Parenting Toddlers

For anyone in the market for a new toybox, I have a solid gold find for you. Think cute yet indestructible. The toybox is made by Step 2, and looks like this:

It comes in various versions with the only change being the color of the toylid, currently offered in pink, red, or blue. The best thing I’ve found about this particular toybox is that Alex can pull on it, climb in it, and it doesn’t so much as teeter. It’s also easily wiped off with a simple Chlorox wipe or general kitchen cleaner. The storage capacity is great, and the added shelving gives me the perfect place to put Alex’s favorite books (at least until he stands up and pulls EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM back down again). Cost wise it was extremely affordable, running from about $80.00 at most of your big chain stores like Target or Wal-mart. Even better deals can be found via ebay or some online stores.

So if you’re on the lookout for a great toybox that will stand the test of time, give the step 2 a second look. You won’t regret it!

Do you still have bumpers on your toddler’s crib? (If your toddler is still in a crib that is) If you’ve taken them off how is that working out? Is your little gymnast anything like mine and determined to get various limbs stuck between the slats? If so, and you’re not quite ready to try the big kid bed just yet, here’s a solution for you.

This breathable crib bumper is actually very thin, and set up in a mesh which allows better air flow through the crib. It’s also thin enough that it should prevent your gymnast from standing on it to climb out. My hope for Alex is that it also prevents him from sticking arms and legs through and getting them stuck. I’ll keep you posted on how it works!!

If your interested in finding out more about this particular bumper, here’s the link: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/

Parenting often reminds me of being in the first car on a roller coaster ride that may or may not have passed it’s last structural inspection. It can be scary, extremely nerve racking, and sometimes makes you a little queasy in the stomach area, but in the end, it turns out to be the most amazing thing you’ve ever done. That’s why I’m even more excited that I’ve become a part of the Carnival of Family Life. The beginning of next week I’ll be hosting the Carnival here at Parenting Toddlers, and I’m really looking forward to checking out all the wonderful posts! Make sure and check in with us on Monday April 30th to see all the great parenting articles. And if you’d like to jump on board with all of us parents who are stuck somewhere between screeching in joy and clutching our stomachs in fear, swing by and submit your own article here. Also, don’t forget to swing over and visit Kailani at An Island Life. She’s the one who came up with the idea for this carnival in the first place, she’s the one who ends up putting in most of the work, and I think it’s time she got some of the credit already!

Now put your thinking caps on, dig through your posts and send us the best parenting articles you can come up with. Think of it as a secondary safety belt for the rest of us.

carnival of family life, parenting articles

So Alicia over at Parenting Sites 411 tagged me for this nifty blogroll idea, and after I woke up from my medically enduced haze (that’s cold medicine induced, nothing else), which is currently made necessary by the fact that I cannot, FOR THE LIFE OF ME, fall asleep without coughing and hacking for at least two hours every night. Anyway, after staring mutely at the screen for about an hour, I think I finally figured out how to keep this going! And don’t worry, it shouldn’t be hard at all for anyone who’s had a solid night’s sleep in the past week or so! So check out the great sites below, and tell them Parenting Toddlers sent ya!

Alex and I just love these sites!

Here are the rules:

1. Write a short paragraph at the beginning of your post and link back to the blog that put you on the list in the paragraph. This isn’t a suggestion. You need to break up the duplicate content string. Someone took the time to add you so the least you can do is give them an extra linkback.
2. Copy the list of originals below COMPLETELY and add it to your blog. If you would like a different keyword for your blog then change it when you do your post and it should pass to most blogs with that keyword.
3. Take the adds from the blog that added you and place them in the “Originals� list.
4. Add up to 5 new parenting or (Mommy/Daddy) blogs to the list in the “My Adds� section.

My add ons:
A Work of Art: Raising Our Exceptional Son
Ever After … My Way
Adventures In The 100 Acre Wood
An Island Life
Adoption and Fire

The originals:

Lala Girl
The Bookworm Broadcast
Parenting Sites 411

Cass Knits
Geni Desu Yo

No Average Mom
Notes From The Trenches
Busy Mom.net

Groovy Mom
Coffee Time
My Thoughts, Ideas, and Ramblings
Toil

My Single Mom Life
Tips From The Money Goddess
Army Mom: New Jersey

Melissa’s Place

Three Sons and a Princess
Moot Thoughts and Musings
A family runs through it
Uglyhead
Parenting Toddlers

For those of you who have a cat at home, AND an inquisitive toddler, I have a solution for you. After struggling with a dog who’s sole reason for living was to manuever a way to get into the cat box, my husband and I finally found something that works. We bought a large rubbermaid container (which you can get in Wal-Mart pretty much everywhere). We then took a litterbox from the cat section with us to make sure it would fit once we got it home. Once at home, my husband cut a doorway into the side of the container and smoothed the edges with a dremel tool. If you don’t have a dremel, a high grade sandpaper should also work. Once the doorway was big enough for our cat, and smoothed down, we put the uncovered litter pan inside the container, up against the opposite end. Then added the cover (for privacy of course), and just laid a piece of fabric over the whole thing that matched the colors of the room. We placed the container long ways against a wall, with the doorway facing the adjoining wall. We left enough room for the cat to get around and into the container, but not enough room for Alex, or our dog to get back there. It works out great, especially since Alex doesn’t even realize it’s there, and the dog can’t gain access.

Hope this helps all you cat lovers out there!

We all have them - millions of stuffed animals overtaking our homes!! Regardless of the fact that I have bought my child three stuffed animals in his life, he still has about 80, not even counting mine from previous years. He loves to play with several of them, so it isn’t like I can box up all of the extra ones. We also don’t have a lot of storage space, but if you do, you may want to box up some of the lesser favorites (or give them away!).
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This was a minor annoyance until one day, when the little guy left the battery half-in, half-out and made it leak battery acid all over. We didn’t want to use duct tape, as it’s messy and ugly and one of our remotes is from the cable company (altho I doubt they are going to want it back after Lil’ Duck is through with it). Masking tape was just something else for the little guy to take off and stick in an odd place.

Gaffer tape, however, turned out to be the perfect solution. It’s black and thinner than duct tape, so it wasn’t as obvious, but it’s sturdy enough to withstand a toddler. I’m also using it to keep the fronts of my speakers where they belong (the little guy tried to take them off and poke in the cones) - since the speakers are black, you don’t notice the tape, and it isn’t damaging the finish or anything either.

I hate baby latches. Either they don’t work, as in he can still open them , or they are so hard to get open that I contemplate unscrewing the handles to get into the cabinet or give up the contents as lost.

Anyway, what works for me on my double cabinets are simple baby links, normally meant as toys:

Just connect two of them to each handle (left photo - you might need an extra one between, depending on your handles) and you can detach them for easy access (right photo). It still keeps the little explorer out (altho I do have to occasionally tighten the screws on the handles from him yanking on them), even as he destroys the rest of my house on a regular basis!