Toy Commercials Are So Annoying!

Oh my gosh, I am about ready to turn off the television until after the Xmas holidays! Why do they have to put three toy commercials in a row into each commercial segment? Do they not realize how annoying it is for the parents to hear, "Mom, I want that" over and over and over again? Are the toy companies endearing themselves to me in that way? Heck no!

I know it's a marketing ploy. It's no different than stores like Wal-Mart putting all those interesting items kids HAVE to have right at their eye level throughout the store. With the economy so bad, there's no way we can give our kids EVERYTHING they want. I'm just hoping we'll be able to give them a little of what they want.

It's not so bad with my older kids but with my littlest one who thinks everything should be hers because she has no concept of cost, the economy, or bills (and believes Santa can bring her anything and everything she wants), it's a little irritating (and a bit sad because this Xmas is going to be a lot leaner than past holidays).

Bestselling Kids Toys

I checked on Amazon to see what the bestselling kids toys are so far. I wanted to see what we were in for come Christmas. Here is the link for the bestselling toys.

Do You Hyper-Parent Over-Scheduled Kids?

Christmas is coming faster than it seems like it should. It seems like it wasn't that long ago that we just did all the holiday gift giving, overeating, and hemorrhaging money!

I don't like to buy gifts for kids that they tire of quickly. I like to find gifts that I know they'll use their imaginations for. It is good for children to be creative and use their imaginations instead of having every hour of every day scheduled for them running here and there in my opinion (let's face it, it's not good for the parents either). Kids are so over-scheduled! I certainly don't want to hyper-parent 24/7 either.

I found these Playmobil Toys that I think give kids the opportunity to create their own little stories while playing, which is what we had to do as kids. Give the kids some free time to use their imaginations and let them just be kids. That's my opinion.

Potty Training

We are right in the middle of potty training our youngest child. I will be BEYOND happy to finally be rid of pull-ups forever. Out of all the kids I've potty trained, she has definitely been the most stubborn. Might have something to do with the fact that she's the baby of the large family (and spoiled by all).

She's resisted potty training for quite awhile but as of yesterday, she's come on board and is doing her best. We are going to use rewards (toys and our time as rewards). I am looking at toys from the Only hearts club. She also has one special toy that she's picked out herself that will be the "finale" gift when she's potty trained. Spending time doing something special together will be another reward.

I am hopeful that this attempt of hers will be it! I'd love to have potty training behind us.