Timberdoodle: Bucket of Bubber

Mel's Thoughts:
What is Bubber, you may ask?  Bubber was actually imported from Sweden and is now sold by Timberdoodle.  Bubber is a type of modeling compound that is very lightweight, colorful, and fun to squish around in your hands.  Honestly, it'd be a great stress reliever.  It has an aroma, similar to Playdoh too, that honestly doesn't smell bad.  It comes in a 4-oz. bucket with a convenient carry handle.  You can get it in several different colors, including blue, green, purple, red, white, or yellow.  We actually got the green, and it's a really bright,
almost fluourescent shade of green.

When we first got our bucket, I was really excited.  Jacob loves playing around with Moonsand and Playdoh, so I knew he was going to love this.  As he was playing with it, he actually mentioned that it felt warm.  It has the consistency that makes you just want to sit and squish it around in your hand; it almost feels like a squishy form of styrofoam, only much more squishy.  He enjoyed building his castle, but he did mention a couple of times how it was hard to release the Bubber from the castle molds, which we also received.  He tried different methods, but the Bubber is very crumbly.  We had the tools to go with it, and he took advantage of those.  I actually used the mirett, and it was fun to use, sliding it across places where I wanted to slice the Bubber off.  He used the spoon-knife, along with the castle molds to build his little castle.  

As a mama, this is a very fun product for the kids.....for Jaden, who is not quite 2, it just wasn't something I was willing to bring him in on.  For one thing, I was afraid that he'd just want to eat it....plus the messy part kinda got me too.  This was a naptime art project.  The Bubber is very crumbly, and it tends to cling to surfaces, so when Jacob was done, he had it, not only all over himself, but all over the table and the floor.  It was not fun to clean up.  So, that was one drawback for me.  For kids, though, they don't really think about all that stuff, and Jacob had fun with it.  It kept him occupied for over an hour, which is really something for him.  It would be very useful, especially, in a homeschooling setting for special needs children, a setting in which they could work with their hands and develop motor and coordination skills.  It is also non-toxic and gluten-free.  You can pick up the 4-oz. bucket for $10.50.  The tools I mentioned range in price from $.95-$4.95.  In my opinion, it is a very affordable toy.  Want to see more Timberdoodle?

Melissa J.'s Thoughts:

Bubber is fun! *laughing*  That's the short version of my review.

The longer version is:  It's like sand in a sandbox. You want to just keep touching it and playing with it because it's an absolutely fascinating material. The cool thing about the product though, is it doesn't dry out like Playdough, so it's reusable for quite awhile.

My daughter is 2 and thought it was great, even though it's not geared for her age range. I can't wait to let my 4 year old daycare kid have a go at it.

I really like how the Bubber has the potential to come hand-in-hand with castle molds and sculpting tools. Even my husband wanted to play when he saw those. ;-)  Bubber is like a soft, smooth, silky Playdough, only it's dry. It's actually very fascinating and I can't help but wonder what it's made of. Inquiring minds want to know.

The only down side to Bubber is how crumbly it is. Because it is a dry substance, it crumbles everywhere when being played with. Of course, that could be the age of the child playing with it, but still, I played with it too, and had the same problem.

Despite the crumble-effect, it's a product I would definitely buy, both for my household and for gifts for other children. It gets a two thumbs up from me as a reusable and captivating "toy" for children.



(Disclosure: We were provided with these free products by Timberdoodle.)      

* Mom2Mom - - To Yell or Not to Yell, that is the Question *

 From the inner chaos of Melissa j's mind:

What is my issue?

Usually people are asking me to repeat myself because I supposedly speak softly.

Not lately.

The daycare kids scream. They just yell - alot. For no particular reason other than to yell. One day, I had enough. "Stop it guys! Stop screaming! WE. DO. NOT. SCREAM. IN. MY. HOUSE! We talk in quiet voices. . . . "

My voice trailed off. I was not talking in a quiet voice. I was yelling.

And, I mean yelling.

Ok, I suppose compare to some of my friends from other ethnicities, who are known for the family tradition of screaming, I wasn't yelling as loud as I could, but for me, and my household, I was being loud.

It didn't stop there. All last week and the first part of this, I keep checking myself own voice volume. It seemed to get louder with every day that passes.

"Why am I doing this?" I wondered. "What has happened to me and my quiet home?"

Yesterday, in one of those rare moments of insight, I analyzed it. I was yelling because it seemed like they weren't hearing me. In order to be heard I raised my voice.

But is this the answer to getting the kids' attention?

I analyzed further.

My problem was, I was trying to get them to listen to me from across the room.  I was hoping that they would get what I was saying, so I could continue on with what I was doing. The more intense in my work I was, the louder my voice got. Alot depended on them hearing me and stopping what they were doing. I needed to not be interrupted. So I guess, somehow, I thought yelling was the answer?  (*snorts*)

Yesterday I tried something different. It interrupted my tasks but it brought a semblance of peace and quiet, once again to my household. When I saw snack bowls being dumped or chinchilla shavings being dug out of the cage or water being shaken out of a sippy cup (does anyone else's toddler do that!?) I stopped what I was doing (not without groans of frustration, I might add!) and I went to the child.  I knelt down to eye level, and explained in my normal, quiet voice, what they were doing wrong and they needed to stop.

Did they? No. They were typical two and three year olds and kept doing it. But I wasn't yelling anymore, which cycled them into yelling.

It was terrible two's without the noise.

What about you? Have you found the volume of your voice getting louder and louder these days?  Maybe you come from a family of yellers or maybe you're like me - - you just feel like no one hears you unless you yell. The problem is, if we practice yelling all the time, soon, that's the only thing our children will respond to. It's so much better if they can learn that we as moms mean business, even when we're talking at a normal decibel to them.

Yelling at them only breeds, you guessed it, them yelling.

I know it's hard. I'm trying to live it out myself right now. But let's encourage each other as moms to purposefully practice running quiet and peaceful households. Let's be women who speak softy but have our soft words carry a world of weight with the children when we speak them. Let's try to stop our to-do list to go to the child and stop them, instead of yelling across the room as we try to stay on task.

Let's be the one to stop the cycle of noise in our house and in the process, be our own Tylenol.


From one mom to another,

* Mom2Mom - Stop, Love, and Pray! *

I'm not a screamer but I got close to taking on that identity one day last week. Three daycare kids, ages 5, 3 1/2, and 1 1/2, and my own 1 1/2 year old had me at the brink. One can only say "No!"  and remove tiny hands from areas they don't belong in, while bodily placing writhing bodies in time out, just so many times without seriously considering downing a mega sized candy bar while screaming at the top of their lungs.

Well, I can't anyways. . .

 I was not feeling the love. At all. The only things I was experiencing were frustration and a complete sense of being overwhelmed. The day did not end well. They were spending the night, thus drawing out the long day.  One kid had gone inside of himself and refused to cuddle and two others whimpered to sleep, while writhing in my arms. Finally, I went and crawled into my own bed and as I laid down I told God, "I can not do this. I simply can NOT!"

In that moment I got slammed with the loving rebuke,

"Melissa, you didn't try praying for them today."

"Oh, you have got to me kidding me!" was my first thought. I'm supposed to stop and pray with screaming, naughty toddlers that are drinking toilet water and drawing on the walls!?"


"Now Melissa, don't be dramatic".  I swear I could hear God laughing at me. "I don't mean in that moment. But you could stop and pray with them in the non-naughty moments. With them and for them."

I'm ashamed to say I fell asleep that night with a "yeah, whatever" mindset about that whole concept. 

The next morning, God was back at it.   (He just doesn't let things alone sometimes . . .   ;-) 

The first thing my eyes fell on that morning was a prayer shawl draped over the chair in my bedroom. I do not attend a denomination that uses prayer shawls but I have a friend who does - -and when I first learned I was pregnant she gave me the prayer shawl to later use to swaddle my little one in. As I glanced at it, my heart stirred.

"Today, if those children are naughty, you get that prayer shawl and you get right on the floor with them, draw them into your lap, cuddle and snuggle them, and pray for them and you."

There is no magic in that prayer shawl. That's not why I am using it now. It has nothing to do with power or magic or anything else.

What it does carry, is a reminder to  

Stop (running through my to-do list)

Love (on kiddos who may be misbehaving because I was so busy with my to-do list)

Cuddle and snuggle (cuz I can use a cuddle and snuggle as much as they can)


and

Pray (for them  - - and especially for me to be who they need me to be)


Can I challenge you today, if it's a particularly trying day, to stop, love, and pray!?  See what a difference it makes. It might not stop the cat from being baptized or the pots from being un-planted but it will help you cope with those things without assuming a fetal position and wishing for death. :-)  And guaranteed, you'll get some love bursts for the kids out of the deal while you're at it!  Yes, even the kid that just cut her brother's hair. . . .

* The Jesus Book *

* Review done by Melissa J

The Jesus Book by Stephen Elkins
Illustrated by Claudine Gevry
Price $16.99

The Jesus Book by Stephen Elkins, put out by Thomas Nelson Publishers is a delightful and colorful way to introduce children to Jesus. The pages are shiny and colorful. The stories short and to the point, keeping a child's interest, while at the same time, filling them with information about the subject matter. As my husband commented when he overheard me reading the first story, "Wow, short story that packs a punch and doesn't leave anything out!"

The book cover is padded a bit and is every bit as colorful and attractive as each illustrated page. To catch a glimpse of these pages, check out the flip book that Thomas Nelson has made available.

Sections of the book include:

~ Who Jesus Is. Some of the stories in this section include, but are not limited too:

• "The prophets said Jesus was the Promised One", "Peter said Jesus was the Christ", John the disciple said Jesus is the Word", and "Jesus said He is . . . "
  

~ What Jesus Did. Some of the stories include:

• "He Healed Many", He raised the Dead", "He forgave sin", and "He went to the Cross".
  

~ What Jesus Taught. Some of the stories include:

• "He taught using Parables", He Taught the Golden Rule", "He taught us He Loves Us."
  

~ When it Happened. In this section, a timeline is provided, giving children a visual tool for understanding in what order Biblical events took place.

~ Where it Happened. This section includes simple but accurate maps for children to look at and reference the Biblical stories.

~ Why it Happened. I really appreciated it when I got to this section. It begins with, "Why did Mary Name her Baby Jesus?" and ends with, "Why did Jesus Die on the Cross?"

~ How it Happened. This too is a section, that without, the book would have been incomplete, How grateful I am, as a mom, that the author put this section into the book, trying the previous sections together into life application with stories such as, "How do we Receive Eternal Life" and "How Does Jesus want us to Live?"


The book itself, is high enough quality for me to have spent the money on, to add to my daughter's library. However it has an added feature that is the icing on the cake - - a CD with 30 children's songs. Each song is set in a musical arrangement that a child will enjoy and my daughter has loved listening to it, even at 21 months of age.


The Jesus Book is available at Amazon.com. You can also check out other reviews at the Thomas Nelson Review page.