Back-to-school preparation isn’t something that’s particularly on my radar yet since my kids are still mostly in the Anklebiter Stage of childhood, but I’ve been hearing a rumor that this most glorious time of year is fast approaching. 

With schoolgear in mind, today’s post features some cool lunch boxes I’ve found recently. If you’re looking to branch out from the tried-and-true paper bag, here are some excellent alternatives:
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I haven’t had the pleasure of hosting a party for children yet, and secretly I hope my own kids grow up preferring other celebratory activities on their birthdays because really, it doesn’t matter that the partygoers are only three feet tall, it’s still a PARTY and I would rather drink paint than throw one. 

I do, however, like to check out invitations. I love invitations, even when they aren’t addressed to me, and I particularly like creative ones with a personal touch. Check out some of these cute ideas for unique birthday party invites:
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It’s been a month since my baby had his first birthday, and it’s time to call the winners of the Best Birthday Present for a One-Year-Old competition.

First prize goes to the Fisher-Price Baby Gymtastics Bounce and Spin Zebra.  My parents gave this to Henry, and he lovvvvvvves it.  So do his 3-year-old siblings:  the twins are a little big for it, but can still play on it.  It spins
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I recently discovered that my 3-year-old LOVES having tea parties. His play is an uncomplicated exercise that basically involves repeatedly pouring out pretend tea for those in attendance, while asking over and over and over (AND OVER), “Want MORE?”. If these parties were based in reality, his stuffed animals would be long expired, their bladders having burst and their systems succumbed to electrolyte imbalance triggered by water intoxication — but as long as he’s not practicing for any upcoming fraternity hazing activities, I find the practice fairly charming. 

Well, for the first ten minutes, anyway. It tends to get a little old after that. Oh, did I mention that I am a Honored Invitee of these events? And that I am expected to say “YES PLEASE” over and over and over and over, while knocking back cup after cup of invisi-tea? Not only that, but I must supply the squeaky voices of the bears and so on, because they too would like some tea, MORE PLEASE!

Anyway! So: tea parties. We’ve been using random cups and things from around the house, but I’ve been considering the option of giving him his own tea set. I know, a tea set for a boy? WHY NOT JUST BUY HIM A BRA.

In poking around online, I came across a number of cute sets that aren’t too, well, girly. Not that there’s anything wrong with a boy using a girly tea set, mind you, but some are even too foofy for ME. In case you happen to be looking for your own Non-Floral Tea Set, here’s what I found:
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I seem to be on a roll recently with disappointing purchases.  One person’s bad purchase can be another person’s good purchase, especially when the problem is with a purely subjective things such as scent or flavor, but it can still be helpful to know what someone else wouldn’t buy again.  I’ll tell you mine, and then you tell me yours and maybe I can get off this roll.

This one was totally my own fault:  I KNOW I don’t like fruit scents.  But I love Consumer Reports, and they rated the Gain Joyful Expressions fabric softener very highly, and Target only had it in Apple Mango Tango scent.  In the washing machine, it smells like apple cider.  After the clothes are dry, the scent reminds me of a faint lingering mildew smell.  It’s a great fabric softener, though, and someone who likes apple-scented stuff would probably love it.  Er, perhaps not after I’ve said it smells like mildew.
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Last summer I went on a car trip with a toddler and a newborn. Um, that was really fun! As you might imagine!

One thing that made a world of difference was the DVD player. Sweet, peaceful Steve bought us several happy hours during the day in the car, particularly toward the end of the day when traffic got bad and no one was in the mood for another car game or car song. I really, REALLY recommend an in-car DVD player of some sort (and a few fresh DVDs) if you are driving a long distance.

Toys for long trips are tricky. Ideally they should be hand-held, one-piece, non-messy, non-noisemaking, and long-entertaining. It’s hard to hit all those bases, but here are a few that came close.
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My daughter has her third birthday coming up. She likes dinosaurs, so I spent an evening on Amazon.com looking for dinosaur stuff—ideally stuff I could get shipped for free. The evening went by so FAST. I thought, “You know, this was supposed to save me time over going to the store.” But look! I found some great stuff! And if YOU need dinosaur gifts for a child, perhaps this WILL save YOU time!

The first thing I found was
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I have never enjoyed what you might call an austere minimalist design theme in my living areas, mainly because I am a packrat and kind of messy and I’m not very good at picking up as I go. My husband is even worse than I am (I mean, at least I don’t take off my socks and just . . . leave them on the living room floor, for the love of god), but even the two of us combined have NOTHING on the impact a kid has on a household’s decor. Toys, clothes, furniture, balls — and that’s just the toddler! The baby gear takes up even more space, and I sometimes suspect everything is multiplying in the dead of night like Tribbles.

So I’m always on the lookout for good storage solutions for kids’ stuff. Currently we have two major places I’m keeping toys: one is a big tote I have in the family room (it looks a little bit like this, only wider and without the fake croc detailing), the other is a wonderful wooden toy chest in the toddler’s room that doubles as a bench (sort of like this). However, even though I try and pare down and rotate the toys on an ongoing basis, it’s clear to me I need MORE places to cram all the children’s accouterments — especially during that glorious time of night when they have gone to bed and the adults can spend a minute or two de-cluttering before settling in front of So You Think You Can Dance.
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My 2-year-old has never been particularly interested in music, unless you count his current interest in telling me to turn the radio OFF, Mommy, it’s TOO LOUD. (Note: it is NOT too loud, kid, I save the eardrum-bleeding stuff for when you’re not around.)

I do have a number of playlists on my iPod dedicated to kids’ tunes, though, just in case he stops being such a wet blanket about music sometime soon. Some of my favorites:

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The books Riley wants us to read over and over are Good Night Moon, Curious George Visits a Toy Store, and any of the Dr. Seuss tongue-twisters. As children’s books go, I figure it could be much worse—at least he likes the classics. He’s got more than one book in his collection that would have to find its way to the recycle bin if he wanted to hear it every day, such as the odious/preachy I Love You Mommy.

I’m sure most of us are up to our ears in kids’ reading material and don’t need a whole lot of suggestions in that arena, but I wanted to share a few of the title that have a special place on Riley’s bookshelf. A couple of them are many years old, from when I was a little kid, and I hope that Riley one day enjoys them as much as I used to—and maybe even passes them down to his own kids. If they survive his childhood, that is, which given the state of some of his much-loved tomes seems doubtful.

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