Nothing says Happy Valentine's Day like chocolate. The problem is chocolate is fattening. If you give your valentine some chocolate she might complain that you are trying to make her fat. The Chocolate Calculator from the NeatoShop allows you to embrace the spirit of the holiday without any unwanted calories or complaints.
Now that you have wooed her with this fabulous Chocolate Calculator feel free to drop hints at things that you might like in return. Might I suggest telling her how wonderful it would be if she used that ever so thoughtful gift to do your taxes.
Of course I am teasing. That probably wouldn't be a good idea. I would also avoid suggesting she use it to budget better. It's really best you just let the adorable gift speak for itself.
Alicia Silverstone is getting all kinds of flak for her unique method of feeding her baby. Let's call it Mama bird style. Yes folks, she chews the food and spits it into her baby's mouth. Are you ready to follow in the footsteps of this celebribaby trend?
Do you have a little boy or girl who loves wooden trains? You need to check out the Railroad Plate from the German company Designspray. This awesome little plate allows you to build train tracks all over your kitchen table. Practical? Maybe not. Cool? Yes!
Saturday Night Live and Tina Fey spoof Bravo's Pregnant In Heels.
I admit it, I am kind of a Bravo junkie. I hardly ever get to watch Pregnant In Heels because it's past my bedtime, but I have seen it a few times. If you have seen the show I think you will find SNL's take hilarious and spot on.
What has 8 legs and scares the crap out of me every Spring, Summer and Fall? The beautiful and venomous Black Widow Spider, that's what! If you live in just about any warm climate, you have probably come in contact with some form of widow spiders. Widows are found on every continent except Antartica. I personally find dozens of the Western Black Widow in and around my house every Spring, Summer, and Fall. The little boogers especially like hiding under the kids toys in the yard.
I have a love / hate relationship with these fantastic creatures. I am mesmerized by the Black Widow's sinister beauty and scared to death that they are going to bite one of my kids. My best friend's brother was bitten by one as a child so the concern is not totally unjustified. Anyway, this year I thought it would be fun to get to know my enemy a little better. Here is my top 15 most interesting facts about the Black Widow Spider.
1. That shiny black spider, with the really round tummy, and the hourglass on her belly is a female. She is typically about 1.5 inches long. The male Black Widow spiders don't look anything like the females. In fact, the males are often gray or brown and are 1/4 the size of the females.
2. Not all Black Widow Spiders have the red hourglass on their underbelly. Some have no markings while others have red spots.
3. Female black widow spiders can live for more than a year and half. The poor little male only lives for 3 to 4 months.
4. The Black Widow produces a protein venom. The venom will affect the nervous system of the person bitten. It causes acute pain at the bite site. Those bitten might also get severe muscle cramps, tremors, weakness, nauseau, vomitting, dizziness, fainting, abdominal pain, chest pain, and difficulty breathing. The venom might also cause your blood pressure and heart rate to increase. Some say drugs don't seem to really help ease those symptoms while others suggest muscle relaxants might help.
5. There is a Black Widow antivenom available. Not every hospital carries it and if they do you may want to think twice about receiving the antivenom. The antivenom is typically made from horse based serum which runs the risk of producing a severe allergic reaction.
6. The Black Widow's venom is said to be 15 times stronger than a rattlesnake. Lucky for us they only administer a small amount of venom when they bite.
7. The Black Widow spider is pretty shy. You don't typically find her inside of houses. Although cold and drought will drive them inside. Black Widows tend to like to stay in the garage or areas around the house that provide nice dark crevices for her to hide. This includes piles of wood, under toys and play structures.
8. The Black Widow is nocturnal.
9. Very few people actually die from a Black Widow spider bite. It is estimated to be less than 1%. Those most at risk of suffering the ill effects of a bite are small children and the elderly.
10. The Black Widow spiderlings (baby spiders) all tend to look like the male. The females start to get darker and larger with every molt.
11. Female Black Widow Spiders don't typically eat the males. Sometimes they do kill their mate, but it's actually not typical behavior.
12. Black Widows are pretty good garden creatures. They eat flies, mosquitos, grasshoppers, caterpillars, and beetles.
13. Black Widow spiders aren't considered an aggressive spider. They tend to flee danger. They typically only bite when they are provoked or because they mistake a person for something tastier like an insect. For example, the spider will bite when they are pinched or sat on. They also might rush out and bite a finger that touches its web, because they think they caught an insect. Those most at risk of getting bitten are the male black widow and an insect, not a human.
14. Their webs look eratic. They lack real shape or form. They also feel super sticky and kind of rough.
15. Black Widows, and other spiders, don't like Eucalyptus or chestnuts. Apparently, they flee from the smell of both. Eucalyptus leaves and oil and chestnuts are often recommended as a natural deterrent.
Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latrodectus, http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74149.html ; http://factoidz.com/how-to-get-rid-of-black-widow-spiders; http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/black-widow-spider Photo: Western Black Widow (Latrodectus hesperus)
This is the story of a daughter who thought that her parents liked her, only to find out years later that they really hate her. I am that daughter.
You see, I used to think my parents liked me. I know they love me, but I was also pretty sure they liked me too. Now I know that I was wrong. Very wrong! My parents actually hate me. How do I know they hate me? This is how I know they hate me!
Yes, what you see in the picture is correct. That is my 4-year-old daughter holding a child sized electric guitar with built-in amplifier. Next to her is my 3-year-old son banging away on his new drum set. My wonderful parents purchased these gifts. My kids think Nan and Papa are the greatest. I'm too polite to tell you what I really think.
At first I didn't think much of the gift. My Dad joked it was an investment in his future. He thought the kids should start a rock band. I should film the children playing in their rock band. We should put the clip on You Tube. People would see the clip and my children would become famous. The children would be so grateful that they would buy their grandfather a Porsche convertible. I actually laughed when he told me this story. My Dad is very charismatic and has a flair for stories.
The events that have unfolded since the children received these gifts, however, have made me realize I was stupid and naive. Obviously my Dad was really plotting against me. I am now convinced this gift was pure and simple payback. Payback for what? For being forced to raise me. This includes but is not limited to years and years of me breaking his stuff, having to referee fights with my sister, and just generally being a pain in the ass. Oh, he is a wise and devious old man. How could I ever be so stupid as to underestimate him.
How much trouble could a drum set and electric guitar be? Here is a summary of the events that unfolded from the time theses items entered my house to present:
1. My son wakes up before dawn. He runs into my room and demands to know where his father is. I tell him his Dad is still on his business trip. He mulls this over for a moment. He studies me. Finally realizing I am his only hope he asks me if I can put together his drum set. At this moment I realize that even my 3-year-old knows I am incompetent when it comes to anything remotely mechanical in nature. This is both depressing and liberating. I no longer need to pretend that I know what I am doing.
2. I agree to his request to build the drum set on the condition that we do it after his sisters are awake and we have all had breakfast. The 3-year-old proceeds to wake his sisters up and demand that we eat and eat quickly.
3. Breakfast is over and I must now do what I hate more than anything. I must read an instruction manual. I stumble through the single page instruction sheet and put together the drum set. Something that should have taken a normal adult 5 minutes to do has taken me almost 40 minutes. Yes, I really am that incompetent.
4. The 3-year-old is beaming. The other children are excited. We are all happy for a brief moment. The strumming and drumming starts.
5. Suddenly, the other children realize that there is only one drum set. They are no longer content to play with any other toy. Even the electric guitar is cast aside. A scuffle ensues. The 4-year-old snatches one of the drumsticks. The Baby lunges for the other drumstick. The 3-year defends himself from the attack by hitting his baby sister in the head with a drumstick. It's World War III!
6. The Baby is fine. She is pissed, but fine. After a little cuddling she is back to planning her next attack.
7. I finally manage to stop screaming. I try to go to my happy place. I take a few deep breaths and visualize the sale rack at my favorite store. I am OK again.
8. Now what the heck am I going to do with this drum set? You need sticks to play the drums, but I can't give the kids the sticks back. If I give them the sticks back they will just start beating each other with sticks again. We are not a perfect family, but we certainly do not go around beating each other with sticks! For a brief moment I fantasize about throwing the drum set out.
9. It suddenly occurs to me that I may have been set up. My Dad must have known this was going to happen. He raised two kids. He always said we would fight over everything and anything. Throwing out the drum set is like admitting defeat. I must come up with a plan!
10. The plan is to do a craft project. Everyone knows that craft projects make everything better. (Bet you didn't see that coming did you?) Neither did the kids. The 4-year-old and 3-year-old were both skeptical. They didn't think I could make them new drumsticks. Ye little people of little faith. My craft kung-fu is strong.
11. Craft Project Drumstick commences. I am determined to make new, plush toy drumsticks that the children cannot kill each other with. I frantically search the art closet in the garage. In the art closet I found dowels, gray felt, a small foam butterfly wing, and a feather boa. I told you, this closet is filled with random crap.
12. First, I cut the butterfly wing up and glue them to the top of the dowel.
13. Next, I cut the gray felt into strips and sew them into covers for the dowels. I admit that tan felt would have been better, but I was just using odds and ends that I found in the closet.
14. The kids and I insert the dowel with topper into the felt cover.
15. We proceed to stuff the felt cover with cut up pieces of feather boa (batting probably would have worked better, but I was all out of batting).
16. I sew up the bottom of the tubes.
17. I pull out my embroidery floss and sew the tops of the drumsticks. This is just to make them look more like drumsticks.
18. Craft Project Drumstick is complete. I now test the drumsticks to make sure they work. First I hit myself with them. They don't hurt. Next I hit the drums with them. The drums still make noise. Yippee!
19. The kids are happy. Now if they ever dare to beat each other with drumsticks again, at least I know they can't really hurt each other.
When I told my parents this story they laughed. My Dad is still feigning innocence. He insists that they don't hate me, but I know better. All I have to say is, "I'm sorry for breaking all your stuff Dad. Please no more evil presents."
I guess you could call this French designed little beauty a cardboard outhouse.
The Ma Cacabane, by Piroutte Cacahouete, is a little cardboard house you put over you child's potty. It's a way for you to give your shy potty user a little privacy without having to leave them alone in the bathroom.
Conceptually I think this great. I do, however, worry whether the child will blur the lines between play and poo time. It could end up being a kind of gross playhouse.
School is back in session and hopefully that means more kids are cracking open a book or two. They may even be reading a book that has been banned or challenged in the past.
Did you know that this week is officially Banned Book Week? Yes, groups across the United States will be celebrating the written word this week by bringing attention to banned or censored books. Many schools and libraries have planned special events to condemn censorship.
Santa Margarita Catholic High School in Southern California will wrap banned books in yellow-and-black caution tape and encourage students to review the books for gift cards and candy.
Feel free to share your favorite banned or challenged book in the comment section. I am personally partial the Harry Potter series.
Over the last several days Chinese all over the world have been celebrating the Moon Festival or Mid-Autumn Festival. They have been gathering with family, eating moon cakes and sometimes putting pomelo hats on their kids. Why do they put pomelo hats on? Some say wearing the pomelo rind enables the moon lady to see the the children better. If she can see the children she is better able to answer their prayers.
The Moon Festival falls on the 15th of the 8th lunar month. This year that's September 22, 2010.
Kids, and heck adults too, should be encouraged to dream big. Dreaming big has cured diseases and built wonderfully complicated structures. It has also encouraged some people to take matters into their own hands to try to make the world a little bit of a better place.
I would like to introduce you to Dallas Clayton, a Los Angeles-based children's book author who not only created an An Awesome Book, but also dared to share big dreams. His goal is simple, but wonderful: Promote children's literacy by encouraging children to dream big. An Awesome book is Dallas' first foray in Children's literature. It is a self-published book sold primarily through the internet and his foundation. With every book sold one book is given away free.
Below is a little interview we conducted with Dallas based on his current book.
Tiffany: How did you get into children's literature?
Dallas: After my son was born I knew I wanted to write a book for him while he was still young enough to appreciate and enjoy it so I set out to write a kids book a day. "An Awesome Book" was the first one I finished. I had never written a kids book before. I didn't really know anything about the world. But like most things I just figured... this looks like fun! So I drew some pictures (never done that before either) and I made some copies and put the book online, and things just sort of took off. The first pressing sold out in about a week, and from there it's just been a real whirlwind. I don't even know how many pressings I'm on right now, I've lost count...Swept up in an amazingly wonderful career.
*For the simple version of this story you can watch this :
Tiffany: What was the inspiration for An Awesome Book?
Dallas: My son would always tell me about these dreams he had of magical creatures and fantastic places, but then in contrast a lot of my adult friends when talking about their dreams, their hopes and goals, would say things like "I've been dreaming about buying that sofa." The idea behind an awesome book is inspiring kids and adults to dream a little bigger by remembering how much more fantastical all of their hopes and aspirations can be.
Tiffany: What's your work flow method? Do you do the art first or the text first?
Dallas: Like I said, before I wrote "An Awesome Book" I'd never really drawn anything before so drawing is something I'm still figuring out. I like to approach things from a thematic place. All the best kids books (and in my opinion the best artwork in general) answer larger themes rather than just following a direct action or character. So I like to start with a theme everyone can relate to and just build from there. Dreaming, for instance - that's something everyone can relate to no matter how old, or where they live, or what race, or how much money they have. So once I had that, the rest is just putting sprinkles on the cake.
Tiffany: How long did it take you to write the book?
Dallas: It took me about 30 minutes to write and 6 months to illustrate. Drawing takes forever. Sheesh. I hope it gets quicker as I get better at it. Hat's off to Michelangelo!
Tiffany: What are you hoping people take away from the book?
Dallas: I'm hoping that for a small moment of their day they can have a little break and think about all the amazing possibilities life has to offer. I'm hoping they will be inspired to do fantastic things, solve large problems, make life better for everyone around them. Pretty much just 100% awesomeness.
Tiffany: What are your plans for the future? Any new books on the horizon?
Dallas: Yes, since the book came out my life has been non-stop. Lots of touring, reading, writing, drawing, international translations - tons of giving away books to kids with the foundation I started Very Awesome World. I wrote and illustrated five books this year as well, the first of which- a follow up to An Awesome Book - is coming out in October. I kind of just wake up every morning with a new invitation to go somewhere amazing or do something fun in my inbox and just go from there.
__________
Now I dare you to dream big. If you would like to win a copy of An Awesome book you will need to answer the following question: What fantastic dreams do you have for your child (or children you know). Leave your answer in the comment section. Three winners will be chosen at random.
Update 8/25/2010: Thank you everyone for sharing your wonderful dreams. The three winners have been chosen and will be contacted via e-mail.
Preschool time is just about upon us. Go ahead and cry because your baby is growing up so fast. Or, do the happy dance because you now have a few free mornings again. I will wait for you to finish. All done now?
The question now becomes do you have your preschoolers backpack all sorted out? No? Not, to worry. Here is a little cheat sheet on what preschool backpacks are all about, what to put in them, and what not to put in them. Happy school days everyone.
PICKING A PRESCHOOL BACKPACK
Preschool backpacks are a bit smaller than regular backpacks. Some come with wheels, some without, some look like regular backpacks, and others are shall we say more interesting. When picking out a preschool backpack you should consider your child's personality, what they are going to need to put in their backpack, and how are they actually going to end up lugging it around.
Backpacks with wheels are a bit heavier because of the plastic wheels. They are great for the preschooler who loves to drag their stuff on the ground. If your preschooler insists on wearing the backpack you might want to skip the wheels. If you frankly don't know you might opt for a backpack like the one above that allows you to do both. The monkey backpack from the NeatoShop has removable wheels for added flexibility.
WHAT TO PUT IN A PRESCHOOL BACKPACK
1. A change of clothes. When putting in a change of clothes you should keep in mind the changing weather. Lighter clothes for the end of summer and spring and warmer clothes for fall and winter.
2. A change of underwear. Accidents happen.
3. Something comforting. Separation can be hard for kids. Sometimes a little something comforting can help make the separation easier. This could be as simple as a family picture.
4. A sweater or jacket. Some little people are fussy when it comes to classroom temperature. You might find the air conditioning to be set perfectly and they might be freezing.
5. A label. It's best to label all your little one's belongings including their backpack. This helps to ensure that you come home with your stuff and not some other kid's stuff.
WHAT NOT TO PUT IN A PRESCHOOL BACKPACK
1. Toys. Preschool is a time to learn the art of sharing, but just not with your toys. Toys from home can easily start a classroom war. Avoid putting toys in a preschoolers backpack unless specifically instructed to do so by the preschool teacher.
2. Writing utensils (pens, crayons, markers). Most preschools like to control the distribution of writing utensils. This tends to keep little graffiti monsters in check.
3. Food. Allergies are a big concern at schools these days. It is best to only include a snack or drink in the backpack if your school requested it to be included. Don't worry most schools provide their own snacks.
4. Dangerous items. I think this is pretty self explanatory. Keep items that requires adult supervision out of the backpack. Just because your kids is responsible and a genius doesn't mean that his classmates are as well.
CAUTION: CHECK YOUR PACKED BACKPACKS BEFORE SCHOOL EVERYDAY
Kids are notorious for hiding things. You will want to recheck your kid's backpack before they leave for school. If you don't you just may get an angry that your child's roly poly collection has invaded the classroom.
Pottery Barn Kids recalls 82,000 drop-side cribs. The recall is due to entrapment, suffocation and possible fall hazards.
This is a recall of all their drop-side cribs regardless of model number. Pottery Barn kids is providing consumers with a free fixed-gate conversion kit.
The cribs’ drop-sides can detach when hardware breaks, creating a space into which a young child can become entrapped, which can lead to suffocation. A child can also fall out of the crib. Drop side incidents also occur due to incorrect assembly and with age-related wear and tear.
