gift ideas for minimalist kids

December 5, 2019 Megan Rodriguez

Oh, hey! I have a blog! It’s been over a year since I posted. We’ve been busy adding a new member to our family (well, two if you count the cat and baby), following Dan Rodriguez around the country here and there, and just living life. I’m hoping to get back to this space a bit more regularly in the months to come and hope to share more about our sweet baby boy, Alder Chapman, as well as other aspects of our little life. However, with the holiday season upon us, I thought I pop on here and share a few of our favorite kid gifts that we received/given over the past few years.

We live in a little house with less than 1100 square feet of finished space and we love it. With a small space, two kids, and two cats, though, we have to get creative with how we organize and what we bring into our spaces. Because of that, we’ve learned how to be rather specific with the types of kid things we welcome into our home, and that includes gifts. For Oak’s first Christmas and birthday we asked for wooden toys or quality/long-lasting plastic toys, books, and no batteries and we’ve held to that standard ever since. Our families have mostly respected those requests and it as helped us to keep the simple home that we desire and value. Through all of that, we’ve found a handful of kid gifts that have been wonderful additions to our home, so I thought I’d share a few of those with you. Keep in mind, we have two boys, ages 3.5 years and 8 months.

Dan and I use the rhyme “something you want, something you need, something you wear, something you read” to guide our gift buying for our kids, so I’ll break down gift ideas into those four categories.

Something You Want

Let’s talk toys. What makes a good kid toy? How do you pick ones that will keep their attention, that will last, and that are sustainable? We’ve found that the more open-ended a toy is, the better. When you look at a toy, ask yourself - what different things can this toy be/become? For example, wooden blocks can be used as houses, towers, castles, fences, but they can also be used as pretend food, to make up games, to learn counting/math, so much more. Even better, take magnet blocks as an example - they can be all the afore mentioned things, but they can also be airplanes, cars, people, animals, etc. The more things a toy can be - the longer it will be played with and cherished. A batman toy will always and only be a batman toy. As for quality, we love wooden toys for babies/toddlers/preschoolers. They are durable and often very well made. We have added a few plastic toys into the mix as Oak has grown and when we do, we choose solid plastic toys that are not easily breakable and that don’t have/require little pieces that can easily be lost. Some of our favorite plastic toys are Schleich farm animals, dinosaurs, and Hotwheels cars (which Oak called Hottires last week. Ha.) For sustainability, choose wood or choose things that will live beyond your kids’ use of them - things that can be passed on/down.

Our favorites so far:

Tegu Blocks - we LOVE these!! They are magnetic wooden blocks, built sustainably and made to last for generations. Love, love, love them. They now carry a toddler line, so we’re going to give Alder one of their cars for Christmas this year.
Regular Wooden Blocks - any brand will do, but you can some great sustainable options at Bella Luna Toys.
Lincoln Logs - we’re excited to add these to the mix this year! Did you know they are made in the U.S.?
Waldorf Wooden Toys - Bella Luna Toys has great options for these. We have little Waldorf people that we’ve been using for our Fairytale Preschool (If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen me post about that a bit. I’m planning to blog about that soon!) and they have been such a hit. The people can be ANY kind of person! Soooo different from an action figure or even a Playmobile person. They are so open-ended! We are planning to give Alder these houses for Christmas. They can so easily be played with with the people, the plastic animals we have, the blocks, and the Lincoln Logs. The options are endless.
Games!! We love games. A few favorites we’ve added are Count Your Chickens and Animal Upon Animal. We also play UNO and Go Fish a lot.
Puzzles! Melissa and Doug has great floor puzzles for this age, as does Crocodile Creek.
Schleich Animals - Oak has a wooden barn that Dan built for his second Christmas and we love the Schleich animals that we’ve filled it with. They are so sturdy, beautifully made/painted, and very realistic in both size and design.
Wooden Play Kitchen - both of our boys play with our wooden play kitchen on a regular basis. There are so many options out there. We found ours secondhand and have been so happy with it. I think all of their play food is Melissa and Doug and it holds up well and is pretty open-ended.
Cars/Trains - There are so many options out there. We have the IKEA wooden train and it works great. The Melissa and Doug wooden cars also work with the train - as do Hotwheels. Think wooden or secondhand. The wooden cars/trains we have are safe for babies, which is a plus.

Something You Need

We use this category for anything from stainless steel water bottles/lunch boxes, to winter gear, to wool long johns. This year Oak will be receiving a new knitted hat and mittens and Alder will likely get a water bottle or a pair of insulted mittens from Polarn O. Pyret.

Our favorites so far:

Klean Kanteen - we love their sippy lid water bottle. We also have a ThinkBaby stainless steel water bottle with a sippy lid and a straw lid. It is fine, not super durable and can leak, but it has handles, which made for a good first water bottle. The Klean Kanteen is much better. The only downside is that it doesn’t have handles, so it’s a little harder for a baby to use.
Winter Gear
- REI - affordable/quality kids outerwear
- Polarn O. Pyret - great wool options and outerwear!
- Ella’s Wool - great wool options!

Something You Wear

We’ve mostly used this category for winter gear as well. As I use a capsule wardrobe method for our boys, we don’t tend to need much for clothes at this time of the year as we are already a ways into winter. This year I’m using an old men’s wool sweater I found at a thrift store for $5 to make them matching long johns. This could also be a good time invest in some quality organic clothing. I know quite a few friends who get organic pjs for their kiddos each year. Some good companies for organic clothing are:

Something You Read

Books…I don’t know where to begin. We love picture books in our home and love giving/receiving them. However, we also love our local library and because of that, we keep our book purchases to a minimum each year. Read Aloud Revival is a FANTASTIC resource for book lists. I visit her picture book lists each month and choose books from the library from those lists. Here are a few of our all time favorite picture books that you may not be familiar with:

Sleep Tight, Farm
Big Snow
Flora’s Very Windy Day
Up in the Garden, Down in the Dirt
Over and Under the Pond
Over and Under the Snow
Sonya’s Chickens
City Moon
Bear Snores On
The Whatamagump - our friend Tyronne Wells wrote this one and it comes with an EP of awesome kids’ songs!
Thousand Star Hotel - our friends the Okee Dokee Brothers wrote this and it also comes with an album of great songs!
Cat Tale
Steam Train, Dream Train

It’s hard to keep kid stuff to a minimum, but it IS possible. Be specific in your lists for family members and purchase things mindfully for your kids and others that you buy for. The simplicity that comes with fewer toys and more meaningful toys is so very worth it.

a different kind of fall

October 12, 2018 Megan Rodriguez

You know that place of decision that we each find ourselves in at different points in our lives? The one where we have two choices (or more) and there are such great positives and some negatives about both and the pro/con lists just don’t help make the decision?

That’s the place I found myself in this past spring. We had just lost a baby to miscarriage and my plans to be home with a toddler and a new baby this fall were gone. We firmly believed another baby would come soon, but what would life look like in the meantime? I loved my job (teaching ESL at the University of Minnesota), but life was also feeling a bit out of control with my part-time work schedule, Dan’s periodic touring paired with his gigs and studio time when not on the road, and childcare situations that just weren’t ideal or consistent. We had been planning that I would stop working, so maybe that was the answer even though November was no longer bringing a new baby into our lives. But then there was the job I loved…the students, my colleagues, using my brain in ways that home life and motherhood often don’t…what about all of those things??? Would I regret prematurely ending (or putting on hold) a job that I loved so much? But then there were those times in the classroom where I found myself thinking about the next picture books I should get at the library for Oak and wishing we were playing and exploring in the woods together instead of being apart while I worked…those strong pulls were there too.

It was in this decision making process that I began to remember all of the dreams that have always been there — that my one desire, if I did nothing else in my life, was to raise children who have a love for life, a love for people, and a love for Jesus. Being a mom was what I had always wanted and here was an opportunity for me to fully and wholeheartedly embrace that identity, that role, and that season, and let it fully fill my days. The decision was no longer so hard. Would there be regrets about what I was giving up? Maybe. Would there be regrets about the time I got to spend with my sweet Oak? Probably not. Would there be times that I would need a break from full-time stay-at-home mommyhood? Absolutely. Would it allow us to simplify our lives and create a more peaceful home? Yes, more than ever before.

And so I said my goodbyes-for-now to my sweet colleagues and moved into a typical summer followed by a different kind of fall. This is my first fall since kindergarten where I haven’t been either in school or working/teaching in a school. I love fall and I love the new beginnings and crispness that comes with the new school year. So, instead of digging into school books and schedules, we’ve been digging into this fall with picture books, artwork, nature walks, and lots of time at home for playing. I thought I’d miss the school life/working life more, but that has yet to happen. I am loving this life. I love our daily rhythms that include relaxed mornings with (relative/attempted) quiet reading time in the living room, morning time at the table with breakfast, Bible stories, and nursery rhymes, after lunch story time, and before dinner play or art time. And our weekly rhythms of errands, nature adventures, days at home, walks, and playdates with friends/neighbors. As of now, every week is looking different, but the overall flow of the weeks are the same and it’s creating so much consistency and predictability. I’m already seeing the benefits of that with how much more easily Oak can enter into pretend play or transition from one thing to the next without a battle. And the extra time at home has opened doors for me to follow a few other passions of my own.

We are also expecting a new baby in March and so I’m treasuring these few months of special time with Oak before we grow in love and people in this little house of ours.

I love how our hearts can answer so many of the questions and decisions we face in our lives, but it’s so easy to let the “shoulds” of societal life guide us instead of listening to what our hearts are quietly trying to tell us. I’m so glad I listened. And so glad I went against what seemed like a more financially stable option and went with what was a better choice for the overall wellbeing of our family and home. There is beauty in less. There is beauty in the simple. I’m so excited to continue to embrace that beauty.

{summer} solstice mittens

June 23, 2017 Megan Rodriguez

Summer Solstice Mittens, you say!??! Say what!?!? Yes. There are two reasons for these summer mittens for my babe. One: I'm learning that I have to plan ahead to in order to optimize the amount of time that my handknits fit this wee one. Fall/winter knitting does not provide enough time to wear those items before they are outgrown (such as this wonderful cardigan). So, I'm using summer to prepare for winter, just like I do in so many other areas of our lives, and I love it.

Two: We're heading to Summerfest in Milwaukee next week and while we'll be there over the 4th of July, there have been plenty of times in the past years where hats and mittens are not only wanted, but desperately needed to keep the lake wind chill away from our bones. So, a pair of mittens was in order for the Oakster as the only other pair he had was from when he was first born and they barely covered his hands anymore.

This pattern is a simple one that I've made quite a few times now for many different little ones in our lives. It's the Family Mittens pattern by Carrie Bostick Hoge that appeared in Taproot Magazine, Issue 3. I knit them up in some left over Malabrigo that I used for Oak's Helmet Hat that he got for Christmas and some green vintage wool given to me by a dear friend. (My Ravelry link can be found here.) These mittens should get him through this next winter and possibly beyond as I added a bit of length to the cuffs and the garter stitch pattern provides a bit of stretch all around.

He seems to like them, even though he's a bit confused as to what to do with them. :)

our new brood

April 14, 2017 Megan Rodriguez

Chicks! We have new chicks! And let me tell you, watching chicks grow through the eyes of a 13 month-old is absolutely wonderful. He LOVES his chicks! He walks his little push cart past them and stops to say hi and check on them periodically throughout each day. He talks to them and says good morning and goodnight. He feeds them spinach and gives them kisses. He knows to be gentle with them and does a pretty good job carrying that out. And he is very diligent in telling us that the heat lamp is hot. Our experience with our first batch of chicks 4 years ago was so much fun, but this is an entirely different kind of fun and I'm loving it.

We got 5 chicks this time around. One Rhode Island Red, named Rosie the Red. One Golden Sexlink, named Marilyn (Monroe...of course). One Barred Rock, named Fingers II...we lost Fingers I to a raccoon last fall and while they are different breeds, Dan wanted another Fingers. And lastly, two Black Australorps named Dumpling and Noodle Soup. That gives us a total of 11 birds, but we are planning to cull 3 of our older hens by the end of the summer in order to make room for the youngins and hopefully revitalize our egg supply for next year. Our egg supply is up, but definitely not where it was before when our birds were younger. It will be sad to say goodbye to our older hens, our first ladies. I'm not ready yet...but I know it's what is best for us and so I'll be ready when the time comes.

But for now...CHICKS!!!!!! Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate and happy spring to all!

an {almost} zero-waste birthday party

April 7, 2017 Megan Rodriguez

It's been over a month now since our little guy turned one and since we celebrated that special day with family and friends, but I wanted to take a few minutes to share with you about the little party we threw for him!

Have you explored the world of first birthday parties on Pinterest??? A few words to describe it would be "adorable," "amazing," "wonderful," "overwhelming," "expensive," "obsessive"....dare I say "scary"??? I have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest. I love it as a place to keep track of links. You can be so visually organized on Pinterest, which is awesome! I love it for the plethora of ideas that you can find on there for just about anything and everything. I hate it as it I think it fuels the issues that we have in this culture for constantly wanting more and being discontent with what we have. So, as I started planning for this special one-year-old's first birthday party, I had to continually remind myself that he is one and would not remember this party, nor was the party about having perfect decorations or amazingly cute treats. No, it was about celebrating the birth of our beloved boy with those we love.

Simplicity became my mantra (I'm sure you're shocked, right?!) and out of that desire for simplicity grew a desire to keep this party as eco-friendly as possible. Because, parties sure can create a lot of trash! My goodness! Between disposable plates, cups, pop/beer cans, utensils, plastic wrap, food waste, wrapping paper, decorations, etc., there is just a lot of trash! So, I intentionally thought through all that would be coming in and going out and did my best to limit the trash where I could. Here are some of the ways I was able to host an {almost} zero-waste birthday party.

I made a "forever" birthday banner! I knew I wanted a birthday banner for the party and so I tossed around ideas of making one that said "one," and that could be use for subsequent children turning one...but as the usefulness of that was a bit limited, I decided, "Heck! We need a banner that can be used every year for each birthday!" And the "forever" birthday banner was born out of leftover fabric scraps, most of which hold sentimental memories, like fabric from the crib sheets, Oak's quilts, a dress I made, our wedding decor, handmade gifts for family/friends, etc.

I used photos as decor. I've been wanting to print a bunch of pictures and put them into albums and in frames in our stairway, and so I decided to print pictures of Oak from his first year and put them up all around the room we used for the party. I used garden twine, mini clothes pins, and masking tape to attache them to the walls. The tape was recycled, the twine will be reused, and the mini clothes pins will be saved for other such events/decoration needs.

I used things I already had for decor. We had some leftover tree trunk slices from my brother's wedding that we used as centerpieces Also, for Oak's Halloween costume last year he was an Oak tree made out of felt leaves pinned to a shirt, so I used the felt leaves on the tables as well.
I printed simple coloring sheets for the tables. They were then recycled after the party and the crayons we used were from our church's stash, where we held the party. We were also able to use the church's cloth tablecloths, which was awesome.

I bought compostable plates, cups, straws, and utensils. These were a bit more expensive than regular plastic/paper disposables, but it was important to me to compost them rather than throw them away.
I used real dishes where I could. I brought a basketful of mason jars that we used as glasses and used real dishes for the food I brought. Where food was concerned, the only trash we created was a bit of plastic wrap and the only recyclables were beer cans and a lemonade jar.

I do believe that the wrapping paper ended up being thrown away, rather than recycled, as I didn't help with that clean up process, but other than that, all things were composted or recycled and clean up was pretty quick and easy!

And for those who are wondering...I made this Harvest Cake for Oak's birthday cake. It's made with carrots, zucchini, and beets and sweetened with mostly maple syrup. It was probably the most nutritious cake any of us have ever eaten! And it was very delicious! I used all cream cheese for the frosting, instead of the goat cheese/cream cheese blend it calls for, simply to keep expenses down, but I'd love to make it again sometime with the goat cheese...because goat cheese...yum.

The party was a success! It was simple, fun, and we had a wonderful time celebrating our little Oak tree. He loved being with his family and friends and throughly enjoyed his cake and opening presents. It was a fun day, indeed!