We had a tea party.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Lilah's birthday party!
Here are some pictures from my beautiful girl's 4th birthday party.
We had a tea party.
We had a tea party.
Toys
Toys are such a HUGE issue around here right now. Partially because of the time of year, Noah and Lilah both have fall birthdays, then Christmas comes soon after. Partially too because of how I am feeling the need to really crack down on the kinds of toys, as well as the number of toys we keep around here.
As for the kinds of toys, I really want to limit the amount of plastic, made-in-China (or made by children or anyone not paid a fair wage), no-imagination-needed toys. I'm keeping virtually nothing for Rowan that is plastic, since everything goes in his mouth. Lilah and Noah each have some things that are plastic that we'll keep- Star Wars for Noah, a couple of baby dolls of Lilah's.
On a similar note, we've recently gone to a "no screen time" policy around here. No computer, no tv, no (absolutely NO) video games. Every now and then we'll allow a movie or something, and as the kids get older, of course they'll use the computer some, but for now, we're just done. We have always limited screen time, and recently we've limited it quite a bit. But now, we're just going cold turkey. There is so much research out there about the troublesome effects of tv, computer, video games on young children, and just really no benefit at their young ages.
The other thing is just reducing the number of toys we have. NO child needs 50 giant firetrucks, no matter how much he might like them. And, the thing is, the more things we have, the harder time the kids have finding anything to do. Either everything is put in it's place and nobody wants to get it out, for fear of putting it all back, or it's strewn all over and there's nowhere to play.
So, this is a pretty big change for us. We have spent 7 years buying lots of plastic, light up, blinky, talking toys, and watching tv daily (even though in small doses), but when you know better you do better, and so here we are, trying to do better for our kids and the planet.
As for the kinds of toys, I really want to limit the amount of plastic, made-in-China (or made by children or anyone not paid a fair wage), no-imagination-needed toys. I'm keeping virtually nothing for Rowan that is plastic, since everything goes in his mouth. Lilah and Noah each have some things that are plastic that we'll keep- Star Wars for Noah, a couple of baby dolls of Lilah's.
On a similar note, we've recently gone to a "no screen time" policy around here. No computer, no tv, no (absolutely NO) video games. Every now and then we'll allow a movie or something, and as the kids get older, of course they'll use the computer some, but for now, we're just done. We have always limited screen time, and recently we've limited it quite a bit. But now, we're just going cold turkey. There is so much research out there about the troublesome effects of tv, computer, video games on young children, and just really no benefit at their young ages.
The other thing is just reducing the number of toys we have. NO child needs 50 giant firetrucks, no matter how much he might like them. And, the thing is, the more things we have, the harder time the kids have finding anything to do. Either everything is put in it's place and nobody wants to get it out, for fear of putting it all back, or it's strewn all over and there's nowhere to play.
So, this is a pretty big change for us. We have spent 7 years buying lots of plastic, light up, blinky, talking toys, and watching tv daily (even though in small doses), but when you know better you do better, and so here we are, trying to do better for our kids and the planet.
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