Author Archives: Emily Vanek

Valentine’s Day for me evokes memories of making tissue box mailboxes and trying to eat all of the sugary goodness that came with cute pictures of cats on tiny cards before getting home from school. These days kids give and get more than just the tiny cards with witty sayings on them and a piece [...]

At our house, we have toys coming out your ears. With three boys ranging from three to twelve years-old, We probably have about every toy they sell in the “boy aisles,” or at least that’s the way it seems at times. I recently decided that enough was enough and set up a rotation plan for [...]

My youngest son just started preschool. He is on the autism spectrum, so he is required to go to public school to receive his therapies. Long story short: our school district is one of the poorest in the entire state of Colorado. This was a surprise to me as there are quite a few affluent [...]

When you were young and kid-free, you could go to eat at just about any restaurant. Fine dining? No problem! Local dive bar? Even better! Chain restaurant with a kids eat free night? Um, pass. Then you have your own kids and think, “I can still go to that swanky new restaurant! Just because other [...]

This year will mark my twelfth year for trick-or-treating with kids. I’m a seasoned pro. I can spot the candy my kids will toss out from a mile away. I know which neighbors give out the full sized bars and which will give us toothbrushes. The boys rely on this information when they are “in [...]

Everyone likes to collect things. I think it’s in our hunting/gathering, human nature. My collections sometimes turn into a bit of an obsession. A few of you parents will understand (and probably nod your head) as I explain. It started off innocently enough. My oldest boy enjoyed the Toy Story series. When he was three, [...]

Lots of toys these days give some form of response that’s intended to be positive reinforcement for the play experience. For instance, the toy lights up or makes sounds when kids get the answer correct, or the toy makes an animal noise when they put the right piece in the puzzle. It’s been proven over [...]

I don’t know about you guys, but I hate it when my kids are wanting to play with a certain toy and they end up dumping the entire contents of their toy box, or bins, on the floor and start looking for all the tiny pieces. Anyone with as large of a collection of Fisher [...]

With both Mother’s and Father’s Day behind us, it’s nice to feel the love from our kids. Nothing shows that love more than when your kids say they want to be just like you when they grow up. Doctors, Chefs and Construction Workers had long been the main jobs toy makers focus on for pretend/role [...]

If your parents are like mine, they’ve held on to just about every toy you had as a child—whether to remember the days when you were younger, or to have so you can pass them down to their grandchildren one day. But how can you tell if that toy is safe or appropriate for your [...]