Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Products I love: Innobaby Packin' SMART

If you're the parent of a toddler, chances are you don't go anywhere without packing a snack. I quit carrying the diaper bag I'd shared with my husband because the two years of accumulated sippy cup spills and snack detritus that filled every nook and cranny was grossing me out. (And my husband was notorious for forgetting to remove Ziploc baggies of sticky dried cranberries, half-eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and opened-but-unfinished cheese sticks. Ick, ick, ick.

But I'm happy to say marital bliss has been restored. We're both huge fans of the Innobaby Packin' SMART snack caddy I received in my Chicago Moms Blog swag bag before the BlogHer conference. But we call it the SNACK TOWER, which is a much better name, dontcha think? This nifty invention lets you pack a variety of portion-controlled snacks without having to worry about pulverized Cheerios, open Ziploc bags or the mountain of landfill waste that disposable bags and containers contribute to.

Each individual container is the perfect size for a toddler snack portion and it fits perfectly in Z's hand. You can bring as few or as many of the interlocking containers as you wish, but I find it's fun to fill all but one up with a colorful variety of snacks (Fruity Cheerios, Cracklin' Oat Bran, pretzels and dried fruit are our standbys). The last container is perfect for stashing an extra pacifier for the baby.

Z loves the snack tower as much as we do. She pulls it out to show to her buddies and sweetly asks them, "Which snack do you want? This one? Okay, I'll have my mommy open it for us to share."

You don't have to be a toddler snack-toting mommy to get a kick out of Packin' SMART. You could use the tower to transport pre-measured baby formula powder, hair accessories, grilling spices or sewing notions.