toys – Page 2 – Mediocre Mum

WOW!

I had to laugh…we received a selection of toys from WOW to try out and no word of a lie the first thing that came out of Madame’s mouth when we opened them was WOW!

We received Danny’s Diving Adventure, Robin’s Medical Adventure and Pippa’s Princess Carriage. She absolutely loves them all. She’s just starting the stage of imaginative and role play. I have to say it’s one of my favourite stages so far. I love eavesdropping on the conversations between her and her toys, really makes me smile. I really need to catch some of it on Audioboo.

The toys are durable (I dropped one on the slate floor) and don’t require batteries. Apparently, the ambulance uses some type of friction technology to make the Nee-naw sound. It’s so much less annoying than a battery operated one and can’t be accidentally left on. Keep an eye out for some of the Magical Features.

The only negative I found was the packaging, every parent’s nightmare. This isn’t specific to WOW toys but most toys in general. It took her dad, a builder, me and a pair of needle nose pliers to free them from the cardboard.

I love building dens!

I used to love building dens as a kid. According to my mum we used to spend hours doing it. My sister and I would use every sheet in the house and any piece of furniture we could move.

After dinner tonight we set about building a den with Madame, using EZ Fort. It was brilliant fun. The only thing I would suggest is never build a fort with someone who has an engineering degree or you will get comments like this….

‘Doesn’t have a positive enough fixing’

‘If you want to build a box structure to make it stronger you always need diagonals, you know crane jibs…’

‘You need multi-angle points on the joints or you can’t put them in at right angles…’

For goodness sake, we’re just building a Fort not the Eiffel Tower!

For the most part the construction kit was great, easy to assemble and we could construct it indoors, which is a must here in the UK. However, if I was going to purchase one for myself I’d probably opt for the Toobeez Life Size Building Set, the next model up, as it looks sturdier. We found once we constructed it and draped a few blankets over it, it collapsed. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a light weight sheet big enough.

All in all, it was great fun. I’m going to let you in on a little secret….this isn’t the first time I’ve built a den since my childhood. Look what I built in a 5 star hotel a few years ago! Weirdly room service didn’t bat an eye! I’m just a big kid.

When I was a kid……

I never appreciated how lucky I was growing up in Canada, until I had my daughter. It now hits home whenever I roll up the rug in the front room, so she can ride her tricycle around the lounge and spend endless hours suffering germ infested soft play centres.

When I was a kid (god, I must be getting old) we lived in a small rural community with approximately 10,000 people. We moved there when I was 2, there was a sawmill nearby and both my father and grandfather worked at it. We lived in a secluded development set back from the highway and surrounded by forest. In the morning, my sister and I’d head out the front door, with barely a goodbye to my mum and not return until dinner time. We spent the whole day cycling, exploring and getting into healthy mischief. If we got hungry during the day we all descended on the nearest house and helped ourselves to the fridge. It was one big happy community.

This was my playground:

I’d give my right arm for that space and freedom again! However, saying that, you make the most with what you have. I’ve been in the UK for almost 12 years and I’m incredibly happy here and consider it home. However, I still struggle with the lack of space. I’m learning how to make up for it and have gotten over my urge of knocking down internal walls to make more space.

Nevertheless, in reality this is my garden:

It measures, approximately 5 x 9 metres.

However, thanks to ingenious toy manufacturers we have managed to create a scale model of my childhood playground. We now have Outdoor toys, Little Tikes slide and a Little Tikes Playhouse. It’s not Canada, but we’re enjoying the great outdoors!

Who’s the largest distributor of toys in the world?

No, it’s not Hamley’s, Toys R Us or Disney!

But in fact…..it’s McDonald’s! Surprised? So was I.

I was cleaning out Madame’s room today getting rid of toys to make way for the onslaught of new ones at Christmas and I came across a load of Maccy D toys, the ones that come in Happy Meals. Have I just outed myself? Yes, I take my daughter to McDonald’s occasionally, usually when I’ve had a tough week, can’t be arsed to cook or she’s been exceptionally good. We call it the ‘Burger House’ or ‘Chez Ronald’s’ so she can’t out us to our posh Annabel Karmel wannabe mums!

I’m a firm believer of anything in moderation, so you can stop tutting. We go on average about twice a month. In addition, I’m fully aware that cattle are a threat to the environment, as they produce more CO2 than transportation. Then again, I was a vegetarian for 20 years so think I’ve done my part. So, unless you’re a vegan who doesn’t own a single synthetic or animal based product please keep it to yourself!

However, these toys are another environmental nightmare, you can’t give them to mates, as you’d have to admit you went to McDonald’s, and they’re made from nasty plastic that can’t be recycled. As a result, I now have a pile of crappy toys (who needs a Bazooka wielding penguin?) that I don’t know what to do with. Sadly, I think they’re destined for a landfill site unless someone has a better idea.

This isn’t going stop me from going to McDonald’s however next time I’m going to say ‘no toy thank you’!

Photo Credit

Swear Box

Karma Sutra Cooking Cutters