My parents bought Lucy this neat River Run Waterpark from Step 2. This weekend was the perfect weather to get it out.

(Translation: Leave the parts lying around under Eric’s nose to force him to assemble it. If assembly requires more than two steps and a screwdriver, you do not want me near it. Flat boxes from Ikea make my heart palpitate…)

Lucy has picked up the word “awesome!” from daycare, and that’s all she could say even when the park was still in the box. We knew it was going to be a hit.

After hours and hours playing with it Saturday (with Auntie Jenni and Uncle Marky) and Sunday (and Monday and Tuesday when she was home from daycare because Julia was sick), she now wakes up asking if it’s a Waterpark Day. The boy and girl floaty things that came with it are the Mommy and Daddy, and love going down the chute in the sailboat — and promptly sink at the bottom.

It’s been a fabulous tool for us, as Lucy really enjoys playing with it on her own, which means we can do other chores (gardening, raking, cleaning out the garage) near her and she is completely satisfied. I love that about this age — 2+-age toddlers are starting to really play on their own, which I think is a very important skill. It certainly puts less pressure on us.

My only complaints about the park are that a) it did not include an umbrella as shown on the product page (we rig our patio one up leaning against the deck railing with some bricks to provide shade), b) it’s clunky battery operated with D batteries, and I have doubts how long they will last, c) it’s very heavy when filled with water, making it difficult — if not impossible — to move around once filled.

Aside from that, it’s just a great toy. We’re looking forward to a long summer enjoying it.

I hope all of you have noticed the growing sponsors on the left sidebar.

I am a small town, community girl at heart. Although a decade ago I physically ached to bust out of my hamlet and catapult into j-skool at Ryerson, I knew after less than five years of living downtown Toronto that Big City living wasn’t for me. I knew after five weeks at the Toronto Star that a Big City reporter job was not for me.

And so — having picked up a fiance along the way — we moved back to Durham. In that full-circle way of life, I landed my first Big Kid Job at the very first newspaper I ever worked for (at the tender age of 15).

And so began settling back into the community feeling I felt missing from downtown. That closeness has only intensified after moving to north Durham — now with a baby — back to the stomping grounds of my youth. We are planting roots here.

So you have no idea how awesome it is to have these wonderful local businesses on the site. To have other people value and validate what is so important to me, and what I strive to achieve with this site, is incredibly rewarding and fulfilling. And what better way to showcase Durham Region and the network of businesses that support it than share them with you?

I have purposely chosen not to go with a ad network. There is more money that route, but little if any control over content. There are restrictions on what you can say about your ads and advertisers (nothing, mostly), even where they can go on the site itself. I have no interest in that, and it defeats the purpose of what I am trying to create here.

Please take some time to visit them when you have a chance. A big fat thanks to all of you (and my endlessly patient and supportive sister) for the immeasurable help in reaching this point.

Before there were any grandchildren on the horizon, Eric’s mom bought this Little People Christmastime is Here! book because it looked like such a fun read.

And let me tell you, that shrewed lady was right. It’s the best. book. ever.

How many days weeks are we past Christmas? And do you think I can get the book out of Lucy’s little hands? No! We are still reading about Ho-Ho coming, and packing presents, and the cute-stumpy Little People kids whispering in the fat man’s ear! Seventy bajillion times! In a row! Lucy adores this book.

It’s got more than 50 lift-the-flaps (which she has memorized, by golly. Ask her where the star or cookies or airplane is, and she will find it without any hesitation), made of durable, hard, glossy cardboard stuff. Lift-the-flaps are awesome for babies and toddlers, but many of ours have fallen apart under Lucy’s exuberant/curious fingers. But these are super sturdy. The illustrations are incredibly colourful and interesting, and an entire page has numbered flaps like an Advent calendar — so it encompasses learning about shapes, objects, colours and numbers, on top of Christmas.

(And FYI, it avoids the whole religious aspect of the holiday, and focuses on decorating, toys, caroling, family and Santa.)

Based on the plethoa of reviews on the Interweb, Lucy and I are certainly not alone in the love for it.

I considered trying to stash this away in our Christmas packing cases, but couldn’t get it out of her hands long enough to do so.

We have placed a moratorium gently asked that people not buy Lucy toys for her upcoming birthday, and in keeping with that theme, are going to buy a stack of the other available Little People flap books (Look! A brand spakin’ new one that’s not even in stores yet!). She’s going to love them. And thankthelord, we won’t have to read about reindeer and snow in July.

Wow. And the book was for ages 7+.

Mom protests after Santa murdered in kids’ book

A mother of two had the surprise of her life when she discovered a book her young sons received for Christmas had graphic descriptions of Santa Claus being murdered.

At first the gift looked harmless enough — a book of short stories packaged in a mystery kit called Whodunit, that comes complete with a flashlight and magnifying glass.

A printed note on the box, purchased at a local Chapters book store in Maple Ridge, B.C., says it’s appropriate for children over the age of seven.

The boys received the book from their grandfather who had no way of knowing the contents of the book because the package was sealed.

Krista Saunders said she won’t be reading the stories to her boys anytime soon. She did however read a few passages to CTV during an interview.

“They discovered every child’s worst nightmare, the lifeless body of Santa Claus,” she read from a story titled, ‘Who Killed Santa Claus.’ “He was in a storage room his head bashed in by the butt end of a 44 revolver.”

“It’s not a book appropriate for kids of any age I would think,” her husband Steve told CTV British Columbia.

Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s kick the weekend off with a blast, shall we? Here are the latest product safety recalls — one of which we own!

• The First Years 3-in-1 flush & sounds Winnie the Pooh potty (lead)
• The First Years reclining feeding seat (malfunctioning straps, thus falling risk — we own this one, and have never had a problem…)
• Starbucks fusion mugs (scalding risk from loose handle)
• Old Navy performance fleece boy’s jacket (strangulation risk)
• Collectible horse ornaments (lead)
• Crystal innovations jewelery (lead)
• Metal jewelery by Colossal Jewelery (lead)
• DesignWare confetti bursts (lead)
• Kidzone wrestling figure (lead)
• Toy bus (lead)
• Mighty Wheels power shovel (lead)

Lucy is a little artiste.

She loves to colour, draw with chalk, and paste stickers on every surface. When we head to the basement to play, she always beelines for her easel first.

We’ve filled her Christmas wish list with fun art products, which I know she’ll adore. (Also, Wishlisr is free, fun and easy!)

(Special thanks to Poppy and Jen O. for introducing us to Crayola’s Colour Wonders, and to my clever comedian husband for the post title, which I know will make Uncle Stinky snort with laughter.)

I’ve only subscribed to this recall email list since late last week, and have already received three recalls. How scary is this? I mean really? What’s going on here??? If I thought the stench and fumes from burning hard plastic wouldn’t kill us all, I’d have a giant Made in China toy bonfire in my backyard.

As expected, Health Canada is now also recalling the Bumbo Baby Sitter.

Added to this are recalls for children’s furniture (excessive amounts of lead) sold at Winners’ HomeSense, and Gymboree toy swords (11 have broken, causing a sharp point and “laceration” risk, although no injuries).

If you’re as frustrated as I am about all this, check out the Cool Mom Picks Safer Toy Guide. The site has scoured the Interweb for “the best handcrafted, locally made, organic, fair trade, or simply safer alternatives for younger children–for you, for us, for all the grandchildren and nieces and nephews of the world. We want you to know that safer doesn’t mean boring, and handmade doesn’t mean rustic.”

The guide is organized by age and action (teething and building and vrooming and cuddling etc.) and includes a whole lotta online discounts. Fantabulous.

I know our parents and grandparents shake their heads and scoff at a lot of these (“We gnawed on painted wooden sticks! With lead! And arsenic! And it was snowing! Both ways! And we liked it! And we turned out just fine!”), but each time recall news lands in my inbox, the worry grows. And I don’t know what to do. Do I burn throw out all of Lucy’s beloved Little People and squirty bath toys and bottles and sippy cups? Buy a lead test kit? Return the Christmas present we bought her this weekend which we know she’ll absolutely adore but, alas, is Made in China like almost every toy? Replace it all with eco-friendly stuff?

The thought of knowingly hurting Lucy makes my heart hurt, but it’s so confusing as a parent when some toys are safe, and some aren’t, leaving us wringing our hands and clucking like harried hens.

I…just don’t know.

When we were selling our house, we had to pop into my real estate agent’s house once to go over some paperwork. She has an almost 3-year-old, so Lucy was excitedly playing with Mia’s toys while the Big Kids chatted.

Lucy immediately attached to this build-a-flower set from Playskool. Circa 1992, it’s a cool set of plastic flowers, stems, leaves and bugs that fit into yellow bases. Lucy loved them so much that we attempted to find them online with no luck.

Just days before we moved, I popped into my favourite Once Upon a Child and loandbehold, there was the flower set for $6. A woman who was closing up her home daycare of 12 years brought them in just the day before.

Now it is Lucy’s very favourite toy. She plays with it at least once a day. It’s a perfect compliment to her love of fine detailed objects, and never fails to challenge her. She’s always so proud of what she makes! Watching her intently learn how to thread the flowers and stems has been fascinating, as are her continually growing creations. She’ll even build you a custom flower — complete with demonstrated sniffy-sniff — if you ask her nicely. And Lucy and her daddy never bore of lining up the bug-bugs on their fingers.

This is my secret weapon when I need a moment’s peace. Lucy will sit quietly and play for minutes at a time. The only downfall are how easily the little pieces get kicked around, sliding haphazardly on our hardwood floors. I can’t count how many times I’ve felt a pink petal poking the bottom of my foot.

But it’s worth it to see how happy $6 makes my girl.

I dunno about you, but my head is spinning with all these toy recalls.

It’s sickening to learn that toys purchased with reputable names such as Mattel and Fisher Price could cause brain damage. If you’re stocking your nursery with toys from the dollar store, I wouldn’t be as surprised. But now it’s as if it doesn’t matter.

Here is the latest recall, dated Thursday, affecting 675,000 Mattel toys. The Aug. 14 recall details, affecting 18 million, is here. And the Aug. 1 recall for 1 million Fisher Price toys, is here. Don’t forget, back in June, 1.5 million Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends toys were also recalled due to high levels of lead.

Those are huge, brand name toys — Sesame Street, Polly Pocket, Dora. Think of how many kids have those toys. All were made in China. Most of the toys in our house — and probably yours — are made in China, because almost all of them are. Wood is scary for babies, because the paint just chips off. Are unpainted or metal old fashioned toys the way to go?

Remember the dog food recall in the spring? After animals started dying, melamine was found in wheat gluten from China.

Anyone else noticing a pattern here? It makes me nervous what’s lurking in other products.

One of my favourite Canadian toy retailers, Grand River Toy Company, has a great line of made in Canada toys and games available. You’ll notice, however, they’re expensive as far as toys go. Don’t most things that are good for you always end up costing more?

But maybe we’ve all been lulled into a false sense of security with low prices. Less expensive obviously doesn’t mean best quality — nor, apparently, safety…

Lucy has always enjoyed reading, but the past two weeks or so is suddenly obsessed with it. She will sit through all her books, then bring them to you again. And again.

She is rather smitten with this my family mirror book, which has a pull-out mirror at the side for baby and reader to make faces in and compare to the pictures in the book (Lucy loves smearing spit kisses all over it).

The premis of the book is sweet — family! love! names! But it’s actually really offensive and terribly stereotypical.

Mommy is doing laundry with the daughter. Daddy is playing ball with the son. Auntie is preparing picnic food with her niece. Uncle is flying a kite with his nephew. Grandma is feeding the birds with grandaughter and grandson, while Grandpa is pushing his grandaughter on the swing.

I’m bothered each time I read it. The women are preparing meals or doing chores. The men are playing with the kids. At least towards the end there’s some gender/sex-mingling with Nana and Pops.

Within our at-home family unit, we’re very “traditional”: a mummy, a daddy, a dog. I even do most of the housework and Lucy care, but that’s because I work part-time at home — if Eric was in my shoes, he’d do the same, and does so when he’s home after work and on weekends.

Our extended family has non-traditional elements to it: divorce, a gay family member, some that were single parents, some that don’t have children, some that live far away, some that aren’t married. I want Lucy to be exposed to all types of family situations not just in her real world, but in all mediums — I think it’s part of good child raising.

That being said, if the my family mirror book is representative of one particular family, then great — I’d be doing a disservice to take it away from Lucy especially since she obviously enjoys it so much. But it’s certainly not ours.

I haven’t looked really hard for “non-traditional” family books, but if anyone has suggestions on some, please share.