21 Jul

Kids & toys, you just never know SweetSuite At Home

When it comes to toys, you just never know what your kids might like!

For the past few years, I have been invited to the famous Sweet Suite event held by The Toy Insider.

The 1st time I was invited, I barely saw any dads there representing and made sure every year after that to make sure a FATHER’S presence was felt!

I do this to make sure that dads are seen but also to remind fathers that our presence isn’t just needed, it doesn’t have to be boring either.

Want to help other dads find cool things to do? Hit this link HERE for me and get busy.

Since COVID hit, doing in-person events like Sweet Suite is impossible but they still hooked us up with a virtual event and even sent us swag boxes after.

They killed it and once again, a lesson was reinforced! When it comes to kids you just never know what they like!

Sweet Suite at Home

toys at sweet suite @home #fatherhoodislit

For more info on Sweet Suite live, check out our coverage HERE!

For the past 2 years their event was held online and to be honest at 1st I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. The allure of an event like this isn’t just seeing the newest and hottest toys, for me, it’s the network that you get to build there.

You get to meet representatives of really dope toy companies and actually get to form a relationship with them. They show you all of the latest toys but then make it their business to actually hear what you have to say.

As a dad in the business, this level of networking is priceless. Throw in all the top influencers and you can quickly see how Sweet Suite is more than a come play with cool toys event.

Doing things virtually would be a challenge but The Toy Insider team handled it like the season vets that they are. Although it was virtual, you could still hear about the latest products, meet with the brands and you could still connect with the top influencers in the world all from the luxury of your seat!

Virtual Toys? Can they replace the real thing?

Toys at Sweet Suite @home #FatherhoodIsLit

The event was incredible as always but what really stood out to me was how in tune my kids were with the virtual world that The Toy Insider had created.

I thought they wouldn’t like it since they couldn’t physically play with the toys. We were getting a swag box, but that comes in a week after the event so touching something physical was out of the question.

It didn’t even phase my kids. My kids navigated the augmented reality world of Sweet Suite like it was a normal place. They probably felt more comfortable with that setting than some of the adults. They chose the brands they wanted to interact with and even joined me in meetings with the brands where they learned all about the new offerings of toys.

The virtual aspect of it couldn’t replace the actual physical toys but the kids still seemed to be in awe just looking at someone else playing with them. Kids are weird, I know, Ryan’s World isn’t famous for nothing! (his toys came in our swag box, making snackman and Jordan extremely happy)

Lessons Via A Swag Box

toys at sweet suite @home #fatherhoodislit 2
Even my oldest got some swag

Besides being able to meet some of the brand reps and influencers, my favorite part of the event is the Swag Box they send all of the attendees.

This box is huge and full of dope toys, not those silly samples people try to give you. The brands don’t give samples, the Toy Insider has them sending out exactly what they sell in the store before they even go on sale! That’s huge and shows you the influence The Toy Insider has.

My kids and I love unboxing the swag box but they don’t get to keep all the toys! Surprise!!!!! Yes, my kids love toys but they are spoiled beyond belief so we make it a habit of grabbing one or two toys and then give away the rest via our DRIVE BY GIFTING event we host in NYC.

What my kids pick always surprises me as well. They can pick whatever toys they want but instead, they always pick the mystery packs. I wrote about mystery packs and why kids love them HERE!

THEY LOVE THEM!!!!! I repeat, THEY LOVE THEM, and to be honest, I love them as well. It teaches the kids that in life when you take a chance you never know what the results will be! The one thing you do know is that if you don’t try nothing will happen.

mystery toys #FatherhoodIsLit
Snack man was loving these

That lesson right there is reinforced every single time we attend a Toy Insider event. Sometimes we parents think we know everything about our kids and they come back and remind us that we don’t!

It also reminds dads like me that kids have their own minds. We can guide them to do what we like but that doesn’t mean that the results will be what we expect. They might even over exceed those expectations.

If that’s not a blessing, I don’t know what is!

Thank you The Toy Insider for taking care of the DADS and their children, and for also reminding us that with kids, you just never know!

#FatherhoodIsLit 

Want to help another dad? Shoot us a message with your tips. Email at james@cool4dads.com or dm me on Instagram at @FatherhoodIsLit

#FatherhoodIsLit 


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