An American Icon

March 22, 2014March 23, 2014Amber 10 Comments

Shortly before the babies were born, a McDonald’s opened up on a corner within walking distance from our house. While the golden arches are iconic across America, I had mixed emotions about their new presence right in the neighborhood. We are not fast food connoisseurs at all. Anytime someone inquires about what fast food chains are close to our house, I blank. I really have no idea because we eat at home most of the time. It’s not that we don’t enjoy the occasional indulgence or convenience, we just rarely eat fast food.

Also, early on in our marriage George and I took a road trip with my extended family. We both vividly recall the youngest cousins having a tantrum because we stopped at Wendy’s instead of McDonald’s (apparently McDonald’s boasts better toys in the kid’s meals). It was the horrible wailing feet stomping type of tantrum that humiliates parents. At that point, George and I wondered if we wanted to darken the doors of a McDonald’s ever again, especially if we ever had children in tow. Being the parents of four toddlers we know full well that tantrums ensue whenever, where ever and avoiding McDonald’s doesn’t equate to zero tantrums in public. It only guarantees no tantrums in McDonald’s. Last week, it happened: the quads ate at McDonald’s. Granted they ate yogurt parfaits, they had their first ever McDonald’s experience. I do hope to convince them yogurt and apple slices are the only items on the menu for as long as possible (ideally forever).

Since McDonald’s is within walking distance, we walked. I assumed that there wouldn’t be four available high chairs and planned to serve the quads in their stroller, but Nisey thought we should try sitting in a booth. They did relatively well sandwiched between two adults, but thoughtful McDonald’s employee generously heaved four high chairs over to our table. We happened to be at a long rectangular table, which easily accommodated four high chairs. The yogurt parfaits were gobbled up and the quads seemed to enjoy the atmosphere. With spring weather on the horizon, I believe we will enjoy many more yogurt parfiats.

This table was ideal for housing the seven of us.

When it was time for our McDonald’s adventure to end, the quads made sure to throw decent tantrums.

There is a table in this McDonald’s that lights up with different colors when you touch it. The quads would have really enjoyed eating at this table, but it was occupied when we arrived. Before we left, everyone had an opportunity to touch the colors. Sydney thought she needed to touch it with her face.

What’s your favorite item on McDonald’s menu? I’m serving the quads yogurt, but I admittedly love the fries.

hugs!

Amber

Toddler Tips: Let’s Have Tea

March 17, 2014Amber 21 Comments

With each passing day, I find myself trying to solve some new challenge with raising four toddlers, aka “quaddlers”. They are a cunning lot who inspires a little ingenuity on my part (and George’s) just to manage day to day life. While my ideas are born from being surrounded by four toddlers, I think many of them could be helpful to any parents of little ones so I’m sharing.

When Sydney was initially evaluated by ECI for speech delays, the speech pathologist asked how she was doing with open cups at meals. SAY WHAT???? Seriously, I didn’t realize that at 15 months they should be drinking from an open cup (or at least trying). I’m not sure what parents of singletons do, but as a mom of quadruplets, I was not about to let four toddlers loose with open cups at the table. At that age they were practically catapulting spill proof straw cups across the room. In fact, at that age I believe we were using sippy cup straps. Even though the quads were apparently deprived of an opportunity, the speech pathologist understood my plight. She suggested letting them practice in the bathtub with cups so I wouldn’t have to contend with spills.

I thought about that, I really did. However, germaphobe me just could not get past the notion of encouraging the babies to drink bath water. Even though I try extremely hard to avoid urine in the water, I know they still pee in the tub. Plus, they are taking a bath because they are smelly, sticky, and downright gross! I could not do it. Several months passed and I still had not allowed the babies to experiment with open cups at the table, or the bathtub for that matter.

When Sydney’s re-evaluation for speech came up at 19 months, the speech pathologist inquired about how she managed open cups again. UGH! I had to admit she (and the others) still weren’t given an opportunity. I volunteered that with the warmer weather approaching we could start using the water table outside and could try cups then. They’d still have their icky hands in the water, but at least I’d be sure there was no pee pee in their beverages. That wouldn’t do, she wanted Sydney and her posse trying open cups.

Together we decided a bathtub tea party would work perfectly. Instead of encouraging them to drink the bath water, I filled a tea-pot with fresh, cold water. I told the babies it was “time for tea”, passed out cups and filled each cup with a little fresh water. All four babies drank happily, spilling very little. When someone attempted to refill their own cup with bath water, I redirected them saying, “No, no, Mommy has tea here”, and refilled the cup myself. In time, they poured “tea” into the water and made multiple attempts to drink the bath water, but I stuck to the plan.

I used color tabs to make the bath water blue so it would look different from the tea. I don’t think the babies cared about that, however.

Bottoms up, Harper!

Ryin is a girl after my own heart, I also like sipping tea with a spoon.

Of course, a tea party also includes the finest of fruits and pastries.

After a while, Rylin started feeding Harper some of her tea.

We will continue having the occasional bathtub tea party until I’m brave enough to serve open cups at the dinner table, or perhaps the outdoor picnic table. I haven’t tried this yet, but I’m considering filling the tea-pot with something other than water (e.g. decaf tea or juice) to encourage them to drink it and not refill on their own). Out of necessity, I’ve been hostessing these tea parties on my own with all four babies at once. However, I think we’d make more progress on bath nights when I have help and can bathe just one or two babies at a time.

Where’s your favorite spot to enjoy a cup of tea?

hugs!

Amber

A Day of Beauty

March 14, 2014Amber 13 Comments

Several weeks, possibly months have passed since I realized the boys needed their first haircuts. George willingly would have taken the task on himself, but I wasn’t about to let him chop at their baby locks. Last spring, I allowed him to snip the girls bangs and it was slightly disastrous. His handiwork ended up as super short, blunt bangs that took months to grow out. I cannot cut along a straight line on paper so I wasn’t going to attempt any scissor work. This was clearly a job for professionals.

Mason’s hair had a disheveled appearance most of the time prior to his cut.

I knew of three children’s salons in our area and began a little recon. Do you have any idea what they charge for toddler cuts???? Both boys together would cost more than I pay for a cut and style with my stylist. The bad news, these three salons were in cahoots. The prices were exactly the same! I did, however, find that Sweet & Sassy offers a discount on “Toddler Tuesday.” Score! Except I had one problem, I wasn’t about to take four toddlers to a salon on my own. Reinforcements were needed.

Yet, most everyone we know is at work on a Tuesday. I racked my brain trying to figure out who might be available. Then, BAM! My long time friend, and college room-mate, Kristen sent me a text. She wanted to let me know that she and our other room-mate, Neha, wanted to spend Tuesday with the quads and me. Sometimes things just work out. I was totally stoked that my two buddies would be present for the boys’ first hair cuts, and I would have two extra sets of hands. When the big day arrived, we all met up at the salon and maneuvered two double strollers through the glitzy salon. The entire store front was jam-packed with sparkly fashions, accessories, and make up. Clearly this joint is suited for the girliest of girls, but thankfully they offer boy hair cuts too.

We checked in and found that each of the boys had his own stylist. Harper is generally the most content of the babies so I plopped him in the chair first. Maria fitted him with a cape and the tantrum ensued. Harper squealed as if his skin were being scalded with napalm. It was horrific. Meanwhile, our resident “Drama King”, Mason, happily sat in his chair as Morgan snipped and shaped his strawberry brown mop. I expected that someone may be unhappy so I came armed with a variety of toys and Annie’s cheddar bunnies. Harper was having none of it. He continued wailing and sobbing with increasing intensity. It wasn’t long before Maria suggested I give him a lollipop. It sounded like a good distraction, only I didn’t bring lollipops. Maria pointed to a gorgeous display of gourmet flavored lollipops molded into a variety of shapes. I cautiously selected one in the lightest shade, bracing myself for the potential price tag on said lollipop. Considering I was purchasing sale hair cuts, I hated the idea of paying a hefty penny for a piece of candy. However, we desperately needed something to help calm Harper. I happily presented the lollipop to Harper and he refused. Instead, Mason enjoyed every last lick.

Even though Harper was in hysterics the entire twenty minutes of his hair cut, Maria worked without missing a beat. In fact, it was proof that there’s a reason toddler cuts don’t come cheap, these dear people are worth every penny. Once Harper’s cut was done, we unfastened his cape and the tears magically stopped flowing. The next time we go in, we may nix the cape if that means we’ll have a happy child. Both boys looked quite handsome in the end. As soon as we loaded everyone back into the strollers, the girls were each offered a lollipop, and I realized they were complimentary. Whew!

Don’t they look dapper?

After his torture treatment was complete, Harper appreciated his lollipop much more.

The girls waited patiently the entire time and therefore earned their lollipops too.

The weather was stunning so our little quadventure continued. Neha, Kristen, and I let the quads romp around the town square fountain. They had a blast running freely, however redirecting them from the street was no cake walk. We then enjoyed a little time in Earthbound Trading Co. where there were plenty of toys to explore. Following our time exploring, we hit up Cristina’s Tex Mex because kids eat free on Tuesday! It turned out to be a lovely day with some special friends.

Neha was impressed to find the babies can label most any animal, including iguana and produce the corresponding sound. Mason was impressed with this owl puppet, which boasted moving eyes and beak.

What service do you appreciate even if the price seems a bit hefty?

hugs! Amber

A Few Good Toddler Reads

March 6, 2014Amber 4 Comments

A few months back, I loyal reader informed me that Twiniversity, an online resource for parents of multiples, was seeking parents of quadruplets to contribute for them. Being unfamiliar with Twiniversity, I curiously perused the site. There, I found a wealth of information and tips for everyone to expectant parents to school aged children. After learning what Twiniversity is about, I found myself submitting some of my favorite posts and pitching ideas to them. To my delight, they thought I’d be a good fit for them. With that I present my first piece for Twiniversity, Reading to Toddlers: Tips for Boosting Language. I hope you’ll pop by Twiniversity to read my tips for yourself!

There’s no better way to wind down for the day than with a bedtime story. The quads love to pile onto my lap together, and I’m enjoying it before they get too big.

Thinking about this post, I asked you to name your favorite children’s books. Many of your favorites, were also beloved in our home. You named several that were my childhood favorites that are not currently in our library, and I’m adding those to our wishlist. On the top of the list, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie! I fondly recall the illustrator of that book coming to my elementary school and have loved that book since. Here are our top 10 quaddler-approved books (in no particular order).

Do you have any of these books in your personal library? What books would you add to this list of favorite books for toddlers?

happy reading!

Amber

Disclaimer: Four to Adore participates in the Amazon Affiliate Program, meaning that if you choose to purchase a product linked to Amazon, Four to Adore receives a small commission from the sale. The proceeds of any sales are intended to help contribute to an educational fund for the quadruplets.

Toddler Tips #934: Yogurt Reinvented

March 4, 2014June 7, 2015Amber 9 Comments

Being independent toddlers, the quads refuse to let me spoon feed them anything. For the most part, it’s not a problem because they are highly skilled at finger feeding and are using utensils a little better each day. Some foods such as applesauce and yogurt don’t lend themselves to finger feeding and aren’t ideal for novice utensil users. This led me to find some alternative solutions, especially for yogurt.

I snagged this little gem from Gwen’s Nest. I put a little yogurt in the bottom of a bowl or plate and top it with dry cereal. This is one of my favorite ways to serve yogurt because it helps the babies work on spoon-feeding themselves. The yogurt sticks to the dry cereal, making it easier to scoop. Sometimes they pick up the cereal as a finger food, and it’s a bit sticky, but it’s not terrible.

I also found a recipe for Orange Dreamsicle Bites from Cookies & Cups, which used Greek yogurt and orange flavored Jell-O. I experimented with it and found that other Jello flavors make tasty yogurt bites for the wee ones (and adults too!). Plus, using other flavors creates fun colors, which is helpful when teaching toddlers about colors. The best part- Greek yogurt transforms Jello-O into a snack packed with probiotics, calcium, and protein that is easy to serve and clean up!

You'll need just two ingredients to make yogurt bites: 1 1/2 cups Greek Yogurt 3 oz. box of Jell-O

You’ll need just two ingredients to make yogurt bites:
1 1/2 cups Chobani Greek Yogurt
3 oz. box of Jell-O

Note: I’ve experimented with various brands and flavors of Greek yogurt for this recipe, and Chobani vanilla results in the right texture.

Mix the yogurt and Jell-O in a microwave safe bowl

Microwave the mixture 1 minute then stir well. Microwave another minute then stir again.

Spoon the mixture into molds, or muffin tins with cupcake liners. If you use a mold, be sure to spray it with cooking spray first.

I forgot to spray my mold and only two of our animals came out clean. I found that mini muffin tins are just the right size for a snack, and clean up is easy.

I forgot to spray my mold and only two of our animals came out clean. I found that mini muffin tins are just the right size for a snack, and clean up is a cinch. I made these as a toddler snack so I didn’t get fancy, but at Cookies & Cups, she topped these with whipped cream and candy, which would be cute to serve at a party.

I’ve been serving banana milk shakes for a while, but recently began adding Greek yogurt to them. I also like adding yogurt to whole milk as a drink. This is by far the easiest way to serve yogurt to toddlers! I do this often for Mason and Sydney because they are so tiny and often need extra calories that are nutritious rather than empty junk food options.

Toddlers absolutely LOVE dipping. They recently discovered they joys of ketchup and sour cream so I began using yogurt as fruit dip for the quads. Sometimes they spear fruit with a fork, which is good utensil practice. They also do well just dipping fruit as a finger food.

The yogurt I used for this was white, but I added a drop of red food coloring to make it pretty for the picture. Rylin is currently obsessed with pink things and thought it was fantastic. I think I’ll experiment with making our yogurt other colors such as green and orange to help teach colors.

Do you have any clever ways to serve yogurt or otherwise messy foods to toddlers? I always enjoy tips for feeding toddlers, and have been enjoying the Tyke Bites series at Texas Tales.

hugs!

Amber

P. S. Since the original writing of this post, I began using plain Greek yogurt as a sour cream substitute as a condiment (e.g. over chili, tacos, in veggie dip), to add creaminess to pasta dishes, and in baked goods. There are so many creative ways to use Greek yogurt in your family’s meals. In fact, Chobani has an entire site devoted to such recipes!

These recipes are some of our family favorites-

Greek Yogurt Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins

7 Up Biscuits (for this recipe just substitute the sour cream with Greek yogurt)

Psst- If you can’t get enough of Four to Adore, don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest!

What Paintbrush?

March 2, 2014Amber 12 Comments

As much as I enjoy doing art projects with the quads, I’ve admittedly avoided them in recent months. Winter wardrobe is simply not conducive to messy art projects. However, I knew it was time to put my reservations aside and let the quads try their hand at painting with brushes for the first time. I waited until George had a day off so I had help managing the eight little hands and forty fingers. Thanks to Sesame Street, the quads are highly interested in the alphabet and letters in general. Given that, I thought it would be fun to let them paint their initials. We started with square canvases and taped off each baby’s initial with masking tape. Then, we let them go with a cup of paint and paintbrushes.

We gave each baby a square canvas with their initial taped across the top.

It took Sydney less than 30 seconds to dip her fingers into the paint and slather on some crimson lipstick. Red is not easy to pull off, but it was a good color for her. This is also the reason we use non-toxic tempera paint!

Things started out slowly with daps here and dots there.

Things started out slowly with dabs here and dots there.

It didn't take long before babies started "borrowing" paint from each other, creating some uniuqe color palates. You may notice they not only painted their canvases and the table, but also their hair!

It didn’t take long before babies started “borrowing” paint from each other, creating some unique color combinations.

You may notice they not only painted their canvases and the table, but also their hair. Mason added the most color to his hair, he loves adding “product” to his hair.

This is how everyone looked after painting their respective masterpieces. I believe Rylin was channeling Frida Kahlo.

When it was all said and done we had a gigantic mess to contend with, but it was thankfully bath night and our Bumkins smock bibs protected all clothing perfectly. Even better, the paint was easily rinsed from the bibs and they came out of the washing machine looking like new. Once the paint dried, we peeled off the tape, revealing the initials. Even though the babies weren’t quite yet skilled with paintbrushes, it was certainly good practice and a fabulous sensory experience!

Here are all of the little masterpieces. I think they turned out really cute. Now I’m just not sure where to display them.

Hugs!

Amber

Why Women Don’t Grill (Usually)

February 21, 2014Amber 20 Comments

This post is rather ironic given my recent post about exposing children to toys geared towards the opposite gender. Several readers pointed out the importance of embracing our innate talents. I agree with that 100%. I think it’s wise to allow children opportunities to play with toys that aren’t necessarily for their gender, but not at the expense of their natural talents and preferences. By design, men and women typically have tasks they are naturally better at than others. Grilling is one that typically falls within the male domain, and apparently for good reason.

In honor of President’s Day, George enjoyed the day at home with us. The weather was stunning and the quads enjoyed playing outdoors well over an hour before nap. Enjoying such springlike weather inspired us to make plans for grilled chicken for dinner. George and I enjoy cooking together, but when it comes to grilled food, I leave the grilling to him while I manage side dishes.

As the babies snoozed, I made a rub for the chicken and diced veggies for our salad. (We try to make the best use of sleeping babies by preparing everything in advance.) Naturally, they woke up a bit too early and were super cranky so we ushered them back into the yard before dinner. As the dinner hour approached, we brought the quads in for an Elmo movie so we could wrap up dinner. This meant George would grill and I’d finish the sides. Our plans quickly changed when a menacing Little People chicken aggressively jumped in front of George, causing ruckus. We heard a pop as George tumbled to the floor, narrowly missing the quads. It was apparent that George had a major big toe injury, which required immediate TLC. I managed to get the Elmo movie started as I packed George’s toe in ice. Clearly he wasn’t grilling our dinner- I was.

This chicken wreaked havoc on our dinner plans, and the rest of George’s week for that matter. Poor guy has been forced to wear slippers to work! If you see this chicken, RUN the other direction!

Here’s the damage!

I knew I could handle it. We have a gas grill and I already seasoned the chicken. All I had to do was toss it on the heat, flip it and check it for doneness, right? Wrong. George hobbled outside to turn the grill on for me as I gathered my grilling tools: tongs, clean plate, fork, knife, Pam, and of course the chicken. Once I plopped the chicken on the grill, I shut the lid and headed back inside to finish the rest of our meal. I figured I’d leave the chicken out there 15 minutes or so then flip it. Upon my return to the kitchen, the babies became restless and extremely fussy. Elmo was not entertaining them at all. I scampered about trying to appease them as I worked. Every five minutes, George reminded me to check the chicken. I was trying to do a bazillion things so of course, I never would have thought to check the chicken. In fact, truth be told, I probably would have forgotten it even after 15 minutes without reminders. Over about a thirty minute period, I tended to the quads, miscellaneous kitchen tasks, and George’s toe. Thankfully, George periodically continued reminding me to check the chicken. I found grilling chicken to be surprisingly daunting. When I cook chicken, I typically use the Crock Pot, oven, or stove and it requires very little monitoring. I can “set it and forget it”, which is exactly what I normally do with chicken. Grilled chicken, however demands a little more attention.

Thinking back to social psychology and neurospychology classes, I can recall learning about how men and women filter information differently. Typically men are able to focus intently on one thing at a time, whereas women divide their attention amongst many different tasks at once. This is why it drives me insane when the television and radio blare simultaneously and George is unphased. I hear EVERYTHING from both sources and try to attend to both while he chooses to attend to one while totally ignoring the other. Having the tenancy to attend to multiple things at once comes in handy when caring for quads, but not so great when grilling. In the end, I proved myself capable of grilling chicken that looked decent and tasted good. However, I realized there’s a reason George is better at this task: he can focus on it and only it.

I was pleasantly surprised when the quads gobbled up their chicken since they don’t usually eat chicken well. That night we decided to call chicken “meat” at the dinner table. When we called it “chicken”, Rylin gave us a puzzled look as she said, “Bock, bock???” We weren’t ready to explain that one yet…

George ate dinner with his foot nicely elevated.

Do you focus on one thing, or several simultaneously? Do you think your answer is related to your gender?

Hugs!

Amber

And…It’s Valentine’s Day

February 12, 2014February 14, 2014Amber 4 Comments

This week I decided it was FINALLY time to wrap up everything remaining from Christmas. George nagged me enough about our Christmas card display, and I knew our thank you notes were far overdue. And…it is Valentine’s Day!

I am certainly no Emily Post, but I try to maintain proper etiquette, particularly regarding thank you notes. When someone takes time, effort, and money to purchase and wrap a gift, I want them to know it was appreciated. This year, I thought I’d diverge from our traditional hand written notes, and send electronic versions including pictures of the quads enjoying their gifts. I started strong. In the first few days following Christmas I busily snapped pictures and attached them to texts and emails thanking the gift givers. Then, it became overwhelming. I started losing track and getting confused so I gave up, leaving about half of our thank you notes undone.

After almost two months, it was high time I finish the thank you notes. I bailed on my original idea and insead reverted back to traditional hand written paper versions. Even though these would not come with pictures, I wanted the quads to add their mark. I wrote a quick note to each gift giver, then let the quads decorate with stickers and crayons. In the past, they typically ate both stickers and crayons so I partially expected a futile effort. However, the quads really enjoyed playing with stickers. I started by handing them stickers and pointing to the paper and telling them to “stick it”. It wasn’t long before they convinced me to let them peel the stickers off and place them independently. I really didn’t give them enough credit, and found our project to be relatively relaxing. They did, however, munch a few crayons in the process, leaving most of our crayons without tips.

Once we stuffed our mailbox with completed thank you notes, it was time to tackle the Christmas card display. At the beginning of the Christmas season, we hung a wooden “S” in the entryway with three strips of ribbon dangling from it, then used clothespins to attach cards as they arrived. Christmas cards are one of my favorite parts of that time of year. We get updates from our friends and family from near and far, and I enjoy looking back at them all season long. If it were up to me, we may leave them up until the next year.

As I took the pictures down, the quads were given the task of storing the clothespins in an empty wipes box (it’s not my permanent storage place for them, but it was a great toddler task). Then, I borrowed an idea from a fellow quad mom. I punched a hole in the corner of each card and put them on a ring, creating a flip book. Since the quads are interested in learning names and labels, we’ve been pointing out each person pictured as we name them. Perhaps at our next extended family gathering, or play date the quads will recognize everyone better. The best part is that our cards didn’t end up stuffed in a storage box indefinitely or worse, thrown away.

Now that Christmas is finalized, I suppose we shall take time to show our love for each other in honor of Valentine’s Day. George and I aren’t the biggest fans of Valentine’s Day so we are keeping it simple. I’m planning to pick up dinner after work, and perhaps a movie rental. I also made our favorite sugar cookies in heart shapes for each of my five Valentines.

What do you do with Christmas cards at the end of the season?

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Toddler Tips: #1,120 Don’t Recycle That! (Yet)

February 11, 2014Amber 4 Comments

Thankfully, our city makes recycling simple. All we have to do is rinse our recyclables and toss them into a giant bin that we place curbside for weekly pick up. Consequently, our household waste is drastically reduced and we recycle the majority of what would otherwise be trash. Now that the quaddlers are fascinated with containers, I let them play with our clean recycleables before dropping them into the bin. As I cook dinner, I dole out the newest materials and the quads are easily occupied for 20-30 minutes. But, it doesn’t just occupy them and allow me to cook, they are working on fine motor skills as well. They open and close flip top and screw top containers, flip and tear magazine pages, stuff containers with smaller ones, and drum with kitchen spoons. Sydney’s occupational therapist would be proud of the page turning we get with magazines. (She told me that at 18 months they should be turning paper pages one at a time. We all know what they do to board books so I wasn’t letting them at paper paged books, but magazines meet the same end.) Once they are done playing, I scoop up everything and toss it into the recycle bin. Super easy! I am aware of the many toys circulating around Pinterest using these types of things as toys. However, the quads seem to enjoy the novelty that each day brings rather than using the same containers or materials again and again. Plus, four babies tend to wear out flimsy plastic and cardboard containers relatively quickly.

While I’m on the topic of recycling. I love re-purposing linen packaging, specifically the clear zip bags used for new sheets and comforters. They are ideal for storing toys with many parts. For example, the bag from our pillow shams now houses a few Lego sets, and our old Boppy Pillow bags are fantastic for storing our ball pit balls. All the small parts are contained, and the contents are visible so labels are unnecessary. Each time we have a new bag like this, I make a point to let George know it’s a keeper.

What is your favorite item to re-purpose?

hugs!

Amber

But That’s for GIRLS!

February 8, 2014February 10, 2014Amber 13 Comments

Although I consider myself extremely feminine, I detest gender stereotypes and promote gender equality. That being said, it wasn’t until I observed the quads playing together that I put much thought into the gender bias of toys. Both of the boys spend the majority of their time playing with the kitchen set. I’ve mentioned before, they simply love mixing up concoctions in tea cups and feeding the baby dolls. Although these may be considered “feminine” toys, I love that my boys have opportunities for this kind of play. When they are someday grown and have children, I hope they are the kinds of fathers who help prepare dinner and care for the children. George does these things without hesitation and that makes him a strong father and husband.

Shortly after Christmas, the quads became interested in pretend play, and dressing up. The boys gravitated to the white sun hats. To be fair, we don’t have any masculine dress up clothes (think fire and police hats) yet, but I plan to add a few in the near future.

Our dress up trunk is sparse and the boys also made use of the fluffy blue tutu.

On the flip side, the girls enjoy playing with race cars, trains, and tools. I hope they learn to value problem solving skills and never feel inferior to boys. The thing is, it’s easy at our house having an equal number of same age boys and girls. It’s totally coincidental that the boys have just as many “girl” toys available to them as “boy” toys, and vice versa for the girls. I would hope that if our children were all the same gender we would expose them to a variety of “boy” and “girl” toys, but it would be very easy to follow stereotypes when shopping for toys. It’s quite possible if we only had boys that our home would be void of dolls and dress up clothes, and if we only had girls there wouldn’t be a single car or building block.

What I love most about all of our toys, is that the boys and girls play together.

Several months ago, a viral video spread across YouTube. It depicted three girls constructing and setting a Rube Goldberg Machine. It was an advertisement from a new company, Goldie Blox, that seeks to encourage girls to pursue careers in science and engineering. Currently only 13% of engineers are female, and the creators of Goldie Blox feel it’s correlated to the toys girls are given. In January, Huffington Post published an article about how toy manufacturers are transforming once gender neutral toys such as Legos to feminine versions and made “girl” toys even more feminine than before (hard to believe that’s even possible). It sends an interesting message to children doesn’t it? The line is drawn in the sand: there are toys for boys and toys for girls. It saddens me to think toys could limit the aspirations and careers of my children.

All that being said, I’m not in any way suggesting that we stifle what is innate in our children. As a child, I vehemently rejected cars, sports activities, and construction materials. Instead I gravitated to dolls and similarly feminine toys. It wasn’t for my parent’s lack of trying, they certainly provided a variety of play options. I believe that as parents, it’s prudent to provide equal opportunities for our children and not to chastise them if they choose to play with something that may be geared towards the opposite gender.

Do you think toy manufacturers have drawn the gender lines too clearly?

hugs!

Amber

Four to Adore

a slice of life with quadruplets

parenting multiples

An American Icon

Toddler Tips: Let’s Have Tea

A Day of Beauty

A Few Good Toddler Reads

Toddler Tips #934: Yogurt Reinvented

What Paintbrush?

Why Women Don’t Grill (Usually)

And…It’s Valentine’s Day

Toddler Tips: #1,120 Don’t Recycle That! (Yet)

But That’s for GIRLS!

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