mdoell77's Profile

We don't consider ourselves Montessori, but we also keep things pretty kid-friendly in our house. The kids' bathroom doesn't have anything that's out of their reach and we used to have a low drawer in our kitchen so they could access their dishes. We all use our regular dishes now, so now that low drawer contains the kids' art supplies. They like to grab paper and crayons to create art at the dinner table while I cook.
And we allow our kids to access snacks (gasp!). There is a basket in our pantry that holds items that are appropriate for the kids to snack on, and they can also grab things from the fridge. They have to ask permission if it's close to dinner, but my 5 year old son regularly grabs himself a snack in the morning when he wakes up. And it's very rare that either kid (2 and 5 years old) takes an inappropriate amount of food because they've been taught what is an acceptable portion. Although, there was one time when our son ate 6 leftover breadsticks for breakfast.....but somehow he survived!

I use disposablediapers and flush poop down the toilet, so *some* of us know to do that! ;)

I love all of the ideas in the comments, and the only one I would add is magazine subscriptions. My kids read their Babybug, National Geographic for Kids, My Big Backyard, etc over and over again. We keep old ones in the car for car rides. Besides, what kid doesn't love to receive mail?

I've heard that rubbing with a piece of bread works too. I think mayo would leave behind a greasy mess. And yes, washable crayons are the only type allowed in our house!

The invitation and the sign about the amazing Desmond are so fantastic. This entire party makes me want to start putting a circus theme into my son's brain now so that by December he will think he chose this idea!

I love this! We try to keep library books on one shelf in my son's room and books from school in the bag they came home in, but it doesn't always work. Just the other day we returned the bag to school with items missing. Apparently that's what happens sometimes when you tell a 5-year-old to 'put everything in the story bag!' A landing spot like this could definitely help us out.

Ridiculous.

I think these are terrific and if my toddler cries because she can't move it, I think she'll live. If I was worried about the kids using it as a vehicle, I wouldn't keep it upstairs where an accident could happen. Locking the wheels would solve a lot of problems.

We started out with handmade knock-offs because my mom was prepared to head out to Venture (anyone remember that store?) at 4am on Black Friday when my dad said, "Do you honestly think any of our kids would get up that early to buy YOU something?" She called her friends and cancelled immediately, and I have to say, I totally respect her for it. I won't get up that early to buy my kids anything either!

Just to update: my son really likes these. He started out making the basic dinos and now likes to mix and match to create new dinos.