Incredibeds has designed special attachments to turn your kids bed into a giant stuffed animal. They come in a variety of different styles for both boys and girls. Below is a fun YouTube video on the product.
Threadup is a website that supposedly allows you to swap your kids used clothes for a small fee. I have never used the site, but I thought it was an interesting concept. One of my best friends is a big online book swapper so I am guessing it's basically the same thing.
Has anyone ever tried this type of service? I am curious to know if it works. Most of the Mom's I know just take their kids clothes to the local kids used clothing store.
If you happen to find yourself in Southern California this summer you might want to check out The Huntington. The Huntington, in San Marino, boasts an extensive botanical garden which is a perfect place to take little kids to run around and burn off excess energy. The only thing you have to worry about on the grounds is the occasional golf cart passing by.
All the gardens there are beautiful, but our favorite place to hang out with kids is the Children's Garden. This garden boasts tons of little water fountains. Some have leaping water, some spray, and some spin. There are areas with misters, tunnels to crawl through and just lots of little areas to explore. The best part is there is pretty much only one way in and one way out of this garden.
My oldest loves the magnetic sculpture where she can play with magnetic sand. A warning to parents of little kids: watch that they don't try to throw the black sand. I once left looking like a coal miner.
One suggestion to anyone thinking of taking their kids to the Huntington is to bring a change of clothes and maybe a towel. If you have water socks bring those too. The kids always leave the Children's Garden soaked. If you are looking to keep your kids dry you might want to skip the Children's Garden and enjoy the Japanese and Chinese gardens instead.
The Huntington is known for housing some very rare and exotic plants. On our last visit there we had a chance to introduce our kids to Big Stinky.
Amorphophallus titanum, or the Corpse Flower, is a plant that is native to the Sumatran rain forests. It doesn't bloom very often, or for very long ( we caught the bloom as it was closing). But, when it does it causes a big stink. People come from all over to see this strange bloom that smells like rotting meat and attracts flies. It is the only plant I have ever seen that came with its own security detail.
The Huntington also has a wonderful library full or rare books and several art galleries. On display until the end of July is a small but wonderful collection of children's book illustrations from 19th-century Britain.
The downside of the Huntington is you aren't allowed to bring in food. They do have two little tea rooms. One is near the rose garden and the other is in the Chinese garden. The one near the rose garden has a decent selection of food and snacks. They even have gummy bears. The tea room near the Chinese garden is more limited, but is does offer a small dim sum selection.
This show and tell is dedicated to all the dieting Mommies out there. And, all the hubbies or anyone else who has to come in contact with them. Please remember dieters are a little like wild animals so you should always proceed with caution. It is best to avoid sudden movements and for goodness sake don't taunt them with food.
Yes, I admit it! I am a dieting Mommy. I gained a wee bit of weight with my pregnancies. I don't like to toss around numbers, but if I did they might sound something like "irty" or "orty" pounds. And, in the immortal words of that evil OB I may not have been, "Super, skinny, skinny to begin with." So, now I am on a DIET.
I am not just on any diet. I am on a medically supervised torturous diet. It requires daily monitoring, vitamin shots, and basically no eating. OK, they let you eat, but nothing good. I'm pretty sure their secret motto is, "If it tastes good spit it out."
If you must know my favorite part about the diet is that I get to go into the exam room everyday and look into their fun house mirror. It makes you look skinny. It's hilarious. I would love to meet the person who decided every exam room should have one of those. Seriously they should sell them at the front desk.
Anyway, this whole experience has got me thinking about all those amazing women who actually made it through the dieting process a little lighter and a whole lot healthier. Not only do I say good for you. I think you deserve some accolades. I say go ahead and use those horrendous before and after shots of yourself the next time your preschooler needs a show and tell item for the letter "D." Sure some might shake their heads at you and tell you it's inappropriate, but not me. You battled your demons and won. You just march in there with your head held up high and tell them "D" is for diet.
Now someone please smuggle me a piece of cheesecake before I pass out.
In an effort, I guess, to show that no one is perfect a Toy company has produced a line of flawed super hero stuffed animals.
Zola the Koala is a Super Hero, or Ze Zuper Zero, as she likes to be called . She has the amazingly fantastic ability to stay up all night long. The only problem is that when she does she has to sleep all day long.
The company makes several other characters as well. One is a hippo that can swim super fast, but hates getting wet. Another is a zebra that hides well, but has a knack for getting lost.
I have never actually seen one of these little guys in person, but I am fascinated by the concept. Fear, physical limitations, or slight character flaws really don't prevent you from being an otherwise amazing individual. It's a pretty neat thing to teach your kids with, or without, the purchase a cute plush toy.
A UCLA study done on 629 high school seniors, in 3 different Los Angeles High Schools, suggests that having friends is super important for good grades. The more friends you have in-school versus out of school the better the GPA. The study asserts this true regardless of ethnicity or gender.
"We found that within an adolescent's friendship group, those with a higher proportion of friends who attended the same school received higher grades," said Witkow, now an assistant professor of psychology at Willamette University. "This is partially because in-school friends are more likely to be achievement-oriented and share and support school-related activities, including studying, because they are all in the same environment."
This is not to dismiss or put a negative spin on a child's friends from outside school, Witkow said."These friendships are still important in terms of fulfilling adolescents' social needs, and they are not necessarily always detrimental to achievement. For instance, friendships that form in academic settings outside of school, such as at an enrichment class, may very well promote achievement."
Don't worry, the researchers don't want you to chuck your kids out-of-school friends just yet. But, you might want to keep a good eye on them just the same.
This story might make you think twice about letting your kids fly alone.
Delta sent a 9-year old Spokane, Washington boy to Cleveland instead of Boston. Then they sent a little girl mistakenly to Boston. Both children were under the supervision of the airlines.
Kieran Kershaw was traveling alone from Spokane on Tuesday to visit his grandparents. He had a layover in Minneapolis. That's where someone made the mistake and put him on the wrong flight.
Kieran wasn't the only child sent to the wrong city. Because a Delta employee switched some paperwork, a girl headed to Cleveland ended up on the flight to Boston.
The children's legal guardians were notified and both kids are fine.
A new study suggests lack of sleep and teen depression are linked. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends 9 hours of sleep a night, but most teens actually get far less than that.
The students who were excessively sleepy during the day were three times more likely to have strong depression symptoms than their well-rested peers, Dr. Siddique and his colleagues found. However, it’s not clear from the study whether sleeping poorly is a symptom of depression, or vice versa.
According to a Duke University study the general quality of life for children in the United States is decreasing. It is estimated that a staggering 21% of all American children will be living below the poverty line this year. These are the highest numbers in 20 year.
Homelessness of children may increase this year. Whereas access to nutritious food is likely to decrease.
The recession has also reeked havoc with the stability children find in the public educational system. More teachers have been laid off and more school days are being cut.
The good news is that they seem to think we have or are about to hit bottom. The quality of life for our kids should start slowly moving up soon.
The Child and Youth Well-Being Index Project at Duke University bases its predictions on 28 indicators of well-being that encompass economic well-being, safe and risky behavior, social relationships, emotional and spiritual well-being, community engagement, educational attainment and health. Researchers predict that although the index is at a low for the decade this year, it will start edging up.
A Wisconsin man was sentenced to probation and 200 hours of community service after being caught with burglary tools and trying to steal dirty diapers. He was also ordered to undergo a psycho-sexual examination.
Makuski was detained by the homeowner after entering an Amherst home last September. A Portage County sheriff's deputy found six dirty diapers in Makuski's pockets.
The complaint said Makuski entered the house because he likes to wear diapers and thought there might be some in the house.
The community of Neoga, Illinois has a new strip club. What's unusual and slightly shocking is the location. The appropriately named, School House strip club opened up at the old Pioneer Elementary school.
The building, sold by the school district in 2002, recently reopened as a strip club, shocking Cumberland County residents — many of whom walked its halls as youngsters and discovered its new use one week before it opened.
What exactly does this say about the state of our educational system?
Rice University Students have developed a portable Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Device, known as the Baby Bubbler, to help babies who baby's who are suffering from respiratory infections breathe naturally. The goal is to take the device to developing countries where they don't currently have the medical facilities to otherwise save infants with those types of infections.
The Baby Bubbler has two main components, said Michael Pandya, a Lubbock, Texas, native who developed it with four other seniors.
One component, a flow generator, pumps air through a tube and allows clinicians to add oxygen if needed. The tube goes from the generator to the infant, who breathes through nasal prongs, and then to the second component, a water bottle that serves as a regulator. "The pressure level to the patient can be changed by adjusting the depth of water in the bottle," Pandya said.
The prototypes cost about $140 to make and will be making their way to Africa for field testing this summer. The project is being included as part of Rice's Beyond Traditional Borders program.
If your little baby girl is currently follicly challenged you might be one of the many parents who suffer from pigtail or ponytail envy. It often occurs when you are at a music or play class and spy an adorable tot with longish hair sporting an up-do. Not to worry Bebe Doos has designed this headband just for you. The headband comes complete with fake pigtails in little bows.
These ponytail headbands come in 3 hair colors: Blonde (lightest), Frosted (medium & matches most babies) and Dark Brown (Darkest). The ribbon is available in several colors: White, Black, Shocking Hot Pink, Pink, Lavender and for a limited time Red.
I actually saw these in person at a local store. No, I didn't buy one (they were out of the color I needed). They are hilarious.
If you are looking to change jobs and start a family you may want to check out Conceive Magazine's list of top 50 companies offering exceptional family building benefits. Many of the benefits pertain to those wanting to adopt or who are in need of fertility treatments to conceive a child.
Well, the economy is starting to turn around, but the change is slow. And sure enough, a weak economy has led to corporate tightening of employee benefits, according to results from the 2009 benefits survey done by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), a trade association of more than 250,000 members. According to the report, 60 percent of the surveyed organizations said employee benefits have been affected by current financial challenges.
But stellar benefits are still out there. We’ve surveyed a broad spectrum of industries including Fortune 100 companies, mom-and-pop businesses, nonprofits, and academia to compile 2010’s winners.
The number one spot is shared by two companies this year.
Robins & Morton, an Alabama based construction company, offers its employees $10,000 in aid to be put toward the adoption of a child. Furthermore, the company health plan offers unlimited coverage for infertility and prescription fertility drugs.
Citizens Financial Group shares the top spot on the list by offering a lifetime cap of $100,000 for fertility treatments and an additional $100,000 for prescription fertility drugs. They also offer $22,150 in adoption benefits per adoption with no lifetime cap.
