The Little Lasso

There's a fine line between a baby dropping a toy ("Oops!"), and a baby tossing it on the floor just because it's a fun game for her to throw it and you to pick it up.  Fun for baby, maybe not so much fun for you.  Especially if we're talking about a busy (germy!) restaurant floor... or a sidewalk... or the backseat of your car.  There are many different styles of tethers and toy leashes out there, and I can't speak for all of them, but I can share with you the great features of "the little lasso", a made-in-USA tether that can hold a sippy cup just as well as a tag blanket, and whose website encourages you to "stop playing fetch".  With a "C" shaped plastic oval loop on one end (firmly attached so it can be moved a bit but not removed, at least not by baby) and a "noose" on the other end that adjusts to hold just about anything you want to keep off the floor.  The little lasso has a sturdy elastic encased in a gathered tube of machine washable fabric, and has three large plastic beads threaded on it to allow the size of the tether noose to be adjusted.

An adult can easily insert a toy into the noose and then tighten the bead/elastic of the tether to ensure a good tight fit.  The other end of the tether (the plastic clip end) then can attach to baby's highchair or stroller (or wherever else you need it).  Being about a foot long from clip to toy, it will keep things from hitting the floor when dropped, preventing unnecessary spills and broken items, as well as saving your back (and perhaps also some of your sanity as well).  Simply give the tether a tug to retrieve the dropped item, and you and baby can get on with your day.  Eventually, baby will probably learn how to retrieve the item herself, although it's anyone's guess if (s)he will ever be satisfied without your intervention for each "oops"...

I find the little lasso most helpful at dinnertime, whether at home or away - to keep a few toys attached to baby's high chair while I hustle to get supper on the table (or on special occasions, while I sip wine and look forward to the wait staff bringing my plate from the restaurant kitchen...)  My little one also seems amused with its elastic properties - Daddy holds onto the clip, baby holds onto the toy.  Tug of war ensues...eventually baby lets go of the toy and BOING-G-G-G off it goes - laughs all around.  Plus the toy is still on the tether so no one has to go chase it down.

If you think something like this can help you to save time, energy, and stop the endless cycle of pickup/wipe off/give to baby/drop/pickup, have a look over at http://www.thelittlelasso.com/, check out all of their lovely designer fabric patterns, and maybe pick up a few for yourself or for the next baby shower you get invited to.  You won't regret it!

Review: Moon Dough

Every now and then I like to take my son with me to a store and let him choose a toy, whether it's as a reward for good behaviour, a special occasion, or just because.  The most recent purchase was a product called "Moon Dough".  My four year old had a hard time deciding between it, and the Hungry Hippos game.  I opted for the less expensive choice so that part was easy for me.  He wanted to play it just as soon as we got home, and so we opened up the package and I noticed a LOT of instructions.  Like, a whole page of instructions on how to clean up the Moon Dough.  I should have been suspicious at this point, but my son's excitement was contagious, so we proceeded to take out the dough, kneaded it like the instructions said, and little bits of it kept flaking off and falling down.  It has a very strange texture, almost like really fine paper fibers that stick together.  It doesn't stick to anything else but it also seemed to have a hard time really lumping together and sticking to itself so there were little flakes of it scattered on the table and rug.  We decided to move it into the dining room where the floor is wood and easier to clean.  We put a vinyl tablecloth on the table to keep it clean, as we do when we break out the play dough, but the flakes of Moon Dough still ended up everywhere.  My son used the molding tool to make some hamburgers, which was pretty neat, but contrary to the packaging, it was pretty much impossible to make the burgers look "right" with a yellow bun and red meat filling.  I had also hoped that perhaps the different colours of dough would be easier to separate after playtime than play dough is (or am I the only one that has six cans of a brownish-blueish mixed play dough?) but that too was pretty much impossible.

Moon dough does have a few advantages - it never dries out so you can use it forever.  It also does not contain any wheat, so it would be well suited for kids with allergies.  It's also said to be Hypo-allergenic.  So if you are a real play dough hater, you might like Moon Dough.  However, I ended up returning our Moon Dough to the store, I was not prepared to deal with all the extra mess, and the more I read the information in the packaging, the more concerned I became about it - the flakes could get in kids eyes and require medical attention, and any product that includes a mandatory step of washing your hands with liquid soap after use makes me a bit leery.  In the end, we spent a few extra dollars and got the Hungry Hippos game which my son enjoys all the time, and it doesn't make me want to cringe every time he plays with it.

If you want to read more about Moon Dough, or buy some for yourself to try it out, you can find out more over at http://www.moondough.com/