Sometimes babysitting can be a true pain; you have to deal with bad habits, respect parents wishes and maintain some semblance of sanity in the process. Jackson is an awesome kid but he still drinks from a bottle and his parents flat out refuse to let him grow up. He still eats pureed foods and had no clue how to pickup a spoon and feed himself .. that is until I stepped in. Jackson isn't a bad kid but the constraints that his parents put on babysitters put him on the 'avoid their call' list of most of the people in the neighborhood. He's got the capabilities to do things for himself but they refuse to let him grow up and explore. That changes when I am watching him. He doesn't get bottles, he feeds himself and he knows the meaning of the word 'no'. Some of the coddling moms in the area have deemed me "the evil babysitter" because I can be a little tough and demanding on kids but I have never had a parent say that what I was doing wasn't for the best - even if took them months to admit it.

First Years Tumble Mates Trainer Cups

I purchased several packs of tumblers for Jackson to try out. The cute ten ounce Cars pack, some Disney ones and the basic seven ounce Tumble Mates. These are pretty basic and easy to use but I really feel that if there was some type of molding on the outside it would be easier for kids to grab a hold of them and keep their grip. The colors are assorted but the most common are yellow, blue and red. They are unisex and have no markings on them so they can be used for boys or girls; you can add stickers to them if you have several kids in the household but chances are they are going to get destroyed when they are washed. You can go for the cute ones if you want but you are only paying extra money for decals or cute cartoon characters.

My only real complaint is that it is easy for a kid Jackson's age to get the lid off. I had a rather bad experience with orange juice about a month ago; I think he saw the way that I got the lid off of another tumbler and decided to see if he could do the same exact thing. Well, he did and in the process managed to get orange juice all over everything. This set comes with two alternative 'lids'; there's no spit spout on them, they are made to be used as covers when you are out of the house or want to seal it up for later. The cups are easy to clean but you do have to make sure that milk or juice is cleaned out of the spout thoroughly. They are dishwasher safe but I prefer to hand wash them as some of the lids that I had from First Years plates warped in the dishwasher.

The plastic of the cup is soft but not soft enough that you can squeeze it or collapse it. Likewise, it doesn't hurt hat much if you are hit with one providing that it is empty; full or semi-full ones can hurt. Jackson was never a 'chewer' but when I started him on these he started chewing the spouts. I had no idea why, maybe he was used to chewing on the nipple of his bottle and carried that over to the tumblers. This makes the spouts look pretty nasty so I always try to look for replacements but can never seem to find just the tumbler lid replacements. From what I can tell, the lids are universal and will fit all of the First Years tumblers. At least that is what I found with the ones that I have purchased and used.

The plain seven ounce cups were almost three dollars for a four pack; considering their life span and what they are used for, its a good deal in my opinion. The slightly larger ones and ones with designs on them will cost more but as long as they are something that will be used, they are more than worth it. They aren't as nice as the Take 'N Toss ones in the respect that they are more expensive but on the same token if one gets lost at the zoo or while out and about it isn't like losing one of the expensive $5.00 super sippers. I do recommend these to anyone that is looking for a well made tumbler that will put up with a lot of tossing around, if you can keep kids from getting the lids off, even better.

The Bottom Line

I had to fight tooth and nail with Jackson's parents about the bottle situation. For them it was easier to make a bottle and give it to him than to try and figure out what the problem was. Whether he was hungry, bored, needed attention or was thirsty - shoving a bottle in a kids face to try and appease him is going to do nothing but set a bad trend in motion. I had to tell them that I would no longer watch their son if they continued with the bottles. They thanks me for my 'services' and said they would find someone else. Three days later I got a voice mail saying that they had thrown out the bottles and if I was interested in watching him for the weekend. I'll have to check the cabinets to see if the bottles are really gone ...


As always, thanks for the visit…

~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~

© 2007 Freak369


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