Highlights High Five!

When I was a little girl, I waited eagerly each month for the arrival of my Highlights magazine.  Highlights for Children was packed full of stories, poems, games, and puzzles, and it was indeed a highlight of my month.

Now, my son can enjoy all the fun of Highlights at an even YOUNGER age, with Highlights High Five magazine.  It comes in the mail addressed to him now, but it’s still just as full of fun, excitement, and whimsy as Highlights was for our generation.

Recent issues featured stories, puzzles, games, poems, cut outs, and creative projects to do together. 

Highlights High Five is a fun magazine for kids in any situation, and particularly great on rainy days or sick days when you have to stay in bed.  I am so glad that the Parent Bloggers Network re-introduced me to Highlights, and that they have a magazine appropriate for my little kids!

That Baby DVD

Parent Bloggers recently sent me the That Baby DVD to review.  The DVD is a collection of soft rock songs with calming, slow-moving video overlays.   Segments slowly fade into each other, avoiding jarring transitions.  The DVD also uses a nice technique, presenting a gallery of photos that one by one come to life, giving young children a chance to process the change.  This is a nice alternative to the faster-paced videos and TV shows being produced for little ones.

To see what I mean, just click here for their video. 

Widget and I enjoyed watching this together.  It was indeed calming and provided a nice break in the day.  We will definitely watch it again, and I’ll show it to Little Bear when he’s two too.  I’m generally not a fan of TV and DVDs for babies and kids under 2 (and the AAP isn’t either), but, for kids who are exposed to media, this is a nice alternative to what’s out there.

That Baby DVD is produced by parents, which explains their no-questions-asked DVD and CD lifetime replacement policy, guarantee, and easy ordering setup.  There’s even a 20% off coupon for readers of these Parent Bloggers Network reviews — just use the code “PBN” when you order from the company.  

Blast off with Discovery Kids!

The Discovery Channel Store and the Parent Bloggers Network sent us an awesome toy to review recently — Paz’s blast off rocket from the Ready Set Learn! line.  As a former NASA scientist and lifelong enthusiast, I was absolutely thrilled to be selected to review this product, one that I might not have splurged on but one that I was totally thrilled to get.  As it turns out, if I had seen these in person first, I totally would have splurged on it.

The rocket is a durable, sturdy, armful of rocket sized and shaped just right for an older toddler or preschooler’s hands and arms.  I say arms here because the toy has been so popular with my son and his friends that I frequently find one boy or another with both arms wrapped around it in desparate attempts to “own” it himself.  After we’ve pried off the little visitor and exhorted the boys to take turns, the other mother and I invariably laugh it off.  But the truth is … this is a FUN toy!

The rocket has three levels of fun.  The top level is the cockpit of the rocket, with room for 2 of the 4 action figures included.  (But not the bunny, who has ears sticking out the back of his space suit helmet. This has caused some consternation in my house.)  The bottom level is storage for the lunar rover and possibly one more action figure.  The middle level, though, the middle is a dollhouse in miniature, with tiny shelves, a coffeemaker, and rows of cups in the kitchen.  The murphy bed folds into the wall to reveal a toilet underneath.  The detailing is exquisite, if a bit odd — I wouldn’t actually expect to see books upright on the bedside table in space, for instance, or toilet paper on a roll, but for this age, it’s acceptable.  In fact, it’s charming.

This toy is a true winner.  Yes, it’s plastic, and yes, it’s made in China, but its play value is high and the source appears to be reputable.  It’s not a cheap disposable toy.  This is a quality toy that can be used in three ways — as a rocket, as a dollhouse equivalent, and as a base for “lunar explorations” with the enclosed crater.  It meets my criteria and I totally recommend it for the holiday gift-buying season!  Find them at the Discovery Channel Store online.

This rocket is the hot new toy at our house … and a playgroup favorite!

Swiss Family Robinson

Really … really?  Yes, I’m actually posting a review of the classic book, Swiss Family Robinson, by Jonathan Wyss.  I know we all probably read it as kids, but what I want to say today is how thoroughly enjoyable a read it has been for me with my own kids, even though my oldest has just turned three.  I’m careful to edit out references to guns (my choice), and I toned down the shipwreck scene, but the rest of the book has been absolutely wonderful to read and enjoy with my preschooler.

He is absolutely captivated. 

And the best part?  There are new, $3 editions out there at many of the major craft stores, drugstores, and chain stores right now with simplified text and big type, so that the little ones can learn the relationship between words on a page and stories that they hear as they drift gently off to sleep, wild tales of adventure, creativity, and family dancing in their minds.

Best $3 I ever spent.

Mommy’s Little Shopping Secret

I shop for my kids twice a year.

It’s true. I don’t shop sales.  I don’t stop and pick up a little something for them when I’m at the mall (what mall?) or Target.  I don’t panic when the weather changes and they have nothing in the closet that fits.  I simply bundle the kids up and go out to shop for them twice a year while they play on the playground with Dad.

Where do we go for this one-stop shopping, WITH a playground?

We go to Prime Outlets in Hagerstown, MD!  This outlet mall has everything — Carter’s for babies, Gap Kids, Gymboree, Child’s Place … and dozens of stores for Mom and Dad too.  Everything is much less expensive than at the mall, and if we time it right, entire stores are often 50% off the outlet prices too!

We have a system.  Everyone shops in the first store together, then Dad takes the kids to the playground while Mommy shops Carter’s, then we alternate for as long as my preschooler can stand it.  Today, he played on the playground for hours — and absolutely loved every minute of it.  He ran with the big kids, played house with the little kids, zoomed around like an airplane with the boys, and went down the slide with the girls.  He had a wonderful, wonderful time.  Little Bear, my baby, sat and played with the wood chips on the ground — and what baby doesn’t love him a good wood chip?  Daddy and I took turns playing and shopping, leaving the bags with the one on playground duty.

And I did all the fall/winter shopping for the boys — shirts, pants, jammies, jackets, socks, shoes, and underwear.  All top-quality, true-to-size, and 50% off.  Widget isn’t exactly toilet-trained yet, but I know he will be soon, and at $2 a pair for fire truck underpants, how could I pass them up? 

Hey, a mom can dream, can’t she?

This post also posted at DC Metro Moms, one of my new favorite sites!

Little Bear, stylin’ in Mom’s chemo cap at the playground