Three Thinga-readers in the Hot Peas ‘N Butter CD Giveaway have each won a copy of Best of the Bowl: Ingles Y Español. It’s the CD my daughter is currently enjoying (read my review). Thank you to everyone who participated and taught me something about Latin American music.
The winners:
For several of our Halloween activities my daughter dressed as a witch. On Halloween night she decided to combine her witch costume with a bat cape and velvet masquerade mask to become the Vampire Witch Super Hero.
To criminals, she casts the illusion of being a helpless victim. When bad people approach, she bites them, releasing a paralytic agent into their system that immobilizes them until police arrive. At the same time, she drinks some of the criminals’ blood to keep up her health. That’s essentially what she told me in not so many words.
Our Halloween activities included:
1. A theatrical play festival last weekend, an annual tradition for us.
2. A costume parade at the elementary school… several hundred students attempting to dance to The Monster Mash.
3. A city-organized party, oriented toward toddlers who don’t really need all the candy they were being given. But hey, my son won an apple pie.
Contest updates and other miscellany will be posted this weekend. In the meantime, here’s a trailer for a French documentary, Le Premier Cri — The First Cry.
Title captions:
Here is a short, subtle Greek film on multiple subjects: What is that?
The film begins 40 seconds in after a lengthy presentation of credits.
Alternate title: From principal to rock star in 30 minutes.
I just want to share some photos, but I’ll say some things you disagree with first. Let’s brush over the three ways parents shouldn’t select elementary schools.
1. Not test scores! Parents decry the mess made by No Child Left Behind… then turn around and meticulously pour over standardized test scores. Hey, unless a school’s scores are absurdly low, don’t sweat it.
2. Not what other parents tell you. Parents love to believe ridiculous rumors and isolated incidents taken out of context. Case in point, one trusted parent told me something about my daughter’s teacher that isn’t just wrong, it’s demonstrably not true. People love to believe word-of-mouth over evidence they see with their own eyes (assuming they bother to look).
3. Not poor families! This is often done by looking at the percentage of school lunches that are provided with government assistance. Having great personal income doesn’t make you a great parent. If you’ll believe the poor people stereotype, I’ll believe the stereotype of rich parents who send their kids to the “best” schools and absolve themselves of any further responsibility for their child’s education.
What matters
1. You matter. The most important component for your child’s academic success is your involvement. Know your teacher. Assist with homework as a home educator. Read with your child. View your free time as teaching time. Education doesn’t end when the bell rings.
Ta-dah! The whole educational video claim has come to roost. Baby Einstein, aka Walt Disney Company, is offering refunds on Baby Einstein DVDs purchased between June 5, 2004 and September 4, 2009. They’re not defective. They’re just not educational, and according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, you have no business showing them to a child under age 2.
Don’t be confused by Baby Einstein’s refund page titled “DVD Upgrade / Moneyback Guarantee.” Read past the counter-offers for a book, CD or coupon and you’ll see the full-refund offer of $15.99 per DVD.
Read the nitty-gritty details at the New York Times. In short:
The videos — simple productions featuring music, puppets, bright colors, and not many words — became a staple of baby life: According to a 2003 study, a third of all American babies from 6 months to 2 years old had at least one “Baby Einstein” video.
Despite their ubiquity, and the fact that many babies are transfixed by the videos, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no screen time at all for children under 2.
In 2006, Ms. Linn’s group [Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood] went to the Federal Trade Commission to complain about the educational claims made by Disney and another company, Brainy Baby. As a result, the companies dropped the word ‘educational’ from their marketing. But the group didn’t think that was enough.
‘Disney was never held accountable, and parents were never given any compensation. So we shared our information and research with a team of public health lawyers,’ Ms. Linn said.
Last year, lawyers threatened a class-action lawsuit for unfair and deceptive practices unless Disney agreed to refund the full purchase price to all who bought the videos since 2004.
Now, I’m not sure that parents need “compensation.” How do you compensate for wasted educational time, or worse, slowing your child’s development? (According to research, children who watch baby videos have smaller vocabularies).
But, the American justice system is a strange one. In some countries, corporations can actually be dissolved by the government. In America, corporations almost run the government, having a heavy, heavy hand influencing politicians and our laws.
The court system is one of the few ways to, in some small measure, balance out the power equation. In other words, you, John and Jane Q. Nobody, should love the courts because if you ever get wronged, it’s the little recourse for justice you’ll ever have.
And so when companies throw around claims about offering educational products, and those products ultimately can have the opposite effect, hey, hold the companies accountable in whatever manner possible.
I doubt this move will hurt Disney much. Not that many parents will be aware of the refund, nor have much interest. Baby Einstein could sell a DVD labeled “One hour of Babysitting” and it would become a best seller.
My Wondercube replicates the fun babies and toddlers have pulling tissues from a box and stuffing them back in.
At first I thought, oh how dumb. But no, it’s not as if you’re going to give your baby a real tissue box. Wonderube is so simple, so brilliant.
The toy consists of a fabric cube with fabric swatches stuffed inside. The cubes comes in three styles — organic cotton jersey, fairtrade organic woven cotton and a wooden cube. The fabric cubes are machine washable and rated from birth on up. The wooden cube is rated for 2-year-olds (which isn’t so strange, see below).
Here’s a viewpoint from Philip Spooner, an 86-year-old father of four, decorated war veteran, VFW chaplain and life-long Republican living in Maine. And yes, he speaks of a parenting issue.
Spooner asks at a pivotal moment, “What do you think I voted for at Omaha Beach?”
Let’s start with a horrific story about a 6-year-old girl having her scalp ripped off by a dog in a neighbor’s yard. Terrible, frightening story yes, but I feel like giving the girl a high-five for the question she asked her father as she was being transported to the hospital. She remained calm. She didn’t cry.
She asked, “Daddy, can you see my brain?”
I love smart kids.
So, here’s my far less interesting, not horrific story. Some time ago, I was typing at my computer when my 5-year-old daughter approached me with an empty tissue box in hand.
Read the rest of this entry »
From a news release:
“The Hipster Bibster is the perfect solution for any messy baby who hates to wear a regular neck bib. This bib is great for self-feeding babies who drop everything on their chest & lap area. The idea for the bib stemmed out of a mom’s frustration with her daughter constantly ripping off her bib from around her neck and staining her clothes. Instead of having to change her daughter’s clothing after each meal, this mom decided to create a product that would safely protect the lap and chest area during eating.”
The Bibster has elastic straps with Velcro closures that fit around the back of the torso. It’s mom-invented, one-size-fits-all, BPA-free, waterproof and has a Velcro pocket.
Thinga-readers know me too well. I’m not going to say it. You say it. I’m speechless.
This tale begins with the revealing of a deep, dark family secret. Last month, we became one of those families. Or more accurately, my wife is one of those mothers, and I am occasionally one of those fathers, but only with a deep sense of shame because of what I infer other parents think of me. I avoid being one of those fathers whenever possible.
Our 18-month-old son has a leash. Oh, sorry, I mean a tether. Or harness, as if that’s better.
I profiled child tethers four years ago, before they became popular. Back then, if you wanted one, you probably had to order from a website. I was skeptical at the time, leading to the shame I feel today. These days, child tethers go for $1 at garage sales.
The one thing my son doesn’t do in public is listen to his parents, and he loves to run, grab things and throw. It sounds normal for his age, but some of it seems related to the speech communication problems we’ve been having. Curbing repeat bad behavior is our biggest problem. So we carry him in a wrap or stroller whenever possible, but sometimes it’s just not convenient, especially now at 28 lbs.
Contrary to my prejudicial thinking, my son didn’t revolt when he was first leashed up. The harness has a plush teddy bear on its back with a tiny pocket. We began putting on the leash when dropping off, or picking up, our daughter at school. She wears a real backpack, and he wants to be just like her.
It's an Eddie Bauer Teddy Bear 2-in-1 Child Harness, apparently discontinued in favor of a Winnie the Pooh version. Someone gets the award for worst Photoshop job on that marketing photo, too.
Some kindergarten, 1st and 2nd graders thought it was a backpack, and a cool one at that. One boy asked with great surprise whether my son was in kindergarten.
And better yet, when tethered up he is happy to be in the proximity of a parent without running wildly around. It’s a bizarre limitation he accepts.
Okay, so, about this K-mart conversation…
My wife always nags me to flip on the brake on our stroller when stopping on a seemingly flat surface, no matter how brief the stop. Here’s a reminder why:
Using a stroller tether would probably have worked too. The baby survived with just a bump on his head.
Or an ass. Take your pick.
Maurice Sendak is the author of Where the Wild Things Are, which as you know, is a movie in theatres right now. Some people say the film is too scary, like in this awesomely titled article: Where the wild things matured and children cry at theatre.
It’s a Burger King and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Movie-Book giveaway! Of course, there’s a Thinga-spin on this one.
When I was pitched a promotional gift pack, one to keep and one to give away, I debated in my old fuddy-duddy way. I’m on record loving the book and being skeptical of the film (due to the it’ll-be-different-from-the-book reasoning).
Then I thought, ohhh, I’m going to take my 5-year-old daughter to her first in-theatre movie eventually, so it might as well be one based on a book she loves. She won’t be hung up on the plot changes. She’ll love it. So, the gift pack arrived on Wednesday and we decided to see the film this Friday. Except, my wife is a party pooper. She pointed out the film is rated PG. Umm, we’ll watch it on DVD in a few years.
Anyhow, oh yeah, here’s the contest!
The Prizes:
The grand prize gift pack also includes a huge popcorn container and a Club BK newsletter (not pictured). The winner's prize pack will be new, not previously played with by a 5-year-old like this one on my couch.
A) One winner will receive a Burger King gift pack consisting of: one hardcover copy of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, one $40 movie card for AMC Theatres, one $20 Burger King Crown Card, and all of the Meatball movie tie-in toys being given away at Burger King as part of ‘Club BK‘ (the coolest being the bread-pizza-cheese boat).
B) One winner will receive a $40 movie card good at AMC Theatres. This is my card. The lack of an AMC theatre within hundreds of miles of me is my loss, your gain. Sorry, I’m keeping the rest of my gift pack loot. My daughter has already bonded with the toys, if that’s possible in 10 minutes of playing before bedtime.
C) Two winners will each receive one gently used softcover copy of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. These are my personal copies from my Party Favor Book Box that I fill with used copies of our favorite books culled from garage sales to give away at birthday parties. One is in mint condition, the other has a back cover fold that has miraculously been bent very well back into shape.
Your Challenge:
Post a comment using the comment form located at the end of this article. In your comment, place the web address of a parenting website you like, with one catch: Don’t post a link someone else has already posted. No duplicates!
Don’t use HTML. Simply copy and past the web address into the comment. Feel free to state why you like the website, or not. Winners will be selected at random.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. Sunday, October 18, 2009. That’s this Sunday night. Winners will be contacted by e-mail the week of October 18, 2009 and have 48 hours to reply to the e-mailed winner announcement otherwise a new winner will be selected.
Photo of my 5-year-old daughter nuzzling her 18-month-old brother as she leans over from her chair to his feeding chair during lunch.
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