The folks at LEGO sent my kids one of their LEGO Mosaic Kits and I have to say I am impressed. Not only are they more fun than I thought they would be, but they have lead my kids to use their LEGOs in a whole new way.

The set comes with a clear, flat LEGO board that you set on top of one of a number of included paper patterns. You then use those tiny, square LEGOs to create a mosaic. Very cool! And now my boys have yet another LEGO-ing technique under their belt. I may never get them out of the playroom at this rate…

I’d also like to mention a contest that LEGO is having where you have a chance to win $5,000. Just go to Lego Creation Nation and click where it says “Creativity Awards.” Entries must be received by Monday, September 17, 2007, so get cracking!

And just to spice things up, I’m having a giveaway too. Just leave a comment on this post and you’ll be entered for a chance to win a cute LEGO keychain. You’ll be the coolest parent or teacher on the block… well until they see you drive away in your minivan.

Leave a comment on this post by 5pm Pacific time, Tuesday, September 25th and you’ll be entered to win one of three LEGO keychains. Details.

This contest is now closed.

Popularity: 18% [?]

Now spread the word!

Comments: 19 Comments

Brilliant, that’s all I have to say about the new ReliaDose infant medicine dispenser. Hmmm, well maybe I should say just a little bit more…

Have you ever seen those pacifiers you can fill with medicine? At first they seem like a great idea, and they even really work for some babies, but all it does is make foul tasting medicine come out of a pacifier instead of a syringe, and there’s really not much difference. Babies are going to spit it out either way.

So the next step is usually to mix the medicine with a liquid that the baby likes to drink, but then the problem is that you have to make sure the baby drinks all that liquid so that they get the full dose. So tedious!

So a really smart mom came up with an idea that combines both these approaches: The ReliaDose Medicine Delivery System.

Imagine a medicine dispenser syringe fitted inside a regular bottle. With the baby is sitting on your lap drinking from the bottle, you can stealthily push the plunger to dispense the medicine.

This means that you always know exactly how much medication the baby has had, and you, the person who knows your baby the best, can choose the times to squirt in a little medicine. Is your baby suddenly fascinated by your dog walking by? That’s the perfect time to squirt in a little more! Daddy is making funny faces? Squirt again!

Does this sound like a product you need?

Leave a comment on this post by 5pm Pacific, Monday, September 17, and you’ll be entered to win one of your own! (US mailing addresses only this time.) Details.

This contest is now closed.

Popularity: 17% [?]

Now spread the word!

Comments: 8 Comments

I typically have very low expectations for most parenting books, so when I first picked up Practical Wisdom for Parents I predicted it would be yet another trite, boring book preaching the parenting style du jour. Instead what I found was a book that I wish I had had when my first child was about 6 months old.

Now that I have 3 kids and the youngest is almost 3, much of what is in this book is not news to me, but I am not the target audience.

Are you trying to figure out whether or not to send your child to a Montessori school, traditional daycare, an in-home daycare, or keep them home with you? Are you so confused that you no longer feel like you can make a good decision anymore? This book is full of lists, bullet points, and other easy to read and understand descriptions of things that you may assume you should know already. But you don’t. And you feel inadequate.

You don’t have to feel that way because now you can refer to the Cliff Notes version of educational knowledge. Can I say again how I wish I had this book 5 years ago? For example, in the How to Choose a School section, there are notes about elements you may want to watch for when visiting the schools in person.

There’s a chapter called “What is Preschool?” and it isn’t a fluff piece — it actually tells you in depth what to expect from a typical day at a typical daycare. And they don’t stop at age 3, the advice and tips will take you through preparing for Kindergarten and beyond.

Written by the Directors of the 92nd Street Y Nursery School in New York City, Nancy Schulman and Ellen Birnbaum, these two women clearly have not only a wealth of knowledge at their fingertips, but the organizational skills to present it clearly and without condescension.

Knopff sent me my copy, but you can get your very own at Amazon for $16.

Or even better: Win a copy of your very own!

To enter, just leave a comment on this post before 5pm Pacific time on Friday, September 21 and you’ll be entered to win. I’ll randomly choose TWO winners and you’ll each get your book in the mail. (Note that the books are the very tiniest bit stained from the extremely cute but ultimately slightly leaky sunscreen swag the publisher included in my package. It isn’t terribly noticeable, but you know… I just thought I should mention it.) U.S. addresses only this time. Details

This contest is now closed.

Popularity: 18% [?]

Now spread the word!

Comments: 6 Comments

On my personal blog I recently wrote about the precise fertility treatments which lead to our two biological kids — the details of which I had never shared online before. In fact, we hadn’t even told our kids until very recently.

When we adopted our first child, we planned that he would never have a day when he found out he was adopted, he would just always know about it. And it has worked out that way because it is surprisingly easy for even a very young child to understand the basics of adoption. You can explain it in terms of love, sharing, kindness and other emotions and motivations that make sense at an early age.

But what about our other two kids whose conceptions were so much a part of modern medical technology? I couldn’t get past the idea that in order to explain their stories to them, I would have to teach them some basic biology. Consequently, 2.5 year old Chip and 4.5 year old Robbie hadn’t heard their stories.

Until now

I bought a fantastic book called Before You Were Born from a small company in Iowa, and after the first time I read it I was so relieved. Finally an easy, simple way to introduce these concepts to my boys so that they would just always know.

I begrudgingly use the phrase “non-traditional” to describe the conception methods for which they have written books. But here’s a list to give you an idea of what you can expect to find on their web site:

• The Story Of An IVF Baby
• The Story Of A Frozen Embryo
• The Story Of Donor Insemination
• The Story Of A Donor Egg
• The Story Of Donor Sperm (IVF)
• The Story Of A Gestational Carrier
• The Story Of Surrogacy
• The Story Of A Donor Embryo
• A Baby Conceived For Female Partners
• A Baby Conceived For Male Partners
• Single Mom – Donor Insemination
• Single Mom – IVF using Donor Sperm
• Single Mom - Embryo Donation (Adoption)
• Single Mom - Donor Sperm/Donor Egg
• Single Dad – Traditional Surrogate
• Single Dad - Donor egg / Gestational Carrier

I wholeheartedly recommend these sweet simple books as springboards for talks with your kids about their genetic origins, and our kids like them too.

Image © 2004 Janice Grimes.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Now spread the word!

Comments: 1 Comment

My oldest son, Mike, started kindergarten this year, and on the very first day he got an assignment to make and decorate a family tree. It is a very cute idea, but we had one problem: all our photographs are online, and unless the teacher would allow Mike to bring in my laptop, and assuming that I would be OK with him decorating my laptop with glitter and stickers, he was not going to be able to pull off his very first homework assignment. To top it off, that same day Chip came home from daycare with a note also requesting family photos.

Oh the stress for Mom!

So I did what I have been putting off for years and bought a dedicated photo printer. But I didn’t want a fancy one, I didn’t want a physically large one, and I didn’t need one that made huge prints. My criteria were pretty basic: the printer itself had to be inexpensive, the supplies like special papers and inks couldn’t cost a lot of money, and the printer had to be simple enough to whip out a few pictures in a hurry.

I’m a little bit of a geek and I truly love gadgets, but as my total number of children have increased, my patience for tinkering with persnickety devices has decreased. (Before I had kids, I would have been alert enough mentally to remember the mathematical term to describe that kind of relationship, but for now you’ll just have to imagine me explaining it while waving my hands about in the air.)

The printer I ended up with is fantastic: the Canon PIXMA mini 260. It has a tiny footprint, quickly prints 4 x 6 snapshots, has only one ink cartridge, and uses pre-cut printing paper. I have a Mac, and the included OS X software looks pretty Windows-y but is in fact easy to use and hasn’t crashed on me yet.

Additionally, I found that the supplies are available online and are pretty cheap — especially the paper. I like the matte finish a lot, and for example you can get 120 sheets of Canon 4×6 Matte Paper for just $11. I’ve already proven that I’m no mathematician, but even I know that’s an excellent deal.

I have it plugged into my airport base station, so I can print to it from anywhere in the house. I have had zero problems with this capable little printer, and I recommend that you check it out if you’re looking for a way to have hard-copies of your digital camera pictures.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Now spread the word!

Comments: Be the first to comment