An Angel at my Table review by Belinda

This month we welcome Belinda Graham, aka gorgeous mummy to 2 and reviewer extraordinaire. This is how she describes herself: "I’m a wife, a mum, a freelance writer, a blogger, a renovator, a decorator, a redecorator, a crafter, a chocolate addict and sometimes - sometimes - I can be a total bludger. But that that doesn’t happen very often because I like being busy."

Belinda is over qualified as a reviewer of our range - she was the deputy editor at Real Living and their online editor until recently. Welcome Belinda and Thank You!

Her first review is the An Angel at My Table (click here)

“Oh wow, that’s a really, really, really nice tent mummy. You like it?” asks my two-year-old son, Zak.“I do like it Zak,” I say. “And I’m so glad you like it. You’ll like it even more when it’s out of the bag and actually made into a tent.”And so begins Zak’s love affair with his brand new “house”, also known as the Angel At My Table Teepee. His crazy grin once it was all up said it all: “AWESOME”. And awesome it is for me too – both he and his little sister, Layla, 15 months, zoomed in and out for hours, locked themselves in (and the other out) by doing up the Velcro straps, had lunch in there, played shops where little plastic balls were selling at the highly inflated price of $50 each, and actually gave me a chance to do sit back and relax (when I wasn’t being demanded to “buy something”.)

I’m a big believer in toys that have a purpose: those that teach them something, encourage creative and/or imaginative play, and develop fine and gross motor skills. Funnily enough, this cute little teepee does all of the above. Zak wanted to help me put it together, and seeing as it was simply connecting a few poles together via “tunnels” (plastic pipes), he could, which helped his fine motor skills; he asked me a hundred things about it – “how does the bell ring” “how is it closing” “something more about Indians?” which taught him all sorts of things he will relay back to me next time it’s up; and it instantly made them creative - it’s a shop! A house! Layla’s bed! A reading spot! A garage for the ladybug!

As for the parent test (ie, is it easy to assemble?) I passed that one too. I deliberately didn’t look at instructions the first time and worked it out in just a few minutes, being the clever person that I am. There’s also two ways to erect it – the lazy way as I call it (and as pictured in my images) which means you can simply push back together and lean against the house without taking it apart for the next day’s play; or the sturdier way with the extra posts at the bottom which is ideal if you have the space to leave it out all the time – it keeps it in perfect teepee shape.

A final test? When it was time to pack it away, I just closed it up and brought it inside past Zak who was sitting on the couch reading . “No, mummy, put it back out.” “But it’s getting late, time to pack up outside.” “I might go play again in a little while. I might.” So out it went again. Out he went again and if it wasn’t for the rain, they might still be out there…

Read more about Belinda over at her blog

& to see the teepee on our site click here



Aren't these photos just the sweetest?!