WFMW - Toys Worth Buying

Today's Works For Me Wednesday is Toys Worth Buying. With so many toys in our house, surely there is something in here that was worth the money we paid for it!


For babies, we always liked the hedgehog bristle teether. It was great at soothing the gums and also made a great squeaky sound on the teeth that they all loved, while managing to not be annoying to parents' ears!

For older babies and toddlers, we LOVE washable finger paint. It's washable. It's still OK for them to go topless. And if worst comes to worse, you can hose them off, right? As long as you don't have carpet in your dining room, it's a breeze to clean up and so great for creativity as well as the sensory aspect.



My most recent "best buy" in the toy category would probably be the Martian Matter Alien Maker. The kids all like it, the refills aren't too expensive and they talk to each other and tell stories while they wait the 5 minutes for their "guy" to dry and watch the other kids work on theirs. Great lesson in sharing. They should put that on the box!

WFMW - Morning Rush

Last week, I posted about the problem I had with going back to work and my husband getting the kids on the bus and off to daycare. I didn't think they'd like my checklist. Turns out I was wrong. Although we did need a little more. Along with their morning checklists (pack snack, brush teeth, put on shoes, etc.) they have papers that they need to take every day. Things like their lunch selection that they have to turn into the teacher each morning. And what if one of the kids gets a warning or told that they need to do something after school? How would the parent getting them off the bus (me) easily know that the one putting them on the bus (him) had made this mandate? We ended up with a whiteboard hung above where the kids put their backpacks. There is a small checklist for each child printed out and taped at the top of the board. Then we can write under each child's list if there is a reminder for that child in the morning or if there is something that I need to know when they get off the bus. Add in the days of the week magnets I picked up at Target with their papers for that day under it and we're good to go. Or at least we have been good to go so far...5 days in.

Works for me Wednesday

Over at Rocks In My Dryer, it's backwards Works-for-me-Wednesday. This week's assignment is to present our dilemma to you hoping for a solution that will help us out. My dilemma is how to help my husband get the kids off to school and daycare without forgetting any of the necessary steps. (School starts tomorrow and I go back to work part-time on Tuesday.) For now, I have a checklist to hang by the door, but I think he (and the kids) are getting sick of all my checklists. What works for you?