Sponsor Spotlight :: Chubbas 'n Boop

You guys know that I'm a big fan of handmade wooden toys.  A huge part of it is just my aesthetic.  I like the way they look.  If my house is going to be filled with kids' toys for the foreseeable future, I'd rather it be filled with toys that increase the beauty of my home.  It just makes me feel better.

Chubbas 'n Boop are makers of such toys.  Heirloom quality wooden barns, kitchens, cradles, pull toys, vehicles and more.  Their work is gorgeous and their prices are reasonable.  This brand new family stacking puzzle is my favorite.  So unique.  Dad, Don, is the toymaker and Mom, Lisa runs a great cloth diapering info site called Cloth Diapering Made Easy.  They are a great team of work-at-home parents doing what they love.

Besides my personal aesthetic, another big win in the handmade toy column is durability.  When I look at a toy to buy for my kids I try to imagine how long it will last.  If I know that it will eventually become trash--and sometimes it is hard to tell.  Well, I just don't really want it.  I want a toy that will last, and not just last through one kid but through as many as I might have.  Through any my sister might eventually decide to have (was that too overt?).  Even through any future grandchildren.  It's not too much to ask.  I know it's not because they exist.  Wonderful people like Don and Lisa are out there making them--and even offering layaway for bigger items like play kitchens.

The truly wonderful thing is that these toys aren't just durable, they actually get BETTER with age.  They begin to tell a story.  Through teeth and crayon marks, dents and dings, they tell the stories of the children who play with them. 

We had brunch at a friend's house not too long ago who is a grandmother.  She pulled out some old toys for Huck to play with and among them was a wooden train similar to this one.  It was no longer the yellow of new, sanded wood--as I'm sure it was when it was presented to its original owner.  It was dark and shiny having been naturally cured and oiled by the hands of all the little people who'd played with it over the decades.  It had the initial M carved into one side, maybe with a nail or a little pen knife--I'm sure M remembers, or at least his mother does.  It was a toy with a history.  I loved that. 

And Huck loved it, too. 

So for toys that will last a lifetime (or two) and be infused with all the love your child puts into them for future generations to absorb, click the ad below or in the sidebar and visit Chubbas 'n Boop.