I just found a learning tower....

[Melaine]

for $40 at the local consignment store. I can't believe it and I obviously couldn't resist. I'm super excited but I gotta say I am nervous about when DH comes home (he is going to freak out). Our kitchen is pretty small, I must say, so I am slightly nervous about how this will work for us. I figure if it doesn't I can resell, right?
So how can I get the most use out of this?
Any suggestions for small kitchens?
How do I know which level is the best for my kiddos?
Love to hear any ideas for using the LT for everyday activities!

[happymomma]

No suggestions but congrats on your great purchase!! :cheerleader1:

[kayte]

I bought one used to and it was BY FAR THE BEST money for DD I ever spent. It is used every day -multiple times a day.

We keep ours parked in front of the dishwasher and just slid it out of the way when we need it.

DH was not so thrilled when he first saw it and asked how we were going to navigate around it in the kitchen. After two days, he never mentioned it again. You just work it out.

CONGRATS! I am sure the girls will love it.

Check some Annabel Karmel cookbooks out from the library--they have great recipes for cooking with kids--lots of action photos.

ALso I started this thread a long time ago but there are some great ideas for activities

http://www.windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=171573

[bubbaray]

WOW, i'm soooo jealous! That rocks!

[elektra]

$40 is awesome! I would have bought that in a heartbeat too. I kinda want one as well but the price (and size) is holding me back. But I am getting sick of picking up DD to wash her hands all the time!

[katerinasmom]

What a great find! We love our Learning Tower. It's the single best kid equipement we have. And it gets used every single day.
You'll know that the setting needs to be lowered when your daughter's can climb onto the counter. At least that's my guide for lowering the step.

[Melaine]

I gotta say, watching the two of them wash their hands by themselves was worth the $40!
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll113/MamaMelaine/DSCN2951.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll113/MamaMelaine/DSCN2957.jpg

[Melaine]

I bought one used to and it was BY FAR THE BEST money for DD I ever spent. It is used every day -multiple times a day.

We keep ours parked in front of the dishwasher and just slid it out of the way when we need it.

DH was not so thrilled when he first saw it and asked how we were going to navigate around it in the kitchen. After two days, he never mentioned it again. You just work it out.

CONGRATS! I am sure the girls will love it.

Check some Annabel Karmel cookbooks out from the library--they have great recipes for cooking with kids--lots of action photos.

ALso I started this thread a long time ago but there are some great ideas for activities

http://www.windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=171573

Thanks so much!

[maylips]

I know it's been mentioned 100 times, but can I just say how much I LOOOOVE your twins' hair, Melaine?!?! That is just the cutest!

[jgenie]

Wow - your girls are TOO CUTE!!!!

[JMS]

Great find! And your girls are the cutest ever... love the hug! :)
Is that a dog trying to get into the picture on the side ???

[Wife_and_mommy]

You'll know that the setting needs to be lowered when your daughter's can climb onto the counter. At least that's my guide for lowering the step.

Good measuring bar! It's frightening that my kids use ours to climb the cabinets.

I just lowered ours to the second notch down a few weeks ago. I'm going to go down another one and see how they do.

And, Melaine, those curly-haired girls are positively edible! Now I know why my SIL didn't want a girl/girl combo after her DS. I'm sure you get comments all day/every day. :)

[WatchingThemGrow]

a) GREAT price! A friend just bought a house and the previous owners left one for her, which I though was nice, but the multi $100Ks prbably made it not as good of a bargain as yours!

b) your girls ARE adoooooooooorable!

c) I'd lower the height - they look to tall/top-heavy in it to be safe

d) wondering if I should/can lower my Kitchen Helper...

e) there was a website that had a bunch of great ideas- is it in that thread?

[Jo..]

My Learning Tower is the ONLY thing I have ever bought off CL...although I still check CL daily.

Adam uses it multiple times per day. We have ours at the end of our kitchen Island...it's cramped, but he LOVES being up at our eye level for everything. If he's in the kitchen, he's in that tower.

The only bad thing is, he's recently discovered how to push it over to the counter with the toaster. A couple days ago, as I was changing Leah's diaper, I smelled smoke, and ran into the kitchen to discover that he'd used his LT to put PAPER in the toaster and pushed the lever down.

I still would never get rid of it...I'm just more aware that it gives him access to the WHOLE kitchen...even the high places!

[gobadgers]

Those pictures are too precious! I was a little worried when we got one too (at much closer to full price of course...) because there is no corner to push it into in our kitchen. I admit that it took me a little while to get used to navigating around it, but it really has been SO useful that it doesn't bother me at all anymore. We keep it in front of the dishwasher too and just move it when we need to get in.

[lorinick]

cute girls. I'm so glad you showed a picture. I've heard people mention the learning tower before but had no idea what it was. So at least I know now.

[KpbS]

Oh they are too cute! Great find.

[MontrealMum]

Your girls are so freakin' cute!!! And I have to know, what is your secret to finding all these goodies at such great prices? Do you live in a special part of the country? Or do you have some sort of special shopping superpower? :)

[DietCokeLover]

I would definitely lower it. Your girls are taller than DD and I have DD at that height with ours.
So excited for you with your find!
(we have the white one)

[MommyAllison]

I don't think I've seen a photo of your girls before, other than the little avatar - holy cow they are sooooo cute! What a great buy, too!

[ThreeofUs]

Wow! Congratulations!

[veronica]

Just have to say that if your DH disapproves when he gets home.........show him those awesome pics!

Enjoy-we keep ours parked in front of the dishwasher and the kids are in it all day too!

[smiles33]

I don't have a LT but now I'm going to start haunting my local Craigslist....The only one listed is selling for $140, so you REALLY got a great deal.

And while chiming in late, I have to say that those girls are so cute! I love their hair, too.

[brittone2]

Great pic of those adorable girls!

We love ours. DS started using his around 15 months, and DD has been in it from even earlier (I would not recommend broadly to use w/ such a young child, but she was far steadier in it early on than DS was at that age). They both still use it (often together) at age 2 and 5.

I have a teensy kitchen (U-shaped), but I do have two walk in pantries, so we keep it in the one walk in when not in use.

Definitely money well spent for us. Ours still looks fantabulous in terms of condition and quality. I'm sure we could eventually resell and get a nice chunk of change back. We have no regrets in buying ours. It is on 4+ years of near-daily use.

We spend a *lot* of time in the kitchen, we homeschool (so lots of projects going on), and we really involve kids in cooking, etc. (they love it), so for us, it is often used not only daily but multiple times per day.

[elektra]

Love the pictures! The hug! Ah!
The LT looks like it's in great condition too. I think I need to step up my CL search for one now.

[The Review Mommy]

I have a red head too Melanie! He's my boy twin lol.

We LOVE our LT! We bought ours for $60 off craigslist-so just tell DH its really "free" and you'll most likely get it all back, if not more when you sell it.

Post back and spread the good word! LT is the best thing since sliced bread!

ETA- We use ours in the corner so each twin has their own counter top, unless its infront of the sink. Try giving them your dishes to wash...you'll both love it.

[The Review Mommy]

Heres a book we have:
http://www.amazon.com/Kids-Cooking-Slightly-Messy-Manual/dp/0932592147/ref=cm_lmf_tit_27

One of my fav cookbooks. :)

[Melaine]

Great find! And your girls are the cutest ever... love the hug! :)
Is that a dog trying to get into the picture on the side ???

Thanks for all the compliments. I won't tell DDs that everyone on BBB says they are cute :love-retry: they are already getting big heads (or is that just the huge mop of curls?) :ROTFLMAO:

Yes, that is our beagle, who is always trying to get in the middle of everything!

I'm glad everyone supports my decision to buy the LT. Even DH seemed barely fazed, but maybe it helped that I cleaned the house this afternoon to butter him up. However, I am pretty sure he thought it was some kind of indoor jungle gym when he first saw it!

[Melaine]

Your girls are so freakin' cute!!! And I have to know, what is your secret to finding all these goodies at such great prices? Do you live in a special part of the country? Or do you have some sort of special shopping superpower? :)

:ROTFLMAO:
I consider it a superpower. DH considers it a supercurse. I really just have good luck and persistence (ie shopping constantly, you are bound to run across some deals).

This deal was a total shock because I found it in the crappiest resell shop EVER (not kidding) (DietCokeLover it is that one on 378 with ALL the junk out front) . I was actually stopping by there to look for a duplicate Calin doll to go with yesterday's find! Someone had just brought in the LT and it hadn't even been priced yet so I really lucked out!

[kristenk]

It definitely looks like the platform should be lowered. My guideline is that I don't want it to be easy for DD to bend at the waist and fall right out of the tower, so I make sure that the top rail of the LT is above her waist when she's standing in it.

You have a couple of cuties! :)

[brismom]

I stalk my craigslist for a LT everyday, what happens the few days I don't check a lady puts one up and sells it immediately! I think need to be more proactive and check out consignment stores.

[ThreeofUs]

However, I am pretty sure he thought it was some kind of indoor jungle gym when he first saw it!

This is exactly what our DS1 treats his LT as: a jungle gym. Push ups, flips, headstands - you name it, I've tried to describe the danger of it to him. Finally, I had to threaten him with taking the LT away if he wasn't more careful with his body.... But I must say the thing's a tank, and didn't budge through even the most athletic of his maneuvers.

Love the pix!

[wellyes]

OK, until this thread I never heard of a Learning Tower, but now I want one.

Question for people who have one..... how difficult would this to be build for someone who knows a little about wordworking? It seems like the only complicated part of it is the multiple levels. Or is it there more to it?

[ohiomom1121]

Now I'm intriguiged by them too...my CL has a few but they're around $100. Your girls are TOO CUTE. We have a family of curly heads, but nothing like that-love it!!!

[Tondi G]

CONGRATS on the LT for $40 bucks! That rocks!

Could your girls get any cuter??? Those curls are just to die for! They are absolutely adorable!

~Tondi

[strollerqueen]

OMG! They are so precious! Of course, living here in SoCal my first thought is, TV commercials...but seriously, has anyone asked?

[Melaine]

lol....people mention it but none of them are actually at all involved in TV so....we are in the boondocks so it would require some travel to even find auditions and stuff. They were asked to do a fashion show awhile ago but not sure what happened with that. They would probably freak out anyway.

[DagnyT]

I would have grabbed it too! We have one- although we are blessed with a large kitchen! We got it when my children were 1 and 3. They are now 5 and 7 and they still use it. Now that they can help with simple cutting things and do more in the kitchen it places them at a comfortable level for gaining some leverage on tasks. Sometimes it begins to look like a clutter collector- but we use it at least a few times a week, even now.

Good for you! So much better to have the DCs help than to find something to occupy them when you are trying to get a meal on the table! Two wonderful sources for child size child friendly household helping tools and other things:

http://www.montessoriservices.com/store/
http://www.forsmallhands.com/store/

No- I do not get a kick back, but the things are reasonably priced and generally of really good quality.

Have fun!

[Melaine]

I would have grabbed it too! We have one- although we are blessed with a large kitchen! We got it when my children were 1 and 3. They are now 5 and 7 and they still use it. Now that they can help with simple cutting things and do more in the kitchen it places them at a comfortable level for gaining some leverage on tasks. Sometimes it begins to look like a clutter collector- but we use it at least a few times a week, even now.

Good for you! So much better to have the DCs help than to find something to occupy them when you are trying to get a meal on the table! Two wonderful sources for child size child friendly household helping tools and other things:

http://www.montessoriservices.com/store/
http://www.forsmallhands.com/store/

No- I do not get a kick back, but the things are reasonably priced and generally of really good quality.

Have fun!

Oh thanks. That first one has some really fun looking stuff. I'll be checking them both out more. Always fun to browse a new e-tailer!:bighand:

[DietCokeLover]

:ROTFLMAO:
I consider it a superpower. DH considers it a supercurse. I really just have good luck and persistence (ie shopping constantly, you are bound to run across some deals).

This deal was a total shock because I found it in the crappiest resell shop EVER (not kidding) (DietCokeLover it is that one on 378 with ALL the junk out front) . I was actually stopping by there to look for a duplicate Calin doll to go with yesterday's find! Someone had just brought in the LT and it hadn't even been priced yet so I really lucked out!

Wow. I'm proud of you for even going in there! That one scares me a little! haha