Maple Leaf Mommy

I'm not going to lie, I've got mixed feeling about this one.

First I have to tell you, my youngest is utterly taken with her Happy Nappers Dog.  When I introduced the doghouse pillow to her, her eyes were like saucers. She checked out the soft plushy doghouse, and then was delighted to discover it could open up and turn into a dog. And then turn back into a doghouse. And then back into a dog. And repeat ad infinitum. The problem being, neither of my daughters have quite mastered the Happy Nappers transformation on their own yet. Which means I can get sick of swapping him between his two forms pretty quickly.  But that's not my real complaint. My real complaint is the darn doorbell.


You see, my daughter wants to nap with her Happy Nappers Dog. She wants to take the doghouse shaped pillow into bed with her and snuggle with it and lay on it. But it has this doorbell, which when you press on it makes a silly sort of snoring noise.  Again, I've got ambivalent feelings.... because Baby-G thinks the doorbell is quite amusing, and often giggles with glee when she manages to push it. But the doorbell means this puppy isn't going to actually be taking naps with anyone, because when you snuggle down on the pillow you set off the doorbell.  Also, the speaker mechanism for the doorbell is big and clunky and very rectangular with hard corners, and if you don't transform the dog just so you can feel the corner bits poking through.  Finally I have to assume the battery is going to eventually run out and the bell will stop working at some point (not necessarily a bad thing in my mind), as I see no way to access it or change a battery.

So basically, I love the concept of the Happy Nappers, but I think adding the doorbell to it was a very silly thing to do. Without that button and the attached speaker/battery etc, this dog would get flying colours. As is he still gets a passing grade, based solely on how much Baby-G dotes on him.

Overall I think the Happy Nappers are great for playtime, but not for naptime. They're on sale right now for $14.99, which I think is a pretty good deal. For an older kid, who can transform the Happy Nappers on their own, it's a cute and novel gift that offers plenty of playtime fun.