Coast 2 Coast Mom

Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs Giveaway & Sid's Safety Tips For A Happy Halloween

Li'l Boo cannot get enough of anything dinosaur related right now, so it's kind of a miracle that I held out from taking him to see Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs in theaters, waiting until it came out on DVD and Blu-Ray Disc instead. Don't get me wrong - if we weren't doing so much travel back then, we likely would have gone. So we're eager to see Manny and Sid take on a cranky T-Rex and the movie is on Li'l Boo's holiday wish list. Who's in it, you may ask? Well . . . Glee lovers will be happy to listen for Jane Lynch's voice, and you may recognize Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader ("Saturday Night Live"), Josh Peck ("Drake & Josh"), and Seann William Scott (upcoming "Planet 51"), and of course, Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary and Queen Latifah all lend their voices to this movie as well. Ice Age: Dawn of The Dinosaurs is being sold in a three-disc Blue-ray Disc/DVD/Digital Copy combo pack and the Ice Age: Dawn of The Dinosaurs "Scrat Pack" double DVD pack.

So, how do you WIN the third adventurous installment of Manny, Sid, Ellie and Diego? 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment sent me a copy of Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs on DVD to giveaway to one lucky reader. Just scroll down and leave a comment telling me who is your favorite character from the Ice Age trilogy, and you'll be entered to win. You don't have to be a blogger, but you do have to leave a comment (skip the URL/Website box). Your email address is kept private, and I need it to coordinate mailing the DVD to the winner. I'll choose a winner via Random.org at Noon EST on Tuesday, Nov 3rd, 2009. Good luck!

Just for fun: Sid's Safety Tips For A Happy Halloween*

1. It's best to travel in a herd, preferably one that includes an adult human-type.
2. Stick to familiar neighborhoods and never enter a stranger's house, car or cave.
3. Carry a flashlight or glow stick to scare off dinosaurs and make yourself more visible at night.
4. Bring a cell phone for quick communication in case you are separated from your group.
5. Secure emergency information discreetly within your costume or on a bracelet to wear on your paw.
6. Consider adding reflective tape or striping to your costumes for greater visibility - it can get dark even in the snow!
7. Walk - don't run or fly - and be extra careful crossing streets.
8. Have an adult human-type check for unwrapped or fossilized candy before you eat your treats.

*via 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs

 

Blog the Olympics! Enter To Win a Trip to Vancouver #blogathlete

One cool opportunity I learned about from the Office team at the Microsoft Open House in NYC earlier this month, is that they're running a blogger contest "Office Winter Games," where one female blogger and one blogging college student will win a trip to Vancouver, BC to cover the 2010 Winter Olympic Games (Feb 11-17 or Feb 23-March 1st) as a credentialed member of the press. Woo-hoo! As if that's not cool enough, the winner will ALSO win a trip to Las Vegas

to attend and cover the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show! (Jan 7-10th; Ahem, I'll be there!) Think this prize can't get any better? It DOES! They're giving both winners an Acer Aspire 4810 laptop with Office software. (Which I'm sure will work well with the LifeCam Cinema HD video webcam I'm testing out and absolutely LOVE!) Do I have you practicing your crowd chanting skills already? (USA! USA!)

All you have to do to enter is fill out an online form and post up to 250 words explaining why you deserve the opportunity to attend the 2010 Winter Games as a blogger. Oh, and did I mention that five-time Olympic Gold medalist Bonnie Blair is one of the judges? I'll have to work on an entry myself as I'd love to have my CES trip paid for, and I'd LOVE to attend the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver! But I promise I won't be bitter - I'll still read the posts of whomever wins. Maybe ;-)

For more information, and to enter: https://www.officewintergames.com

This Amuses Me: Whose Kid ISN'T a Genius?

I find this whole situation amusing. The Walt Disney Co is offering refunds to parents who bought/used the Baby Einstein products and their kids did not become geniuses as a result of using them. If you haven't heard about this yet, check out the article in the New York Times. HUH?! First off, whose kid ISN'T a genius? My sisters dubbed Li'l Boo a "baby genius" as a joke long ago when he was an early talker (and quite frankly hasn't stopped talking since). Not that I am surrounded by braggarts, but just by going to a birthday party, attending a playdate, reading my Facebook news feed, or co-oping at my kid's preschool, I see that most kids do SOMETHING early or extraordinarily well and I've paused, thinking: Li'l Boo's not doing that yet, should I be worried? And I'm sure he's unintentionally caused other moms to question the same thing when looking at their kid. I'm just sayin' isn't everyone's kid the best, the brightest, the cutest, the fastest, the smartest? And if so (like I suspect), who isn't flattered and want to take credit for it? (Oh, thanks. Well, I was a state finalist in track; oh, well we both went to college on scholarship; I was reading by the time I was four, etc.) Do many people not want to take credit for it?

And to admit your kid's no genius for $15? The loss of respect: denying your kid the opp to become a genius by branding him mediocre from such an early age, and respect for yourself by thinking that watching a 30 minute video would make your kid a genius in the first place? LOL! Seriously, I find this funny. Because if your kid's no genius, I don't see a scholarship comin' their way, and it's gonna take a lot more than $15 to put 'em through school.

And how about if your kid IS a genius and you DID use the products? How could you possibly point to that video, book, or toy as being the "cause" of the kid's "geniusness?" Not that I consider my son a genius, but you could point to a variety of things as having "caused" him to be the "baby genius" that he is so-to-speak. Was it the Spanish class I started taking him to at a year old? Or The LIttle Gym classes and baby/kid yoga classes, or the Music Together classes, or the daycare facility, or my 1:1 time as a SAHM/WAHM, or our frequent travel, or he was breastfed or wasn't, or his genes, etc. Every kid is special, and outside of the nature vs. nurture debate, I think the idea of purchasing a product to "make" your kid something is funny. 
The kid's gonna become whomever they were meant to become IN SPITE of whatever you try to make him/her. Did I purchase and use Baby Einstein products with Li'l Bo? You bet! Did I honestly think they'd make him a genius. Heck no. It was a trusted age-approriate DVD, CD, book or toy and nothing more. If those made him the smarty-pants that he is today, all the better! But I'd like to think that his intelligence is the cumulative result of much more than one thing. Will I use the products again? You bet! I'd play the Classical Baby CDs as another baby sits in the bouncer or falls asleep, I'll put in the DVD as I wash dishes or make dinner. I have no regrets. With all of this said, however, I'm not going to turn down the hand holding $15 out for me . . . if I can get to it on my to-do list. Which I'd say right now is unlikely.

If interested, here's the site to get your Baby Einstein refund.

A New York Kind of Day - Where Anything Can Happen For This Family

Only around NYC could we have such a comfortable yet eventful day yesterday. It began with me sleeping in as my hubby and I were both up until 3 a.m. working the night before, and it was his morning to get up with Li'l Boo. Once I was up, we baked Halloween cut-out sugar cookies as a family with dough that we had mixed up and chilled overnight. Once we were done with those, I was getting ready to catch a train to head into NYC for a LeapFrog blogger event at the Four Seasons hotel, and Li'l Boo kept whining that he wanted to come with me, that he wanted a cupcake from the city, that he wanted to spend time with daddy in the city, etc. So my hubby acquiesced and we all raced to catch the train to get us into the city before my event began.

We hopped in a cab together to head north from Penn Station, and encountered traffic heading up 8th Ave when we learned that Broadway was closed for a street fair. B and Li'l Boo jumped out near my hubby's office and walked toward the street fair, and I continued on to the LeapFrog event on Internet safety for young children. @MorethanMommy shared some great tips and considerations when allowing online access for your children ages 4-6, 6-8 and 8-12. It was a great discussion of options for creating a safe online environment for your children and I learned about a slew of sites that I'm going to try out with Li'l Boo. I hung out with some of my very favorite local bloggers, noshed on tasty strawberries, desserts, cheeses and bread and received a Leapster 2 to test out. (Yay!) If Li'l Boo enjoys this half as much as the DSi we purchased, than I'll be in heaven! (Because then I'LL get to play with the DSi again ;-) ) I then walked from the Four Seasons to meet up with B and Li'l Boo at Serendipity 3 as I was craving a frozen hot chocolate since I recommended another blogger visiting NYC from D.C. with her daughter dine there the day before. So I quenched my craving and heard about their adventures bumming around the street fair, hubby's office and Times Square - of course ending up at Toys R Us to see the giant T-Rex. As luck would have it, we happened to be seated at Serendipity right next to my bloggy friend, @ResourcefulMom, so we were able to visit despite the usual crowdedness at Serendipity.

From there, we took the subway back to Penn Station (yes, we walked right by Dylan's Candy Bar but did not go in because we wanted to get home before Li'l Boo's bedtime), and ran into the New York Giants crowd headed out to The Meadowlands for the Sunday Night Football game. We missed our first train, and hung out at Secaucus entertained by the crowd of Giants fans, arriving at our home about an hour after Li'l Boo's usual bedtime. Good thing he doesn't have school in the morning, so he can sleep a little longer than usual (fingers crossed!).

Only here could we do something as homey and cozy as bake cookies together as a family, head into the big city and enjoy an NYC street fair, discuss important parenting issues with intelligent minds at the posh Four Seasons hotel, drink a frozen hot chocolate at the same table as was featured in the movie Serendipity, and get caught up in Yankee and Giants fever, making it home in time to tumble into bed.

LeapFrog Star Wars $3500 Sweepstakes

Do you have a boy? Or know one? Chances are they'll squeal with excitement if you show them the LeapFrog Star Wars Sweepstakes site. I'm not sure what the equivalent of Star Wars is for girls - Hannah Montana? Barbie? Dora? My son's four and I haven't yet met a boy his age not familiar with a light saber or the modern day cartoon Clone Wars. And I don't know many dads who don't click to watch a Star Wars movie when it's playing as they skim the channels. It's practically in their DNA. If this sounds like your family, be sure to check out LeapFrog's $3500 Star Wars Sweepstakes. You can enter once everyday through January 4, 2010 for the opportunity to win a full Star Wars-themed party for ten kids - complete with costumes and light sabers - and . . . wait for it . . .a Merry Maids crew to clean up after the party!

 

Preparing Your Back-up Plan: Parents Are Pivotal Points in Family Flu Season

If your household has recently suffered through a bout of the flu, or you are in the midst of it now, you know how pivotal the role of a parent is to getting your children (and each other) through the course of the illness. Life doesn't stop when you're sick: meals must still be made, errands must still get run, chores must still be completed (it's the most critical tme for cleaning and laundry to remove germs!), the kids still need drop-offs and pick-ups for school and other activities, and on and on. It makes sense then - even if you have skirted through the past month or two unscathed by the flu bug - to develop a back-up plan for when someone in your family does come down with the flu. If one person gets it in your household, it's highly likely that you'll all get it. (We circled through it ten days ago ourselves, and I'm still playing catch-up on work and home stuff. I've learned my lesson and will prepare our own back-up plan for next time!)

Earlier today I was on a conference call with Dr. Gwenn O'Keeffe, M.D., F.A.A.P (aka Dr. Gwenn with syndicated columns across the country) and according to her data, 90% of the flu circulating in the U.S. right now is H1N1. Since April 2009, more than 1 million Americans have gotten H1N1 flu, and of those, 1% have been hospitalized. To date, 1000 have died from it, 76+ have been children (the number rose this week), so there's heightened concern surrounding how to deal with the flu this year. Since we can't control the spread of the flu, we can try to prevent it the best we can. For one, we have the option of getting a seasonal flu and an H1N1 flu shot. Dr. Gwenn advised to still get the shots, even if you've already suffered a round of the flu this season as the flu strain keeps mutating, and the CDC doesn't know yet how many times you may catch it. (Remember, the seasonal flu usually peaks in December, and this is only October.)

What does a back-up flu plan look like?

1. Have prepared meals ready in the freezer (soup, pasta) or take-out menus compiled and easy to find.
2. Have Dr.'s numbers on the fridge, calendar or other visible spot in your home.
3. Post a schedule of family member activities with days, times and places handy.
4. Know who your "go-to" person is if you become sick, or cannot take off of work to be with your sick child.
5. Have a friend, neighbor or class parent on-call for errand-running or kid chauffering if you're out of commission.
6. Stock up on hand sanitizer, disinfectant spray or wipes, fever reducers, lozenges, antiviral tissues, soup, crackers, juice, popsicles, etc.

The important thing to note about the H1N1 strain of flu is that it is only about six months old, so there is a lot to still study and learn about it. I recently attended a lunch with Elizabeth Baorto, M.D., Division Director for Pediatric Infectious Disease at Goryeb Childrens Hospital in Morristown, NJ, and she informed us that H1N1 and the seasonal flu both have the same symptoms and are treated the same. H1N1 is more infectious because people under the age of 60 just haven't been exposed to it. With that said, considering the high cost of testing, most doctors won't test unless severe symptoms present. Severe symptoms such as difficulty breathing (flared nostrils, labored belly and chest up/down motion), lethargy, fever stays high and doesn't come down with Tylenol/Motrin, can't keep down food or drink, etc.

Both Dr. Gwenn and Dr. Baorto shared these tips for staying well:

1. Get adequate sleep
2. Stay hydrated
3. Eat well
4. Avoid contact with sick people
5. Consider taking a multivitamin if you don't already
6. Wash hands often with soap (after coming in from public places, touching nose, etc.)
7. Cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze - use antiviral tissues if you can
8. Avoid touching your eyes, mouth and nose
9. Use only your own cup/utensils - no sharing
10. Use sanitizers! The alcohol WILL kill the viral germs

Dr. Gwenn advised people to contact their local Walgreens "Take Care Clinic" as Walgreens has a network of more than 17,000 board-certified pharmacists, nurse practitioners and physicians assistants at 7,000 Walgreens across the country. They also have certified immunizers in-store to administer the vaccine once they have them in stock (to people over the age of two). Go to Walgreens.com/flu or call 1-800-925-4733 for more info.

I guess preparing for a season of sickness is my excuse to begin shopping for a new family communication center/calendar system for the kitchen. Hmm . . . where should I begin . . Erin Condren? The Container Store? Be still my heart. :-)

 

Happy 25th Birthday Earth's Best!

Two weeks ago I was honored to attend a 25th birthday celebration for the Earth's Best product line (a division of Hain Celestial Group, Inc.). The event was perfectly Earth's Best: held at Rouge Tomate, a sleek local-sourced restaurant in NYC, we were introduced to Earth's Best's new product line for 2010,  and they even incorporated some Earth's Best baby food into the dessert. (Yes, I willingly admit that I ate baby food! ;-)) 

Some of the new products that I'm most excited about are the natural baby laundry detergent (HE), the flushable all-purpose wipes, the chlorine-free diapers and potty-training pants, and the frozen food line for young children including frozen organic waffles, french toast sticks, pizza, and . . . wait for it . . . baked chicken nuggets!! Why am I so excited about baked chicken nuggets? For one, Li'l Boo could eat them everyday if I let him, so I like that the Earth's Best chicken nuggets have no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives, no hydrogenated oils, no trans fat, and the whole grain breading makes me feel better about him eating them. I kind of weaned off of Earth's Best products as Li'l grew older simply because he outgrew their products, so I'm glad to see these options for kids available to try. Earth's Best said they're working on expanding the kids line of food options in the future, and this seems like a great start!

While listening to Irwin Simon, CEO of Hain Celestial Group present, and speaking with some of the Earth's Best employees and medical advisory board, it was obvious that they take great pride in developing and producing natural, organic options for babies and the environment. They all spoke of how they incorporated the products into their own lives, what other products they use, how they got the idea for different products, the lengths they go to to ensure the apple orchards that feed into their products are truly organic. Their slogan about "raising generation pure" seemed to be a way of life for all of them, not just the slogan for their jobs. Thought it spoke volumes about the company that they all seemed happy and driven to still do more.

Thank you to Earth's Best for inviting some of us mommy bloggers to join in the birthday celebration! Thanks also to the team at 360 Public Relations for including us in the festivities. I always have a blast hanging out with some of my favorite NYC-area bloggers: Nancy, Jessie, Issa, Nicole, Onica, Melissa and Jen.

 

Big Apple Circus Family Four-Pack Giveaway!

The tent is up in Lincoln Center which means that we'll soon take Li'l Boo to yet another classic New York event: the Big Apple Circus! So get ready Bello and Grandma the Clown: we're coming to see you and your hilarious antics and feats of wonder. I'm ecstatic to announce that I'm hosting a giveaway to award a lucky reader with a family four-pack of tickets ($200 value) to see the Big Apple Circus for themselves! The tickets are good for four mezzanine seats where no seat is more than 50 feet away from the main stage, so you'll be close to the action. No worries about being so close that your children will be frightened by the big beastly animals at this circus - the focus is on human performances with only minimal animals involved  - like a horse and dogs (no elephants, lions, etc.).

UPDATE: 30% off of select performances when you use the promotional code MOMMY10 to purchase tickets.

To win the family four-pack of tickets to see the Big Apple Circus, please leave a comment below telling me what you're most excited to see or do at the ig Apple Circus. That's it! I'll pick a winning comment using Random.org at 10 a.m. on Monday, October 26th. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but you do have to complete the comment fields so that I have your email address to notify the winner. Good luck!

Not Having Kids Changes Everything

Usually I write my mommy blog posts on tidbits or reflections on how motherhood has changed me - for better or worse, or updates on things we're doing or enjoying as a family. Today I'm sharing a different perspective thanks to a book club assignment. This month the Silicon Valley Moms Blog network read This is Where I Leave You, by  Jonathan Tropper which chronicles one doozy of a week for a man who discovers his father's death, reconciles with his siblings, and works through his estranged wife's yearlong affair while facing impending fatherhood. Despite the tragic outline of the book, it was actually filled with humor and a lifetime of family insights. A couple lines in this book hit home for me, but one of the most memorable was this quick excerpted exchange:

"Having kids changes everything."

"Not having kids changes everything too."

The first was said by a new mother. The second line was the reply by the main character surmising that the loss of a pregnancy may have caused the end of his marriage.

Huh. Expectations are such double-edged swords. In the whole scheme of things it's having expectations that opens us up to be let down. If we don't expect anything, then we can't be disappointed or angry when things don't go as we envisioned. When you expect that you'll have children, and you have them, do you really know what to expect? The sleep deprivation, the worries in the back of your mind, the love, the pride and at times the embarrassment . . . you can never truly be prepared for what parenthood brings to your life - and its rarely ever what you expect. On the flipside, when you expect that you'll have children - and you don't - it can affect your perspective as well. Whether you're envious of others with children, or playing the blame game with your partner, or despairing over this one area of your life that you have no control over, or throwing yourself into other areas of your life and pretending that it wasn't that important to you to begin with; the act of not having children (when you intended to) frames your views and decisions just as much as having them. I've never looked back at my life to think about how it'd be different if Li'l Boo hadn't joined our family, but I have spent the past years wanting more children and not having them.

Having my son changed my life. But I never think about the changes I've made as a result of having him. What I spend some free time contemplating is the lack of children since. When I think about the fact that I agreed to move so many times recently, that I've worked part-time from home while I've wanted to be a full-time out of home worker, I take exception - not with my son - but with the fact that my hubby and I haven't had more children yet to justify my decisions. I've sacrificed myself - who I was and who I dreamed of being - for something that hasn't even come to fruition. Not having another child has changed me more in my mind than having one.

My frame of mind has been to "dismiss" my mom friends' envious remarks about my ability to travel, or head into NYC often, or dine out with my son at a whim. They have multiple children and it's generally difficult, or too expensive to do these things alone with their infants or toddlers in tow. I don't have to deal with those issues. I only have one to look after and he's potty-trained and capable of following directions, and getting on the subway or train or airplane and even hailing a cab. Even before he could manage those things, I had a free hand or two to run after or grab him or lead him along. Would I have traveled and shown my son as much if I had a second or third child with me all the time? No, I likely wouldn't. So there's one positive thing for my son and me as a result of us not having more children yet . . .

I enjoyed reading the book, and encourage you to read what other moms have reflected on as they read This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper by reading the recap and links to other posts on SVMoms starting on Tuesday, October 13th.

Wowed by the Star Wars Force Trainer at Time To Play Magazine's Holiday Toy Showcase

I spent a morning last week at my son's (my husband's? . .  who'm I kidding - my own!) dream party: Time To Play Magazine's 2009 Holiday Showcase, where they unveiled their top 16 "must-have" toys for the upcoming holiday season. It was a little like your first trip to Disneyland - full of wonder, excitement, and fun! Seeing and playing with the latest and greatest toys from all of the toy manufacturers, I couldn't believe what a great time I had sans kiddo at the toy showcase!

I'm putting together a list of my favorite toys for preschoolers and early elementary children for the end of October. With that said, I didn't expect to find a holiday gift for my hubby while I was there. I certainly didn't expect to find a Star Wars toy that I'd want to run out and purchase, but I did! It was hands-down the coolest thing I saw - and tried - at the showcase! The Star Wars Force Trainer consists of a wireless headgear and what looks like a test tube sitting on a large base. The headset has three nodules that "read" your brain waves (similar to EEG) and communicates with the base to cause a fan to propel the ball up the test tube. The greater you concentrate, the higher the ball rises in the tube. Do I need to remind you that there are no cords, or cable involved here?! You actually move the ball with your mind! I didn't believe it at first and was trying to figure out the trick to how it works, but became a believer when I used it myself. I did pretty well if I say so, though every time I tried to answer a question from the Uncle Milton rep or converse with a friend, the ball dropped a few notches. I was going to surprise my hubby with this for the holidays, but I was so excited about it that I had to tell him about it when I got home. I can't wait to go out and buy it so he can try it himself! If I was less starstruck by the Star Wars Force Trainer, I would have been of the right mind to record my session using the toy, but as you can clearly see, I was so into it that I didn't think to do any more than have the Uncle Milton rep take photos. See the first photo below and note where the ball is, then see the second photo and note how the ball is higher. Uhm, yeah, the force is with me!

Full Disclosure: A gifting suite was set-up, but I met with toy manufacturers for interviews for the first hour and a half, before heading to the gifting suite, and it was empty (EMPTY!) by the time I got around to it. So it goes without saying that this is a non-sponsored, non-paid, truly-my-own-opinion post. ;-)