Photo by Cafe Sheri

Raising a toddler can be HARD. And tiring. And tricky. And dirty. And did I say hard?

But alas, on this Thanksgiving day, it's nice to remember what's so wonderful about toddlers too! This day of thanks, let's spread a bit of toddler love around.

Photo by sgr123

Oh...what to do with the adorable crib set once baby outgrows it?

I recently came across this awesome idea from CafeMom sgr123 in the Susie Homemaker group.

This smart mom repurposed her daughter's baby bedding into pretty accents for her toddler-ized room.

Photo by thinline

These days moms name their parenting styles the way women only used to name their political parties. And I get that. For the sake of discussion, you never know it you're a sitting Democrat walking into a room of Republicans. And you'd hate people to assume. It's nice to get it out in the open so there are no misconceptions. It also forces you move beyond these issues and find other kinds of commonalities.

But now that we let it all hang out — from where our child sleeps and what our child eats to whether or not we vaccinate and how we discipline — can it get in the way of friendships with other moms?

What do you think?

My daughter is part Irish, Swedish, German, and Cat. That's as in meow. She gets that gene from my side of the family. I love, love, love back scratches and massages of any kind. I don't care who the person is ... friend, family, man, woman, stranger, serial killer ... or on which part of my body ... back, head, toes ... I curl up into a ball and melt into pleasure at the slightest touch of nails on my skin.

So of course, the bedtime ritual at my house always is, "Mommy, can you rub me?" "Mommy, you forgot to rub me!' "Mooommmy, I'm not going to sleep unless you rub me!!!"

Photo by faithfulmomof1

Can you find the sleeping child in the photo?

Oh, yes, there she is ... to the left of Mickey Mouse and due south of Pink Pig. And I think she's being kissed by Mr. Brown Bear over in the upper left corner.

This little girl is a year old. My daughter is 4 and I allow her two stuffed animals with her in her toddler bed at night.

This funny headline in the Newcomer's Club recently made me laugh:

"My Ice Cream Man Is on Crack!"

Okay, he's not really. But I challenge you to come up with a better explanation for why he was cruising one mom's neighborhood last week at 8:30 on a school night.

And never mind school-aged kids ... but my toddler is in bed at that hour, or at least at the point in the night when I certainly don't want to rev her up with ice cream.

Photo by aebaby

A mom in Toddler Moms was complaining that it's hard to find a good toddler size blanket for the crib. They are either too small (for babies) or too big (for big kids and adults).

A lot of moms use throws to cover their sleeping tots, but last weekend I came up with a great solution: I sewed four of my daughter's baby blankets together to make a bigger blanket.

These were the soft, cotton knit Carters blankets she had as a baby. They are the perfect weight for summer, and I often wished they'd come in a toddler size.

Photo From Design*Sponge

If you're looking to update your toddler's bedroom and aren't intimidated by the idea of a DIY bed, check out these adorable upholstered toddler beds on Design*Sponge. There you'll find easy step-by-step directions to make your own for around $37 each. All you need now is the perfect fabric!

Could you see your toddler sleeping in one of these?

Photo by social1972

For most of the year, bedtime at my house is between 7:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. This is not a problem in the winter because the days are short and it's dark by bedtime.

But now during summer, when the days are long and the nights are short, I get, "Mommy, it's still daytime, it's not bedtime yet!"

And, "Mommy, the sun's up! Time for breakfast! (between 5 and 6 a.m.)

This is not fun for mom and dad, plus the kiddos are getting way less than the 12 hours sleep they should.

Moms in the Heated Debates group were sharing ways to foil the sunlight and get their toddlers to stick to normal sleep schedules in the summer -- not an easy task.

Photo by lamompls2

Does your toddler fall asleep in the middle of playing? Or in the sandbox? Or on the potty? It is funny (and aggravating! and adorable!) how they seem to end up falling asleep everywhere except their beds or cribs.

Check out all these sweet toddlers *not* in their beds sleeping.