Rob O.'s Profile

We went the Overstock big square pleather storage ottoman route. But to make it super easy to maneuver and add a funky but subtle touch of our accent color, I added 4 of these chunky red rollerblade wheel casters...

Steelex D2607 3-Inch Swivel Polyurethane Plate Caster

<img src="http://www.2dolphins.com/images/km/living_room/ottoman_caster.png" width="600" height="450" />

We transitioned our then 3 yr old to a twin-sized bed and it worked well. We used swim noodles under the mattress pad for awhile as bumpers to help him keep from rolling off.

Now at just-turned 6, given how fast (and tall!) he's growing, my wife insists that we should've bought him a double-sized bed instead of the twin! Seeing how quickly they outgrow the toddler-sized bed, I'm just glad we skipped right to the twin.

On a slightly different tangent, what I think is especially crazy is that 3 couples we know STILL have their daughters co-sleeping at 4 yrs old!! I'm SO glad that we resisted the urge to ever start down that path!

You can also use vinyl rain gutters to do something very similar and inexpensively.

Our son (now 5) went straight from crib to twin-sized bed.

We used a swimming pool styrofoam noodle split in half under the mattress pad along each edge to help him avoid rolling off. Worked like a charm!

And as long as his legs are, I'm sure he would've outgrown a toddler-sized bed within a year anyway.

A $200 Kindle or a $5 book? Tech or tactile?

Sadly, I think this subscribes a bit too much to the "technology has to be good for kids, so let's shovel it at them" mindset that's become a societal norm without even so much as a shred of solid evidence that technology does boost academic achievement or enhance overall quality of life.

We seem hell-bent on turning little children into technologists and voracious digital consumers before they've even had a chance to just be kids - to fingerpaint, play ball, collect a jar of ladybugs, or any of a thousand other childlike activities.

We spend our money on actual books and make an effort to keep our 5 yr old unplugged as long as we can.

I'm also from the drinking-from-the-hose generation!

Teach them to use and respect real tools and real appliances in the kitchen. My 5 yr old son uses sharp knives, a mixer, food processor, etc. with my close supervision and hands-on guidance.

I want my son to be independent enough to fend for himself - and maybe one day impress his girlfriends with his cooking skills!

I wonder about the rationale behind handing a $400 iPhone containing irreplaceable data to a very young child. Doesn't anyone consider the consequences of said phone hitting the ground and shattering?
 
My email, work contacts, important reminders, project notes, etc. are all in there. Even if I thought it were appropriate for a child to play with a smartphone, I'm just not brave enough to put mine at risk.

At just $2 over the price range, I've gotta mention the Build-A-Racer ( http://t.co/uRNs9iL ) and Build-A-Train ( http://t.co/9UdLRLe ) by Jump Toys. These have given my Pre-K son many hours of enjoyment since Christmas '08!

And they're made in America!

We love the Ikea Kalas set too! They're chunky enough for little toddler & pre-K fingers but still pretty functional (however, you're not gonna cut much with the knife that's denser than a cooked noodle).

Kids have a way of derailing things in unexpected ways.

My wife & I loved home renovating and decorating when it was just the two of us. So we had grand plans for our nursery, which ultimately became inhabited by an adopted toddler. And that toddler has quickly turned into a very rambuctious pre-schooler.

Our new mindset: There's an invisible horizontal line that lives 4' off the the floor in any given room of the house. Anything beneath that line, isn't ours and is subject to the whims of an energetic, imaginative 4 yr old.

Sure, we try hard to set & enforce boundaries, but we're realistic too. So, this puts something of a crimp on decorating rooms just-so. Our focus is more on functional than fluff and more on clean than charming.

So, I guess my point is that projects aren't always just indefinitely delayed, sometimes they're derailed entirely but it's not worth losing precious sleep over.