The Massive Toy Recall of 2007
By Cindy | August 21, 2007
What are we to think of this massive toy recall? It’s really scary to think that we can’t run to our local Wal-Mart or Toys”4″Us and grab any toy off the shelf with out having to wonder if it’s harmful to our kids.
China obviously doesn’t have the same quality control that the US has. Yet 80% of our toys are manufactured in China. Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Child Safety, Toys and Games | No Comments »
Organized Sports
By Amy | August 20, 2007
Once your children are old enough you should make it a point to involve them in as many organized sports as they enjoy and as many as you have time (and in some cases money) for.
Organized sports can teach our children so much about life in general and we tend to over-look that. Think about how sports may promote positive experiences for the child in your life.
Playing sports teach us to interact with others. They teach us to win and to lose-graciously. As an adult we deal with these things daily-we have to deal with people all day long in almost any lifestyle. Some of these people we like, some we dislike, and some we are indifferent to.
No matter what though, we have to Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Sports | No Comments »
The History of Video Games
By Cindy | August 18, 2007
1951 – The Nimrod computer is shown at an exhibition in London England. Ralph Baer wants to make a game to play on TV. His idea is thought of as ludicrous.
1958 – “Tennis for Two” game is created on an oscilloscope by American physicist Willy Hinginbotham.
1962 – Spacewar game is completed and is shown at the annual Science open house at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It’s a game for two. Each person has a joystick to control their spaceship and can shoot at the others spaceship. To make it more interesting Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Video Games | 1 Comment »
Should a Child Have Weight Loss Surgery?
By Cindy | August 18, 2007
Wow, I was totally blown away the other day when I seen the News!
A 5’5, 220 pound 12 year old girl had liposuction and a tummy tuck. Then when she gained about half the weight back, her parents took her to Mexico to have a lap banding surgery.
The parents didn’t want to wade through all the so called red tape that American doctors have you go through before performing the surgery. Red tape? Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Health and Nutrition | No Comments »
Board Games Aren’t So Boring After All.
By Amy | August 14, 2007
We took the kids with us to Walmart last weekend to pick up a few things and as we were browsing the aisles we came across the board games. We ended up buying Uno and Rummikub to add to our collection.
Big Mel (dad) remembers playing Rummikub as a child with his family and thought it may be fun to try with our boys, and since I have never even heard of the game we decided to bring it home with us.
After reading the instructions (which were pretty easy to follow) we mixed up all the tiles and started to play. If you’re not familiar the game Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Toys and Games | 1 Comment »
Are Our Kids Being Affected By Advertising?
By Cindy | August 12, 2007
If you think young kids aren’t affected by all the advertising they see … You are wrong according to a recent study at Stanford University.
The study included 63 children between the ages of 3 and 5. Their families were all in a “low income bracket”, but researchers believe the results would be the same in the “high income bracket”.
The study wanted to see the overall influence of a company’s brand … to be exact “McDonalds”. Most children know “Ronald McDonald” and the “Golden Arches” logo. They know what a “Happy Meal” is. Of the 63 children only 2 of them had never eaten at McDonalds.
The researchers bought baby carrotts from the store. Wrapped some in McDonlads paper, and some in plain paper. Guess which the kids picked … Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Health and Nutrition | No Comments »
Are Video Games Addicting?
By Cindy | August 11, 2007
Being a little bit older, I have seen the progression of video games ….
At first there was the good old fashioned pin ball machine. Kids would line up at burger joints etc just to play them.
The first video game that we could play at home was “Pong”. If I’m correct it came out in 1978 or 1979. 
You hooked it up to your TV and could be played by one or two players.
Each player had a paddle which was just a line that could be moved up and down. Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Video Games | No Comments »
Art…what does it mean to your child?
By Amy | August 10, 2007
My oldest lil’ guy, Lil’ Mel, just graduated from elementary school today!
It was very exciting for him as he has passed through another door leading to adulthood (we all remember wanting to grow up way too fast don’t we?). We were VERY proud parents when after his name was called… Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Just for Fun | No Comments »
Fun, Safe, Cheap Family fun
By Amy | August 9, 2007
As my boys are getting older their interests are changing as well. Now they like to go hang out with friends or invite their friends to our house and play video games or whatever-just not with us so much anymore.
I knew the time would eventually come and before it grasps them completely we take advantage of whatever “family” time we can get with them. Between work, school and sports schedules it’s not always that much… Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Just for Fun | No Comments »
Purple Ribbon Month Promotes Child Safety
By Cindy | August 7, 2007
Did you know that August is Purple Ribbon month?
Wear and/or display your purple ribbon to remind people that it is unsafe to leave a child unattended in a car. Let’s spread the word and help to prevent senseless deaths.
Each year numerous children die. You might think that it’s just the children that are left in HOT locked cars. But this is not the case. Kids are curious little things and can easily knock the car out of gear.
Children are left in vehicles for numerous reasons. Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Child Safety | No Comments »