Good Mail Days
A couple of weeks ago, I ordered a skirt and a shirt, and when the box arrived, Ella was devastated it wasn’t for her.
Then, when I pulled the skirt out of the packaging, it turned out they’d accidentally sent me a mini-skirt version of the pencil skirt I’d ordered. Ella, who was standing right next to me, started hopping up and down, exclaiming, “It WAS for me! There WAS something for me in that mail.” I haven’t burst her bubble yet; when she tried it on, she seemed genuinely shocked that it kept falling straight off.
That girl; she loves her mail. She insists on opening every envelope that shows up, even if they are just pretend letters addressed very personally to “Current Resident.” The joy of not being able to read.
So, you can only imagine the shrieks of delight from our house when a TogetherBox showed up on our front porch (oh, you heard them? From Colorado? I’m not surprised).
TogetherBox is a monthly subscription box with activities for the whole family to do together. Two of our closest friends in Texas started it, and it’s been so fun to watch from the first phases of development to an actual box getting tossed (not all that gently) on our doorstep by the mailwoman.
I tend to be the most critical of items from people I know (if you write a novel, I promise, you do not want me as an early reader), so I was amazed by how impressed I was by our first box. It was full of clever and easy activities, with super clear instructions, and legitimately nice supplies (no junky things to throw away immediately).
I am a fairly lazy parent, entertainment-wise (when your child gets super excited about getting to draw with a PEN, you know you’ve set the bar very low), and none of the activities seemed daunting or complicated to me.
Ella was most enamored with the magnifying glass – she’s taken it to preschool with her every day for the last two weeks and appears to think it’s a camera. The first day, she insisted on taking a “picture” of every page of every book we read. She also really enjoyed “capturing” pinecones on an afternoon walk with the butterfly net, when we couldn’t find any butterflies. They were pretty rascally pinecones that resisted being caught by. . .lying there like rocks.
This would be the best holiday present; something that is fun month after month, rather than immediately forgotten ten seconds after being opened on Christmas morning. Especially when those post-holiday winter months have you stuck inside for weeks on end (it was 60 degrees yesterday, so obviously I know ALL about freezing winter months and being stuck inside (actually we went to Whole Foods and ate 15 free samples and bought bulk cranberries with a gift card)).
(This post isn’t sponsored. I just really loved our TogetherBox, which they sent me to check out, and I offered to write about it. But if YOU’D like to sponsor this post, I accept $100 bills in unmarked envelopes. Address them to “current resident.”)Â
I am so far a lazy parent… though my baby is less than 7 weeks old I'm okay with that… but as a couple before the baby was born Josh and I loved going to the Bellagio and checking out the new set up of the Atrium
Amen to lazy parenting. This sounds so fun!
What a great idea!
Great idea!! How awesome to have entertainment show up on my doorstep.
Dance Parties!
This is such a cute idea, one of our favorite family activities is making desserts together.
Sounds like such a cute idea! I'm always looking for new ideas.
These boxes sound really fun. You are right about them being a fun gift. I just may have to do that!
Sounds like a lot of fun! I wish your friends much success. sarahrebeccachapman at gmail dot com
One of my favorite family activities is apple picking. We're about to go this weekend! I don't even like apple pie but my mom always made it so I make it just because it smells amazing and is one of the strongest reminders of home in the fall for me. 🙂
We are a pretty low maintenance family. We like reading books and going on walks to the park. This fall my daughter has become completely enamored at the idea of a hay ride, which she calls a "tracta wide". So, we have been enjoying any and all available local hay rides.
Looks pretty awesome!
Also, one of our favorite family activities is playing with blocks since it entertains daddy, the 3 year old, the 1 year old, and my 7 month old can happily chew on them as well 🙂
We like to play board games. Our kids' new favorite is rummikub, I think because we do teams (obviously, since our kids are so little) and it usually goes boys against girls.
Such a great idea! Love it for Christmas presents too.
We love reading aloud and playing games (even if they want to always play the same one) but I have a boy who must be craft deprived because when we've done it he goes on and on about how it's the best day ever. I love that the Together Box looks a bit crafty like KiwiCrate but also active play. Thanks!
Togetherbox sounds awesome. What a good idea. I'd love to try it out.
This sounds so fun! It would make a great gift!
How fun! My nephews and niece would like this! 🙂 Thanks for the chance to win!
We love the playground.
So glad I'm not the only lazy parent. I'm always so impressed by people who are creative enough to come up with stuff like TogetherBox.