Things to Invest in as a Parent

As a parent, especially in the early days when my babies were babies, there seemed to be an endless stream of things that I "needed."  The situation was exacerbated by the fact that I blog for Apartment Therapy Family (nee Ohdeedoh) and hunting down baby items is literally part of my job.  Now that BB and DD are in school, I've started to pare down and focus on what's important, and what isn't.  This is not a comprehensive list, of course, but things that we've purchased and enjoyed.

Bare Books:  We just got a big box full of Bare Books from our best friend, UPS.  These are good quality blank books that allow your kids to create their own books.  They've been a favorite in our house since BB was just 2.  Order several to see which suits your kid's needs right now and then stock up once you figure it out.

Document Scanner: If your kids pump out art like my boys, you will eventually need a document scanner.  We bought another one recently and we've already made huge progress on imaging the boys' artwork and saving it in files on the computer.  A scanner will also come in super handy for art projects at home.

Quality Pajamas:  We are a pajama loving family.  After bath, the boys wear a fresh set of pajamas every night so we have at least 30 sets of pajamas currently.  For comfort you can't beat Hanna Anderson organic cotton pajamas.  They are soft, thick, never stretch out, and hold up to laundering.  They are definitely worth the money.

Quality Art Supplies:  I've written about this over at Apartment Therapy.  Quality art supplies are really important to me.  Oil pastels, paints, and colored pencils that don't have a lot of pigment can be frustrate little ones in their pursuit of art.  We love Lyra colored pencils and pretty much the entire Todd Oldham line at Target for moderately priced art supplies.

Books:  I wrote last week about our fondness of books.  No eBooks for the boys.  I'm not against eBooks for kids, but I think there is something to be said for leafing through pages of printed words and poring over gorgeous illustrations.  Not everything has to be interactive.  I plan on writing a post about some of our favorite books - some obvious, some more obscure.