fab toys

I am a toy snob.  I wasn't always.  No, back when Buster was born, I bought into the baby commercialism just like everyone else... he was outfitted with a Graco jogging travel system, a baby swing (which he never used), a bouncer, Diaper Genie (disgusting!), an ExerSaucer and all manner of un-nameable, unneeded baby props... just because we thought they were all necessary... and so did our acquaintances, most of whom were becoming parents for the first time themselves.  And the toys.  I could go on about this subject forever... Buster had more singing, flashing, talking (in other words, "irritating") toys than I had ever know existed.  

And it drove me Crazy.  

For one thing, we lived in a mobile home at the time, and you have to understand that the only place for the toys to go was in the living room.  The living room also was the main walkway through the house and if the toys weren't painstakingly turned off, they would all light up when you walked across the floor.  Just great if you were carrying a just-sleeping newborn to his crib. Not.  And, there is no possible way you can make such a cacophony of toys blend in or enhance your interior decor.  Believe me.

By the time Noodle came around, I was getting desperate and even put in a plea to family and friends, "Please don't give our boys any more noisy toys!"  And I figured, there has to be a way to not let annoying toys overrun your life.  And, couldn't they be a little more educational?  A little more hands-on?  A little less mindless "push the button and it sings"?  Around that time, I started discovering wooden toys by brands like Melissa & Doug and Plan Toys.   Could anything be cuter than this?  Or this kitchen?  And this train set?