Crayola TaDoodles

These are fun and easy for your toddler to hold. Crayola have come up with a new “Beginnings” line aimed directly at toddlers and young kids. The Line includes a washable set, a bath set, markers, stamps and a few others.

Here is Oz they are around $14 or so and just fantastic. Buy your baby a hard cover note book and let them draw (or scribble) a few times a week, then you can watch them get better and better throughout the book.

Crayon Buddies are cool, fun and easy for little hands to hold, and surprisingly very difficult for big hands to hold. That should keep big borther, sister or.. Dad from taking over your toddlers artistic designs.

Villeroy & Boch Meow Wowwow

I know what you’re thinking, this may be one of the ugliest designs as far as “cute kids” things go that ever existed. I know.. the one I have is Yelow with dogs and not much better. However, this my fellow mess clean-er-upper-ers, is genius.

It’s called a thermal cup from Villeroy & Boch and this design is the “Meow Wowwow” though it does come in a few other designs at around $25 – $35.

Here’s the thing though… it doesn’t spill. Fill it with water or juice for the kids or use as a saftly cup when you’re on your sixth or seventh glass of wine for you, either way, tip it, shake it, rattle it, open it or close it.. you won’t get more than a drop out of it unless you mean to.

They also make a few similarly designed cups for kids which we will be test driving shortly but this one is a winner and perfect for the car or dinner or any of those times when you need an extra hand to prevent a spontanious flood of upturned drink. The Meow Wowwow is for you.. and lets face it, addivtive to say.

Welcome to the Parental Class of 2009

It’s going to be a bumpy ride but you will get there eventually. The key to being a parent? realising that you’re making it work even when you will never feel like you are.

For all of those who have been around since the beginning, here is the 12 – 18 Months top ten, for any newcomers, this is what you have to look forward to.

1: You’ve felt a pea being pushed into your ear for the first time since you were a toddler.

2: You will spend more time talking on your child’s plastic flower phone to made up people than you will on the real phone. The kicker is that it doesn’t take very long before you start having quite long and meaningful discussions with yourself on it.

3: The phrase “aww that’s so cute” has been replaced with “Hey! NO! Stop Doing that!”

4: If you thought the never ending drone of the sing song Fisher Price voices were irritating wait unil your toddler decides to use (any) toys as banging objects and furniture weaponry. It’s just more fun if your shape sorter is singing “.. shapes are in my cookie jar..” whilst being dropped from a great height or pressed and dragged across perfect floorboards or leather furniture.

5: If you have pets you will find yourself up against of whole miriad of disgusting phrases that if people who don’t have a toddler could hear, would think you were just really funny. “Don’t lick the dogs mouth”, “Don’t touch the cat’s bum”,

6: You’ve uttered “The baby did it!” and meant it. It’s around this time when your criminal career may begin as Baby decides that in all manner of split second opportunities, they will steal something off a shelf of a supermarket or store and hide it in whatever fabric around them will cover it up. If you have found a half nibbles grape or crayon under your baby’s dress when you’re packing the grocories in the car then you’re not alone.

7: What is yours… is theirs. And this means no longer yours until they decide to discard it. At this point (if not destroyed) it is yours  until they see / hear / sense that you have it again, at which time, once more it will no longer be yours.

8: A little voice calls out a tongue tied half whisper of “mum mum?” and you fall in love all over again each and every time.

9: You spend your afternoons together paying very close attention to pointing out everyones nose. There is Straberry Shortcake’s nose, there is Dora’s nose..

10: It’s not all so scary though.. You Know You’re A Parent When your toddler walks up to you, smiles, puts there little arms round your neck and gives you a kiss. ..

… Of coarse it’s a little more awkward, I didn’t mention the stumbling on the way over, almost hair pulling  at the back of your neck and missing your mouth whilst sticking out their tongue at the last minute for the kiss. But you get the idea..