With Madison only being 5, it’s hard sometimes to get her to understand about money. At this point, she only understands that there is rectangle money and circle money. That being said they do have a treasure chest at school where you can donate money to (which, in turn, gets donated to the church. For those of you who don’t know, Madison attends a Catholic School).  That is the beauty with this bank.  The kids can actually see where they money is going towards.  I love that each chamber actually can be emptied out through a different foot (would that be a hoof on a pig?).  No worries about mixing the money.  There are goal setting stickers that you put on the bank.  For example, for invest, you could put the graduation cap, because you are going to use that to save for school.  You can also draw your own ideas of what your goals are on the blank stickers.  There is also a great booklet included with ways to talk to your kids about money.

The Money Savvy Pig is a great way to start teaching your kids about money.

I live in Chicago where we have crappy winters. Really, we do. We have lots of snow and lots of cold here.  That being said, to get through a Chicago winter you need a great quality boot.  Sorel fits that bill.  They make their boots for purpose first.  I have admit I loved all the women’s boots.  It was really hard for me to decide which boot I wanted to go with.  I love the high boots, but my legs are short and they tend to look dorky on me.  These boots aren’t high, but are perfect for me instead.  I love that they have handles for my to pull on (with two kids I really hate having to tie anything).  They are super comfortable and warm too!  They also don’t make my feet look fat (all you women out there know what I mean about how winter boots can sometimes make your feet look a lot bigger than they are).  I love that they are fashionable too!  These will be the boots I pick Madison up from school with once the snow falls.

I love that Sorel gets that boots can be fashionable and serve a purpose too!  I can’t wait for it to snow!

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One of the most frustrating things I’ve come across is finding a belt for Madison. The kid needs an actual belt not just a pretty thing to hold up her pants (I wish I had that problem). The problem we were having was that I couldn’t actually find any belts in the stores that she could do by herself.  Step in Myself Belts.  These belts are a lifesaver in my house.  They are velcro, so Madison can do it herself.  Actually, Will my 2 year old can do it himself too.   It’s a great way to promote independence with your kids.  These are perfect for special needs too, because they literally can undo and do this belt with one hand.  They even have adult sizes (which I think is awesome since I can imagine how difficult a regular belt must be if you have arthritis).  Price wise, these belts are cheaper than anything I found in the stores (which Madison couldn’t do).

I can only highly recommend these belts.  My kids can do them by themselves, they are hardy, and the price is right.  What more can you ask for?

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I love fun multiplayer games and this fits that!  The Munchables are hungry creatures looking for things to eat.  The goal is to eat as many enemies as possible and grow as big as you can (you grow by eating, but so do your enemies).  You can eat everything from chocolate to vegetables to fruit.  The names of the characters in this game will make you laugh:  Eggplanter, Space Shroom and Rice Baller (just to name a few).  You can play in regular time, reverse, or time attack mode, so this game never gets boring.  You can even accessorize your character!  The controls are simple enough for Madison (my five year old).  A feature that I really like is that once you’ve beaten the game, it actually shows you all the acorns (which you need to accessorize) you missed!

The Munchables is great for young and old alike!  We will spend countless hours eating your vegetable, laughing, and having fun!

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I can’t remember if we got When I Was Little: A Four-Year-Old’s Memoir of Her Youth before or after Will was born. However, Madison uses the state “when I was little” a lot, so this book is quite fitting for her. The book itself is about a 4 year old talking about all the things she no longer does or uses because she is big. She talks about using words, sleeping in big girl beds, going to nursery school, and getting teeth just to name a few things. As a parent, you actually can visualize your little one growing up.   Madison often tells me the things that aren’t listed in the book that she did when she was little.  It is a great conversation starter with your children.  The pictures in this book are awesome.  This book is perfect for the 3 – 6 age group.  It is especially perfect for any 4 year old you may know.