yrlh's Profile

Oh wow. I’m in deep love. Love the color palette, the faux birch shelves and the storybook quality to everything. There’s so much whimsy, but nothing is too precious and cute. It’s a room that grow easily. And the stuffed frames? Truly inspired. I will be copying those in my daughter’s room. They’re the exact thing I’ve been looking for, but nowhere near creative enough to devise on my own. Thank you for sharing your talent with us.

I *totally* understand the convenience of the choice of doing this with the kids out of the way, but I think that doing so takes away a real learning opportunity. There is a lot of value in learning to actively and willingly let go of possessions, instead of holding on to them just because we loved them one time or just because “It’s mine!” Definitely not advocating that children run the process or have final say, simply suggesting that learning to give gracefully is a critical part of learning to receive gracefully.

I live in Southern California. While we have mild weather and a lot of entertainment opportunities, they don’t come cheap. And sometimes you just get sick of all the wet clothing and sand that goes with a beach outing.

We take advantage of free movie days in the summer. Several movie chains offer them. It’s a nice escape from heat or rain and if the movie is objectionable or my daughter wants to leave early, it’s no big deal because the movie cost us nothing.

Also, since we’re in a car-dependent area, an escape to public transportation is a novel treat for my 3-year-old. While not free for adults, a round trip/all-day pass for our light rail is $5. We hop on the air conditioned train, ride to one end and then come back.

The higher price is the suggested retail price, but P&G and Target are smarter than that. I suspect they will be permanently “on sale”, making their selling price equivalent to Pampers traditional offerings and enticing to style-concious parents. Enviormentally-concious parents will continue to look elsewhere, whether they be motivated by toxin concerns or waste. My daughter is no longer in diapers, but when she was, I found that gDiapers and Seventh Generation satisfied my needs for style, convenience, and a smaller environmental impact.

I really love this idea. I have been trying to find a happy medium between fabric, wallpaper, and vinyl decals. Something that has a bold, graphic look, but feels more permanent than decals often look (to me). This just might be the ticket.

We bought a mini crib (Annabelle by DaVinci) and we have been very happy with it. Initially we planned to keep the nursery and computer room a shared space, and our second bedroom is only 9’ x 9’.

My daughter slept in the mini crib from birth until well past her second birthday (she will be three in July). She has always been tall for her age, and never ran out of room (kids don’t exactly sleep stretched out like boards). We would have continued to use the crib, but my daughter began to tell us that she wanted to get in and out of bed by herself, and we followed her lead and converted her mini crib to a twin size bed last fall (DaVinci sells matching rails for this purpose). The idea that a crib with a small footprint could be modified to get used throughout her childhood was another major benefit for us when we researched this model.

Some things to consider:

Since the mini cribs are non-standard, it limits your choices when it comes to bedding (unless you can sew). We bought fitted crib sheets designed for pack-n-plays in solid colors, which had the benefit of being quite inexpensive. We also bought two crib bumper sets designed for mini cribs (also solids) because they were on clearance for $18. Though we bought ours in a large, regional baby store, mini-crib mattresses are not sold at the Major Retailers, but can easily be found online.

Also, my mini-crib only converts to a twin. There is no toddler bed option. This meant moving from a very small footprint bed to a MUCH larger footprint bed, and required the purchasing of rails, boxspring, and mattress (versus continuing to use the crib mattress in a toddler-size bed). Depending on your child, this may not be an issue. For us, it meant a few weeks of my daughter sleeping on a mattress on the floor while she transitioned from sleeping in a crib to a bed.

Good writing and photos. I think the last idea could be a whole post on its own, “Five Storytime Snack Ideas.”

Not that it’s hard to get my almost-three-year-old to snack on anything. But to eat anything resembling a meal? Forget about it.

Land of Nod, Leaps and Bounds, and Magic Cabin all have non-plastic, attractive options for kids outdoor chairs and picnic tables. If you a DIY-type, look up the toddler and big kids picnic table plan at Knock Off Wood:

http://www.knock-offwood.com/p/plan-index.html

Love it. Adorable, simple, and inexpensive. Hats off, Katie.

Here’s a step by step plan for building a toy washing machine from Knock Off Wood:

http://www.knock-offwood.com/2009/12/plans-toy-washing-machine.html

There is also this cardboard DIY version from Petite Planet:

http://petiteplanet.blogspot.com/2010/03/build-your-own-cardboard-play-washer.html