Sometimes they are imitating their parents, teachers and friends and other times they are just babbling randomness. The latter was definitely the case as I eavesdropped on my 6 year old playing with his Imaginex Batcave.

“Look Batman here comes John Mayer!”

- What?

“Look at him, he’s so cool wearing a tie ( thought filled pause) … At least I think he wears a tie. I can’t remember what he wears”

- well, I guess sometimes he does… but, what?

” Oooo…Oooo… Waiting on the world to change” … “John Mayer sings the coolest songs”

- As long as he’s not singing Your Body Is a Wonderland, I guess its all good- right?

“Ok, we have to go beat the joker- John Mayer will drive us! Hop in the car!”

- Really, kid if you read up on John Mayer- he probably wouldn’t be the designated driver of choice. Just sayin’

And off to the Joker’s cave the drove to defeat the bad guys… Batman, Robin… and John Mayer.

It’s one of those moments I wish I could have captured on video, but happened way too quickly.

What are some of the funniest things you’ve overheard in your playroom?

-Corine

Why am I bringing this up (and hoping she doesn’t read anywhere on the world wide web:),ha, because of an experience I just had, which is the same, but not the same….I will explain

This week I did a very different kind of interview. I was on camera but by myself. I was asked fairly opened questions and had to rephrase each one as it was just me on camera doing a lot of talking. At one point the camera man on the shoot asked me to try not to begin each new starting point with “so”. Example……”So, when I was a kid”…….or “So, the coolest toys this year”.

Wow, was I embarrassed as I asked, ” do I say that a lot”….and he smiled and shook his head yes. Being older and wiser than my daughter and having much thicker skin I simply made the conscious effort to not do that again. But it wasn’t until after I left that I began to laugh as I realized that this was MY “Swannee River”. And if you are my age or older you are laughing too. Either that or you catch enough Nick At Night!

Do you have a word that you use too often?

Laurie, The Toy Insider Mom

A few months ago, I was also baffled when retailer Abercombie and Fitch started selling padded bikini tops for 7 year olds.

What is going on? What message are sending to our children? Why are 7 year olds being marketed to the same as 20 year old women?

We want to hear your thoughts-
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The Big Toy Book LIVE! will be held every MONDAY at 1pm ET on Livestream

Livestream allows you to sign in and chat during the live show via Facebook and Twitter which is what we love most!  You can find a tab for our Livestream channel on the left side of our Facebook page {detailed instructions on how to participate to follow}.

Before March came to an end, we wanted to chat a little about some of the books and reading toys we love most.

Below is a recap of the cha and the products highlighted  (because the recording function didn’t work during the live show- whoopsie!)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-SXJkrfQlE&w=640&h=390]

Leap Frog’s Tag Reading System

The LeapFrog Tag Reading System brings stories to life like never before. Simply touch the Tag Reader to the pages of specially printed storybooks to instantly hear the voices, music and sounds within each story. Your child can also touch the pen to the words in the book to help them with word recognition and reading skills.  Other educational skills include: Consonants Vowels Vocabulary Phonics skills Word recognition Phonological awareness Listening and reading comprehension Tag Jr. Book Pal  (ages 2+ , MSRP $29.99) Perfect for little hands, this reading system uses the same amazing touch technology as the Tag™ Reading System, the Tag™ Junior book pal is designed to encourage toddlers’ natural desire to explore, while introducing preschool skills through playful book-based activities. Each Tag Junior board book introduces a different preschool skill such as the alphabet, and counting. Open-ended questions and fun sound effects encourage children to take charge. Download audio for your childs books, and keep up to 5 at a time on your Book Pal. Alphie The Robot (ages 3+ , MSRP $44.95) This engaging Playskool Alphie electronic robot figure comes with a Bonus Pack that introduces your child to letters, math skills, special reasoning, cause and effect and much more. Playskool Alphie “sings”, plays music and features light-up buttons.  Playskool Alphie with Bonus Pack:  Fun and engaging electronic robot figure Comes with 30 double-sided cards Backpack and numbers booster pack with 25 additional double-sided cards Teaches letters, numbers, math skills, special reasoning, cause and effect and more Cool sounds and light features Engages child with quizzes, games and a different activity on each card Handle for easy carrying Storage spot for cards Simply insert one of the activity cards into the chest panel and the fun begins Requires 3 AA batteries (included) Book recommendations: If You Give A Pig A Party ($11.95) Caps For Sale ($8.99) Its Not A Box (11.99)

I have two children. O will be turning 3 in 4 weeks and Jake is almost 19 months old. They’re close enough in age that they can share a lot of the same toys but just far enough apart that there’s certain things O has outgrown and that Jake just isn’t old enough to understand. With both kids at home we’re able to cater their activities and play toys to their developmental stages, and of course moods! They actually play really well together for the most part, sans the normal course of “it’s mine!” and “you’re a bad boy, Jakey!” Fortunately, that doesn’t happen often and in fact they love each other very much. It’s not uncommon, in fact, to see them holding hands in the back seat.

All of that is about to be put to the test in just a few short weeks. The entire family is about to embark on a trip across the country (starting out in CA), over the Atlantic, and on to Israel. My sister who decided to take up residency there some 4 years ago is now engaged to be married. So what’s the next craziest thing to getting married? (Just kidding honey!) Well, the answer is taking two kids, 2 years and under on a 10,000 mile trip! We’re going to be on the plane an ungodly amount of time and I haven’t even talked about the fact that there’s a 10-hour time difference once we land!

Oy Vey!

So how does on prepare for such a journey? Well, I suppose in many ways you don’t. However, we’re getting certain things in order. For starters our plane doesn’t leave until the evening so the hope is that they’ll sleep the majority of the trip. Assuming they can muster 7 or 8 hours of sleep (they’re actually great travel sleepers) they’ll only be awake for 3 or 4 hours. We’re still figuring out what to bring for the plane ride but for now we’re loading up on:

• Paperback coloring books
• Crayons
• Tons of stickers
• A Macbook with Dora and Sesame Street games
• Two iPhones with kids apps/books
• iPad with kids apps and books

I’m actually a little more concerned with Jake since O can keep herself occupied with games, etc. She also LOVES watching TV (we do limit this at home) so I’m not worried about her plopping herself down for several hours of Dora or Diego. Jake on the other hand doesn’t watch movies and won’t sit still for more than a few minutes. I’m thinking he and I will be making our rounds through the plane saying hi to everyone. Once we’re off the plane we’re facing a 10-hour time change. The wife and I can force ourselves awake but the kids? Different story. I think this one we’re going to have to play by ear and just go with the flow. Fortunately, we get there several days before the wedding. So, hopefully we’ll be able to all get acclimated in due time.

O and Jake are used to making 6 to 7 hour car drives to visit family but this is going to be a whole different story. I’ll be chronicling my journey on www.DadStreet.com should you want to share in the craziness! Although, I do have a good amount of experience traveling with them (both have flown cross-country multiple times) I can always use advice.

Have any of you traveled with small children on such a long distance? If so, I’d love to hear what worked for you.

About the blogger:

Josh is an East Coast Transplant currently living in Monterey, California with his 2 adorable children, beautiful wife and their golden retriever. When Josh is not drooling over his adorable little ones, he enjoys drinking wine, taking pictures, playing with my iPhone, listening to an audio book, trying some kind of new food, surfing online, sleeping, watching TV, yappin’ on the phone, and last but not least trying to spend quality time with “The Boss”.

You can find Josh’s take on parenthood on his blog, Dadstreet.com

Yesterday we learned of a great new service called Be There Bedtime Stories. Be There Bedtime Stories allows you to record a story with a web cam while providing a virtual flip page book with full illustrations. We played around with it yesterday, and it is genius. The books on average are $9.99 and you can try your first one free when you sign up.

Check it out-

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsMQT3Bl5mo&rel=0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3]

What do you think of this new service? When would you use Bedtime Stories?