Browsing Category: Toys

Maybe Barbie isn’t so bad

barbie with dads

I didn’t grow up with a huge collection of Barbies. It’s actually a funny story that I’ve already told about how I ended up with Doctor Barbie, but I just wasn’t the type of kid with a bajillion Barbie dolls. I had other dolls as I got older, and so many stuffed animals, but somehow Barbie seemed so tied up with looking a certain way instead of just playing. Over the years, my views of Barbies have changed. Perhaps it’s because Barbies have changed, looking more realistic and less, well, like a Barbie doll. Or maybe it’s because I understand the type of play that parents can encourage with dolls that simply isn’t the same with other toys. It’s not to say that Harley won’t also get cars, LEGO or science kits, but there’s room for dolls as well.

Along these lines, I got a press release yesterday regarding Barbie, and I figured I’d ignore it, that it wouldn’t really be for me. Oh how wrong I was. Watching the video made me smile and get a bit tearful at the same time. It’s all about dads who play Barbie with their daughters. It’s based on an idea that investing time in their imagination is a way to invest time in their future. Here is the video so you can watch without going anywhere: Continue Reading

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Tearaway brings the joy of gaming to real life

Video games are a whole lot of fun in the moment. They can capture the imagination and make us see the world in new ways. They can also teach us new skills and can be an integral part of a kid’s development. That’s why I’m hoping to get my munchkin into gaming. But not all games are created equal. Continue Reading

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How big is my baby? (15 weeks)

apples and oranges

I’ve been following a bunch of sites that are supposed to help me understand how big my growing baby is. It’s not that it really matters – he or she is stuck inside me for a while still. But it’s nice to visualize and it adds some kind of continuity to the experience. However, the internet sucks and the comparisons just don’t work for me.

At the moment, I’m about 15 weeks into my pregnancy. Depending on which site I frequent, that means they are telling me the little leech is approximately the size of an apple, or a navel orange. But this is like a Platonic reality question – if I say apple to ten different people, they will probably visualize completely different apples.

So, I decided to use the actual measurements that they give, which is that the munchkin is approximately four inches (10 cm). Ever the investigator, I decided to find things in my home that are four inches. And I found the perfect example.

grunt

This is Grunt, one of my favorite characters from the Mass Effect trilogy. He’s a Krogan, one of my favorite races, and when I saw this Funko Pop Vinyl figure I had to buy it. Like most Funko Pop Vinyl figures, he measures about 4″ tall and has an oversized head, much like the creature growing inside me.

So this is how I’m visualizing my growing spawnling for the next week or so. It’s Grunt, and I love Grunt, so I love my little Krogan. In fact, it probably looks just as fish-like and weird at the moment, and it feels like I have an alien inside me some days, so it seems quite fitting. At least now I don’t have to think of him/her as a piece of fruit, dangling off a vine inside me.

grunt 1

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