Shug has had so much fun opening his little Chanukah presents! He’s even happy with them just in the wrapping paper – he thinks it’s so much fun to hold them and he even tries to munch on them (although we don’t let him eat the paper!).
Most of the toys Shug gets come from either Oompa Toys or Moolka since those two companies carry toys made mostly either here in the US or in Europe, and although some of them are US- or Europe-designed but manufactured elsewhere, we try to avoid those for the most part (although I don’t mind the ones that are knit). Oompa especially makes it really easy to see where their toys are made.
We do try to avoid altogether toys with electronic music and flashing lights. I just want Shug to have toys that develop his creativity. When he gets older I can’t wait for him to do things with Lincoln Logs and playmobil and Legos! So far, we’ve gotten a couple of catalogs with those kinds of imaginative play toys – HearthSong and Back to Basics Toys.
Right now, I especially like the designs of the toys designed by Haba (Germany), Plan Toys (Thailand), Erzi (Germany), Latitude Enfant (France but knit in China), and others that Oompa and Moolka carry.
The great thing is that as Shug gets older, there are more and more really fantastic toys out there for each age group. I can’t wait to find them!
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Okay, now I want to brag about my husband (who is going to be so embarrassed when he sees this but I am doing it anyway!!), who is *the* Jewish Santa Claus this year. He has been soooo generous – with the family my Mommy group sponsors at a shelter, the girl we ‘adopted’ this year from the state home, and for another family that we know. All I have to do is let him know that something is going on, and he jumps right on it. What a mensch! Love you!