What Big Purchases Have You Made And Then Regretted?

[mamac]

Our wood playscape kit from Home Depot. We thought it was a decent quality when we got it but soon realized that we could have built a better one ourselves for way less money...

[Laurel]

a couple things I thought were must haves for daycare and ended up selling....

1. large wagon. pulling kids is a pain and they never used it on their own. I greatly prefer a double stroller instead

2. step 2 roller coasters. looked like so much fun but my kids never would push the car back up to the top on their own. the only time they played with it would be if I pushed the car back up to the top for them


and things the kids LOVED but ended up fighting over so much that I sold them...

1. large plastic or wood playhouses. little fingers got slammed in those doors a million times. we have a playhouse now and I told my husband to build it with no door, just a entryway

2. pull toys. it was always the 3 and 4 year old that would play with those, dragging them around and running in circles and getting rowdy. the younger kids barely ever play with them so I got rid of all but one

1. Little Tikes Wooden Kitchen/Laundry Center-It is wooden, adorable looking and has a little dryer/ironing board combination with a little laundry basket. Even a one year old could open the dryer door and the door just keeps coming off so finally I left it off. The stove door opens the same way a real stove opens so I thought it was more authentic. Well little ones just open the door and step on it all the time (even though I tried to get them not to) so that broke off. It is not on their website anymore so I'm wondering if they discontinued it. The refrigerator door is so hard to open.

2. The green turtle sandbox. Nothing wrong with it except I don't like them sitting in sand. I found a sand and water table to be better and now only use it for water. Over the years, I found the sand to be a big pain.

3. A dome climber. I ordered it online and it was too big for my little ones. My grandkids use it occasionally when they visit but wish I could find someone who wanted it.

Laurel

[Lyss]

My kids LOVE our light table, I started with tupperware and rope lights, then broke down and bought the a thin light panel. It gets dones of use. My own dd gets bored within 5 mins but the dcks can play for over an hour!

My biggest flop was magnetic wooden dolls. I thought they were so cute, what a flop!

[Laurel]

Child sized chairs. They only push them around, they never use them as intended.

How true! The only child sized table I'll use is the picnic table type so the seats are attached.

Laurel

[spud912]

My kids LOVE our light table, I started with tupperware and rope lights, then broke down and bought the a thin light panel. It gets dones of use. My own dd gets bored within 5 mins but the dcks can play for over an hour!

My biggest flop was magnetic wooden dolls. I thought they were so cute, what a flop!

Are you talking about the wooden dolls you can dress up? If so, my kids love them! I think we have opposite children ::::.

So many of these threads demonstrate to me how different children can be! Even within my group, there are vast differences. I have some children who are entertained with play dough for an hour and others who are interested for about 1 1/2 minutes. You just never know how they will react to something until it's too late and you've already bought the item .

[williams2008]

Ummmmmm.....a whole house just for child care. Not sure if it was the best idea!::

Same here. Although I'm renting it, I'm still not sure if it was the best idea!

[LK5kids]

Wow! Really? That is the only thing I have NEVER regretted.

It's been a tough adjustment.....not having my business separate, just deciding to do child care again is questionable, that then creates a "Should we have bought this house" question and possible regret.

[Brooksie]

Over extending my budget to get a house that's way to much money for my current income. But hey, I have the best FCC space in town! Someone just needs to tell that to the families with kids over 2!!!!!

[Lyss]

Are you talking about the wooden dolls you can dress up? If so, my kids love them! I think we have opposite children ::::.

So many of these threads demonstrate to me how different children can be! Even within my group, there are vast differences. I have some children who are entertained with play dough for an hour and others who are interested for about 1 1/2 minutes. You just never know how they will react to something until it's too late and you've already bought the item .

We totally have the opposite children! Those dolls are what I was taking about!! ::::

[dave4him]

Our honeymoon! Should have chosen Hawaii over Mexico

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

One of my grand ideas last year was a light table after reading a ton of blogs about how great they are. I'm too cheap to actually buy one so I pulled out my dh's Light Tracer (he has a degree in arts and needed it for one of his classes way back when). I plugged it in and put all sorts of things on top of it at various times (x-rays, tupperware full of water beads, our Magna Tiles, clear colored shapes, etc.). The kids are interested in it for about 5 seconds, then they remove the objects and play with them on the regular table. The funny thing is that I keep trying it in hopes that they will magically become interested in it....but nope! Thank goodness I never invested any real money into it!

Mine are only interested in stacking neon translucent shot glasses on it. It occupies the child with Autism for about 10 minutes. Others for about 5. That's their ONLY interest with it, though.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

Are you talking about the wooden dolls you can dress up? If so, my kids love them! I think we have opposite children ::::.

So many of these threads demonstrate to me how different children can be! Even within my group, there are vast differences. I have some children who are entertained with play dough for an hour and others who are interested for about 1 1/2 minutes. You just never know how they will react to something until it's too late and you've already bought the item .

Mine love the dress up magnetic dolls, too! We have 3!!

[blandino]

Someone just needs to tell that to the families with kids over 2!!!!!

DITTO !!! Calls for children over two are an extreme rarity for me. In the past 3 years, I have had 3 children start over age 2. I will have 2 24m+ openings in August, and have no idea when we will fill those...

[MissAnn]

One of my grand ideas last year was a light table after reading a ton of blogs about how great they are. I'm too cheap to actually buy one so I pulled out my dh's Light Tracer (he has a degree in arts and needed it for one of his classes way back when). I plugged it in and put all sorts of things on top of it at various times (x-rays, tupperware full of water beads, our Magna Tiles, clear colored shapes, etc.). The kids are interested in it for about 5 seconds, then they remove the objects and play with them on the regular table. The funny thing is that I keep trying it in hopes that they will magically become interested in it....but nope! Thank goodness I never invested any real money into it!

I print off color pages from the Internet that has to do with current theme or whatever kids are interested in at the time. I laminate it. The kids lay a piece of paper over it and trace. They LOVE it! You can also write or type out names to help them learn to write it.

[cheerfuldom]

I dont have problems with child size chairs. It doesnt bother me though if the kids move the chairs as long as they clean up, dont hurt others in the move, sit on them properly. it just hasnt been an issue here.