Consumer Report -from one who has been organizing toys for days!

As I have been cleaning/organizing/throwing away toys and many other things for the past few days....I have felt the need to express my growing feelings towards certain products.

There are products that (even though, I like to THINK of myself as unmaterialistic) have brought great joy to my family and products that have brought my children to TEARS...not to mention the frustration they have brought to Stephen and I as we try, try, try again and still end up wiping said tears.

So....without much further ado....

MARKERS!

Markers which look like these.....AVOID these at all costs!  Do not purchase them for yourself, friends, your children or gifts...unless your goal is to add more useless clutter to their house.

Markers that look like THESE are WONDERFUL!!!  They will last FOREVER (or for your crafty child, maybe a year which = FOREVER)!  Basically, I'm saying BUY CRAYOLA!  Do not buy scented markers...there is no way they can be good for you and they give me a HEADACHE!

Same goes for crayons....buy crayola or your kids pictures will have these little wax pills all over them.

There.  I said it.  I am an art supply snob.


HOTWHEELS!

When buying hot wheels tracks DO NOT buys the really cool looking tracks advertised that have lots of parts that break off and are supposed to do really cool things.  THEY DO NOT WORK...or if they do, they won't for long.  Pretty soon you're going to be finding the pieces EVERYWHERE saying, what does this go to???

DO BUY THE BORING LOOKING TRACKS THAT FOLD UP AND HAVE A HANDLE!!!!  Your kids will enjoy countless hours of racing for YEARS!  And that folding capability ROCKS!  And Stephen and I have stayed up late trying to find out which single hotwheels car is really the fastest???

LEGOS!!!

Even though, you will get a dizzying headache from finding them everywhere, Legos will pay you back in full with profit to spare.  We take ONLY these toys with us when we go out of town, for rainy days and they have kept, not only our kids busy all day, but many other kids occupied during bad weather as well.  Legos ARE WONDERFUL!  Also, Stephen and I enjoy playing with them :)

also...wooden blocks = good!

TOYS THAT WILL GIVE YOU A HEADACHE AND NOT REWARD YOU FOR SAID HEADACHE.

These would include Polly Pocket, toys from children's meals (may I just say AAAHHHHH!), and possibly Littlest Pet Shop.  Little plastic toys with no purpose drive me BANANAS.

Clyde ADORES transformers!  Which is why we had complete breakdowns with each transformer that came into our house.  It is hard to be devastatingly excited about something and then have it fall apart in your hands. 

PLAYDOH!

This one is simple.  I'm going to be a brand snob again.

I'm just sayin....generics are going to drive you crazy with their crumbles and their crazy awful smell! That smell will not leave your children's hands for DAYS!


GAMES!

Games that do not fit in their box....or never came in one to start with....DO NOT BUY THESE!  They WILL drive you crazy.  Also, many games are simply not entertaining.  Your kids don't play with them...they just take up space.  And your kids will cry when you throw them away.

Games that come in and fit in a box= good.  Games that actually do occupy children also = good.

BOOKS!!!

GENERALLY.... books = good!

There are exceptions to this rule, however.  Read books before your children do.  Some of them are HORRIBLE and should not be allowed in a children's section.

  There will come a day, when they will read faster than you and more than you and you will get SICK of children's literature.  At that point just hope and pray that they will talk to you about them and that they will cause your sweet ones no harm.

Small cardboard children's books that are supposed to be about Jesus or Bible stories are not exempt from the "read before sharing" rule.  We were given one that said Jesus was a good prophet and that people loved him so much they dreamed he rose from the dead.  FOR REAL, people! 

There is so much more I want to say, but I need to get back to organizing toys.  My pet peeves are starting to overflow, so there may be a sequel.

TTFN!