A Blog for Online Parents

Roy Toy offers a collection of different building sets that are made in the USA.  From their website:

Our wood log building sets are made from 100% USA materials, with food-grade dyes used to provide color. We lightly emboss the surfaces of each wooden block for a smooth finish that is comfortable for little hands. Our building sets can be configured in an unlimited number of ways, providing hours of imaginative play.

You can purchase Roy Toy Sets on Amazon.

Did you know that Wikki Stixs are made in the USA?  From their website….

“Wikki Stix One-of-a-Kind Creatables are Made in the USA! Further more, all children’s products made in this country are required by the Consumer Product Safety Commission to undergo regular, periodic testing, checking for such things as toxicity and lead. We again, as we always have received the certification that Wikki Stix conform to the safety standards set by the Commission and conform to ASTM D-4236, the art material safety standard.

In addition to assuring you that there is nothing toxic nor lead-bearing in our product, we would also like to advise those of you dealing with allergy situations, that Wikki Stix do not contain latex, gluten, nor any peanut or other nut oils or byproducts. Wikki Stix are made of acrylic hand-knitting yarn (the kind you’d use to knit baby booties!) and a food-grade, microcrystalline wax, derived from the petroleum refining process. This wax is also used in lipsticks, bubble gum and as a covering for certain cheeses.

We are very happy to share this information with you, and hope that it will help you even more fully enjoy your selection of Wikki Stix One-of-a-Kind Creatables! If you have questions on any of the foregoing, please don’t hesitate to contact me personally.

Kem Clark

President

OMNICOR, Inc.

Manufacturers of Wikki Stix One-of-a-Kind Creatables

800-869-4554

info@wikkistix.com”

Compare this with Bendaroos, and their F rating from the BBB.  I am not sure I would trust a company that has an F rating from a the Better Business Bureau to manufacture things in the China.

What about you?  Personally, I am going to buy the Wikki Sitx!

New Addition to the Arts & Crafts section of the website today.  I received this email back from Creations By You, makers of craft kits for children that are made in the USA, in response to my inquiry.

“Good Morning,Thank you for contacting us. All of our products (except watches) areproduced here in the USA. Our offices, production areas, and warehouses arelocated in Littleton, Colorado.Thank you and please let us know if we can be of any further assistance.Sincerely,Customer ServiceCreations By You1500 W. Hampden Ave. #4EEnglewood, CO 80110p. 1-800-706-8697″

You can purchase Creations By You made in the USA Craft kits online at Amazon.com

I am super excited about my new idea for Baby Product Video Reviews – A Directory of Toys Made in the USA.I will be the first to admit that this website gets neglected, as I work on my other websites and client sites.  Sometimes, the time just isn’t there.  But a renewed interest in finding toys for my kids that are made in the USA has prompted a new idea for the site – to create a place for parents to browse for toys that are made in the USA.  I am tired of worrying about what is in the paint, plastics, and varnishes that toys manufactured outside of the USA.The local furniture store owner and I recently had a conversation about the inspections that US manufacturers are subject to compared to imports and got me thinking that I want to make every effort to only buy toys made in the USA.  But finding anything — toys especially — that are made in the USA is difficult and I hope the new Made in the USA toy directory can help other parents like myself.If you know about a toy company that manufactures in the USA, please email me at Julie@Baby-Product-Video-Reviews.com

My son has a Thomas book that is his favorite and my least favorite.  It is a “lift-the-flap” book.  On the outside it says “Over 55 Flaps to Open.”  I laugh whenever I see that, because next time I see that on the outside of a book, it will do anything but entice me to buy it.  I really like reading to my son, we read a lot each day, but sometimes I just don’t have the patience to sit there while he opens every single flap and makes conversation about what is under each flap.  I have to be full-rested (as if) and in a really good mood to enjoying reading any flap book.

I promised some pictures for yesterday’s review of the Bebe Au Lait Review.  So here you go…

My grandma got the kids a Trunki from Amazon and it is Awesome!!!!

If you remember, I was debating the purchase back in September.  I watched the videos on the Trunki website and poured over the website deciding if it would be good for us.  Now that I have it the answer is a resounding “yes.”

When we opened the box, we didn’t even have to tell my son what to do with it, he just hopped on and started rolling around my mom’s kitchen.  The thing that surprised me most was how big it was.  In the pictures on the website, I think it looks very small – they show a teddy bear going in it and it takes up half the thing.  Well I have successfully fit about 20 diapers, two change of clothes for my daughter, one change of clothes for my son, a Matchbox pop-up play set, a blanket for each of my kids, plus a few other odds and ends in it.  Also it is super easy to carry on your hip.  The top of each side kind of indents, and it makes it really easy to carry when you put the shoulder strap on.  My only concern is that the place where the shoulder strap attaches doesn’t look that strong.  I hope it holds up over time.

Can’t wait to use it on our trip….I’ll post a follow-up review after travel.

This nursing cover was a 13th hour purchase. I have two kids, a boy and girl. So I think I am finished having children, and I am almost done exclusively breastfeeding my daughter, but I still thought I needed a nursing cover for my last month of exclusive breastfeeding because we are going on a trip abroad and I didn’t want to have to bring a blanket to cover myself while nursing. Blankets are bigger and heavier than nursing covers, and blankets aren’t that easy to keep on my daughter now that she is easily distracted while eating. So I got a Bebe Au Lait Nursing Cover from My Precious Kid. I couldn’t be happier with my purchase. I will be posting a video review of the product tomorrow, but for now, let me tell you why I like it so much.

1. Super light weight – easy to fold and stuff anywhere, purse, diaper bag, stroller.

2. Stylish fabric – I got the black and white one – it will match just about anything.

3. Easy to put on – Once you put the strap through to make the neck opening, you can put this thing on and off with one hand while baby is in the other hand.

4. Lots of coverage – material is big enough to cover you and the baby while you are latching her on and once she is drinking. Also helps my daughter to stay focused when drinking because she can’t see everything going on around her.

5. Awesome little viewing window – the 2nd biggest problem with using a blanket for a nursing cover after it falling off all the time, is that you can’t see your baby to help her latch on while also covering yourself for the comfort of those around you (Note: I only use a cover to make the people around me feel comfortable. I could care less if people saw things while I was nursing my baby). This nursing cover has a tiny band of flexible metal at the top of the cover so it stays “open” so you can look down at your baby. Very very cool!

So overall, I think it was a great purchase, and one I wish I would have made a long time ago.

Purchase Nursing Cover Here

I really didn’t get that much use out of my Boppy Pillow when I had my son because I always found it kind of a pain to keep around and pull out every time I nursed him.  However, with my daughter, the opposite has been true.  I use it all of the time.  She is much more picky about how she wants to be fed.  She really likes to be in a straight line across my chest and the Boppy pillow really helps me keep her in this position when my son is bouncing around us on the couch while I am trying to feed her.

My my mother-in-law comes from Malta (as does my husband).  Here are a few things I learned from my mother-in-law about cooking.

1.) Fried eggs on a sandwich make a great picnic lunch

2.) Learning to cook (at least a few) meals without a recipe will save you massive amounts of time and frustration, and will help you learn how to adjust other recipes to your liking.

3) Make dinner preparation easier by starting to cook early in the afternoon. Cut up potatoes and put them in a bowl of water — add a clove of garlic sliced in quarters to really make them yummy. Cut up veggies and put them in water (if they will keep). Make soups or salads ahead of time so they only have to be served at dinner time.

4.) Adding some cut up garlic cloves to boiling veggies gives them a great taste.

5.) There is liking to cook and there is LOVING to cook. My mother-in-law LOVES to cook. It can reach over 110 degrees Fahrenheit in a Maltese summer where most people don’t have air conditioning and she is still in the kitchen cooking soup. I like to cook, but I can guarantee that my family would be eating sandwiches and cereal all summer if I had to cook in that heat.

6.) You can make baby food from scratch. This idea had never occurred to me until she mentioned in passing that she was making my niece’s baby food. I did it for my son. It wasn’t that much work, it got him used to eating “normal” food, and it saved us a lot of money.