Gametime !

If you live outside the great state of Ohio, you may not be aware that today marks the day of one of the greatest college football rivalry games ever; OSU v. UM. Goooo Buckeyes !

Oh, who am I kidding ? I'm not a football fan. That was just fun. Of course I know the team to say I root for that won't get me pummeled into a pile of yesterday's garbage. It seems as though Canton is a hotbed of Buckeye fans, no comparison to Columbus - but Canton is football town. You know .. the home of the Football Hall of Fame ? Them folks like their football. Our town is just a short distance from the madness and times like this, I really prefer it that way.

While every other Cantonian was cheering on the Buckeyes, I had devised a game plan of my own. We were going shopping. Yeah, big surprise. I figured that at least 75 % of the average Saturday mall shoppers were football fans or at least made a better attempt to fake it than myself and would be somewhere other than the mall to take in the big game.

After a rough morning and a long nap, we were ready to brave the rest of the day at the stores. We made a pretty good dent in picking up a few Christmas gifts and a few fun things for Elaina. Not wanting to sound like a perpetual spokesperson for must-have toddler gadgets, these are definitely worth sharing. ( I really hope I'm not the very last person to know about these things... and if I am, why didn't anyone tell me sooner ? )

The greatest out-to-eat-companion and must- carry item is the stick-on disposable place mats. Love them ! We picked up Dora mats and all through dinner at the mall, Elaina happily pointed out Dora and Boots and flowers and a ball and flowers and... you get the picture. She made a fine little mess on her placemat and mommy didn't have to freak out over her food and fingers touching the nasty-germ-laden tabletop. You like this so far ? It gets better ! On two separate occasions, with two separate snacks today, Elaina managed to spill out her goodies from her snack cups. She made quite a mess in one store with chocolate chip graham cracker cookies and then Goldfish crackers all over another store's parking lot. Not to mention that she wasted her snacks and still wanted more. I found the solution today. The SnackTrap ! It's great ! It's a little cup with handles on either side and a lid which resembles the rubber flap leading down to the garbage disposal. It's severed flaps allow for a kid-sized hand to dig in and pull out snacks, but when toppled over, snacks stay put. How clever ! I've found this little gadget also takes a little more time for Elaina to eat her dry cereal in the morning which allows me just a few extra minutes to get her breakfast together while she sits occupied over dipping her hand in and out of her new cup. What's not to love ?

** Just in case you were wondering, both great items can be found at Babies "R Us and online.