It’s been just over two weeks and we are finally unpacked and organised in our new home. Although we probably won’t be here for too long (it’s a temporary stop-gap until we hopefully buy a place), it’s still important we make it feel ours.

Part of that process has been choosing a few new pieces of furniture to replace tired or broken bits that we no longer had use for. First on that list was a new desk for Frog. 

Her old desk was a little table and chairs from Ikea, that I painted in bright red. The thing is, our current place has less room downstairs for a full table and chairs set, so it stayed outside and got damaged by the rain. In its place, we now have this gorgeous wooden desk from Wooden Toy Shop, which also doubles up as a storage box.

At three years old, Frog is becoming ever the independent diva (always has been, actually), so this desk is a great way to encourage her to get her own toys out and put them away again once she’s finished playing. With pistons on the hinges to stop the lid banging shut, it remains open when Frog is rummaging around for a jigsaw puzzle or colouring book.

The desk lives in the corner of our living room and – I’m pleased to say – it doesn’t take over the space at all. With bright colours and fun dinosaurs, it’s pretty enough not to want to hide away in a playroom. Plus, the storage element means the toys are tidy and not constantly cluttering up the rest of the room.

With a large surface area, the desk easily houses Frog’s pens and pencil crayons and provides a big enough space for even her largest of colouring and sticker books.

I’ve written before about how I’m a sucker for wooden toys and think they’re often a better buy than much of the plastic stuff on the market, and this desk is no exception. In fact, I was checking out the other items on offer on the site and came across some brilliant wooden play food which I’ve already marked as a possible Christmas present. The range is very impressive – and all at a reasonable price.

It goes without saying, Frog is delighted with her new desk and is currently sitting at it, drawing, as I type!

***

This desk comes from WoodenToyShop.co.uk and retails at £86.95. There’s a range of different colours to choose from, including a Union Jack and flower design.

Disclosure: The desk featured in this post was provided for the purpose of this review. All opinions remain my own, naturally. 

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For all her tantrums and diva strops, my daughter is at a lovely age right now.

Every day I can see new cogs in her brain whirring into action, as she shows me she’s remembering stuff – like numbers, shapes, colours and letters – and going through ideas in her own little head.

My favourite part of this phase is watching her imagination develop and unfurl in front of me.

She talks to everything – dolls, teddies, a pebble on the ground – as if it’s her best friend. I find the responses she gives for these inanimate objects fascinating. After asking her toy tiger if he’d like some “bing bangs” (bangles, to those in the know), she makes him reply, “Yes please. Like bing bangs. Pretty on me. ROAR!”

Quite.

We were recently sent a gorgeous Honeybake Tea Set from Dolls Houses. It’s one of the first toys I’ve seen my two year old properly play with for more than ten minutes.

She made pretend cups of tea with it, pouring pretend milk into pretend water and stirring in pretend sugar with the spoon.

As soon as her dad returns home from work, she’s thrusting said tea on him, oblivious to the fact he’s more of a coffee type of man.

She made play dough cupcakes and served them with the tea, getting increasingly irrate when she realised I wasn’t actually eating the “cake”.

I fear she’ll be a terrifying host when she’s older.

The tea set is made from wood, so it’s got a really durable feel to it. From the high quality finish of the painted wood, to the detailed stitching on the fabric strawberries in the pretend cupcake, it’s a toy I don’t mind leaving out in the living room at the end of the day. It ranks high above much of the plastic tat we have lying around.

I’d recommend this product for anyone looking for a starter tea set for a child as the wood finish means it’s both long lasting and unlikely to shatter into lots of pieces, like a china one would. Although I love the look of the china sets, I know my overly zealous tea maker would smash one in moments.

For the organised amongst you, I’d recommend you add it to your list of Christmas present purchases. But then again, I’m not allowing myself to mention the c-word.

Yet.

***

You can buy the Honeybake Tea Set from Le Toy Van for £20.25 at Doll Houses.

We were sent this product for the purpose of review.

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The waiting room is airless. People mill around aimlessly, waiting for their overdue appointments to see the consultant.

Fraught mothers attempt to entertain their grumpy children, desperate not to be the ones with “that” child. I am one of these mothers. My child does not want to be here. Shouts of “JUICE!” and “WO AWAY!” fill the air.

But then she spies some shoes.

Not just any shoes, either. A box of dressing up shoes. They sparkle and shine, tempting her like a bumper pack of chocolate buttons.

Next to the shoes, sits a kitchen. It’s packed to the brim with plastic fruit, wooden spoons and pretend boxes of cereal. My daughter is in heaven.

There are also rocking horses, three full bookshelves, lego, toy instruments and train tracks. Suddenly, the airless waiting room isn’t such a bad place to be. It’s almost jolly.

And then it hits me: ALL waiting rooms should be this way – not just children’s ones.

Picture the scene – you’re waiting for that appointment with the dentist. Eagerly you reach for the nearest magazine, only to find it’s a 5 year old copy of Gardener’s World. You spend the next 15 minutes determinedly trying not to catch the gaze of the person sitting next to you. You might attempt an awkward whistle to pass the time.

But then you spy a box of Christian Laboutin’s finest. No more awkward whistles! You bond with your fellow waiting room victims over a shared dressing-up experience. You might not be au fait with 6 inch platforms but no matter – it’s just a game to pass the time!

Or maybe you’re not keen on dressing up. How about a spot of adult crafting? For the knitters amongst you there’s a bag of the best wool and a flurry of knitting needles to try out while you linger for your appointment with the bank manager.

And for the gadget fans, you can choose between an XBox or an iPad to keep your mind off that odd rash you’ve come to see the doctor about.

It’s a faultless idea. No more pre-appointment butterflies, no more pretending to read an old Reader’s Digest in order to avoid conversation, no more desperate texting of every person in your phone book. No more boredom.

Until, that is, 83 year old Margot wants to try on the same Laboutins that you have your eye on. Or 68 year old Fred wants to take too long over his turn on Call of Duty. Or Gerald, aged 45, refuses to share the sparkly skirt you wanted to try with those five inch platforms.

Maybe not then.

Lounging: the after-effect of a waiting room full of toys

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At nearly 16 months, my daughter has decided she’s not particularly interested in toys any more. She’d rather play with real stuff. It doesn’t really matter what stuff, as long as it’s stuff.

Useful stuff is best; a bowl, a wooden spoon, some pegs. Anything that isn’t a real toy and which I’m likely to need within the next half an hour.

So we decided to make a box of treasure. A box of treasure, filled with real stuff. The benefits to this are threefold:

1) Actually making the treasure box occupied my easily-bored child for a good half an hour.

2) Playing with the stuff in the treasure box provided yet more time when she was occupied.

3) It meant she kept her chubby little hands out of my cupboards for a good, oh, half an hour at least.

Painting the box of treasure

More painting...

Filling the box of treasure

More filling...

Discovering the box of treasure

Playing with the box of treasure

Warning: Only exceedingly rich and talented parents may create such an incredible treasure box, due to the hugely expensive contents and lovingly painted interior. Obviously.

Contents include: A pair of gardening gloves, some conkers, a few shells, a couple of walnuts, some scraps of fabric, a teaspoon, a lemon juicer, a luggage label, two painted toilet rolls.

All very expensive, I’m sure you’ll agree.

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