A Play Surface In The Middle of the Tub!

Mary Barney and Julie Gibbs are the Mom-preneur founders of Tubby Table Toys. They met in their late 20s at the company where they both worked, and spent the next 10 years building careers. They both loved kids so as they approached their late 30s they decided they better do something about it-fast. And with help, they they were lucky enough to have boy/girl twins, Sam and Maddy. They were six weeks early, weighing about 4 lbs each, and Sam spent an extra week “cooking” in an incubator. He didn’t want to come out yet, but Maddy was ready so she led the way. Now they are strong and healthy and Sam is 5’ 9” tall, weighs 145 lbs and he’s only 13!

As the moms of twin toddlers, they quickly experienced both the joys and “uh oh’s” of bath time. Let’s face it, kids love water play. It’s not only soothing, but also a whole lot of fun. For parents, the soothing feeling can be replaced with one big headache. Kids love to pour and fill, wash and splash – inevitably most of that water ends up all over the bathroom floor. So as moms with twins, they had a double soaking. That’s how and why the Tubby Table was created. It was Mary’s idea as she got tired of cleaning up the bathroom floor every night. The Tubby Table gives kids a play surface in the middle of the tub, allowing the water to flow back into the tub instead of all over the bathroom floor.

The Tubby Table is not only fun, but educational as well. They integrated multi-colored and numbered shape cups to help reinforce key fine motor, cognitive and developmental skills such as counting, sorting, color differentiation, as well as cause & effect, and filling and pouring. Kids will have a blast learning as they play, and it allows for siblings to play together in the bathtub and share a play surface. They tried to think of everything with our first product, but once they put it out on the market, parents and bloggers gave us some great ideas. So, now they have a new Tubby Table that adds a water wheel, a surface to build Mega™ or Duplo™ blocks, and it now folds for easy storage. The Tubby Table suctions to the bottom of the bathtub and the leg adjusts to the height of each child.

The Tubby Table was designed from the ground up to not only be safe & sturdy, but also fun and kid friendly and family friendly on every level. After having worked in corporate jobs for 20 years, they were anxious to use their brains for their own company and make something that was helpful and solved a problem. Their kids are 13 now, and instead of bathtime woes they have teen hormone angst. And they miss the toddler years, of course, and believe it or not they look forward to being Grandparents. Their kids tell them not to rush them but they’re older Moms with young kids so they hope the kids don’t wait until they’re 40 like them to have their grandchildren!

View Tubby Table Toys’ entire product folio.

Is bedtime trouble with your toddler?
This plush toy is for you.

A recipient of Dr Toys Best Picks along with multiple awards for Best Plush Toy of 2014 & 2015 NightBuddies® in Napa, California, is a toy company offering soft sensory plush toys for children three years old and older. Afraid of the dark? Ease your child’s fear of going to bed with this cute collection of cuddly stuffed characters whose eyes light up, a soft sensory sensation, creating an emotional response unlike any other plush.

Bedtime can often be a scary and lonely part of a small child’s day, said Sally Connolly, Napa mother of two and creator of NightBuddies®, an ultra-plush cuddly friend to share with kids as young as three years old. “What makes NightBuddies so special is the soft backlit eyes,” she said. In our first generation “It’s this illumination that truly brings the characters to life with a soft magical glow giving a level of connection for children. With a simple hug, children can activate the illuminating eyes whenever they need comfort and companionship while going to bed.”

With 6 mommy/daddy size characters to choose from, all at s/r $19.99, and 4 baby buddies at s/r $11.95, along with 4 new Bed Bugzzz finger puppet night light play just launching now at s/r $11.95 Connolly is confident that there is a friend for every child. Patent #7,566,258 B ensures it is a proprietary product, toys are tested by toddlers. NightBuddies® guarantees to be soft safe, and cuddly a nighttime child’s best friend.

From submitting the request for a provisional patent in 2004, less than a year after getting the idea, to actually receiving a utility patent five years later in 2009, Connolly admits the journey to this point has not been easy. “The patent process was changeling and difficult to keep pushing forward, showing the patent office what makes NightBuddies® unique,” she said. “It was an uphill battle but patent issued in 2009 with back up patent issued in 2011.

Since officially launching NightBuddies® at the Atlanta Gift Show in 2013, Connolly has taken them to several trade shows throughout the country. She said she has received super feedback from parents as well as 8 toy awards. “We have had a successful launch,” Connolly said. “We are currently working with Fiesta Plush for manufacturing and excited to start our dream of international sales”. Connolly shared, she has a vision for a platform where parents around the world share stories on raising children, sharing in our commonalities, not our differences. Connolly stated, “At age two our imagination starts to develop, we can ‘all’ be afraid of the dark, wouldn’t be great to share more love & light around the world. We are all from the same race, under the same moon, the same stars, the same place, the human race.” Now with interest from other countries Connolly is so eager to get started on that.” Asia, Japan and Malaysia are ordering.

We need South America, Africa and Europe, Connolly said that “it’s going to be interesting to see if we can connect all the dots and share NightBuddies® around the world. The whole thing is about connecting, and sharing stories, building global communities.”

Connolly admits that while she feels accomplished receiving the patent, she is proudest of how her children have been influenced throughout this journey.

From designing the characters, writing poems, to going on trips to China to source manufacturing, Connolly kept her sons, Wes and Austin, fully immersed in the process of making NightBuddies® a reality. Austin just interviewed for the US Embassy internship in Beijing, we could not be more proud of him.

“It’s kind of a crazy process, but fun to learn. For me, it has all been a lesson and exposing my boys to entrepreneurship and global responsibility in the business world,” she said. ‘social entrepreneurism’ before we knew that name, we called it ‘mom entrepreneurism’ “It’s been a fun process all these years while raising my boys, who are doing fantastic in school and business.”

Along with global distribution, Connolly said she has big dreams to expand into licensed characters. “I would love to get into licensing. I believe this application is sweet and special. Kids really react to the illuminating eyes and this patent is perfect for so many characters on the market today,” she said.

As for now, Connolly said, “I’m very confident with where I’m going with NightBuddies® but there are no guarantees in entrepreneurship. The only guarantee is to try to enjoy what you do. For me, it is about sharing the love and companionship NightBuddies® bring and teaching my kids to go for it and not let fear hold you back.”

Our baby buddies introduction hashtags ~

#followyourowncurrent #swimwiththesharks #itsnotalwaysblackandwhite #reachforyourdreams

Cuddle up tonight! Sweet dreams happen with NightBuddies®.

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from award-winning game designer John O’Neill

The game “mOre” is the latest creation of John O’Neill, an artist and award winning game designer whose works are powerful vehicles to experientially explore values, conflicts, and tensions inherent in life situations, and discover how the actions and beliefs of the players affect others. “This game, whose subject deals with halting the cycle of war, is the most difficult game I have ever made. Providing an incentive to change a pattern people have accepted as valid, no matter how negative the effect on others was the challenge,” O’Neill says.

mOre showcases the need humans have to obtain “more” to give meaning and purpose to their lives. Will “more” be obtained at the expense of others or is it possible to be jolted awake to the effect of your actions on another human being, feel compassion and embrace him/her in a bigger picture to experience even “more”? As you play the game you’ll find yourself confronted with the choice to compete for territory with a fellow player/neighbor in the old way of conquering or by uniting with him or her at a soul level to create homes together. As an elegant metaphor, this game presents opportunities to experience a way to be true to your higher self that also benefits your neighbors.

Artist often strive to offer a new perspective or a new insight to make the world a better place by expanding consciousness, but O’Neill has gone beyond the confines of a film or a book or a painting to place you inside an experience where you can feel what it’s like to come to a solution that provides emotional satisfaction, inspiration, and a balm for the soul. He does this by plumbing a situation to its depth, distilling it into a metaphor, creating symbolic pieces and creating a compelling strategy. Educated in both art and spiritual disciplines, O’Neill designs games for players to use as contemplations on life and its’ meaning in the way painters explore the appearance of things by painting them. He has exhibited as a painter and printmaker, published interactive books and cards, playing cards, rainforest shrines, video and board games in both the U.K. and the U.S.

View Gamewhy’s entire product folio.