Toys|Holiday Toys|Toys for Tots

Just Jenna asked:


ok, so my son was placed by child protective services (canada) in the care of his paternal grandmother for a period of 6 months while my spouse and i worked out our differences (we were fighting constantly about his infedelity, and his sister called the police). it has been 4 months and we have since splitten up. since day 1 of my childs placement, i have supplied above and beyond his daily needs... 2 cribs, 2 exersaucers, 2 playpens, 2 jumperoos, duplicates of all educational toys (baby einstein videos, baby leapfrog, baby cell phone, baby EVERYTHING, all in 2's) everybody thinks i have twins, but i buy 2 of each, 1 for at his grandmas, and 1 for at my house. i have also paid for all his diapers, wipes, food, tempra, etc.

my question is about the baby bonus. my son is 7 mos old and has been in his paternal grandmothers care for 4 mos. i have not yet claimed the baby bonus, so who is entitled to it? my worker claims i should ive it to his paternal grandma, but i disagree with that, because i have been the one who has been paying the expenses for his needs.

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Momto2inFL asked:


My stepdaughter’s birthday is in a week and we’re sending her present down to her mother’s house so she can open it at her party. When we spoke to her on the phone, we asked what she wanted and couldn’t understand what she was trying to say. (She’s at the speaking level of below a 2 yr old) And we don’t ever ask her mother because she always tells us the most expensive thing possible and well, we don’t really have tons of money.

Given that my stepdaughter is a little behind developmentally, we talked about buying her some fun, educational type games or toys. She’s not currently in any sort of daycare or preschool and her mother made the choice of not enrolling her in kindergarten so we feel even moreso that she needs some sort of educational toys.

Now I know little girls love toys, Barbies, Hannah Montana, etc. Do you think my stepdaughter would be disappointed if we bought her something educational rather than more Barbies or more toys?

If we had the money to buy both, we would, but unfortunately we don’t have enough to do that.

Any ideas on some good educational gifts? Or some themed toys that are fun but also help a child learn?

Thanks for your help!

Well to be honest, not that how we budget is really anyone’s business here, but we have cut back to the absolute minimum. We have no cable, internet or house phone. We don’t know the definition of “eating out” or “having a life” because we don’t have it fit in our budget to do so. We still have a child support obligation and we have our own child also. As far as visiting her, we see her as often as her mother will allow or as often as our court order allows. And she was just here for her 2 month summer visitation. We live 6 hrs away so unfortunately traveling all the time to visit isn’t always an option, not to mention it’s very expensive with the cost of gas. And as far as I go, I am the first of people to go out of my way for my stepdaughter and I go above and beyond for her. She was my “first child” before my son came along. She’s my little girl even though I never gave birth to her. My husband and I often go to the dollar store to buy her cheapo gift items.

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Proud Parent of 6 asked:


"Nursery" (dolls)
"Diner" (kitchen)
"Classroom" (educational toys)
"Construction Zone" (blocks and legos)
"Closet" (dress-up)
"Today's Technology" (tv, computer, and game systems)
"Band Practice" (paino, guatiar, drums, microphone, etc)
games
"Book Nook" (obviously books)
"Grocery Store" (cashredigester, belt, shelves of food, carts, and baskets)

How can I set each section up? I know that the nursey I will get the cribs and put their babies in them. Then I will have there high chairs, changing table, and bouncy seat set up. For the store, I set up with the shelves of food they can buy. Then there is a cashredigester. Then for like the diner section I will set up the kitchen and the food they "buy" from the "store" can be stored inside the kitchens fridge, cabients, etc. They also have their little aprons and chef ahats hanging up. Those are the only thing I have set up. How can I store a ton of games? What are your ideas? Do you like this idea?

Kansieo.com

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄ƷAℓεx & Aаяöи have my ♥ asked:


What are the best educational toys, music, & books
for toddlers and younger children? Any good websites? Do you let your kids write a Christmas list or do you surprise them?

Kansieo.com

Ellen asked:


My children are 4 1/2 and 3.

When I buy them gifts for birthdays, Christmas, etc, I always try to get something fun but educational.

For example, my 3 year old's birthday was Saturday and I got her a tadpole kit so she can watch her tadpoles turn into frogs.

My sister in law sent a long hateful e-mail to my husband this morning about how I don't let my kids have enough fun and he needs to "put his foot down" and "be assertive" with me about how "he's the husband and what he says goes."

He laughed it off, but I think the whole thing was a little extreme just because I don't let them play with Bratz dolls and prefer more educational toys.

And it's not that I made her refuse a gift from her aunt or anything. Her aunt called the day before and asked if my daughter had any Bratz dolls and I said "She isn't allowed to" so when my sister in law asked what she might like I said "Anything, really, but if it's educational that would be great."
Whoops. I didn't check where Yahoo's suggested category. Just clicked okay. My apologies for the miscategorization.

And they do have dolls- just not Bratz. I take issue with the amount of make up and lack of clothing Bratz dolls wear.
Kids CAN have fun with educational toys. And my kids DO have toys that aren't educational. But certain toys are too "Grown up" for a 3 year old to be playing with. I am not questioning my parenting or choice in toys as much as I'm questioning whether it was poor etiquette to refuse the Bratz doll, since that seems to be what ticked off my sister-in-law.

Educational toys

Techy_Gal asked:


I would like to buy a toy for my on year old. I am interested to know what toy you found as most beneficial for a one-year old ...something that is usable for a reasonable time-frame and educational.My budget is upto $150

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