Home Maid Simple

Tag: toys

Staying Connected to Loved Ones the Cute and Cuddly Way

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CloudPetsForever #CollectiveBias

What do you do when you suddenly find yourself away from a loved one for weeks on end? Changing careers became an obvious choice for us as teaching just wasn’t working out anymore. The change, however, meant Mark had to go to 6 weeks of training before being officially hired.

6 weeks! The longest we’ve ever been apart is maybe 1 full week for him to play with the band at NCAA…and he was not missing me too much during those trips, nor were our kids old enough to really feel the effect of Dad being gone.

This, though. This has been tough. We moved 1300 miles for the job, and then he went off a couple hundred more to train. The kids are missing their dad immensely, and I’ve found it hard to go to bed at a decent hour while wondering if I should check the door locks a couple more times just to be sure.

One thing the kids have loved (and truly I have too), is that we purchased a very basic television plan. While it’s been fun for them to veg a bit while Mom tries to get work/school/cleaning done, I was not expecting the rush of commercials!

“Mom I don’t know how to make my bed, I need the zipper sheets” – Let me teach you!

“Mom I’ll never take a shower unless I can have cool lights flashing at the same time” – Take a bath!

“Mom we’ll pick up our dirty clothes if it’s a basketball hoop!” – Guess you’ll start to smell stinky!

But then. Then there was the one for CloudPets™. A stuffed animal that combined both cuteness with a special way to receive messages from loved ones. And this is what I heard

“Mom we really need a cloud pet so we can send it to Dad and tell him we miss him”.

My heart, be still. These kids love and miss their Daddy, and gosh darn so do I. So you know what? We went to Walmart and bought the Kitty CloudPet™. The way this works is you don’t actually send the CloudPet™ as one of my children assumed. No you hang out with it at home, download the free app that goes with it, and invite approved (through the parental controls!), other loved ones who may be far away to send messages to your CloudPet™. Oh and don’t forget to grab the 3 AA batteries it will need.

Currently CloudPets™ can be found in select Walmart stores, but will soon be available nationwide! We found the pallet display in the kids clothing section of our local store.

Meet Darth Kitty – the kids had to compromise on a name since one just wanted to call her Kitty, and the other wanted Darth Vader. We had a lot of fun figuring out how to get Darth Kitty set up to receive messages, and then we sent Daddy a special invite to start sending messages. You can watch a video and see just how easy the Set Up is.

After a successful test run of “Hi Girls…can you hear me? Did this work?” message, he moved on to telling them bedtime stories. He can take time whenever he has a break at work to send the message, and then I choose when to send it to Darth Kitty so all can hear together – usually as a special bedtime bonding time.

We were getting pretty sad that Dad is missing their first day of school this year. When he was a teacher it was always fun to send them all off together – school and work. But not this year. I’m hoping we’ll find a special message from Darth Kitty next Tuesday morning with some encouraging words that can only come from a Daddy on the first day of school.

I have a feeling we’ll find with this new job Dad may miss more of the special events then we’re used to. While in the past his schedule has always lined up with the kids, it will now vary from day to night, and include holidays. I’m pretty sure Darth Kitty will be put to good use during those missed occasions.

How do you stay connected with loved ones?

August 5, 2015
Guess whose Birthday it is…
That’s right, it’s the Energizer Bunny’s 25th Birthday, and he’s celebrating at Walmart with Energizer Max batteries. The best part – Bunny wants to give you a present!

The sad realization is that I’m older than this bunny that just keeps going.

I was pretty stoked to realize that after buying 2 packs of Energizer Max batteries, I could redeem codes online for a $10 gift card back to Walmart. That almost covers the whole cost of the batteries!

Don’t try and use the code here, I’ve already claimed it, and they can only be used once.

Claiming your gift card is really so simple. I’m terrible at keeping receipts, and then I get annoyed that I have to pay postage to send proof I bought a product for the company to send me the promotional item. Energizer has taken it to the next level by doing it all digitally. You just take your 2 codes and enter them online, fill out your mailing info, and click…

Now what am I going to buy with that gift card? Very possibly more batteries! Though I did see a nice set of sheets in the clearance aisle while we were browsing the shelves at Walmart. We have been going through batteries crazy fast around here. As the older Princesses have taken to playing the Wii, and the younger Prince and Princess have taken over old Birthday toys – I often forget to make sure everything has been turned off when they’re done playing. Whoops!

Really we only have 3 toys that I seem to constantly need batteries for (minus the Wii-motes), and it’s because over the years they have continued to bring joy to the kids, and I don’t find their sounds annoying. I seem to be replacing batteries almost weekly though – that’s just too much.

I kid you not, my brother and his wife are the BEST gift shoppers ever. All three of these were either Birthday or Christmas presents from them to my kids.
- The Learning Dog is our oldest and most loved battery operated toy, at 6 years old. He’s been through all 4 kids, and currently Prince L is attached. Just watch my Instagram Video of them.
- The Pirate Ship was a joint present to Princess V and C one Christmas about 5 years ago, and surprisingly has not fallen apart yet. It is the MAIN attraction to every kid that walks in this house.
- Finally little glow bug, at only 2 years old, she is the cause of much screaming and yelling between Prince L and Princess R. With her calming glowing face, I may just need to invest in a second one this Christmas. She was a gift to Princess R after Prince L was born.
I remember as a kid watching commercials with the Energizer Bunny, and he just kept going and going and going. Did anyone else ever want to test out the batteries in their own little Energizer Bunny and see just how long they would go? Energizer Max batteries will hold power for up to 10 years (or so they say). I think I’ve found my test subject. Learning Dog will be sporting his new power for many years to come.

Don’t forget the batteries this Christmas!
November 13, 2013
Spring Cleaning Day 4 – Toys and General Clutter

Welcome back to Day 4 in the Spring Cleaning Challenge!

Today we are going to focus on toys, and the general clutter that every home seems to collect. I made another fun printable checklist. Print it off, and get to work!

Gather 2 Boxes (or trash bags)

Label, or designate one box for donations, and one for trash. Spring Cleaning is all about starting fresh. Let’s stop stepping over broken toys, or staring at toys that never get played with.

The Floor

Now I know we did a general pick up and put away on Day 2 with the Living Spaces, but if you have kids, 2 days is plenty of time to mess it all up again with toys. Don’t bother putting things away right now. Just start picking up and making decisions. Is it broken? Trash. Do the kids play with it? Donate if they don’t. Create a Keep pile if they do. Just designate an area for toys being kept.

The Toybox

Now that the floor is cleaned off, head to the toy box. One effective way is to dump the whole box out. Then as you sort through it, you can move your keep pile into the toy box. Do not put anything back in that is broken! Just don’t! Have your children help, if they are old enough to understand what you are doing. My 6 and 5 year old are pretty good (sometimes they want to donate every single toy they own), while my 3 year old can often just be in the way as she rearranges the piles.

One Drawer at a Time

Great, you’ve done a lot already! I think it’s safe to say, we don’t just have 1 toy box. We have a couple different areas we keep toys. So after I go through the main toy box, we move onto all the other toy storage places. Treat it like the toy box. Dump it out, and one item at a time decide – Trash, Donate, or Keep. Put them away, and move onto the next one.

Clean and Sanitize

Unless a toy has been puked on, they don’t get cleaned all that often. Periodically I’ll find the kids “bathing” their dolls, but even then it’s not a good deep clean. Now that you have your piles sorted – put your donate in the car, and take the trash outside.

Grab a bucket of hot water, and your favorite cleaning agent. Since we’re cleaning toys here, I like to keep it safe, and use something I know won’t harm the kids if they stick it in their mouth – because you know it’s going to go in a kids mouth at some point! A small amount of ammonia mixed in a large bucket of hot water is my personal favorite cleaner, but switching the ammonia out for distilled white vinegar will be safer on the toys. Have a decent pile of rags on hand, and get to work scrubbing the toys down. At this point, you can involve all your kids! It will teach them responsibility for their stuff, as well as hard work. Plus, you get to spend a little extra time with them while getting housework done.

General Clutter

If you no longer have kids at home, or you didn’t spend your whole day cleaning toys, this is a good time to take care of the general clutter. Clean off your dressers, office area, junk drawers. The places in your home that attract clutter and never let go of it.

Wahoo! You’ve finished Day 4!

Go grab your extra entry into the Affresh Giveaway.

March 21, 2013
Living Space vs the Toys …. Think About It

Do you ever look around your house, and wonder how you can keep it all clean? You’ve got kids running around everywhere, and find yourself constantly tripping over toys.

Over the weekend, we were at my sister in laws house. She has a set of toys in the main living space dubbed “Upstairs Toys”, but the bulk of the toys is in the basement and are dubbed “downstairs toys”. Her home always looks so immaculate and inviting. We got to talking about how she keeps the toys separated, and it really helps with the cleaning.

Now in my head I’ve always decided that the toys belong downstairs in our house. It’s where the kids bedrooms and the playroom are. Really the toys don’t need to be anywhere else in the house. Yet they always seem to get scattered up and down, and even outside. I’d really like to have a sit down with the kids and tell them that the toys aren’t allowed upstairs anymore.

However, at the same time, I like that my kids feel comfortable playing in any room. I like that they come play near me while I’m working (even if they do get in my way sometimes). I love watching their imaginations take off as different household items get incorporated into their toy play. Would I be squalling their creativity if I kept all the toys downstairs? Would I spend less time with my kids if I didn’t let them bring their toys upstairs while I’m cooking?

I guess I’m just having a hard time finding a good balance. I think I need to separate our toys, like my sister in law does. Some can be upstairs, and some can be downstairs, but we don’t mix the two. All I really want is a front room that when people walk into don’t feel bombarded by toys (or other stuff for that matter). I want just one clean room. Is it too much to ask? One room that looks like it could be in a Better Homes and Garden?

Think About it

Do you have a room in your home, free of toys? How do you separate the living space, from the playing space? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

July 5, 2012
Kimochis – Sponsor Spotlight

Kimochis – Toys with feelings inside.

These are my new favorite stuffed toy! If you have kids, you know how fast those stuffed animals pile up. Then you start wondering how often your kids play with them. You want to get rid of them, but you find your just as attached as your kids (OK maybe it’s just me, lol).

Kimochis are one stuffed toy you will all be attached to, and your kids will continuously play with. Each Kimochis comes with feelings tucked into a little pouch. These toys can help you teach your children about different their different feelings.

Our feelings I think are one of the hardest things to figure out, and then express to others. Even as an adult I sometimes struggle communicating just what I’m feeling.

Having a Kimochis to guide your child in what they are feeling is an amazing new tool for parents, and fun toy for kids.

We received Kimochis Cloud for review. Tucked inside his pouch were the feelings Happy, Sad and Mad. Having these little plush feelings has led to many discussions, especially with Princess V (5years old) in how to express her feelings. Tantrums have become few and further between as she now can tell us what she is feeling. Instead of throwing a fit, she tells us

“I’m sad”

or

“I’m mad!”

We still get tears, and some meltdowns, but we are better able to understand how she is feeling, and what may be causing her to feel that way. Our home has been much more pleasant since Cloud became part of our family.

Princess V absolutely loves Cloud! She even insists on sleeping with him every night. One night this came in very useful. Princess V woke up and was scared of having bad dreams. So we pretended Cloud was a “dream” Cloud. We put on his happy face, and talked about happy things Cloud could help Princess V dream of. When she woke up in the morning, Princess V was very excited to tell me about the Princesses she dreamed of thanks to Cloud!

You can purchase your own Kimochis by visiting their website HERE

Follow Kimochis on Facebook and Twitter too!

OR come back Friday to enter the Charity Hop Around the World where you can enter to win your own Kimochis Cloud!

*I was provided with a product for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

March 26, 2012