Apr
06
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besttech
A weekly glimpse of what moms are saying on the Web.
“Since we are going to stay at Grandma’s for three nights, I sent the kids to pack their bags. Corey comes back and says he’s already packed. Cool. He says that he and Cody just need one bag — they are sharing a backpack. He’s obviously proud for having this under control. Such light packers … I’m getting suspicious, but then I get distracted and forget to check on it. Several hours later, I sent Jolie to get Corey’s bag so we can fill in where he forgot things — he’s 4, so he doesn’t usually pack his and his brother’s bags…
“Thirty-seven pairs of underwear is what he packed in this backpack. Two sets of PJs, one for each of...
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Apr
05
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besttech
Having trouble getting your kids to do their chores? Join the club. Maybe it’s time to take a new tack.
Try “The Chore Board: A Helping-Around-the-House Game,” by Sarah Malarkey (Chronicle Books, $14.99). The concept isn’t particularly original — it’s a jazzy adaptation of the sticker reward chart that most families have tried before. But this magnetic version — illustrated by kid-friendly artist J. Otto Seibold — makes the whole thing seem like a game. In fact, it’s designed like one: “Players” move their pieces around the magnetic game board, advancing as they complete chores. They’re working toward an agreed-upon reward that’s recorded in dry-erase marker on the board, along with a list of chores that need to be...
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Apr
05
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besttech
Meanwhile, back at the haunted hotel …
The ghosts are disappearing, and Yggdrasil Birnbaum is concerned: Does this mean something bad is about to happen? Can she persuade her buddies Neddie and Seamus to join her hunt for the answer? Will her favorite ghost, a bunny named Chase, give them enough clues to solve the mystery?
Tune in right now, kids, because “The Yggyssey,” Daniel Pinkwater’s sequel to his 2007 novel “The Neddiad,” is on bookstore shelves.
…
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Apr
05
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besttech
From Rebecca Rodskog:
Do I have to say it again? I do not need your advice. Do you think, in these days of the “information super-highway” (do people still use that term?), that I can’t figure it out on my own? Or, worst case scenario, if I haven’t the brains to figure something out by asking my many sources (web, pediatrician, family, friends, books, magazines), that a comment from a STRANGER on a street corner will influence what I do with my child? I highly doubt it. So just save your breath and stop it. Here are my responses to all of your “friendly” comments.
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Apr
04
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besttech
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The children played, and the Mint Museum watched.
For its new museum under construction in Charlotte, the Mint is testing prototypes of exhibits for a Family Gallery. Who best to get feedback from than the kids for whom the exhibits will be designed?
At ImaginOn in Charlotte through May 10, children are encouraged to try out exhibits and let the Mint know what they think.
Aleksander McIntosh played, and Leslie Strauss watched.
Inside a tiny one-room house called “Memories of Mecklenburg,” Aleksander picked up a coffeepot that resembles a pot in Romare Bearden’s “Evening of the Gray Cat” collage. A picture of the collage greets children as they...
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Apr
03
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besttech
nameberry.com
One thing we learned when we wrote about hipster baby names is that nobody wants one. Many people were horrified if they found their favorite names — or worse, their actual children’s names — on our list of hipster names. No matter how much they’d loved the name before, they immediately went in search of something new, something different, something with a bit less of the whiff of hipsterdom about it.
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Apr
03
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besttech
Pull the kiddos away from the TV with fun (and inexpensive!) spring crafts. We came up with three ideas to suit different personalities, including the girly girl, the nature lover and those who just wanna get outside.
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Apr
03
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besttech
NEW YORK — In honor of Mother’s Day on May 10, children ages 7-13 can participate in a writing contest, “7 Reasons I Love My Mom” (7ReasonsILoveMyMom.com). The contest is sponsored by kids’ virtual field trip Web site Meet Me At The Corner (MeetMeAtTheCorner.org) and Makit Products, Inc. (Makit.com).
Four winners will be selected. The 1st prize winner will receive a Makit Products, Inc. gift basket worth $175 which will include a Make-A-Plate(R) Kit, Contest Logo Dinner Set, White Liner Snap-It Planter, Snap-It Frame, and $20 Makit Bucks. The 2nd prize winner will receive a gift basket of assorted Makit Products, Inc. items worth $100; the 3rd and 4th prize winners will receive gift baskets worth $60.00 each.
In addition, each winner...
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Apr
02
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besttech
Debra Legg, a blogging mom at debralegg.com, has noticed a change in her wardrobe since becoming a mom:
Six months into this work-at-home gig, I have to confess a renewed appreciation for my sweats.
Not that I haven’t always been infatuated, but before it was a love affair consummated only on weekends. Five days a week, it was heels, hose, makeup and big-people clothes.
That’s reversed now. Most of the time when I wear something non-stretchy of late it’s on a Saturday or Sunday, though my feet haven’t seen shoes without strings in ages. I apply the warpaint for parties, though I’ll admit it takes a while to remember how to do my eyes.
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Apr
02
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besttech
I was so cocky before I had children. I remember a couple from church warning us: “When you have kids, your lives will NEVER be the same.”
And I remember thinking: “Whatever. You folks just can’t get it together. My husband and I will be fine. We’ll still go to movies. We’ll still go to fancy restaurants. We’ll just take our babies with us. We’ll be the happy Sunshine Family.”
And then my daughter was born and drop-kicked our lives into mad chaos.
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