reddirtmama's Profile

Best decision I ever made was moving my son into my daughter's room so that his room could be converted into a playroom. We do keep a few (hidden) toys in the living room, but everything else is tucked away in the playroom - books are kept in their bedroom as there's a couch in there where we can sit to read. Our whole house functions so much better now!

Aw, everything looks perfect! We love Olivia too. :o)

keegs, I give "big" gifts to the main teachers (when my kids were newborns there were two main ones in the room) and then do smaller gifts to the part-timers who would rotate in the afternoons. Now that my kids are a bit older they each just have one main teacher, so it's much easier! I remember having that same confusion when mine were tiny though with all the caregivers in the baby rooms!

I'll echo everyone who suggested Bar Harbor, Chicago, and Yosemite. A little of everything, but you have five weeks! :o)

Yeah, I'm on the "money is best" side here. I have two little ones in daycare and last year gave each teacher $100 to Target - I'm thinking of splitting it up this year, $50 to Target, $50 to Mardel, because this year they both have teachers who are very into their classrooms and curriculum, and I know they're spending way too much of their own money at the educational supply store!

@ c.m. - we didn't actually use the drop side mechanism at all, so I'm not sure if the paint would chip. I do imagine though that if you're using the drop side on a regular basis it would probably wear at the paint. But, you might find out that you don't actually need to use it anyway! Good luck!

I love the look of these cribs too - and yeah, like skeemer said, they're a dime a dozen on Craigslist. We had one for my second child and only spent $40 on it buying it off of CL - a little sanding and paint and it was perfect!

Oh my goodness, these sound delicious!

We fly about every other month with our two year old and three year old, and I always hit the dollar store for some new surprises before we leave. Each kid has their own backpack that I load up for them (I have to buy two of everything to avoid fights). The mini-MagnaDoodle is perfect, and I love Color Wonder markers for trips since they don't make a mess. Also, those silly bands? For some reason the kids LOVE them, and you can buy a pack for a buck, so I buy up as many different kinds as I can - the kids will play with them and make up stories about the different shapes and match them by color/shape/etc. I've also made a little picture book for each child with a little plastic photo album - I take pictures of the house, backyard, car, whatever, and close-up shots of me, my husband, relatives, their teachers, etc, making silly faces or whatnot so that the kids can flip through and see people and things they know. And when in doubt, suckers and gum will almost always keep them happy. :)