Jessie from Toy Story 2 & 3 seemed happy to pose for a picture with her aunt and the TARDIS.
dragon
Revenge of Bumkins
Hello My Imaginary Friends,
A few weeks ago I complained to Bumkins about their product. I received an email two days later asking for pictures of the defective products, our address, and receipts. I sent all the information and have yet to receive an email reply.
What I did get instead was a facebook comment:
Now, I expected they were going to send a refund. I was wrong; instead they sent a “Gift Package.”
I complained that, “…they are not one size fits all. Although our six month old daughter is long and thin, it seems ridiculous that we should choose between deep red indentations that irritate her skin or changing her clothing three times a day.”
So who over at Bumkins thought that sending more diapers that don’t work was a good idea?
On top of that, because it was a “gift” and came from the US, we had to pay $47 of taxes and duty for the package.
Here’s my reply to Bumpkins:
Hello,
I sent an email complaining about the quality and poor fit of your diapers and was asked to send my address, images, and receipts.Today I picked up your package, which cost us $47 in taxes and duty. I’m not sure why you thought, after our complaint, that we’d want more diapers that do not fit and fall apart. We didn’t request the package and if you’d asked we would have said it wasn’t what we wanted.We have now spent over $300 on your products and packages. Your gesture, although well meaning, is both insulting and useless.The Wonder woman bib is cute though.RegretfullyÉric and Jen Desmarais
There’s a lesson in customer service that we can all learn here. Don’t assume that people are complaining just to get random free stuff. Talk to your customers and don’t assume.
The Wonder Woman bib is cute, but not $47 worth.
Later Days,
Éric
Dil, Tabitha, and baby Dab
My sister introduced me to Dan (Twitter) and Phil (Twitter) just after Dragon was born, so she has “grown up” with their voices. It just made sense for her first cosplay to be Baby Dab, from DanandPhilGames play the Sims. I cannot recommend these two YouTubers enough, on both of their own channels (AmazingPhil and Danisnotonfire), and on their collaborative efforts.
Also in the picture with Baby Dab are Dil (cosplayed by Lindsay (Website, Twitter)), and Tabitha (cosplayed by Vic (Instagram, Twitter)), and Dan (held by Dil) and Phil (held by Tabitha) plushies.
(The TARDIS is hidden…can you find it?)
All Work and no Sleep Makes Éric something something…
Hello My Imaginary Friends,
Have you ever gotten to the point where you’re so busy, or your to-do list is so long, that you feel like you’re drowning? Well I’m almost there. The ocean of stuff is turbulent and I’m barely dog paddling. All of it is made worse by lack of sleep and this stupid, unending cold.
I’m starting to realize I might have taken on too much too quickly this year and certain things have been suffering because of it. Mostly my writing, or lack thereof, and other creative endeavours like FADDS.
What am I going to do about it? I’m going to get as much done of what I have already promised and try to stop taking on more projects. Both publishers I work with are going to settle down into a slower routine and after Ottawa Comic Con, conventions will slow down too.
All that said, I’m going to try and take a week off to relax after OCC. Maybe play Skyrim with the little Dragon.
I have a lot of coffee to roast and not much time so I’ll see you later.
Éric
Sick Week
Hello My Imaginary Friends,
I’ve been sick since Sunday. It’s a typical spring cold with coughing, sore throat, stuffy nose, aches, pains, and a total inability to think. It has effectively rendered me useless all week beyond eating, sleeping, and Dragon wrangling.
Speaking of Dragon, she’s been sick about the same amount of time. Add that to her teething, we’re at 5 and can feel the 6th, and no one is getting much sleep. Jen also got sick as of Tuesday.
With my severe allergies, spring until early July is a really bad time for me.
Long story short I have a lot of work that I should have done this week that wasn’t done.
WARNING BLOG HIJACKED BY DRAGON
lkk gfcdcdvrfggsdq3easxc
Sorry about that. I should get back to cuddling the sick little Dragon.
To a healthier and more productive next week,
Éric
Bumkins Cloth Diapers Review and Complaint
Hello My Imaginary Friends,
When we were expecting little Dragon, we knew diapers were going to be expensive. We decided that an upfront cost was worth it for an overall cheaper price. So we went with cloth diapers. I did countless hours of research that ended in total and complete confusion.
We finally decided on Bumkins Two Piece Diaper System. It seemed like the perfect choice. We loved the idea of shells that could be reused and inserts / soakers that would let us control the amount of absorption. The clincher was the idea that she could use them for her entire diapered life.
They were terrible. Quite possibly one of the most disappointing purchases I’ve ever made. They seriously suck. I’m sure part of my issues are due to the complexity of cloth diapering but most were due to the shoddy quality of the diapers.
See the letter I sent the company below.
Later Days,
Éric
Dear Bumkins,
I’m writing to express my extreme disappointment with your Two Piece Diaper System.
My wife and I decided on your system because of the flexibility of your one size fits all, your price, and because of the softness of your materials.
We purchased a dozen your shells in various patterns, thirty of your soakers, and twenty inserts. It was a rough start, but with the help of other parents that swore by cloth diapers and your product we came to get the hang of them.
Over the past five months we’ve had countless problems with the quality of your product.
First, the shells were so poorly sewn together that we needed to repair more than half of them, some multiple times. After a few months of use, the shells’ waterproof material thinned and let liquid through.
Second, the seams on the soakers are just as terribly put together. For a few nights, I needed to trim the loose threads every time before putting them in the diaper.
Third, even with the inserts, our daughter couldn’t go several hours of napping without wetting her clothing and soaking through your diapers. It became such a problem that we worried she was peeing an abnormal amount. The problem completely disappeared when we started using regular disposables at night.
Fourth, they are not one size fits all. Although our six month old daughter is long and thin, it seems ridiculous that we should choose between deep red indentations that irritate her skin or changing her clothing three times a day.
Fifth, the soakers and inserts do not draw the liquid away from her body. They will soak in one location and stay there instead of being absorbed. This means even a small amount of urine will rest against her skin and cause a rash.
My wife and I had high hopes for your product, but its poor-quality construction and worse design mean we will certainly dissuade our friends and family from using your diapers.
Sincerely,
Éric and Jen Desmarais
Dear Dragon – Six Months
Dear Baby Dragon,
You turned six months old on Sunday and as I write this you’re playing on your mat making adorable sounds and rotating to the toy you want to chew on.
The past week or so has been tough; you caught your first cold and have been leaking from your nose. It’s gotten to the point where you start screaming when you see a tissue. You’re getting better now and I look forward to not hearing you be all phlegmy.
Crawling is about to happen any day. You get up on your hands and knees and rock back and forth. Sometimes you’ll army crawl. You also love to pretend that you’re skydiving.
Added to your screeching (Curse you DanIsNotOnFire) is growling, babbling, and a lot of giggles. Honestly, there is nothing better than hearing you laugh. It’s filled with such pure joy and love. I could listen to it all day.
One thing I really wish you’d stop doing is grabbing and pinching. I know you don’t understand that it hurts us and you’re just trying to keep your balance but it’s a real pain.
It’s been a wonderful six months with you and I wish I could spend more time but you’ll be eight and a half months when I have to go back to work. I’m doing everything I can to remember and appreciate this time together.
Well, I have a diaper to change.
Love you lots and lots my Little Dragon,
Your Papa
Time for a Contest
Hello My Imaginary Friends,
My daughter feel asleep on my lap and I can’t reach my computer to finish the Word of the Day story I had planned for today. It’ll be on Thursdays post.
The first five people who can guess what classic Science Fiction story this outfit is inspired by will be featured in one of the next chapters of this year’s serial story.
Send your answers as a private message to @ericdesmarais on Twitter or EricDesmaraisAuthor on Facebook.
Good Luck!
Éric
Let’s get Cynical
Hello My Imaginary Friends,
By reading this blog, I’m sure you noticed I’m a rather optimistic kind of person. I tend to assume the best of people and believe hope is important.
That being said I have my cynical moments. Last night as we were getting the little Dragon to sleep, I came to the realization that there are two kinds of cynical. When things don’t go your way or go badly, you can fall on two extremes of cynicism; Conspiracy or Stupidity.
Conspiracy
Let’s say, for examples sake only, that your baby doesn’t seem to be going to sleep (just an example, I swear…). If your cynicism leans towards conspiracy, you’ll assume that the baby is trying to stop you from sleeping. Possibly for some sort of nefarious plan where she steals all your energy.
This is the extreme that you see a lot of with big businesses or with government. They’re all out to get us/me/you! It makes us feel special, because someone wants to get us, and makes us feel like there is purpose in the world.
Stupidity
This is absolute opposite side of cynicism. Instead of assuming the baby is trying to stop you from sleeping, you assume the baby has no idea what it’s doing and has no sinister motives. It’s just a baby that hasn’t developed enough to realize that it’s time to sleep and that you haven’t abandoned her in a crib for ever.
This is the harder form of cynicism. It assumes chaos and it assumes you have nothing to do with what happened. Humans tend to assume everything that happens around us is about us; we are a self-absorbed race. It is freeing to realize that everyone is just blundering about trying to get to their goals.
I’m trying my best to be hopeful and grotesquely optimistic, but the times I am cynical I lean towards the second option. I’ve worked in government, retail, big business, tourism, etc (seriously, I’ve done a lot) and one thing I’ve noticed is how, as a society, we are extremely hard to organize. It’s always more likely to be incompetence or stupidity rather then maliciousness. (That’s Hanlon’s Razor)
Where do you fall on the cynicism spectrum?
Éric
Florida Part 3: Parks
Check out Part 1 here and Part 2 here.
The main reason we travelled to Florida was to visit the parks at Disney World and Universal Studios. Unfortunately, illness prevented me from going to Universal Studios.
I am going to discuss each of the four parks at Disney from the perspective of a new mom with a stroller, as well as point out my favourite parts of each.
Something that we were extremely pleasantly surprised by was that every single concessions stand had an ingredient list.
Epcot
Stroller
The proximity and amount of stroller parking in Epcot was very reasonable. As this was the first park we visited, I was anxious about leaving the stroller unattended. However, we never had a problem, and neither did anyone else, as far as I could see.
Walking around the “world” was actually pretty easy with the stroller. There was space in the stores we went in for maneuvering, and the only time we felt at all worried about people kicking the stroller was in Norway, because Frozen, and dinnertime. It was a little squishy in the restaurant in China, but that was the case in pretty much every restaurant.
We used the rain protector today, and it worked perfectly.
** Pro tip: When leaving the stroller in the parking, cover it with the rain protector even if it isn’t raining. Your baby will thank you when their seat is nice and dry when it rains unexpectedly while you were inside.
Baby Care Centre
The Baby Care Centre was off to the left, just before Mexico. It was big and clean. There was a huge nursing room with only 4 wooden rocking chairs (could definitely have fit more in there). The changing area had large sturdy change tables, with space for the diaper bag. The changing paper was the same throughout the parks – very large, thick white paper that, once used, go in the garbage with the used diaper. I wish there had been a recycling bin for the paper.
There was a tiny room for those accompanying the mother to sit, and they were playing Finding Nemo.
Highlights
Introducing Dragon to Baymax.
Seeing Dragon’s reaction to the hologram images of Dory, Nemo, and Marlin.
Seeing the Frozen ride.
Animal Kingdom
Stroller
We had a very similar experience as in Epcot, although the stroller parking outside the Finding Nemo Musical was not very clearly marked, so that was a little confusing. We used the solar screen today, and it worked really well. It does keep the heat inside the stroller, too, though, so if it’s a warm day, I recommend letting the baby breathe every ten minutes or so, depending on how hot it is. (Or maybe our Dragon is a little furnace, and this isn’t a problem for other babies?)
Baby Care Centre
The Centre in this park is in the centre island, over near Africa. It was tucked away and was supremely tiny. There were two individual nursing rooms and very tiny change tables. The chair in the nursing room was a wooden rocking chair with very soft cushions. There was a change mat and more space to change the baby inside the nursing room than there was in the change room itself.
Highlights
Changing Dragon in the theatre for Finding Nemo before the show started, across our laps.
The Finding Nemo show – phenomenal!
The Lion King show – we were in the lion section. Rawr. Dragon fell asleep during it.
Hollywood Studios
Stroller
Lots of curbs in this park, which was mildly annoying with a stroller. Stroller parking wasn’t very clearly marked for the Toy Story ride, although it was everywhere else. They did an excellent job of parking the strollers for Fantasmic.
Baby Care Centre
Right at the entrance to the park, on the left hand side as you enter, was the smallest Centre of the parks. There were 2 curtained individual nursing rooms, again with a wooden rocking chair, and the changing room had two tables only. There was barely any space to breathe in the space. Definitely my least favourite.
Highlights
Eric being allowed to wear Dragon during the Toy Story ride, getting the highest score of the 4 of us, and Dragon falling asleep partway through the ride.
Introducing Dragon to Moana – Dragon was asleep by the time we got to see her.
Watching Dragon watch the fireworks from Fantasmic. Oooh lights, *startle*! Oooh lights, *startle*!
Magic Kingdom
Stroller
The proximity of the stroller parking to the rides was not very good, and it was confusing to find it sometimes. Once, Eric parked the stroller somewhere, and a park attendant had moved it by the time we exited the show. That was mildly terrifying.
Definitely the least stroller-friendly park, because of how much is in it.
Baby Care Centre
Located just to the left of The Crystal Palace (when facing it), this was by far my favourite Centre. There was a calm room for nursing with 5 squashy rocking chairs, and while it was a bit squishy in the room, there was space for everyone. The change room had 6 changing tables, and the room for accompanying people had lots of chairs and a TV screen; the only other one to have a TV was Epcot.
Highlights
Nursing Dragon during Mickey’s Philharmagic – I had forgotten about the champagne bottles and I jumped at the forced air, startling Dragon.
Dragon falling asleep on the Haunted Mansion BOTH times we went on it!
Watching Dragon get excited about the Pirates of the Caribbean ride – her little head swivelled from side to side, trying to see everything. And she raised her arms in the air when we went down the water fall!
Introducing Dragon to Tinkerbell, while dressed as Tinkerbell!
Disney Springs
Stroller
The stores were maneuverable with the stroller, and easily accessible. I was pleased by how easy it was to get around with it, and that I didn’t have to go too far out of the way because I had it.
Baby Care Centre
There wasn’t one. Bad Disney! It’s on your map!
The Information Centre let me use one of their offices when I asked about the location of the Baby Care Centre, which was nice of them, but not practical for multiple people.
Highlights
YeSake food – this was delicious, large portions, and had customizable rice, noodle, or wraps. Yummy!
Cookes of Dublin – Super yummy fried fish, and they were very good about my mother’s allergies!
Mickey’s Pantry (and Spice & Tea Exchange) – a store with the best fancy salts and sugars, and other kitchen supplies
Marketplace Co-op – a series of shops that are high-end and great quality
World of Disney Store – everything for everyone, except they were out of the cute short set in the size we wanted for Dragon…but they did check to see if they had any in any other location (they didn’t, but I appreciate that they tried to find it for us!)
If you are interested in booking a trip to Orlando.Jen has retired from working as a travel agent. Hope you’ve enjoyed Fandom Travel.