Just Us Kids Online’s Blog

This week, we have the pleasure of having Emma from – The Wannabe Work At Home Mum & soon to be launched Bibbles gracing our blog! She shares with us some ideas on how to keep your toddler at bay, especially, when it comes with toys.

Those of us, who have ever had the pleasure of a toddler toddling around their house, will no doubt appreciate the comparison to warfare when discussing toys, or more specifically, the chaotic mess they often create. This is quite simply because it IS war. The great battle to maintain some order (or even just any view of the floor at all)! And yes, these pint size people are our opponent in this battle. Don’t laugh, for they are an almighty adversary. What they lack in height, they MORE THAN make up for in speed, determination, curiosity and a quickly developed ability to climb like a spider monkey. Just give them thirty minutes, no, even seven minutes and they can work through a house like locust through a wheat field.

If you are lucky, the damage might only look like this:

In my opinion, there are three weapons in a toddler’s arsenal that you need to prepare for, if you are to survive another day. They are mess, curiosity and boredom. Let’s look at each of these in more detail…

1. Mess – You can’t escape it.

Unfortunately, this just comes with the toddler package… legs, arms, head, eyes, ears etc and mess! They are more than capable of making it but unfortunately are still learning the concept of tidying it back up. There are ways to speed up this ‘learning’ (and I will get to those) but in the meantime, there are some tactics to win this war. Nothing fancy. It can be as simple as a big buckets, boxes or baskets; these are all very easy ways to maintain the mess. I can vouch for the fact that it can take just a few minutes to tidy a room full of chaos into a bucket/box/basket (even less if you can Michael Jordan the toys across the room into the waiting container).

One of these:

and one of those:

And you can win the war (for now).

2. Curiosity – Killed the cat.

If you have a cat and your toddler is anything like mine (oh please don’t let me be the only one?) then Tiddles can live a hard life indeed.

They are poked, prodded and cuddled within an inch of their lives:

I believe this is because toddlers are naturally curious. It is this same curiosity which can see your Tupperware cupboard turned inside out, cat biscuits consumed (eek!) and a gravitation towards mobile phones (remote controls, cameras… anything that has buttons and is off limits really). And this is where the buckets/boxes/baskets shine through again! They keep everything that isn’t off limits within easy reach, allowing your little munchkin the ability to play freely and safely, enjoy their curiosity and delight in pulling every-single-thing out to see what lays beneath. Never mind!.. As we’ve already established, it only takes a few minutes to tidy it back up again. (Oh and because it is easily accessible, you can encourage your toddler to help with the tidying too. It can even be a game to ‘help mummy get the toys in the bucket’!)

3. Boredom – The last stand.

Even the most spoilt of toddlers (blame the grandparents) can get bored with their many, many toys. This can manifest in tantrums or complete house destruction or both! We can at least be thankful that they are too young, for now, to whine ‘I’mmmmmm boooooored!’ One way to combat the boredom attack is to rotate their toys. Keep at least half packed away (out of sight, out of mind) and swap these with the accessible toys once every week. It is truly amazing how a little break can bring back the novelty of a toy. Absence makes the heart grow fonder I guess! Another way to win this battle is to combine forces with other desperate mummies. Strength in numbers. Once you have a solid alliance, why not have a toy swap?

Distract the troops with new shiny playthings, without the shiny price tag:

In conclusion, if a book were to be written on ‘The Art of War: Winning the Toddler Toy Battle’, those are all the warfare strategies I would have to offer. Don’t get me wrong though, I don’t claim to be an expert. Just a battle-hardened mummy. Nor do I claim to be winning this battle. Think of me as a bumbling recruit and my toddler as the commander-in-chief. And how about you, do you have any toy war strategies to share?

I am Emma and I am wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend, an employee and most recently, a busy mummy to an 18 month old daughter and a 3 month old son. My two beautiful babies have given me new priorities in life and as such, I am now working enthusiastically towards establishing my own business, Bibbles – Beautiful Bibs, Smocks and Aprons, so that I can be a work at home mum. As I work towards this goal, I also blog at The Wannabe Work At Home Mum, in the hope that sharing my journey will provide some insights, or at least some laughs, for others with similar aspirations. Unexpectedly, blogging has stirred a new found love of writing and I am more than happy to be a guest blogger for fellow ‘Mumpreneurs’.

Are there really any differences between the games, toys, activities for girls or boys? Is one toy targetted more at girls than boys, or do you feel they shouldn’t be gender specific? Why do I bring this issue up? Well, a few reasons really.

First being, the issue my 4 year old son had with riding his sister’s hand-me down bike. Not because it’s a hand-me down, more because he thinks it’s a “girl” bike. Why? It’s white with bright pink on the body of the bike. He’s fine with riding it in our backyard, but has HUGE issues with riding it to and from his sisters’ school. I asked him why, especially since it’s a good ride-able bike, unlike his black and red “boy” bike, whose chain keeps on coming off while you ride it. His reasons were that he didn’t want his peers (his sister’s friends’ siblings who were the same age as he is) to make fun of him. My reaction to that was to tell him this, “It doesn’t matter what you wear, or ride or play with, it makes you more of a man to ride a PINK bike, if you’re comfortable with yourself”. Ok, right…as if that would register in his 4 year old head. So instead I told him that his friends would not make fun of him for riding the pink bike, friends don’t do that. Plus, it’s either walking there or riding his sister’s old bike – his choice! He chose the bike. And luckily his friends were not there to witness it either. I don’t know what their reaction would have been, honestly, and deep down inside I really did not want him to go through the “ewww…you’re riding a girl bike” teasing either. But then both him and I should not be made to fear the “masses” should we?

Seriously, this is 2010, where people and parents are more liberal and open minded. Where parents are trying to be less gender specific in the types of activities, toys and games they give their children- or are they?

I had another incident when I first started Just Us Kids Online. A complaint more like it. Not about my level of service (phew) but the products I stock. The person emailed me saying that like most other stores out there, my store did not stock enough toys and games for boys and that we were being unfair and biased, as boys needs are often neglected. I was, appreciative yet stunned at the remark made. I went through my store to see if there was a balance of boys and girls products. I knew I had tried my best to source non gender specific products as I have children of both genders so, would often look at products that would suit both. Then I thought to myself, could it be due to the public perception of what a boy or a girl should or could be playing with, that shapes our own perception?

Why do we care so much what others would think if we dress our kids a certain way or let them play with which ever toys or ride what ever bikes? The thing is – we shouldn’t. My middle child, who is a girl LOVES playing with her younger brother’s toys. She thinks it’s cool. Not as if his toys should only be for boys. Toys like trains and cars. And my son, yes, he plays dress ups with his sisters and other fairy make believe games they come up with. They are all at an age where curiosity and discovery is at the forefront of their development. So, as a parent, my role is to encourage them to explore, accept and realise, that we shouldn’t discriminate something because society says so.

Do you think you stereotype your kids? What do you think of people who place emphasis on gender stereotyping on their kids?

We recently came back from Sydney and Canberra for a family holiday. Drove up from Melbourne all the way to Sydney and on the way back we stopped over in Canberra for a night. Travelling with children, in a car can either be a horrifying experience or a good one, it all depends on the “equipment” you bring along on these long trips. For us, we know what keeps them at bay – FOOD! Yes, food! So we stocked up on snacks for them while driving up and down. They also each brought along the toys, games and writing materials they could easily use. Their favourite music CD was also a bonus. Now, this can be pretty annoying if listened to repeatedly, so make sure you strike a deal with them to have YOUR turn in the choice of music too! Lastly, a DVD player or even your lap top with their favourite DVD. This is excellent when they do become bored towards the middle part of the trip.

So, what are your tips on surviving the school holidays? Share with us, be it on travelling, while home or even outdoors and go into the chance to win a gift voucher worth $70 for your child! Either share with us under the comments section below or email us at contact@justuskids.com.au with the subject heading “Competition”.

Christmas is just around the corner, and for those of you who just hate fighting through the crowds at the shopping malls, like me, why not shop online? Ok, so we’re an online store, so you would think we’re trying to promote our store. Well, kind of, but seriously, I still prefer shopping online. For instance I went looking for my daughters’ gifts at the shopping mall the other day. Boy have I never felt frustrated shopping before! I usually LOVE shopping. But, when it comes to knowing or seeing an ad for the thing advertised, and then heading there NOT finding it, now, that’s a big annoyance! Not only was I wasting time that could be spent doing other things, but it was also tiring and a waste of petrol I say. I was actually looking for a particular toy – the Sylvanian Family collection. It was advertised that they would be at Target. No, not even a stand. So I got home and thought, why don’t I try the internet? Sure enough, there were plenty and even one site dedicated to selling just that collection – www.sylvaniancity.com! They are based in NSW and I thought, I would try buying a small amount to see how reliable they were. 3 days later, my package arrived – in mint condition! It was so easy. No hassle, no crowds, all in the convenience of my own home.  I also got to “window shop” so to speak at the different online stores that had the collection and compare prices. So, if you want to save some time then I strongly suggest shopping online for things that you don’t need to try on. Make sure they are a secure site, and have contact details that you can actually reach should you need your queries answered quickly.

Imaginative play to me is an essential part of a child’s development. It encourages the child’s creativity, especially when it comes to using the different toys and equipment as props that we adults would sometimes never think of! It also developes a child’s sense of imagination, when they create different “worlds” or scenarios with their toys and props. Imaginative play can start at a very young age, but when should they stop or should they even stop at all?

My children love imaginative play, ok, so they LOVE toys, can’t get enough of them. The eldest will turn 8 early next year and the second one is 6. I don’t mind them getting (birthday presents from me) or buying (with their pocket money) toys like dolls, littlest pet shop, etc. To me, it encourages their imagination in forming the different worlds, and I also have a view of how they view the world too, through the language they use. I have a few family members however who have a varying view on this. To them, because the girls are in primary school, they should be playing “teachers”, doing writing, playing computer games and these imaginative play are considered childish. Of course being the person I am – I ignore those comments. They are after all my children and under MY care. But, what do you think? Should there be a limit to imaginative play? And this includes dressing up, and playing pretend too. What are your views? Share your thoughts with us.