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All Forums > Recommend It!
Great new stroller website!
nicksmama | | 
0
Hi All! I just found an AWESOME new website for researching strollers: www.stroller-source.com. It covers all stroller models!! And it has all the spec & feature information for every stroller, plus reviews from people who have the stroller. You can even compare strollers side-by-side! They don't sell strollers, so I feel like it's pretty honest. It totally helped me pick out my new double stroller!
(all tags)
LoveMoon Sanitary Napkins
ksibley | | 0
I highly recommend the LoveMoon Sanitary Napkin from Winalite. It offers the best protection available. No more leaks or the need for "period panties" It also has a negative ion strip to help balance hormones, eliminate odor and defend against bacterial/yeast infections. Email me for more details. You are going to love LoveMoon...and the first biodegradable/disposable baby diaper with the same revolutionary technology is due out soon!
Stanford Child Feeding Classes
blairstanford | | 0
Hey everyone,
Just want to pass along some information about a study going on at Stanford.
Sorry to spam you, but if you're concerned about your child developing eating or weight problems later in life, this might be of interest to you.
Jean et Marie children's boutique
catroa | | 0
Jean et Marie is San Francisco's premier baby and children's boutique. Located in the heart of Cow Hollow's famed Union Street shopping district, Jean et Marie caters to the Bay Area's best dressed boys and girls from infancy through age ten.
Jean et Marie 1775 Union St between Octavia & Gough 415.563.9200
www.jeanetmariesf.com
Minivan Reporter - Blurbs from the Burbs!
ksibley | | 0
Nothing says mom like minivan! Honk if you see me--squealing into the school pick-up line, dashing down to the Farmer’s Market or running around your town covering the local beat for Bay Area Kids . I am happy to report that there are tons of kid-oriented products, programs and services right here in the East Bay. We are fortunate to have so many educational and enrichment opportunities available for our families. Here’s a snapshot of some of the noteworthy destinations that I’ve discovered along my travels.
Happy Campers Close to Home
Summer will be here before you know it. If you are looking for a unique summer program for your son or daughter, you don’t need to look very far. Take for example SewNow! Fashion Studio. Imagine a huge room filled with Brother sewing machines ready to whiz, whirl, hum and hem. Summer campers can learn about fashion design and the art of sewing. The brainchild of fashion designer, Susan Goldie, SewNow! Fashion Studio brings the craft of sewing back into the mainstream, right off Lafayette’s main street on Moraga Road. It’s a great place for birthday parties or an unforgettable mother-daughter date too. Come create your own fashion keepsake and see why families are saying SewNow! is “so cool” and au so courant!
Another camp idea that the kids are just crazy about is Mad Science. We were first introduced to Mad Science when we threw a Mad Science birthday party for my son, Henry, and his preschool pals years ago. Talk about great chemistry! Henry still fondly recalls wearing that white lab coat and making slime with his friends. Today, he fancies himself the next Einstein (with nicer hair) and is taking a NASA-approved Mad Science enrichment program at his school to learn all about space—complete with take-home projects that he loves to build. As the world’s leading science and enrichment provider, Mad Science covers a variety of science-related topics to engage the kids. Check out your local community center or YMCA for Mad Science Summer Camp programs near you.
Keeping it Green
The Bay Area is rich with green ideas and wonderful places for eco-friendly shopping, organic dining and environmental caretaking. Your local Recycling Center offers a great opportunity to teach the kids about recycling. Both of my kids have taken the lead on collecting our family’s soda cans. Once a month, they go off with dad to the Recycling Center and come home with a nice chunk of change from the redemption value of the cans. You’d be surprised how it all adds up! This is a great way for the kids to take responsibility, participate in recycling and earn their keep to help save for that Wii! From a reuse perspective, check out Freecycle.org, a web-based network to promote waste reduction and help save the landscape from being taken over by landfills. This nifty little organization provides individuals and non-profits an electronic forum to recycle/ give. You never know what will be up for grabs or who will take your stuff for free. I also am very fond of the Treehouse Green Gifts on College Avenue in Berkeley. They have a gorgeous selection of eco-friendly gifts that are recycled, organic, handmade, or fairly-traded, or a combination of all four. A special kids’ section offers quality toys and there are sumptuous items for mom and new baby too. Don’t forget your local farmers’ markets and Farm Fresh to You, which delivers organic produce to your door, direct from the farm. For the home, SunClean Carpet Care, offers organic and non-toxic treatments to clean your carpets and upholstery—safe for children, pets and planet Earth. The Child Day School in San Ramon has just started its garden education program. The garden classroom will give its preschoolers hands-on opportunities to plant seeds and work the soil as well as learn about parts of the plants and where our food comes from. Do I smell zucchini bread?
New Places & Upcoming Events
This just in…Color Me Mine opened the doors to a brand new studio in downtown Lafayette in the La Fiesta Square. This paint-it-yourself ceramics studio lets customers design and paint their pieces and pick them up later after the studio glazes and fires their works of arts. I’ve also just learned of a new retail shop—Monkey Bars-- for baby clothing, gear and furniture on Park Street in the charming island city of Alameda. You’ll find lots of organic cottons and gender neutral items in this fun, hip store, which is great for baby shower shopping. Congratulations to MOCHA (Museum of Children’s Art) in Oakland. This wonderful non-profit will be celebrating 20 years of children’s art with a birthday bonanza, featuring an art-cade of fun for kids of all ages. Located in Swan’s Marketplace on 9th Street, MOCHA manages children’s art exhibitions and also offers studio art workshops and camps. Visit www.mocha.org to check out their online gallery and get details on their birthday celebration, slated for April 26, from noon-5pm. Admission is free. Speaking of free… Camp Kesem, a UC Berkeley student-run program that offers a free summer camp for kids who have or had a parent with cancer, is now enrolling for their camp in August. The one-week camp is open to all children, ages 6-13, in the Bay Area and Central Valley. Camper applications are available online at www.campkesem.org/berkeley.
--K. Sibley
New Book and Award-winning Film
charliemamakyna | | 0
Hello Everyone,
My new children's picture book, Charlie and Mama Kyna, has received positive comments from Kirkus Discoveries.
The story and illustrations are based on my international award-winning film, Going Home,
which was screened worldwide including 45 film festivals and London Film Festival.
Please join my stuffed animal characters on their colorful and vivid journey in finding their mother.
The book focuses on friendship, love and compassion.
Here is the link to Amazon.com:
Thank you.
Require Mom of Octuplets to Make Safety Modifications?
Dana | | 0
Ask The Safety Guy
Mari from Brentwood asks: Isn’t it excessively intrusive to require the mother of the octuplets to make safety modifications before being allowed to bring her babies home?
This is a serious question that came from a reporter doing a story for radaronline.com. She, as the mother of two who had done some babyproofing for her own children, felt that it was an intrusion to require Nadya (mother of the octuplets) to complete a short list of safety modifications. Not surprisingly, I could not disagree with her more strongly.
Apparently, a social worker’s report required floor and table lamps to be removed, bunk beds to be relocated away from windows, window coverings to be cord-free, barricading a fireplace and protection for an upstairs’ balcony. These “requirements”, I informed her, are really just best practices for households with even one or two children. In this case, apparently fourteen children under the age of six will be in a single household!
Most of us cannot fathom having so many little ones. Yet, it is frightening that as we can all empathize with the burden of parenting and providing for them, some of us do not appreciate the importance of assuring their safety. The concern for their safety transcends any moral judgment of the mother and how she got to this point. My comments herein would be the same if this were a day-care facility housing the same number of unrelated children. Even with constant supervision (that I would hope to be at least four caregivers at all times), there is much more that the social worker could have and probably should have required.
Preventing access to cabinets and electrical outlets and securing furniture to the wall are other basic things that will hopefully be addressed. The most significant hazard that was not mentioned was the need to prevent the upstairs windows from opening more than four inches. This is often easily accomplished with a simple latching device that an adult can override in the event of an emergency.
As any parent of multiples will attest, hazards in the home are all magnified when multiple little ones can “conspire” together to get in to trouble.
Probably the most onerous of the requirements was to rebuild the interior stairs so as to close the open risers (backs of the stairs). These are no longer code compliant as a child may either fall through or become entrapped in the openings. Again, this is something that should be addressed in any home.
I am glad to report that by the end of our interview, the reporter appeared to come around to realize that none of the “requirements” were excessive and all of them were in the best interest of the children. It is my hope that all of you will similarly advocate for the safety and well-being of children in your community by encouraging your neighbors, friends, parents, in-laws and grandparents to take the practical and proven steps to reduce the risk of injury at home.
Submit your questions to pros@homesafety.net. Martin Simenc, The Safety Guy, is the President of Home Safety Services, Inc., the Bay Area’s largest and highest rated safetyfitting company. They can be reached at 1-888-388-3811 or at www.homesafety.net. The Safety Guy is a registered trademark of Home Safety Services, Inc.Copyright 2009.
