I'm Finally Back!

When I checked my stats for this blog earlier today, I almost fell over after realizing I haven't posted anything in almost a month. Time got away from me.

August has been a busy month. My son turned 2. I had family visiting from out of town. I've been busy selling stuff online via Ebay. I just didn't have the time to sit down and write a few posts.

I also shut down my Brad's Reader blog. After 6 years of writing about literature, writing, ebooks, eReaders and self-publishing, I decided that the blog had run its course. I lost the passion for what I was writing about. And it showed in my posts.

However, I am going full steam ahead with this Brad the Dad blog. I want to eventually get off this Blogger platform and move to something a little more professional looking. I also want to write more toy reviews. After celebrating a 2-year old birthday, I have plenty of new toys to review!

I will be back to posting regularly soon. 

Sometimes The Simple Toys Are The Best

We have a lot of toys for my little DS. Actually, I should say, we have A LOT of toys. Sometimes we feel like our house is being overrun with toys (which it probably is).

I've noticed something with toddler toys: It's always the toys that are most simple that my son seems to take pleasure in the most. A lot of our toys have all kinds of cool lights, buttons, things that spin, things that make very annoying sounds (all of them) and take batteries (all of them).

Yes, he has fun with those toys too. But they break. The batteries die. We have to hide them because they are too annoying. But he still plays with those simple toys we bought when he was younger and less toddler-ish.

For example, the toy below:

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I can't remember when we bought it, but he still plays with it. We also have a wooden train set that he plays with.

The cool part is that these toys are very durable. He throws them around like rag dolls and they never break.

Most importantly though, they are very inexpensive. Without all the bells and whistles (and batteries) that a lot of toys come with nowadays, the price on the basic ones can be great.

My point is to not feel bad about getting these classic wooden toys. Kids love them (at least, my son does) and they'll last longer than most newer toys. And you can easily pass it down.