Mama Tip #4: The Wipeable Plastic Placemat

You might be thinking, "um, Loony?  That is a no-brainer."

But it wasn't to me when I first had children.  It sort of evolved after seeing more and more friends who had these.

Initially I was totally jazzed with the educational placemats.  You can get them at any good independent toy store or brainy toy-type store.  Or online our cousins Ellen and Ken Levinsohn's Learning Express store in Bedford and Scarsdale, NY.

However, at $3.99 each, after about 6 months of getting junky and moldy, it is simply another disposable expense.  But they are indeed educational and even I have learned more about the United States Presidents than I did in Ms. Gibson's A.P. US History class in 11th grade.

Our table with the learning placemat.  It offers a great opportunity to learn!

IKEA has their own version of the plastic placemat, which at $2.99 for 4 is truly the frugal way to go.  It is also a totally cool design.

Our table with the IKEA placemats.  It offers great design and looks so pretty!

I am having a feng-shui moment of confusion.
Do I keep the somewhat junked-up ones, but my children will still learn?
Or,
do I get rid of them and use the more trendy IKEA ones, and my children will just be looking at birds, without a lot of educational enrichment.

For the sake of feng-shui, I am choosing to purge.
Old learning placemats are getting put in the giveaway bag.  Some other child whose parents didn't or couldn't spend the $3.99 per placemat are now going to benefit.

Plus, the IKEA ones take up less space on the table, fulfilling a true minimalist's dream.

My budding scientists or historians will just have to suffer.