Defying Mediocrity with a Salad Spinner

Apparently, all of the toys my toddler was given for Christmas were mediocre, at best. That must be the case. Otherwise, he would probably have chosen to ride on the Winnie the Pooh ride-on train (where every magical button is another Pooh monologue, and there is no off-switch. We've looked.) Or, he could jump into the little round bucket seat of his very first red Schwinn tricycle.. we're talking the chrome rims here, the little chiming bell, the streamers out the handlebars. Wind on your bald toddler head. The real deal. OR he could pick up the "My First Tee-Ball" set, that my dad was very excited for him to use.

I understand why he ignored the clothes, and all the little ornaments that light up, but honestly, the train set that configures into a figure-eight that has a little engine that chugs around only when the conductor is placed on top, is just cool. All the adults think so. Even the dogs mustered up the courage to sniff it out. Just not my guy.

The legoes were ignored and not opened. Same with the wooden blocks. The Playmobil castle with the little knights and dragon and the little wizard, got a second look. HEre's the rub: the castle opened and closed, so it was given a fair shake. The toddler-scale vacuum got some good action, for more than a minute.

Then we opened the kitchen tools bag.

My mother-in-law knows her grandson, it's as simple as that. She gave him a little bag of cookery treasures. When he discovered the little rubber measuring cups, his eyes grew big. The baster? A little bigger. His own strainer.. cool! Finally... wait for it. The magical, splendid salad spinner. Holy cow, was he happy. Hello, entertainment. He hasn't stopped spinning things in it since. We even put it on top of the booster chair when he was finished eating, clearly ready to get down again, but the "adults" at the table wanted the time to savor. He carefully placed his leftover carrots inside, and spun. Giggle, spin, giggle.

Moral? When in doubt.. spin away the mediocre with the salad spinner!