This year, like always, Toy Fair was a blur. Our team of Toy Scouts did a great job of covering every inch of the Javits Center and we found some really great new products.

Check out our blog, www.spillingthebeans.net for the full story, and stay tuned. We'll keep you posted as the new products arrive on our shelves.

In our last edition, we offered a survey about our product mix. We were so thrilled with the huge response we got. You asked us to find more open-ended toys, more art supplies, and more toys to engage toddlers during that tricky period between their 2nd and 3rd birthday. You also offered such nice compliments about our staff. We're glad to hear that we're doing a good job taking care of our customers, and it was very helpful to have your feedback as we evaluated the thousands of new products at Toy Fair.

Congratulations to Elizabeth, the winner of our drawing. She will receive a tote bag packed with samples from the show.

By Eli Gurock

Over the past couple of weeks, there has been significant hubbub about car seat safety, thanks to a widely publicized and then retracted Consumer Reports article about infant car seats. The safety of many popular and highly respected car seats has come into question, resulting in many concerns about keeping kids safe in car seats.

Car seats are intimidating, and while I always recommend getting your installation inspected by a certified installer, it's also important to feel comfortable around your car seat. Here are some tips to help you get started.

1.Study the instructions.
Granted, it's obvious, but the manuals can contain so much legal mumbo jumbo that your eyes will glaze over. Pretend you're back in school and get a highlighter. Go through the manual and highlight the most important parts, and then go back and reread what you've highlighted. You should also read the manual in your car to see if your car manufacturer has installation tips.

2. Make friends with your car seat.
Bring the seat into the house and spend 10-20 minutes just exploring the parts of the seat. Play with the LATCH connectors, adjust the straps, remove and replace the harness straps, take off the seat fabric, turn the car seat upside down. Go slowly and make sure you will be able to restore everything to its original configuration. The more you understand the mechanics of a car seat, the easier it will be to do the installation yourself.

3. Put your knee into it.
In general, there should be no more than an inch or two of wiggle at the base of a car seat when it is properly installed. Most of the time, pulling hard on the seat belt or the LATCH (Lower Anchor and Tethers) strap doesn't do the trick. Climb into the car, put your knee into the center of the car seat, and bear down. Pull tight again - it should make a big difference.

Click here to see why no knee is required if you buy the Orbit infant system. (http://orbitbaby.com/why/install.html)

4. Seatbelts 101.
If you have a car that was manufactured in the past 10 years you probably have seatbelts known as "switchable retractors". That means when you click in your seatbelt, and you drop something or have to bend forward, you can still move around easily. But if your car stops short, or you get into a crash, the seatbelt should lock and keep you in place.

When you install a carseat, you want the seatbelt to always be in that automatically locked position. To make that happen, pull on the seatbelt until it can't come out any further. Once you do that, your seatbelt should switch to that automatic locking position. If you listen, you will hear the seatbelt ratchet as it retracts. Once you've engaged the seatbelt, your installation will be that much more secure.

5. Compatibility.
Not every car seat will fit into every car. The seat fabric may be too slippery, the angle of the seat may be too extreme, or the seatbelts may be in weird places. Sometimes, with a little bit of corrective gear, you can get a safe installation, or sometimes you'll need to make an exchange for a new seat. If you aren't having an easy time, get professional help. Certified installers are trained to deal with all sorts of unusual situations.

For a more extensive FAQ about car seats go to http://www.car-safety.org.

Join us this afternoon, Friday March 16th, as we celebrate St. Patrick's Day at Magic Beans. We will have green play dough, a big green mural for all to color and fimo clay for older kids to make green beads and charms. We will also be giving away green balloons all afternoon. We know it's supposed to snow, but it's nice and warm in our playscape.

This Sunday, March 18th, the Kehillath Israel Nursery School PTO is producing a concert with Steve Songs, an acclaimed local children's artist. Steve is a wonderful entertainer who has several popular recordings, and this should be a great concert. Advance tickets are available at Magic Beans, online or at the door. The concert will take place at Congregation Kehillath Israel, 384 Harvard Street in Brookline at 10:30am. Doors open at 10am.