I tried Artkive to organize my toddler’s art (Honest Review)

Artkive box review

Any parent of a toddler who goes to school knows this problem well:

The absolutely endless influx of artwork that enters your house on a daily basis.

Yes, it’s cute! It’s adorable! It’s a piece of history!

It’s also incredibly annoying when the pile starts to take over entire rooms in your house.

I’ve written before about some different storage solutions for this particular problem, but there was one, in particular, I really wanted to try first hand:

The Artkive box — It’s a box you fill up with your kid’s art and send off in the mail. A few weeks later, you’ll get a professionally bound book filled with photos of the art. Much easier to store!

Read more

I tried Plum Print to organize my kid’s art. Here’s my review.

Plum Print book review

Children’s artwork storage is, truly, the bane of many parents’ existence.

No matter how well you organize it, or how much you throw or give away, there always seems to be more and more coming home from preschool!

In our home, at least, it sometimes feels like the art is taking over the entire house.

Luckily, there are services like Plum Print.

What is Plum Print? It’s a done-for-you service that takes a bundle of your kid’s artwork and turns it into a gorgeous keepsake photobook.

Read more

Every Letter Makes A Sound Song (Listen & Full Lyrics)

Every Letter Makes A Sound song lyrics

You might remember this one from when you were a kid.

But either way, get ready to have it drilled into your head because Pre-K-ers around the country are learning it now!

My daughter came home singing something called “Every Letter Makes a Sound” recently, so I had to look it up and find out where it came from (plus I wanted to be sure I had all the lyrics right so I could sing along).

Read more

Twinkle Twinkle Traffic Light (Lyrics & Actions)

Twinkle Twinkle Traffic Light song

Ever since my daughter started pre-kindergarten, she’s been learning a ton of new songs and nursery rhymes.

Some of them I’ve heard of, but a lot are completely new to me!

The other day in the car, we stopped at a red light coming home from school, and she started singing…

“Twinkle, twinkle, traffic light…”

What is the Twinkle Twinkle Traffic Lights song and what are the full lyrics?

Read more

A Ram Sam Sam (Kid’s Song): Full Lyrics & Meaning

A few weeks ago, my daughter came home from pre-k singing a new song.

It went…

“A ram sam sam, a ram sam sam, guli guli guli guli guli, ram sam sam…”

It also had these hand movements that went along with the seemingly nonsensical lyrics. And she LOVED it! She seriously loved this song and insisted on teaching it to us.

And it’s been firmly lodged in my brain ever since.

So what is the A Ram Sam Sam song, what are the real lyrics, and where does it come from / what does it mean?

Ram Sam Sam song

Read more

Preschool vs Daycare: Pros, Cons & Differences Explained

When it comes to paying professionals to watch your child so that you can have the privilege of going to work…

(I’m kidding. Sort of.)

… you have a lot of different childcare options.

  • Grandparents
  • Babysitters / Nannies
  • Daycare
  • And preschool

Free options are great!

But I definitely feel like we’ve gotten a lot out of having our daughter in structured daycare and preschool environments where she’s learned how to make friends and developed speech and learning skills at lightning speed.

What actually is the difference between preschool vs daycare?

Preschool vs daycare explained

Read more

Cradle vs Crib (Differences, Size & Safety Explained)

Cradle vs crib

When you bring baby home, you have a few basic goals:

  • Keep him alive!
  • Feed him
  • Change diapers
  • And get him to sleep

The last one, you’ll find, will probably the most challenging.

It also has the most potential solutions. Put him in the crib? Get a bassinet? A swing? A cradle?

In this article, I want to break down the differences between a cradle vs crib and help you decide which one is right for you; and it might be both!

Read more

Wonderbly Personalized Kids Book Review (Honest Opinion)

Wonderbly book review

I first heard about Wonderbly a few years back, while my wife was pregnant with our daughter.

The concept sounded amazing:

A personalized kids book, where your child was the star of the story! The books supposedly had your kid’s name and likeness woven into the story, so each book was completely custom.

At the time, my daughter was a long way away from being able to read on her own or even recognize her name in a book, but I knew I wanted to grab a few of these to keep for down the road.

As the proud owner of two of these awesome books, here’s my honest and hands-on Wonderbly review:

Read more

I took the Mifold booster on a trip with my toddler. (Review)

Mifold booster seat hands-on review

My family recently took a two-week trip to the faraway land of Italy.

The logistics of traveling with a toddler were pretty complex and daunting.

But one of the biggest decisions my wife and I faced was this: Did we want to lug a car seat or booster seat around the whole time on our trip? Could we get by without it?

Wasn’t there a better option out there?

Then one day my wife sent me a link to this, the Mifold grab-and-go booster seat. It claimed to be the ultimate compact solution for safe traveling with a toddler.

So we decided to try it out. And after using it heavily throughout a full two-week trip, here’s my full Mifold booster seat review.

Read more