GR8 TaT2 Maker: “Open up your very own pretend play tattoo parlor. This easy-to-use tattoo maker kit includes an electronic tattoo pen and funky stencils. Using soft, safe pulsating action, the tattoo pen creates realistic, washable designs with dramatic effects.”
Retails for $14.99
KATU:
Most adults can remember the carefree days of childhood, climbing trees and jumping from swings, often on schoolyard playgrounds.
Climbing, swinging and sliding was once a rite of passage during recess, a time for adventure, to see how high, how far and how fast we could go as a kid.
Today, kids find themselves grounded, victims of a culture of fear and injury litigation.
A growing number of school districts are going so far as to ban the game of tag and are even posting signs that read “no running on the playground.”
Is there real danger on the modern playground?
Safety advocates say yes and want to eliminate it.
Their first target: swing sets.
On the flip side, others say that playgrounds, “need more adventure”:
BBC:
Playgrounds should be more exciting and adventurous to keep kids interested in them, say experts.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (Rospa) says worries about making equipment safe to play on has led to play areas becoming boring.
It said this means kids are more likely to look for adventure outside the playground, playing in dangerous areas like on railway lines and rivers.
MSNBC: “Is it true? Are children these days allowed to run amok like never before? Has public etiquette gone to hell in a hand basket or — er — a Dora The Explorer backpack? Or is society simply becoming more intolerant of little tikes?”
Want some health snack ideas for your toddler? Well, then don’t turn to Parents magazine’s Registered Dietician for advice.
Mindy Hermann’s list of “Best Foods” for kids includes:
Yum! Since when did processed cheese food become a healthy snack!?
I am by no means fashionable. All attempts to keep up with the latest styles went out the window with motherhood. I shop on three main principles: 1) It must cover the entirety of the postpartum body; 2) It must be machine washable; and 3) Come in a color that will appropriately disguise spit up, snot, and the like.
So, who am I to poke fun of people who really *are* stylish?
This week, I was getting my hair cut, just minding my own business, when another stylist bent over in front of me. My gasp was audible as two inches of her butt crack was revealed.
I’m sure we’ve all seen more than our fair share of butt crack with the invent of super-ultra-low-low pants. But these pants were special…a small triangle of material was cut from the back of the waistband…revealing even more skin.
I thought perhaps I was imagining this new trend. After all, I wasn’t wearing my glasses at the time, thankfully. A quick Google search later, I came across these pants at American Eagle Outfitters. For a mere $48, you can stylishly show off your crack to the world.
And, now, for some Happy Crack!
A Dry (and Well Covered) Crack Is A Happy Crack!
Outfit courtesy of The Crack Team franchise.
A child-advocacy group whose mission is to limit marketing aimed at children yesterday asked the federal government to bar two major baby-video companies from promoting their products as educational and beneficial to child development.
The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, saying Baby Einstein Co. and Brainy Baby Co. should not be able to say their products inspire “logical thinking,” foster “the development of your toddler’s speech and language skills,” or give “your child a jumpstart on learning.”
The group said the claims are deceptive, since there is no proof that these increasingly popular videos are beneficial and educational. In fact, it said, “research shows that television viewing is potentially harmful for infants and toddlers,” because it could adversely affect cognitive development if it replaces creative play and interaction with a child’s parents and surroundings.
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“These companies are exploiting parents’ natural tendency to want what’s best for their children, and their deceptive marketing may be putting babies at risk…”
Oh, my! Do people really take such claims at face value?
Are these statements the reason why these videos are so popular? I doubt it.
I’ve never heard “education” come out of the mouths of new mothers. More common words are shower, dinner, and break.
I tend to roll my eyes at the “claims” and then toss the video or “educational” toy into my shopping cart anyway, you know, being the good consumer that I am.
You can read the filed complaint here. They are using customer testimonials from Amazon in the complaint. Yikes.
It’s a simple fact of life: fear sells. What a business to be in, you know, if you could sleep at night after a day on the job — everything from alarm systems to virus protection software to politics to vehicle airbags. We spend thousands of dollars on insurance. We microchip our pets.
And then, you have a child. You buy the “safest” crib mattress that is so hard that your baby would prefer to sleep on the floor, you read bright yellow warning labels, you might even pay someone to baby proof your house, and then, you must tackle the car seat aisle.
Yes, the car seat aisle. The one place that, on one hand, you wish you never had to visit, and on the other, may protect your child’s life in an unfortunate event.
You must chose from dozens of options. Which is the safest? Which will best fit in your car? Which is the best fit for your child?
Yes, it’s up to you. You must make the decision that really counts. What a weight to hold on one’s shoulders.
There are no simple answers.
While all car seats must meet minimum government safety requirements, each brand claims to be safer than the next. Are you buying safety or are you buying features?
My son’s weight and height allow him many options according to the government — from the $14.99 Costco Backless Booster all the way up to the $284.99 Britax Decathlon Convertible Car Seat.
Everyone is in disagreement — the government, the car seat safety technicians and advocates, car seat manufacturers, consumer reports, friends, mothers and fathers.
Who do you trust with your child’s life? Can you really take the risk?
Essentially, it all boils down to a simple fact of business: Marketing.
Until we really know the truth, we fork over our hard earned money to the company with the best marketing, in this case, Britax — even if that means spending $284.99 times two while your husband is on a conference call.
Pregnancy has become the occasion not for congratulations, but for anxious questions about childcare, leave and work. Watch how the announcement of a pregnancy among women is followed within minutes by the “What are you going to do?” question. We’ve replaced the age-old anxiety around life-threatening childbirth with a new - and sometimes it appears just as vast - cargo of anxiety around who is going to care.
This anxiety is the backdrop to the 90,000 baby gap - the number of additional babies that women would like to have had - identified by a recent Institute of Public Policy Research report on how the birth rate is falling below replenishment levels. How is it that in cultures all over the world pregnancies prompt congratulations rather than anxious questions about childcare? How is it that in a culture equipped, materially and medically, to ease child-rearing, we are so reluctant to enjoy new life?
The answer, I would argue, is that a bias against having babies has permeated our culture. This phenomenon needs a new word - anti-natalism - and it is this that prompts a good part of that pregnancy trepidation. The only consolation to my mind is the spectacular everyday acts of rebellion by which thousands of babies still manage to get born in this country.
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The problem about motherhood (and, to a lesser extent, fatherhood) is that it comes at the cost of failure - or at least compromise - as consumer or worker, or both.
I think this is all a matter of perspective. I don’t look at my role as a stay at home mother as a “failure” of the workforce — though our culture does. I know that I’m a bit of an overachiever, and as such, my personal nightmare would be trying to fill both the role of mother and worker.
Work and consumerism certainly go hand-in-hand. Many mothers work out of pure necessity, but some mothers work so they can have more money to buy more things.
Hence you are a good mother in direct proportion to how useless a consumer you are…
Well…I don’t know about this. I think I’m a pretty good mother, and I know I’m a pretty darn good consumer as well — thanks to Internet shopping, there’s at least a weekly package of goodies showing up on our doorstep. However, I do know that my consumer priorities have changed over the past few years. More often than not, I’m looking for something to buy for my sons. In fact, on the last occassion I went shopping with my mom, I told her I wanted to get a new pair of shoes for myself. (Though Dane would argue that I have plenty of shoes!) She was very persistant in helping me find a suitable pair. As I walked to the checkout with only a pair of shoes for Emerson, she remarked, “It’s already happened to you, hasn’t it?”
Motherhood hits most women like a car crash: they have absolutely no idea of what is coming. Nothing in our culture recognises, let alone encourages, the characteristics you will need once a bawling infant has been tenderly placed in your arms.
I totally agree!
from Dane