Xander Week 81 - Ride On Toys…
June 20, 2008
Once the snow started to melt this year (which didn’t really happen until May…) Xander started to realize that he LOVES to be outside. It doesn’t matter where we are or what we are doing, outside is always better than being inside. We don’t have a lot of outside toys though. Often, Xander will “help” Zach in the garden. This spring he had a great time helping us add grass seed to the lawn - he’d take handfuls and sprinkle (or dump) them all over the lawn, and since the whole thing needs more seed, it didn’t really matter to us where Xander dropped seed (except in things like the grill, the lawnmower or on the paved driveway…) After that, we planted some flowers, and Xander had a great time playing in the dirt. He loves to water the flowers (he’s only allowed to use the mist sprayer) but he usually ends up watering himself more than the plants.
Aside from watering though, we’re running out of things to with Xander in the yard. For a few months we’ve been talking about how he needs a ride on toy. At Zach’s parent’s house, there are two - both yard sale finds that all the grandkids have played with at one point or another. Xander loves them. The smaller one (shown in the picture) he is allowed to bring inside. We have a great time watching him try to balance a sippy cup on the bar between his legs - it never works, and it makes him so frustrated. Eventually his Nana gave him a foam cup cozy, which is less slippery than the sippy cup, and almost works, but as soon as he starts moving, the cup tips to one side or the other. It doesn’t matter how many times we explain to Xander why this plan won’t work. He doesn’t care to listen - he just wants his sippy cup to stay in place while he’s motoring around the kitchen!
So, Zach and I have been looking at ride on toys for our house. We discovered that there are two choices: outrageously expensive good quality toys like Radio Flyer or the incredibly cheap, probably laden with lead from China plastic toys. Even those are usually $25-$40. So, we haven’t bought anything. We’re having a hard time justifying $80 for a tricycle, but we don’t really want to buy a cheap toy that is just going to be recalled in a month or two. So now we’ve resorted to scouring yard sales (not that we’ve had any free weekends to go yard sale-ing of course) but I’m not holding my breath for anything spectacular. If anyone out there has any reasonable alternatives, I’d love to hear about them!
This has been our dilemma as well! The Radio Flyer Scoot-about retails for $40+ ?! And the garage sales in our area are less than satisfying. I have a friend who saw a Scoot-about at a local garage sale for $15 and was appalled until I told her how much they cost new. Yes, if anyone out there has a viable suggestion, we too would like to know.
In the meantime, Joseph is content with sticks…
We’ve got a Playskool Walk ‘N Ride that I got at Wal-Mart. It’s one of those two-stage toys that the child can push and then later ride on. Xander is obviously past the pushing stage, but it seems pretty sturdy to ride on. Maybe Xander can try it the next time we get together!
I have also been oogling over the Radio Flyer products…but alas, way too expensive!
I’m also going to be keeping an eye open for yard sales. We’re looking for some sort of outdoor climber for Samantha. I’ll keep a lookout for a ride-on!
Little Tikes also makes a nice Push & Ride Racer for about $25. They’re usually pretty good quality toys.
I checked out the Little Tikes website for that Push & Ride Racer - of course they are out of stock on the boys model… They did have a “Handles Hauler Haul & Ride” which is similar - converts to push or ride or pull. It’s $34.99 which isn’t terrible… I guess we’ll keep that in mind if we don’t find any good yard sales this summer - thanks for the tip!