What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.

But, much as I adore the Bard, I just don’t buy it. To my mind, names are really important things. A rose, indeed, would smell the same with a different name, but say for example that by some trick of etymological evolution we called them thornflowers. Not a totally inaccurate description, but one that evokes a different emotion (irony, perhaps) than the simple and monosyllabic rose.

My point is this. Names are important. Getting them right is important. Paying enough attention to know a person’s name, to say it or spell it properly – these things denote respect for a person’s very identity. I have an acquaintance I met through work whose name is Julia. The first time I emailed her I mistakenly called her Julie. When I responded to apologize, she told me it happens all the time, but I was the first person to notice the error and to apologize for it. For shame! Hundreds of people out there corresponding with Julia are calling her Julie and not even noticing, perhaps; certainly if they do they are not apologizing for the mistake.

And, having a name like Katherine, common in its prevalence but not in its spelling, I run into this a lot. It’s expected that I’ll get the odd Catherine, Kathryn, Katharine or I even once received a letter addressed to Kathern (which is a name I personally have never heard). I’m used to it: I know that if I want it right I will have to spell it out letter by letter. But I’ve also run into enough other Katherines, Catherines, Kathryns and Catharines to understand and accept it.

It’s casual and unapproved name-shortening that I just can’t stand. I, for one, always introduce myself as “Katherine”. It’s not difficult, and in Canadian English pronunciation, it only has two syllables (kath-rin). My close friends and family call me Kath, and that doesn’t bother me in the least. They know and love me and it’s been my accepted nickname for ages. Online, I go by an old school nickname, Kat, which I love, not least because I also have an abiding love for cats. So go ahead, call me Kat. I won’t mind.

But: I have told you these two nicknames are okay by me. I — very specifically — don’t introduce myself as Kathy. And before there’s a backlash of Kathy-lovers, it’s not that I have anything against the name Kathy, per se. I know (and love) a number of wonderful women named Kathy (or Cathy), but it’s just not me. Just like Julia is not Julie.

And call me anal, but it just seems to be that when someone introduces themselves (particularly in a written media like email, for example) as Katherine, to shorten it to Kathy without first asking their permission is rather presumptuous.

So just don’t, okay?

I didn’t think much of it at the time, you know. I really try to stay away from the culture of fear that’s so prevalent in our information-based culture. But today, when I was driving home from my volunteer stint at the kids’ school, I saw a guy walking down my street carrying a bucket and a squeegee. Hmmm, think I, that’s like that police email.

It just happened that I was on the phone with my husband at the time, and mentioned it to him. He encouraged me to call the police, which I thought was a bit of an overreaction. I mean, it had been a few weeks: likely this was just a legit window-washer guy right? (Forgetting that it’s February for a moment). While still on the cell phone with hubby, the guy rings my doorbell! I decided to answer, because I really didn’t want him kicking down the door while I was still in the house. He offered to wash our outdoor windows for $75, or both indoors and out for $120. I said “no thanks” and then decided to call the police after all.

I waited a few minutes and then went to yoga class, on the basis that he already thought someone was at home. When I got back from yoga, there was a message from the police…they had apprehended the guy and arrested him!

I GOT A GUY ARRESTED!

And this is the greatest excitement in weeks for my tame suburban life.

In a word: FABULOUS!

It was so exciting for the kids to be invited to what basically amounted to a toy party, and my girls were beyond excited while getting prepared. We decided it would be a good idea to get the toys unpacked so that they would be ready to play with when the guests arrived, and I’m glad we did. We were able to get batteries in everything, and we also set up each of the Tag systems and the Leapster2 on the LeapFrog Connect LearningPath website so that the children could upload their progress and “earn” their rewards. None of this is particularly difficult, but we had a number of these and it was just so much easier for it all to be done when our guests arrived raring to go and ready to play. It was also quite important for the Tag Systems, as you have to download the audio for any additional books (and we had 3). One thing I really appreciated is that the same kind of USB cable works for both the Tag systems and the Leapster2 – this means you can keep one plugged in to the computer for easy access, and the other can be safely stowed in the cable drawer in case you need it later on.

I was worried that there would be mayhem and chaos and fighting for toys, so I had decided to set up five different “stations” or “centres” (the teacher in me coming out, I guess!). We had three Tag stations, the Leapster 2 station and a station each for the AlphaPet Explorer and the Scribble & Write.

All in all, the party was a huge success. Our guests were all six year-olds from Girl2’s Grade One class. All together we had five 6 year-old girls (Girl2 and four friends) and one 6 year-old boy. Girl1 (who is 9) had a fellow 9 year-old friend over and they acted as helpers, shepherding the guests from centre to centre and also helping them connect to LeapFrog Connect on the computer when they needed it.

As for the moms, we just sat back and relaxed, enjoying the snacks and refreshments! All of us moms were very impressed at how our kids interacted with the LeapFrog toys. More than one mother remarked that her child seemed every bit as happy playing an educational game on the Leapster2 as they would be playing with their Nintendo DS, and we were all quite taken by the sounds of those lovely piping voices reading along to the Tag stories!

But let me review each toy briefly and individually, summarizing the feedback of the moms and our observations of the children.

Tag System

First, I feel I must point out that while the girls loved the lavender-coloured Tags, the one little boy in our group could not; would not be enticed to play with it at all. Now he may be a bit over-sensitive, but he clearly felt his masculinity would be challenged by clutching a purple pen – most likely because it is clearly designed to be a “girls’ version” of the regular green Tag system. I’m not sure if the girls would mind using the green one – we didn’t have one but my instincts tell me it wouldn’t be an issue. So if you’re considering buying one as a gift, play it safe and go for green, unless you know the child will absolutely love lavender.

That being said, all the girls loved the Tags. They enjoyed “reading” all the stories, and we moms felt like this was a really age-appropriate toy for our first-graders who are just building their own budding literacy skills. The Tag gives them the chance to see and hear individual words, to recognize letter sounds, and lots and lots of repetition. Girl1 has been reading with the Tag for a few weeks now, and I have noticed an improvement in her overall reading level…and not just with the four Tag books we have.

Although I really enjoyed the Tag system, I was a bit more ambivalent about the book selection we received. The “Ozzie and Mac” book that comes with the Tag is a delight, and Girl1 and Girl2 both loved it, as did I. We were also sent an Ariel book, a Dora book and a SpongeBob book, and while they read all three of them, the one my kids kept coming back to was the SpongeBob book. My feeling is that by the time they are in Grade One, many girls are already beginning to outgrow their interest in Princesses (hello, rock star stage) and have already left Dora behind, for the most part. That’s not to say Girl2, at six, is entirely ready to let Dora and the Princesses go, but she was a lot less excited about them than she would have been at four. So SpongeBob was definitely the winner, although I think Girl2 would have gone gaga over a Hannah Montana Tag book!

AlphaPet Explorer

Even 9 year-old Girl1 and her pal loved the AlphaPet Explorer – for about 3 minutes. Girl1 played with it long and strong for several days, singing the alphabet (complete with cute little doggy “ruff-ruff” at the end), although I must say I feel it is much more appropriate for a pre-schooler. For my kids and the guests at the party, who already know their alphabets very well, this was simply too young of a toy. It did have limited appeal to them though because it is musical and the puppy has that “cute factor” that continues to win over little girls well into the ‘tween years.

I would not buy this toy for my own children, but: having been a huge, huge fan of the LeapFrog Fridge Phonics system when my kids were preschoolers, I can definitely see the value of the AlphaPet Explorer. If you have a child who is busy learning the alphabet, then this toy would definitely be a winner.

Scribble & Write

I’m going to have to put the Scribble & Write in the same category as the AlphaPet Explorer. I think it’s a fabulous toy for the 3-5 year-old age range, but our first-graders were simply too old for the level of this toy. Again, the novelty of it was appealing to all the children (yes, even the 9 year-olds), but for a very limited time. This was the toy that was dropped first and the one that nobody really felt compelled to go back to.

Again, let me point out that I don’t think the reason that it fell flat with this group has anything to do with the toy…I think it would be excellent for preschoolers, especially as they are learning to form upper-case letters and developing their fine-motor skills. It has all the hallmarks of these well-designed LeapFrog toys, too: the pen is attached to the toy so you are not at risk of losing it (I know whereof I speak, having invested much money in replacement styluses for my kids’ DS systems). Also, there is a custom-made groove in the back of the toy for the pen to snap into – this keeps it out of the way and is also perfectly located so that the cord is stretched along the back of the toy and is not in danger of being mangled, tangled, pinched or otherwise damaged. Especially when these toys are being handled by young kids, these details are very important!

Leapster2 & Princess Game

The Leapster2 was right up there with the Tag systems at our toy party (although we had the same problem with our little boy guest…nothing – and I mean nothing – was going to induce him to play with a pink toy). It was probably the most sought-after toy at the party and it was definitely the one each child played with the longest. Luckily, we have a collection of about a dozen old Leapster games that thankfully still work on the Leapster2, so there was a good selection of games to choose from.

The feature that most impressed the moms about this toy was that it came with a limited gaming capability built right in. That’s a huge factor when you consider any other handheld gaming system you buy your child will need to be accompanied by a game, which will cost anywhere from and additional $35-$50 (or upwards).

Another great mom-pleasing feature is that the games are definitely educational, but also fun. The kids didn’t necessarily want to put the games down, but they were definitely learning. And yes, you can get educational games for the DS (sorry I keep mentioning it, but all the kids at the party already own a DS so it was a logical comparison for us moms to make) but most of them are geared way above the comprehension level of children in elementary school. Even the 9 year-olds loved the Leapster2, although they preferred the pre-installed dragon games to the Princess cartridge we received in the testing kit.

I’m going to reiterate my comments from the Tag section above, as even the 6 year-old girls were slightly nonplussed by the Disney Princess game. I couldn’t help feeling that they’d have been a bit more impressed by a game featuring characters that more closely mirror their current interests: Hannah Montana, Phineas and Ferb, even the Wizards of Waverley Place. Certainly a SpongeBob game would’ve been loads of fun and would have appealed to the boy, too.

However, the system itself is excellent. It’s a good size for small hands and I love that the stylus is attached by a cord (thank you, LeapFrog!) A refinement in the design of the Leapster2 over the Leapster has the stylus fitting into a tube near the top of the system. This is an excellent improvement as the cord now no longer dangles and the stylus doesn’t fall out. The volume control dial is much appreciated by adults, as is the headphone jack. These are durable, well-designed toys that are also very well-priced.

LeapFrog Connect

Here’s something unique to LeapFrog products: the LeapFrog Connect software that connects you to the LearningPath for your child’s progress. It’s amazing what you can see, do and learn with this enhanced feature. I installed this software and used it to track my children’s use of the Tag systems as well as for the Leapster2. I was really intrigued to learn how they progressed through different stages, and I loved how interactive it was…Girl2 would come to me and say, “Mommy, can you connect the Leapster so I can get my reward?” Seems the systems interact so well with the software that your kids can earn rewards for passing certain learning thresholds, and you can download “rewards” and open new levels for them as they progress. Sweet!

Overall, the kids, the other moms and I were thrilled with the toys. The moms and I were most impressed with the Tag systems and the Leapster, and I look forward to continuing to explore my kids’ growth using LeapFrog Connect and the LearningPath website. I was also intrigued by the wealth of games and toys for older children, including the didj, which allows you to customize games online and then download them onto the gaming system.

My advice: if you’re considering a LeapFrog toy for a special child in your life, you can feel confident that you’re buying an excellent product that has been thoughtfully designed and will be durable. You’re also getting a world of other opportunities through the LearningPath website, customizable options and the amazing array of books, games and other software featuring many popular characters and incredible opportunities for learning.

I love LeapFrog!

So yes, I was interested. But I was also slightly skeptical…my kids are in grades one and four respectively…aren’t LeapFrog toys geared more at the preschooler age group? Well Kelly (my super-nice contact person at LeapFrog’s PR agency) told me that there would definitely be a range of toys that covered kids through even the 8-11 age range. Okay then, I thought, we could offer some meaningful feedback on the toys.

So in the interests of being totally forthright, let me tell you how the program worked. LeapFrog would send me a selection of toys as well as some money to pay for a party with six or so of my daughter’s friends (we went with the grade one kids, so the guests were all six years old). The kids would play with the toys, the moms would observe, I could write a review on my blog but I wasn’t obliged to (and to be perfectly fair to the LeapFrog folks, if the kids or moms hated the toys, I was perfectly free to trash them in the review, too). Then LeapFrog would send us a set of toys to donate to a local children’s charity of my choice.

I gave it some thought, and I asked my kids if they were interested (guess what they said???) and I asked a few moms if they were interested in attending the LeapFrog review party with their kids. Once all the stars were aligned, I decided to go ahead with it, and soon after confirming my participation, this arrived (much to the delight of my daughters!):

Literally a Goodie Box!

I was such a mean, mean mom, though, as I wouldn’t let them open the box until the party! More on the party in my next post, but in the meantime, let me tell you what was included in the sample box:

3 Tag Systems:

Except ours were pink (for my girls):

In addition to the book that comes with the tag systems, we got three additional books featuring Ariel, Dora and SpongeBob.

We also received an AlpaPet Explorer:

and a Scribble & Write:

All of it rounded out by a pink Leapster2:

…complete with a Disney Princess game:

And best of all, the box also included all the necessary USB cables to connect to LeapFrog’s Learning Path site online, as well as enough AA batteries to power all the toys.

But the most important thing is what the kids (and moms!) thought about the toys during their LeapFrog party. Check back Friday for the full low-down on each of the products the kids tried out, as well as the mom’s take on them, too.