GotchaBaby

October 11, 2011

Twenty First Century Kids

Back in the day (1992) my work-study job at college was to man the id table in the cafeteria. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday I rolled out of bed at 6:15 and sat at a table from 6:30 until 8:30, checking id cards. Our college ids had a meal-plan sticker, and on each sticker was a number.

I marked off each student’s number on a sheet, in a binder. With a pencil and paper.

Fast forward nearly twenty years, and my first grader is more slick than I ever was.

Her school has an automated lunch payment system- I load her account online, and she enters a PIN before she goes through the lunch line.

My first grader has a PIN.

It only goes to reason then, that a lot of her life is electronic. She even has her own arsenal of iPhone apps, and was most excited about getting to play with the My Little Pony app from Ruckus Media.

“Mommy, there’s a pony. Her name is Twilight Sparkle (of course it is!). And she sparkles. And there’s a dragon. And it’s a story, and there are games. You touch the sparkles and things happen, and there’s a maze, and …”

Sounds like a perfect match for six year old girls, don’t you think? Especially six year old girls who already have PINs.

My Little Pony, from Ruckus Media is on sale through Thursday for $0.99. Friday the prices goes up to $3.99. It’s been a huge hit around the blogosphere, and I think any little girl would like it!

Disclosure- Ruckus Media provided me with a download of the My Little Pony app in exchange for this review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

October 1, 2011October 28, 2012

Shopping the Tea Collection

When we upacked the POD, one of the many things that shocked me was the sheer amount of baby clothes we shoved in there. I know that I’ve passed on most of the kids’ things as they’ve worn them, but apparently this wasn’t the case for the first year of MaM’s life. We came across FIVE totes of infant girl things. FIVE. Five totes full of things for one little girl who was in 24month clothing on her first birthday. So those five totes?

Were all worn within the first twelve months of her walking this earth.

But let’s face it- baby clothes are FUN. They are cute, they are soft, and with a baby, you don’t ever have to worry about whether or not the baby will think the shirt/romper/bloomers makes her butt look big or thighs chubby or faced washed out. Babies just wear what you give them and smile.

So when the Tea Collection, purveyor of Designer Children’s Clothing, asked me if I wanted to shop their new fall collection, I emailed back YES! YES! YES! You see, our extended family is being blessed with baby girls this year. By the end of 2011, we will have three brand-new, beautiful nieces. And guess what? All of these baby girls will need new clothes! All of them! (they are all getting a bag of MaM’s greatest hits as well, btw)

Looking around Tea Collection’s site, their Amate Aves Raglan Dress and leggings to go with it. She’s enamored with the bird on the skirt.

We also picked a romper for a little niece about to be born in Milwaukee– don’t you think the Pava Real Romper will keep her warm on those cold winter days next to Lake Michigan??

MaM eagerly awaited the arrival of her picks, and she tried her outfit on right away. It fit perfectly, the sizing chart was right on the money. The romper is soft and darling, and I can’t wait to gift it to my soon-to-arrive niece. The biggest hit though, was the coloring book that came with the order. This fall’s collection is from Mexico, so the coloring book features traditional Mexican art.

Dislcosure: In exchange for this blog post, Tea Collection provided me with a gift certificate for some online shopping. The opinions expressed above are uniquely my own.

August 16, 2011August 15, 2013

First Day of School! First Day of School! (Almost. And a Giveaway)

[This giveaway is now closed. Thanks for playing}

Some kids have finished a week of school, some start this week and some start in the coming weeks, but there’s no denying it, summer vacation is winding down in Indiana.

Monday night we took MaM to her new school to see her classroom and meet her teacher, and she was mightily impressed with the classroom library. There were easily 500 books on the shelves, including a shelf full of the Magic Treehouse Series, which she loves, along with the Rainbow Fairy books, which she also loves.

After that meeting, I went down to the Fox’s Montessori school for their orientation and was delighted that the first thing they had us do was make a little something for our kids. The teachers had cast plaster of Paris in shallow bowls, and stuck a paper clip in it as a placecard holder. The parents all got to decorate their child’s place card holder for lunch with paint and ribbon- isn’t that fun? Then, instead of giving the parent orientation talk, I got to listen to it (and nod my head vigorously at all the good parts).

Unfortunately, both kiddos are under the weather, and MaM actually missed her first day of school. It was kind of devastating. I’m hoping with one more day of rest, she’ll be ready on Thursday.

When she does finally get back to it, I have a few surprises for her, including a couple of fun things sent to me by my friends at Hallmark. Their Back to School Confidence Care package features items from their Kids Encouragement collection, including greeting cards from their kids collection, little lunch box notes, and a recordable storybook . The lunchbox notes are my absolute favorite- this set of 50 notes have sweet, funny, inspirational sentiments, and few to help on those rough mornings when getting out the door wasn’t easy. I plan to keep them with the lunch making supplies and use them as much as I can!

{The Giveaway}

I am giving away a Back to School Confidence Care Package with the same items to one lucky reader this week. If you, or someone you know, is getting kids out the door for school, please enter to win by leaving a comment about your favorite thing when it comes to back to school. Be sure to fill out the email field in the form so that I can contact you if you win!

The second way to enter is to cut and paste this tweet, and then leave an additional comment telling me that you did, “I entered to win a Hallmark Back to School Confidence Care Package from @Gotchababy and you can too! http://wp.me/pVbJS-DO”

Comments will be open until Friday night around 9pm. The winner will have until 9pm Sunday night to respond to my email, or I will pick a different winner.

Disclosure: Hallmark sent me my own Back to School Confidence Care Package, and I was happy to give another one away. My opinions on the products are expressly my own.