Filed under: Media, Teachers, Elementary school, Public school, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, 5 years, Preschooler, DVDs and Videos, Literacy, Sophia

Last year, Stefania wrote about the Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD and said that watching it had taught her daughter all the letter sounds. I just ordered it, here, for my own daughter on the advice of her kindergarten teacher.

Sophia loves to write notes to her friends and family, we read books daily, and she likes to sing the alphabet song and other letter-centric songs that she's learned at school. But, she's still having a little bit of a hard time identifying some letters.

Her teacher recommended this program because it brings the individual letters to life and gives the kids lots of memory triggers to use until identifying the letters becomes second nature. For example; the letter C is cold, so it chatters and says something like, "I'm c-c-c-c-c-cold!"

Speaking of cold, my daughter is trying to sneak some ice cream out of the freezer while I am on the computer. I'll let you know how effective this DVD is for her, and I'll also be honest about whether or not it irritates me. (Kids' shows that make me cringe include, but certainly aren't limited to: Dora, Bob the Builder, anything Barbie, Care Bears, and the Rubberdubbers.)

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Filed under: Media, Infant / First year, Blogs, Momwear, Baby clothes

I've posted before about a hipster kid the ridiculously trendy fashion blogger Face Hunter featured on his site, and now here's a mother and her child, captured on the street in Berlin.

If nothing else, with the common assertion from the media being that parents are so over-worked and/or exhausted that they could never hope to be cool, it's nice to see an image of motherhood that speaks just the opposite.

Go hipster mommy, go!

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Filed under: Media, Birth announcement, Creative projects

Once again, photostamps are available. These are actual US stamps printed with whatever picture you like (with some limits, of course). They're not cheap, so I wouldn't plan on using them for bulk mailing, but they would be great for birth announcements or as gifts for a proud new parent. There are three companies that offer them: Stamps.com, Picture it Postage, and Zazzle. All three offer 20 first class 39-cent stamps for about $18.

If you're not in the US, however, don't give up hope. In Canada, the same service is available from Canada Post, called Picture Postage. There are two formats, a simple photo album style and an "impressive" silver ribbon style. Personally, I much prefer the former. For $25, you get 20 stamps on a "keepsake sheet" that includes an enlargement of the photo, or you can get a regular full sheet of 40 stamps for $40. The prices go down if you order larger quantities.

In the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, you can get your picture printed alongside a stamp. The pricing is similar and each has a number of stamp designs to choose from. I'm sure other countries offer this too; anyone know of others? I really like the Canadian keepsake sheets and the Kangaroo stamps from Oz are pretty cool too.

via Cool Tools

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Filed under: Television

Many of you probably watched the Charlie Brown Christmas Special on TV last night (if not, Nadine found a great Charlie Brown video to tide you over 'till next year). For decades it's been must-watch holiday fare -- probably right up there with It's a Wonderful Life.

But has this family cartoon classic turned against Jesus -- the very man who, as some commenters have suggested, is the "reason for the season?" Let's start the rumors flying, and say yes. It is anti-Jesus.

That's the story according to at least one of our readers, who noticed that a certain someone's name was omitted from Linus' famous speech about the meaning of Christmas (you know, when Charlie Brown flips out 'cause the play he's directing looks like a skiing accident in progress). Apparently, it sounded like Linus said "Jus Christ" instead of "Jesus Christ."

Is this the latest in the annual attack on Christmas? The backlash against Wal-Mart, Target and others triumphantly returning to a "Merry Christmas" message in the holiday advertisements? Or, is it just Linus' speech impediment?

You be the judge.

(Thanks to reader Ginny for the tip!)

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Filed under: Child Development, Gear, Toys

I've seen the ads for a toy called "VTech," a toy for babies and toddlers that plugs into the TV for "educational play." While I'm not going to say my kids don't watch television, this just doesn't seem like a very fun toy.

But, obviously, there's a market out there or these toys wouldn't exist. With women waiting longer to have children, they have more money to focus on things such as the child's education.

Before I go on any longer and say the same rhetoric about people overspending on their young children, I just have a few questions. Do these toys actually make the children smarter? Is there proof that kids today, with their Leap Frogs, Gymboree, VTech and parents charting every precious poop, are smarter than kids were 100 years ago?

Every time I hear about people pushing their children to succeed and be smarter, I can't help but think about Albert Einstein, Alexander Graham Bell or Mozart. They didn't have Leap Pads. They didn't go to Gymboree!

I don't know about you, but I think they all did okay.

I'm not saying that we need to throw every electronic toy out the window and revert back to the Stone Ages, but isn't there a chance that you could give your child a box, a stick and some imagination and....she'd turn out okay?

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Filed under: Going to school, Teenager, Working from home

This morning we got one of the best phone calls in the world, or so my son thinks. At 6:06 a.m. my phone rang with the news that there would be no school today, at least for my son. (My daughter attends a public charter school where there will be school.) For my son the words went something like this: NO SCHOOL! NO SCHOOOOOOL! For me they went more like this. No. School. No school? Huh?

I had my day all planned. I had projects, laundry, work. But then I felt guilty because I can stay home and work, so I called some of the other parents and offered to house their kids for the day so that their schedules wouldn't be interrupted. But now? Now I have the toddler, the teen and more teens coming over for snow skating and snowboarding. That means they'll need to eat and they will leave a trail of teen messes through the house. I am lucky in that I work from home and can rearrange my day, or stay up very late tonight, to compensate for the change in schedule. But what about the parents who don't work from home? How do they handle this?

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Filed under: Television, DVDs and Videos

I missed last night's airing of one of my favorite holiday classics, A Charlie Brown Christmas. We listen to Vince Guaraldi's classic soundtrack every year and often call our sad, thin trees Charlie Brown trees. Did any of you make a point of watching it?

Peter Feld at Daysitter wrote about the special and then linked to this awesome mashup of the Peanuts gang with Outkast's "Hey Ya" layered over top. I love me some mashups. Who comes up with these ideas? Anyway, this one is particularly good fun. I love the animation of the Peanuts characters dancing. Yeah, we try to mimic that each year too, as well as Charlie Brown's teacher's infamous, "Woh woh woh."

Got a family friendly mashup you want to share? Or an entertaining video that's kid or parent-related? Leave me a link in the comments or via the tips box.

Thanks to Peter for today's video tip!

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Filed under: Health and Safety, Media, Making a Difference

I would normally avoid posting anything that remotely resembles political commentary here on Blogging Baby, whether it has to do with children or not.

But I watched a video last night on You Tube, where thirsty Iraqi children were suffering needlessly, and it affected me profoundly. I couldn't sleep, I kept thinking of the little kids who just desperately wanted a little water, and the cruel way in which it was denied to them. I won't link to the video as I know it is highly controversial, but you can find it on You Tube if you look for it.

Instead, I'll post a link to this video, which shows a soldier playing soccer with some Iraqi kids. It makes me feel a little better, knowing there is some normalcy over there: boys kicking a soccer ball. I want to hug the soldier and thank him for being kind and ask for his reassurance that the kids there will be OK. But I know some of them won't be. And I am left with this uncomfortable feeling - I want to do something to make sure these kids of war are looked after. They are the most innocent of victims, after all. They didn't choose any of this.

In case anyone else is interested, here are a few links with information on how to help the Iraqi children. If you have any more you'd like to add, please let us know.
War Kids Relief
Iraqi Orphans
Unicef

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Filed under: Health and Safety, Pregnancy and Birth, Eating

File this one under "more for pregnant women to worry about:" Australian researchers say that babies that overeat in the womb are more likely to develop fat cells that could make them obese down the line.

The research said that babies with a high birth rate were at a greater risk of developing both obesity and diabetes. While the article linked said that more obese women are getting pregnant and having bigger babies, I have never heard of a correlation between the mother's weight and the baby's birth rate.

The doctors say that the neural pathway that controls appetite and food choices in the brain is much more flexible in the months leading up to birth. Once the pathway is set, it is set.

Personally, I think that this, like many other studies, should be taken with a grain of salt. Saying that what women eat while pregnant could make a fetus eventually become obese is a stretch. I've seen some very obese women with extremely small newborns and vice versa.

Part of it is genetics, part of it is lifestyle.

What do you think? Do you think these types of studies are helpful or do they just scare parents more than they need to?

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Filed under: Health and Safety, Lifestyle, Media, Television, Movies, DVDs and Videos, Music, Brands

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