General discussion - Mom and Dad Esq.

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by Sparklehorse
I'm looking for a gift for a 1 year old nephew. He has an older brother and a reliable stream of hand-me-downs. Plus he's just getting to be big enough to show particular interests. His mother requested some unspecified Leap Frog item but looking around online, most of the stuff in the 12-24 month age-range gets mixed reviews. The Baby Tad looks like the most appealing Leap Frog toy I've found thus far.

Does anyone have any suggestions, Leap Frog brand or otherwise? The boy in question has pretty intense concentration, has been walking for a month+ already, and is pretty mellow and happy except when he's hungry.

Many thanks in advance.

I would say 1 y/o is a bit young for a Leap Pad. Maybe the "Lily" frog doll (which talks and has spots to touch to answer some questions -- identify hands, feet, knees, numbers, etc.)

or you could buy him a gun.

S_A_M

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by robustpuppy
Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

That IS like magic.

S_A_M

[Sparklehorse]

Originally posted by Secret_Agent_Man
I would say 1 y/o is a bit young for a Leap Pad. Maybe the "Lily" frog doll (which talks and has spots to touch to answer some questions -- identify hands, feet, knees, numbers, etc.)

or you could buy him a gun.

S_A_M

I ended up buying him the recommended farm animal thing and this:



I figured this would be something his water-obessed older brother would be able to share/fight over with him.

[robustpuppy]

Originally posted by Sparklehorse
I ended up buying him the recommended farm animal thing and this:



I figured this would be something his water-obessed older brother would be able to share/fight over with him.

Oooh oooh I want one!

[tmdiva]

Originally posted by Secret_Agent_Man
Sounds like you don't want an SUV, then -- because there aren't any with good gas mileage.

You are certainly right about the third row accessibility. We use ours rarely, so its not an issue.

Check the cross-over vehicles that won't admit they're just station wagons. Some of them probably have better mileage. The Subaru Forester, etc still gets good reviews. (They do seem to have mandatory Rainbow bumper stickers around here, NTTAWWT.)

S_A_M

Crossovers have the same issues with third-row accessibility (if they have one). A Forester wouldn't gain us anything over our current Outback, and if we really wanted to keep a wagon (we otherwise love it), we'd look into getting smaller carseats. But I like the big, safe carseats we have, and I'm interested in occasionally carrying passengers other than my children, so it looks like we're headed to minivan-land.

tm

[taxwonk]

Happy Mothers' Day. because I know you all live for my affirmation.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by taxwonk
Happy Mothers' Day. because I know you all live for my affirmation.

Trolling for MILF. Nice.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
Trolling for MILF. Nice.

An infant on my art car on Saturday wore a onsie that said "I put the M in MILF." The TV cameras zoomed in on him.

[Gattigap]

The Lanyard

The other day as I was ricocheting slowly
off the blue walls of this room
bouncing from typewriter to piano
from bookshelf to an envelope lying on the floor,
I found myself in the "L" section of the dictionary
where my eyes fell upon the word, Lanyard.

No cookie nibbled by a French novelist
could send one more suddenly into the past.
A past where I sat at a workbench
at a camp by a deep Adirondack lake
learning how to braid thin plastic strips into a lanyard.
A gift for my mother.

I had never seen anyone use a lanyard.
Or wear one, if that’s what you did with them.
But that did not keep me from crossing strand over strand
again and again until I had made a boxy, red and white lanyard for my mother.
She gave me life and milk from her breasts,
and I gave her a lanyard

She nursed me in many a sick room,
lifted teaspoons of medicine to my lips,
set cold facecloths on my forehead
then led me out into the airy light
and taught me to walk and swim and I in turn presented her with a lanyard.

"Here are thousands of meals" she said,
"and here is clothing and a good education."
"And here is your lanyard," I replied,
"which I made with a little help from a counselor."

"Here is a breathing body and a beating heart,
strong legs, bones and teeth and two clear eyes to read the world." she whispered.
"And here," I said, "is the lanyard I made at camp."

"And here," I wish to say to her now,
"is a smaller gift. Not the archaic truth,
that you can never repay your mother,
but the rueful admission that when she took the two-toned lanyard from my hands,
I was as sure as a boy could be
that this useless worthless thing I wove out of boredom
would be enough to make us even."

-- Billy Collins

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
Trolling for MILF. Nice.

I'm old. I can still make them feel young and innocent.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by Gattigap
Some long-assed poem

Fucking over-achiever Mamma's Boy.

[dtb]

Originally posted by taxwonk
I'm old. I can still make them feel young and innocent.

Well, one of those, anyway.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by taxwonk
I'm old. I can still make them feel young and innocent.

I bet you have to get up early on the day of atonement.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
I bet you have to get up early on the day of atonement.

How long does it take you to say "So I lied. So sue me?"

[mommylawyer]

Originally posted by tmdiva
Crossovers have the same issues with third-row accessibility (if they have one). A Forester wouldn't gain us anything over our current Outback, and if we really wanted to keep a wagon (we otherwise love it), we'd look into getting smaller carseats. But I like the big, safe carseats we have, and I'm interested in occasionally carrying passengers other than my children, so it looks like we're headed to minivan-land.

tm

TM..I ended up going with the R-class - which is a crossover, and it actually seats 6, not seven BUT the third row is actually easily accessible and roomy (i am 6 ft tall and I fit back there comfortabley) the lowered the floor so your knees aren't in your chest and it makes the seating quite nice.