Spreading the Leapfrog Love

It is more blessed to give than to receive.... Last week The Pea and I went around distributing the Leapfrog reading kits I received from their Ambassadors of Summer Reading Program. I doubt that what I did puts me on the fast track to heaven, but it sure felt pretty darn good. Kinda like Oprah, but with Tags instead of cars.

First up, we visited a place we know well: The Pea's old preschool, the Children's Creative Learning Center. She attended CCLC from 18 months to 5 years, so it was great that she could see exactly which of her old classrooms the toys were going to. And it was great to see Sonya, the directress, who couldn't believe how tall The Pea was getting.



Next, we headed to East Palo Alto to award the Creative Montessori Learning Center the reading kit from my Savvy Source giveaway. They were the nominated beneficiary of the giveaway winner, Nicole, whose two boys attended the school themselves. The teachers didn't quite know what to make of me (Why is she asking me to pose for a photo? She said she's going to post it on the internet -- am I going to be famous?) but they were more than happy to accept the reading kit for their young charges.


Last but certainly not least, we dropped off a boxful of Tags and Tag Juniors at the East Palo Alto library. Since they received a Library Reading Kit, they got way more books, school-version Tags with more memory, and cool headphones to go along with it (hey, it's a library! shhhhhh!). The librarian said she'll be setting the Tags aside for the library's free literacy-based tutoring program, so I know these are going to be put to good use by 8 and 9 year olds who might be struggling to read.

I loved being able to donate such great educational toys (thanks, Leapfrog!), and I'm even happier that The Pea was there with me (in hindsight, I should have waited to make the rounds until after we had picked 3Po and Jammy up from summer school). This stuff has been sitting in our living room for several weeks now, and I've had to slap my kids' hands more than a few times for trying to open them up (even though they've already got identical products of their own). They really wished they could keep the cool headphones and extra books that came with the Library Reading Kit (they must get it from their swag-loving mother) -- but when push came to shove, The Pea was the one who was eagerly pressing the boxes into the librarian's hands. Afterwards, she asked me, "Don't we have any more to give away? I really enjoyed donating the Leapfrog items, and there are so many more kids who would really like them!". That's my girl.