My Mommy's Tote- Product Review

I was so excited when I was given the opportunity to review "My Mommy's Tote" that retails for $16.95. My daughter loves books, especially one that have things for her to do.

It is described as:

"Cuter than a button, My Mommy's Tote is a delicious interactive gift for mothers and their kids. Created by P. H. Hanson, whose previous books—My Granny's Purse and My Grandpa's Briefcase—this is a die-cut cornucopia stuffed with marvelous adventures and surprises, endearingly written and offering incredible value. There's the clock with hands that move. A write-on wipe-off board and marker. A maze to navigate. Two spin wheels for learning the alphabet and numbers. Mommy's laptop and cell phone, planner and wallet (a magnet for every little kid—this one has a removable credit card). Plus a key ring and photos, a real handkerchief, and an intriguing mystery: Can you find the missing red sock? In all, there are more than 75 objects, 30 activities, and seven spreads where things lift up, slide out, unfold, flip open, turn, and beguile."

It sounded perfect to keep K entertained during church, even though it took up half of our diaper bag. The following Sunday we took it to church and I couldn't wait to pull it out for her to play with. I gave it to her, and she looked through it for about 1 minute, and decided she was done. I was shocked, because I was sure she would like it. There were plenty of flaps for her to lift up, but she could care less. I pulled out the laptop and she looked at it, felt it, and decided she was done. Well, that didn't go like I expected.

I let our neighbor boy, who is 4, play with it, and he looked through it for a little longer. He liked the wheel that turned that showed different letters and numbers. He is currently learning his letters, so this intrigued him. He was upset though, that the keys it came with didn't go somewhere. He kept asking where he was supposed to put them. He wanted to unlock something! He did pull out the laptop and play with it for a few minutes but then he was done. Total, he played with it for about 15 minutes. I was surprised that neither of them even looked at the white board to write on.

I tried giving it to my daughter again another day, but she really didn't care about it. There is a cute little story about how mommy is just like me that goes along with the book, so maybe it would be more entertaining to someone who can read and follow along with it. I was kind of surprised that there wasn't a lot of stuff to remove from the book, since most of the entertainment of mommy's purse is pulling things out. Only the laptop and the credit card comes out. Looking at it, it seems like there would be plenty to pull out, such as a water bottle, a cell phone, a pen, flowers, etc. But no, this stuff is just an extension of the book, which tend to bend pretty easily. When I first got it, due to shipping, the cell phone and water bottle were already bent. I can see more destruction happening very easily when kids really play with it.

I was disappointed that my daughter didn't like this, but maybe I'll pull it out in a few years when she is a little older to see if she likes it any better.