Think Outside the Box

The toy box, that is. Every seasoned parent knows that babies and young children are more apt to enjoy the box a fancy-schmancy toy came in than the toy itself.

This morning I discovered the synergy of cheap wine and its packaging. Before making some coffee, I plopped Rachel Marie down on the floor to play. She seemed bored with her usual toys and I noticed the box from my recent wine purchase at Trader Joe's. Dave and I like to stock up on the store's famous Two-Buck-Chuck wine. They actually sell pleasing-to-the-palate-wine for $2.49 a bottle. A glass of the stuff makes for an inexpensive, at-home date night and apparently, its packaging is an easy way to entertain an 8-month-old. I pushed the box into Rae's territory and viola! Playtime was instantly a whole lot more fun (and one could argue that so was last night's stay-at-home date).