest they let kids dig through at the end of appointments to spread germs more effectively. Because sometimes all the other germ spreading tactics fail.    

Anyway, the ball has two eyes. Which means it isn't just a ball. To my kids, it is a "guy" with hopes and dreams and personality. This is why I love it. I love that such a simple object can inspire such imagination. 

But this is why I hate it...

It is a superball.

A gentle toss causes it to bounce on a destructive and unpredictable trajectory of pain and suffering.  

And after it calms down, it always rolls to the same hiding place:

And I have to fish it out.

 

 

#2 - the sandbox

We have a sandbox in our backyard. 

This is a beautiful thing, because it allows me to do this while they play in it:

I get to lounge on a patio chair and just watch them. I watch them play happily together. They make sand pies and build castles and do all the wonderful things I did as a kid in my own sandbox. This is why I love it. 

And this is why I hate it...

Sand.

The thing that sucks about a sandbox is that it is a box filled with sand. 

Sand that you have to eventually replace because... 

it all winds up in your house. 

 

#3 - puzzles

I love puzzles only because I'm supposed to love puzzles. They are good developmental toys. Good for fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

Whatever. They suck.

When they are missing pieces it bothers me. And they are always missing pieces.  

I put them out for the little guy and he eagerly takes all the pieces out.

And then he walks away.

I know he is a little too young. But I can't wait until he grows into puzzles. 

Why? Because when my eldest grew into puzzles he grew out of puzzles a month later. 

I'm so close to donating these I can taste it! And I'm sure immediately after donating them all the missing pieces will turn up. 

 

 

#4 - playdough

and

Oh wait, I almost forgot to explain why I love it. 

Pretty much the same reasons as the sandbox. They play together. Nicely. And I don't have to. 

I think my source of hate for playdough is pretty self-explanatory, but just in case: 

That oughta do it. 

 

#5 - books

I know what you are thinking. How could she say she hates books? That is against the law!

Books aren't even toys! What is she thinking!?

My librarian friends (Hi, Allison!) are shifting uncomfortably in their seats right now. Relax. Breathe.

You'll see where I'm going with this...

 

I love children's books. Like super-duper love them. Which is why I hate them. 

I can not get rid of any.

Already at age two, my son follows the proper safety precautions of book selection.

You pull one out...

And then quickly exit to avoid the book avalanche. 

And no matter how many books there are to choose from...

he really only wants to read the same one over and over and over again anyway. 

 

What toys do you love/hate?

 

 

---------------

Okay, my dears. This is my last post before the voting ends tomorrow. The last time I have to mention this contest thingy. (Aren't you happy? Me too.) 

You can still vote for this blog for Funniest Mom Blog.

(and no, I'm not in the lead, so yes, your votes matter! Thank you!) 

 

Comments

[Jaime]

I am in total agreement with your choices :)

[Catherine S]

Legos. I hate Legos. Sharp pointy foot puncturers of death and destruction.

[Lisa Quinones Fontanez]

Hahahaaaaaaaaaa oh thank you for this! Because I hate play dough and missing pieces. I also hate legos and army men becauseh when I wake up in the middle of the night, stumbling into the bathroom - I always always always step on the one I neglected to pick up.

[Misty]

I love the "doctor" kit, because I get to lie down and close my eyes while my daughter makes me "all better." But I hate it because she often pokes me in the eye by accident, or begins jamming a thermometer in my ear.

[Emily B]

Blocks - love because they amuse, they create, they're fun to knock over. Hate because they're inevitably under my bare foot at 2 am

[Amanda]

I have the same bouncy ball as you! I feel your pain.

I especially LOVE the Little People Discovery City I bought from the consignment shop. It was Fisher Price's first attempt at interactive music and sound. THERE IS NO VOLUME CONTROL. The music is catchy and wakes you up in the middle of the night because its in your dreams. BUT my little one LOVES the whole thing and it keeps him busy for hours.... sigh....

[Christina]

Yes to the Playdoh and messy books!!! Stuffed animals are also annoying! Once the toddler loses interest, you put them away, right? Nope. That just resparks the interest and you're fishing them out for them again :S

[Emily]

My son beats me over the head with the book of choice, then has me read it until I'm ready to beat myself over the head with it...

How about the obligatory annoying electronic toy from... uh... usually grandparents it seems that the kids love too much to get rid of, but will give you a headache every time?

[Elizabeth Dellevigne]

I hate balloons. Do I suck or what? Inevitably they spark fights/wresting matches/balloon-popping OR it still has enough helium to fly the hell away and that's quite the drama.

I guess a balloon isn't really a toy tho . . . Transformers. I hate Transformers.

[Avery]

Motion-activated toys. I cannot tell you how many times I've jumped out of my skin on a late-night trip to the bathroom when out of the darkness and silence I hear: "Head! Shoulders, knees and toes... KNEES AND TOES!!"

[Angela]

The sandbox, yes! I HATE cleaning up after sand! I've found it works well to set the kids up in the sandbox late in the afternoon, just before my husband gets home. Then when they're done, I'm busy cooking dinner, so he gets to clean them up!

[Kel]

Why I hate play-doh.. my daughter stuck enough of it up her nose (in day care) to require a visit to the ER. They had to stick a small tube up her nose, inflate it, and pull out the gooey stuff. Blue/green boogies. That's why I hate play-doh.

[libby]

I totally agree!!

[Ingrid]

LOL!!! I'm right there with you! My 2 year old just started playing with play-doh and no matter how much I tell him not to mix the colors, as soon as I turn my head he mixes them. I don't know that I'll even buy him a sandbox, I hate dealing with the after math of playing in it. It usually ends up everywhere including in his hair and getting it out is a pain. My son has tight curls and hates when I wash his hair, so a sandbox is a no-no in my book. Btw, I love reading your blog :-)

[Amy]

I agree on all, except the sandbox. But that's only because I don't have one. May I add crayons. I love the pictures that my children draw for me, Hate that if I decide to color with them ( don't laugh at me...it's fun)every stinking crayon is broken or wore down to a nub that I can't hold. Almost forgot I have girls so throw in barbie clothes & little pet shop.

[meganleiann]

Legos, Mr. Potato Head (and family), matchbox cars: all toys that my boys will play with very nicely for and hour. AN HOUR!!!! They are all horrible to clean up. I pay for that hour of peace.

[libby]

hahahah! I do the same thing!!

[Lauren]

Little toy cars! I just know one of these days I am going to step on one and roll across the floor to my death.

[Chris]

You've covered it in an earlier post. but...

CRAYONS.

I have lovely pieces of A3 card that the little angels can draw on. Instead, I have crayons on the floor, the wall, the bed, the driveway, the car... and some very beautiful blank pieces of paper are left.

that, and TOY CARS. Little slippy slidey harbingers of twisted ankle DOOM and 11pm at night in the dark.

Chris :)

[Francesca]

I hate missing pieces. Not just puzzle pieces but missing animals from the barn or the zoo. We have three different early-toddler toys that came with three little balls. Each of them only has two balls now. It drives me nuts-- especially since I'm just at the stage where I'd maybe like to donate them.

At my house the missing puzzle piece is probably in the living room air vent. The covers are wooden and pretty easy to lift out. One day I found several stacking rings and a couple toy trucks in the vent. (The rings had been missing for a couple months, which drives me crazy as well.)

[Andrea Olson]

I am so with you on the sand box! Not to mention the little surprises the neighbors cat leaves in it!

[Betsy]

The digital kids camera that actually takes pictures! Love it because it gives them a real camera that they take cute pictures with, but also can accidently drop, throw, etc. and it still works. HATE it because they like to take pictures of mommy...in the bathroom, coming out of the shower...see where I'm going with this!? :o)

[Lisa]

At the moment, the toy I hate is hummus. Oh hummus is not a toy you say? Tell that to my two year old who proceeded to stick both his hands in it and smear it all over my living room while I was reading this post. So yeah, I hate hummus.

I guess I should add that I used to love it when it was merely a type of food.

[Jan]

here we have the problem with the books always... moon sand arrrgghhh (you can use it in the house mummy ) NO NO NO its just evil sand ...Glitter why is everything girlie covered in Glitter everyone always has glitter somewhere they shouldnt .. and not forgetting teddies .. everywhere they reproduce I'm sure we didnt have that many they hide and jump out at you they cause wars .. they trip you on stairs ..and if they go MIA oh the stories Ive had to tell to prevent meltdown ...

[Amber Dusick]

Ohhhh, that is a good one! We have plenty of those bathroom pictures. Sigh.

[Julie]

DITTO! When our youngest was born 14 months ago someone gave us some cute helium balloons which I tied to the porch. Horror of horrors, within a few hours they got loose and blew away WHILE THE BIG KIDS WERE WATCHING. They still, to this day, will get wistful and a little teary and mention how much they miss those balloons.

Most hateful toys fall under the "things to step on at night" and so I'll add hot wheels.

I'm also losing my affection for Perler beads (those melt-together-with-the-iron tubes) since my kids will happily spend an hour designing something and far too often I've then destroyed it in route to the iron. Misery. And of course there are always at least a dozen on the floor that we don't see but the baby finds immediately.

[Kristen]

The only toys I love to hate are my sons Thomas the Train toys. I want him to go out of this "train" thing and QUICK! This may lead to him being obsessed with legos but I am okay with that because it requires and promotes imagination, just not looking forward to stepping on them lol

[CJ]

oh yes, definately!

[Jeni Armstrong]

I love my son's train set -- well, not the trains, because he sort of doesn't give a rat's patoot about trains, but he'll spend half an hour stringing together track from one end of the house to the other while I do this: (insert that crappy picture of mama lying down while kids play).

I don't like ANY electronic noise-making toys, which is why the boy is OBSESSED with them, I'm sure.

[CJ]

SAME here, evil blocks. But they are my favourite!

[Jeni Armstrong]

Do you have a dog? Did s/he at least apply it at licking height?

[Rebekah]

I'd like to add art supplies to this list. I love watching my girls be creative on paper....and then on tables, the floor, the couch, themselves, each other. Oh, and the other thing about books is not only are they haphazardly displayed on the bookshelf, they are prime targets for building paper airplanes. I don't know about anyone else, but my girls LOVE to rip books up to use as paper or just to rip up.

Love your blog!

[AshPal]

My MIL bought my 14 mo son THREE 200-count bags of mega blocks. That's right! 600 blocks. I love them for their basic colors ("Gavin, this is RED. Say red.") And because I kinda like building with him -- well, it's more like working to see how much I can stack before he tears it all down. I HATE that in the "mega blocks storage bins," where there should be 600 blocks, there are only maybe 534. The rest are scattered all over my house in random combinations of BASIC COLORS and sometimes I just don't feel like moving the refrigerator to ensure the entire collection is in one place.

[Kimberly]

My loving sister bought my 6 yr old daughter a crane game (because my daughter's a gambling addict) for her birthday. It has SUPER loud, neurotic carnival-like music that gets faster and faster as time runs out, she barely wins anything (which usually results in tears), and it runs on little fake coins that I'm deathly afraid that my 2 yr old will think is yummy candy and choke on them.

[Darla]

Baby dolls.

I love them because they are sweet and cute and smell good. Plus it is so precious to see my daughter hug, kiss, and mother her little precious babies.

I hate them because 99% of the time I have 25 wet, naked babies staring up at me.....because "they needed a bath."

[Jeni Armstrong]

My two-year-old son isn't very verbal yet, but one of his first 100 words was "golpin," which is his version of "broken," which describes every dang crayon we own.

[Angela Garrison]

What about those itty bitty Polly Pocket things! I have 5 year old twins who are all about the Polly Pockets right now. And they have a nuclear meltdown when a shoe goes missing! Really? A shoe that is the size of a pea? No way we are finding that in this house of 5 kids and a dog and a husband! Kiss it goodbye sisters. That's the toy I hate and love because once they get a good Polly Pocket scenario going on, they are quiet for HOURS!

[CJ]

I LOVE books (unless my 3yr old has his friends over, who proceed to pull every single one out of the bookcase), Train tracks and blocks. I dont love playdough, i hate it, but i still have it and it is in a big box in a dark corner :P
I love train tracks cause i can help my son build the track and then when it is done he can entertain himself for hours and hours and hours. I hate the train track as the trains are motorized and noisy and the entire living/dining area soon becomes consumed by little blue and brown track. I also hate the train tracks when his friends come over as no matter how many trains we have there are apparantly never enough to go around (hence they are often tucked away in my room when friends come to play). Blocks are fantastic. He can ammuse himself with them and i like to help build with him, but neverthe less they always end in a big destructive car knocking over the house, or a big 'shakey shakey' breaks the house (i live in Christchurch, NZ). Blocks also always end up under knees, feet etc etc...

[Jim W.]

Funny posting. I liked it.

[Kathi Cashion]

I hate crayons too! Especially those that find their way into my car, here in Texas, where it gets to be 190 degrees outside, hotter with the windows rolled up...sigh.

[Julie Bouf]

I think you have properly represented every mother everywhere.

[Amanda]

Angela, I just totally had to go through the house and picked up 5 different pairs of polly pocket shoes before I vacuumed!!

[Emma]

I love/hate my 14 month old son's Giraffe toy 'Wally.' He loves it SO much, and as he doesn't have a dummy (pacifier) it's his comfort toy at bedtime, the only time he's allowed it, his face lights up when he sees it and he squeezes it so tight, just melts my heart. Until I catch a wiff of it, he sucks on Wally at night, and it shouldn't bother me because he sleeps 13+ hours every night, so who cares if his toy stinks even after being washed? I do. but just a little.

[AnnaPK]

We are the same way with books! I keep buying more even though we have too many and they are everywhere, falling dangerously on people.

I love/hate the craft supplies. Oh they are so messy! I love what the kids make and do with them, but the mess!!

[Kathi -- Gabriel's mom]

Totally agree on all acccounts! And these "crappy pictures" look just like my house. Every day. (I have given up having a tidy living room and it's amazingly freeing when you let go)

I don't hate any toys or books or writing instruments. It's not that they don't bother me when they are misused or strewn about the house - I just like wine a lot and that solves everything.

Your blog lifts my spirits so much that maybe I don't even need the wine any longer! :) Thank you for writing and for slipping into my mind and crafting my thoughts.

[Erin Brambilla]

Oh goodness. That picture of you with the broom, fishing the ball from under the couch? That's me. Same with the sandbox (and the reasons for loving it are exactly the same too!).

My son has this building set with a lot of block things and stick things and stuff (I forget what they are called). Love them because: He uses his imagination to build all sorts of things. Hate them: Because they have a billion pieces and hurt like H#@% to step on.

[Amanda]

Whose brillian idea was it to by my 2 year old a mud table???? Oh wait! That was mine. Bad bad idea, Mud here, mud there, mud everywhere and I seem to be missing kitchen bowls, and utensils????

Why I love it? It keeps him so busy outside! Until he wants to bring mommy his creations.

[Beverley]

How wonderful!! I fell over your blog and have crashed into my reality. Enjoy the humour and the starck truth. Blinkin Fab!!

[Ashley Griffieth]

Hot Wheels. LOL Of course, they can't have/play with just one. No, no, more like 4 million. And with our hard wood floors, they can equal mini-skating boards. Ones that you never asked to ride during the early morning potty break. That's IF your lucky to have them right side up, upside down, they are just as awful...I have BLED from them...:(

[Sara]

We can only vote once? That "other" blog doesn't even make me chuckle, how can they be considered funnier?

[Mishka B]

at the top of my most-disliked list are the toys that well meaning family members buy for my kids. you know the toys with loud, annoying sound effects? the ones that don't have an "off" button. i can't throw them out, because i'm afraid of hurting someone's feelings and no matter how many times i try to hide them, they inevitably turn up in the living room again. the sound of the winy, repetitive tune drives me bananas and it never stops!!

[jackie]

Mega Bloks are the worst!! For my son's 12 month birthday, he recieved 250 of them. And I can account for about 195 of them. Until I start looking in my night stand. Under my bed. Behind the television. Between the couch cushions. In the pantry. And so on.

[Constance]

I think you should take the puzzle pieces out of the puzzle, before you give it to your youngest, maybe he'll get into putting them in and then you can donate them more quickly

[Debbie]

I agree!

[Rach]

Sorry Amber, the site is STILL down for me grrrrrr

[Staci]

Shape sorting toys! Love what they teach, hate that we're missing pieces to EVERY one that we have. Why DO we have so many different ones anyway? There are only so many shapes to be learned, and it isn't like the pieces are interchangeable between the different sorters.

Right this minute I am loving and hating a farm set that my daughter is quietly playing with. I just know that I'll be finding the baby chewing on small choke hazards for weeks to come. *sigh*

[Michelle Therese]

I'm beginning to loathe *all* toys at this point in time. We have two two-year-olds and one three year old. All that they seem to live for is to throw the toys/markers/crayons/puzzles/books/play doh etc. around the room until they have created a disaster. Then they stand at the gate and whine. For... something. I still haven't figured it out because they have at least 36 hours worth of entertainment value sitting there in a heap on the floor! But they won't actually *play* with the toys.

Why did I waste all of that money?? I could have bought myself a Gucci bag instead!

[Jolene M.]

Barbie shoes & accessories have the same effect!

[cassandra]

I hate balloons and my children know it. They fight over them, "hit" each other with them. Then they fly to the highest point of my cathedral-like ceilings and I HAVE to get a ladder. And THEN...they pop. Grrr...

[Robin]

I've said this before but I'll say it again: are you me?! Because we seem to have the same kids, or something.

Also, I want to add to the list those LeapFrog magnet toys. You know, the airplane with the letters and so on? Well we have two of those things and I love them because the kids love them and they are educational. But I HATE them because the darned magnets are always all over the kitchen floor! Arg!

[Mellie]

The Fisher Price Dog!!! ARRRRGGGGGHHHH!

[Becky F]

I am in total agreement with the playdough! And I brilliantly decided "Hmm...this dosen't seem to make enough of a mess...let's get the Ice Cream Parlor!!! How fun (and it is!) and creative (and it is!) my child will be!" I have to use a wooden skewer to get it out of all the little nooks and crannies!
Also, glitter. Enough said.

[Kika]

crayons in the car, priceless! until I needed to sell my car! We had to take out the backseat, bring it into the house, and iron the crayons out. You put an old rag over the crayon stain, iron over the rag to melt, and the rag will absorb it. repeat, repeat, and then use a toothbrush with a bit of soap to remove the color from the fabric. You need patience to do this, but it works

[Michelle]

Playdough because no matter WHAT precautions I take, it ALWAYS ends up on my carpet. Ever try getting that out of a carpet? Ugh!!!

[Anne-Marie]

Totally agree!

[Sarah]

colouring pens...I don't think that really needs an explanation :-)

[Kathy]

Barbie Dolls! She is three and can not dress them, only undress in a slight fraction of the time it takes me to dress her.

[Heather]

Don't Break the Ice. Love because it brings ridiculous amounts of joy to the child. Hate because it takes more time to set up by cramming those stupid plastic pieces of ice into the frame than it does for the child to smash it.

[Danielle Bell]

Oh my gosh I just laughed so hard! I swear there's a ghost in my house that enjoys hitting the button on those toys the instant I am halfway to the bathroom. Then, I no longer need to go to the bathroom, but have a puddle (or worse) to clean up! LOL!

[Alicia C.]

STUFFED ANIMALS!
My kid plays with all of them. The times when he plays nice (sings songs, puts them to bed, feeds them pretend cookies, etc.) are wonderful, but only happen about 5% of the time. The other 95%? My oldest taught him that stuffed animals make the best balls. You can throw them at people and it doesn't hurt. You can hurl them toward the shelf and knock down the 100 piece puzzle that mommy put up there because she was sick of picking it up, you can throw them over the baby gate and then yell and scream until someone goes and gets it for you... Oh, and they collect dust, food, and are impossible to clean. But, take just one from the collection and my kid knows it's missing immediately. We then have an Amber Alert for Mr. Quackers!

[CathKane]

I love/hate sticker books... or any craft that my eldest has done at playgroup that involves sticking. He just loves to stick, and I love to watch him create his masterpieces... but once it's finished he just can't stop himself from ripping all the stickers off again... most of them end up in tiny pieces, all over the floor. I freak out about the baby eating them since the eldest's best friend was taken to hospital to have a tiny foil christmas tree removed from between his vocal cords a couple of years back (the result of a craft session at childcare gone wrong). I don't just hate stickers, I fear them.

[Skevy]

Loved all your choices! I have to add that I love/hate the ball pit balls. It's similar to the sand box for us. I love the hours of entertainment, but hate the hours of clean up all over the house!

[Lara]

The playdough pictures are an exact replica of every time my boys play with it. Perfect!

[Becky Dyken Bradberry]

If it takes batteries or plugs into my computer - big thumbs-down with raspberries. Way to much friggin' work for me - uh, I mean it must not require any imagination for the kids to play with it. Wink, wink.

[Alicia C.]

Hey! Thank you for solving my toy-hating problem. I like wine! Why did I never put the two together?! ;)

[Amber]

Anything pointy or noisy. I am little to no fun.

[Roccie]

Anything that can be used to squirt Momma from the bath tub.

[Danielle Bell]

Sand is bad...yes bad....but whoever the genius was that came up with the sand AND water table....well I won't say what I'd like to do with him. Because, you see, I was stupid enough to think this was an AWESOME summer time gift for my kids! Know what you get when you mix sand and water?? Yeah, because 4 kids are NOT going to leave the sand and water in their separate sides. I love that it will keep them occupied for hours on end! But oh the mess...sand sludge from here to there and in every single crack and orifice my 2 yr old twins contain! It ='s immediate bath/scrub time when they are finished! Ugh! Genius!

[Mellie]

Tip for sand - baby powder makes it come off their skin. Doesn't help with the pockets, though. Or socks. Or hair.

Puzzles - I put velcro on the pieces so they don't come out as easy. (Mean Momma!)

Toys that are too loud - why are the ALL too loud?? - I have been known to disassemble them and shove a cotton ball in the speaker. Works awesome, except for that time I accidentally broke the solder holding the wire in.

I haven't let my kiddos play with glitter yet, or as my brother-in-law calls it "Craft Herpes".

[Leia]

You nailed most of my list. I have been trying to remember to turn this car my son has to off before bed. I don't know how or who keeps making it go off in the middle of the night. Nothing like being woken up to the darn thing playing music and saying,"here we go!". And the still asleep part of me wonders if I do get up will I find some ghost kid playing with it in the living room?

[Andi]

The playdough always starts out at the perfect consistency with such beautiful colors, and then it always ends up drier and that puke-greenish color with hairs in it. Sigh....

[Alicia C.]

My oldest is 13 now. I never, ever let him have those electronic noise-making toys. Now, whenever we're in a store with a toy aisle, he is immediately attracted to those electronic baby toys. He'll become engrossed in pushing the buttons over and over. I have to snap him out of his trance to get going! If I were you, I'd get at least one of those annoying toys for your kid - you don't want him to grow up to be an electronic baby toy addict like my son! LOL

[Erma]

The puzzle and the books are the bane of my existence.

[Stephanie]

How about toys in general? I really hate them. There is no great way to organize and keep them together. No perfect way to make them look pretty. And I swear to god that the Magnetiles and the board games are mating at night because every day there is just more. stuff. STUFF! Everywhere.

[Angela (solo mum)]

Paint. Its my pet love/hate. Do I need to explain why? Not to any parent I am sure.

[Owen]

Absolutely love this blog!!

Thank you for picturing our house with such incredible clarity!

[marti {pezadoodle}]

i have to agree with the legos. LOVE legos. HATE legos....also perler beads, because she sits quietly and plays. then the cat joins her and i am picking up perler beads for a month. toys in general - all of 'em. 'cuz my kids (all three) are dumpers. that's the "play" - just dumping them. and then walking away......it amazes me how much square footage can be covered in toys.......

[Jess]

So funny about the play doh. When my oldest was little he would not mix colors and would get mad at me when I mixed them even a tiny little bit. When it would finally dry up I would throw away cans that were still perfectly colored!

My toddler's ball toys ALWAYS roll under the couch or the fridge. I taught him to use a paint stir stick to fish them out himself. :)

[Di]

oh, that is one of my favorite!
I love/hate beads! OK, not exactly a toy. My 7 yr old is fine with beading, but my almost 3 ???!!! Ugh! she 'cooks' them, 'eats' them, 'throws them, and makes snowflakes....blah-blah. The result is I have to vacuum them from the floor, I am not picking them, this is the rule!

[Alexandra]

I put clear tape over where the sound comes out = very effective muffling!

[Alexandra]

I put clear tape over where the sound comes out = very effective muffling!

[Joy]

I agree with that I just got my own personal photo shoot while getting my eyebrows waxed. I'm just going to call this one a learning experience. (And remember to delete all photos after she is asleep.)

[Pippi]

OMG ..the bouncy ball part was so real for me! Recently, I was super excited to score a $1.99 bag FULL of those little super-bouncy balls.. :) ..sigh...well, better than finding cooked pasta in every corner I suppose!

[Dee]

Amber, I love/hate books too because my son goes through fifteen of them before bedtime and then I have to pick them all up again every night to start the process over the next night. For the same reason, I love/hate blocks because he will play with all of them and leave them on the floor when I'm walking in the dark before my bedtime. For once I would love to not trip over books or blocks at night.

[Laurie]

I'm also constantly trying to keep the lego kit pieces together and not lose any. I've tried all kind of organizational systems - none of which my 5 year olds have any interest in following. Oh, but when they try to put that Cars 2 lego project together again and they can't find that one piece they need to complete it....

[Kristen]

So we have this Tigger book that when I bought it for my first child I thought was so cute and it was on sale and he loves Tigger so great. I didn't think about the sound effects. This book has 3 sound effect buttons that were once cute too. I'm now on my 3rd child loving this book. I usually put it away, in a place I think they will never ever find it. I cringe when they do. But because it is a book and I love books, I don't feel right about getting rid of it. (All noisy toys should be banned IMO)

[BobbiK]

What's worse is when the batteries start going! "Heeeeaaaaddddss, Sssshhhhhooouulldddeeerrrss...."
Or my cousin's Big Bird toy that said, "I see you!" Hear that in slow motion at night and you won't sleep for days!

[Emily]

Toys that I will not allow in the house (ever, at all): Play-Doh; magic markers; small bits of plastic crap (except for Legos, which are higher quality).

[hattiealicefranks@gmail.com]

This blog makes me feel less like a crappy mom. I am a grandma now but I did not let the kids play with play dough for just that reason. Sandbox - I would hose the kids down before entering the house (we live in Arizona). You are truly precious and clever to come up with all of these blog ideas. Don't let anyone discourage
your sparkling personality.

[Jak]

Have you ever tried the various tricks with white vinegar to get the smell out? Many people say it works better than soaps. If you do a quick google search of uses for vinegar in laundry there's a bunch of information out there about it.