Coast 2 Coast Mom

Help Share Our Strength with the Bread Art Project

I took our budding little artist along with me into the city recently to learn more about the Bread Art Project, a program created by the non-profit Grain Foods Foundation and launching in 2010 with Food Network host Melissa d'Arabian and Share Our Strength, working toward the goal of ending childhood hunger in America by 2015. (Food Network fans may remember Melissa as the winner of season five of The Next Food Network Star and now host of her own series, "Ten Dollar Dinners.")

We listened to Melissa speak about why feeding hungry kids is so important to her and how critical whole grains are to nourish growing bodies. (Whole grains being a good source of complex carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins and nutrients and can play a role in lowering a person's risk for heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.) I was surprised to learn that 17 million children - nearly one in four struggles with hunger, and the ways children can suffer because of hunger:

 

Would My Grandmothers Mind Being Called This Color?

This post is inspired by the latest SVMoms book club choice, Green Guide Families: The Complete Reference for Eco-friendly Parents. I received a copy of the book as part of my participation in the book club.

I learned of a concept for the first time last week, in the run up to Earth Day on April 22nd, that within the eco-friendly green movement, there are actually "shades" of green. I heard that 65% of people fall under the shade "light green." These people have made some earth-friendly changes to their lifestyle, perhaps commuting or taking publictransportation and recycling some of their paper, glass, plastic and aluminum products, but haven't changed eveything in their life to live completely "dark green" by living their entire lives in the most earth-friendly ways they can possibly imagine. 

It made me think about how so much of the green movement is really a throwback to the lifestyle from a half century ago, and how my grandmothers' generation must be getting such a kick out of it - as a return to the life they knew in their younger years, and for the most part, never really left behind. When I visit my grandmothers, they've always done more with less, and by comparison of consuming less, seemingly accomplished more. They've continued their gardens and sewing on buttons and cooking from scratch. They're today's hipsters without trying to be.

Let's Move: Parents Take Action Against Childhood Obesity

Recently the Silicon Valley Moms Group contributors were invited to participate on a call with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to discuss some of the new initiatives being put forth to improve the school lunch programs from a federal level.  This call took place in support of Michelle Obama's Let's Move initiative launch today. I was bummed to have missed the call (don't worry - I wasn't TOO bummed, being at Disney World afterall! ;-) )

I had access to the notes of some of the other SVMoms participants and have been reading their posts from the call this morning, and wanted to chime in myself as my perspective hasn't been reflected. The purpose of the call was to educate moms on the current state of school lunches and discuss reauthorizing the Childhood Nutrition Act and increasing school funding for more fresh fruits and vegetables in school lunches. (Which is a TOTAL no-brainer for most moms.) I learned that the U.S. provides lunches to 30 million children a year, and serves breakfast to around 10 million, making school lunches a critical component in the Let's Move initiative to combat childhood obesity. 

Check Out Headphonies for Haiti: A Donation with Each Purchase

Now that holiday gift-giving is behind us, many of us are looking for ways to customize their techno gifts (such as iPhones, Droids, gaming devices and the like) with personalized cases, coverings or other accessories. One speaker accessory that I saw and liked the looks of at CES was the Mobi headphonie.

I haven't tried them out myself yet (soon), so this isn't a review or endorsement, but I just learned about the headphonies for Haiti fundraising campaign and this DOES endear them to me. If I'm going to purchase something, I like that the company is supporting a cause that I care about.  Announced earlier today, Mobi will donate $1 from the purchase of each headphonie sold on www.headphonies.com from January 18th - February 28th, 2010 to the American Red Cross International Response Fund.

These Headphonies won an Innovations Award from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) at CES last week and drew quite a crowd at their booth. (Yeah, these small speakers were a BIG deal.)

Join Me In Taking The Pearl Pledge - It Doesn't Cost a Dime, and May Save A Life

Womens healthcare is a hot button for me, as I find that many women manage the health of their family members, their careers, the household, and seem to let their own healthcare slip through the cracks. It doesn't happen on purpose. It's as easy as leaving the dentist and telling them to just send you a postcard because there's no way you can commit to an appointment six months from then as you race out the door to pick up a child from an event or get back into the office. Then the postcard arrives, and it gets buried in a drawer or on a desk pile, and when you finally get back into the dentist, it's been a year and you now need a root canal. (Not that this has happened to me, but it isn't far from the truth. I wouldn't be surprised if it does happen - and often.)

Easy Ways to Help Stand Up For Heroes With Remind.org

Wednesday night c2cdad and I attended Remind.org's annual Stand Up For Heroes event at the Town Hall  in NYC. Stand Up For Heroes is a part of the New York Comedy Festival and is a night of comedy, fundraising and special musical performances. This was our second time to attend Stand Up For Heroes, and I can say that I left both events grateful, inspired and motivated to do more for the cause. The Bob Woodruff Foundation has done a tremendous job understanding, anticipating and responding to the stresses and difficulties involved in a wounded soldier's road to recovery and reintegration into his/her community - no matter if the injury in question is physical or psychological.

One of the examples of their work that struck home with me was how Remind.org helped a new mom by covering the cost of childcare three full days a week so that se could focus solely on her husband's rehab and recovery and relieve her of her dueling priorities in the hospital. I could not imagine what it must have been like for her to have had an infant/toddler with her stuck inside the hospital while she supported and tended to her recovering husband for months on end. Because not only would she have likely needed just a moment to think or a few minutes to take care of herself, but also how stifled the toddler must have felt stuck inside a hospital or rehab room, and not getting the freedom of being home, or in the outdoors or fresh air. Not only do the returning troops need support returning to their communities, but the entire family is affected and may need resources or advice in adjusting to their new life together. 

The event was hosted by NBC's very capable Brian Williams who kept the audience apprised of updates in the Yankee/Phillies world series game throughout the evening and if you've caught his appearances on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, then you already know that he has quite the sense of humor. The audience gave perhaps the longest ovation I've stood and applauded for in my lifetime for the recovering soldiers in attendance, which in and of itself was moving. 

Video messages from First Lady Michelle Obama and former President George H. W. Bush, and Jon Stewaqrt were shown as well as a montage of featured soldiers and how Remind.org supported their recovery. Elvis Costeollo kicked off the live performances with two accoustic songs (loved "Sulfur to Sugarcane!"), then came Bruce Springsteen, who performed three songs including "Born to Run" and "The Rising." (Sooo awesome!) He shared some adult humor in between songs, so email me if you're really interested in them and I'Il share them as they're not approriate to share here. The Boss then auctioned off the guitar he played (signed), with Jamie Niven of Sotheby's conducting the auction - which brought in $50k for the guitar and tickets to Bruce's upcoming show at at Madison Square Garden complete with backstage passes!

Louis CK performed after the auction and fundraising portion of the event, and I laughed nearly the whole time he was on stage! He did a bit about volunteering in the school cafeteria, and getting his kids ready for school and I found both bits hilarious. I was excited to see Stephen Colbert for the first time in person, sporting his camo suit and presenting slides of his recent USO trip to Iraq. Then came Lisa Lampanelli who was funny and teased several soldiers in the front row and left me ashamed for laughing at more than half of her material. My bloggy friend @madijack is a huge fan of hers, so I just had to snap a photo of her on stage (see below).

How can you help the Remind.org cause?

1. If you have the means, I encourage you to check out some of the very cool items and experiences up for auction by November 18th to benefit Remind.org

2. Purchase Philosophy's Remind U.S. shampoo, shower gel and bubble bath for $20, and ALL of the net proceeds go directly to the Bob Woodruff Foundation

3. Subscribe to Woman's Day for only 67 cents an issue, and $2.00 from each paid subscription will be donated to the Bob Woodruff Foundation visit http://pay-womansday.com/bwf 

4. Tweet to Remind.org Donate $11.11 by Veteran's Day 11/11/09 to help to raise $1.9 million for Remind.org

5. Or check out Remind.org for more ways you can take action in your own community.

 

Wear Jeans or Test Your Vocabulary Skills To Support Save The Children's Survive To 5 Program And Today's World Pneumonia Summit

Today I'm doing something out of the ordinary, I am attending an intellectual summit for World Pneumonia Day in NYC. The goal of the summit is to raise awareness of inexpensive solutions that already exist to prevent newborn and early childhood deaths, and to encourage citizens worldwide to request increased government funding to reduce deaths in children up to five years old. You read that right. The tools to prevent and treat pneumonia already exist, and they are inexpensive - yet each year two million children under five years old die from pneumonia. According to the World Pneumonia Day coalition, that's more childhood deaths from pneumonia than from HIV/AIDS, malaria, and measles combined.

So what can YOU do to recognize World Pneumonia Day? For starters, you can check out the site to learn more about the coalition working to prevent unnecessary deaths in children under five years old worldwide. You can test your own knowledge and introduce your children to information about the scourge of pneumonia with this game on the SaveThe Children Survive To 5 site. Or, I've become addicted to playing the vocabulary game at GiveVaccines.org, which donates funds to purchase .01ml of vaccines for each correct answer in the game - and it costs you nothing to play! I LOVE it! The hallmark of World Pneumonia Day supporters woudl be to wear jeans today, as the request was made to wear jeans to work in honor of the cause, and to donate the cost of your dry cleaning (@ $8) to the campaign.

Or you may also tune in to the World Pneumonia Summit live online and learn about things like:

• How pneumonia is one of the most solvable problems in children's health globally,
• How to engage global governments to advocate for more funding to improve education and access to healthcare to diagnose the disease in time to save a life, and
• The new 5 by 15: Saving 5 million children's lives by 2015 initiative.

In case you're wondering how inexpensive is inexpensive when it comes to preventing or treating the disease,  I spoke with Mary Beth Powers, campaign chief for Save The Children's Survive to 5 program, and learned some ways the coalition is working to educate people to prevent the disease. Such as educating new mothers to breastfeed exclusively for six months to build up immunity to various viruses or infections. The Survive to 5 program is also teaching women to avoid giving newborns honey to sweeten their disposition as it can do more harm to the baby than good. Their training people as healthcare workers to increase access to knowledgeable officials who can diagnose pneumonia and treat it - I was surprised to learn that it costs less than $1 to treat a case of pneumonia!

I'll follow-up with a recap post on the event and information from my call with Powers, and you can check my posts this week for additional information.

Full Disclosure: I am honored to attend the World Pneumonia Day summit on behalf of Vicks, a member of the global coalition to bring awareness to child pneumonia. Vicks is working with Save The Children on programs that enable consumers to help children suffering from pnumonia worldwide. This is a part of P&G's commitment to improve the lives of children around the world to help them Live, Learn and Thrive (LLT). 

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. :-)

 

When Companies Do One Nice Thing, I Pass It On

I recently read Do One Nice Thing by Debbie Tenzer as part of the Silicon Valley Moms Blog Network monthly book club. It's a book filled with easy examples of ways to do one nice thing a week for others - to make their day, to create a domino-effect of spreading joy, and to feed your own soul by doing good for others. I subscribe to the Do One Nice Thing premise and have experienced first-hand how being charitable can boomerang back to you. In my opinion, the one good deed doesn't just stop at the deed, but the kindness lives on in other unexpected ways. The ideas in this book include examples like paying it forward by paying for the next car's order at the drive-thru, among others  . . . Which got me thinking about my favorite drive-thru coffee shop and how they did one nice thing for me, and I've been a loyal customer ever since.

We've taken three roadtrips to Michigan from New Jersey this year and one of the highlights of our trips - other than visiting family, or celebrating the events we were there for, is when we reach Michigan and stop at a Biggby Coffee. With fun and whimsical names like "teddy bear," "moon boot," and "s'mores" the coffee drinks are smooth, rich and inventive. One of my favorites is the white chocolate mint latte, one of my hubby's faves is the caramel marshmallow latte. It's something we actually plan our route by and look forward to along the 10 to 12 hour drive. Each time we visit a location, the staff is friendly and helpful. This may stereotypically be a Midwest-thing, but it is such a welcome change from the service we are accustomed to at our local coffee place on the East coast, that it makes getting coffee a nice, warm experience. At Biggby, they curtail their personal conversations and almost always ask us a question, or remark on something about us: "nice purse,"  "how old is he," or "where are you headed,"  At our local east coast joint, the most I'm usually asked is "what can I get started for you?' or "do you want whipped cream on top?" and I'm there once or twice a week.

It started last winter when I acquiesced to my family's prompting to try Biggby Coffee (they are all regular customers) and I went through the drive-thru of a Kalamazoo, Mich.  location with my sister and our two li'l ones in the backseat. We ordered and after some friendly banter at the menu board, it took a couple of minutes for our order to be ready - in all honesty, we were the only car in line at the drive-thru at that time, and we didn't notice it taking an inordinate amount of time anyway. Before our drinks were ready, the drive-thru worker gave us a card for a free drink to make up for our wait. I was shocked. We didn't make any comments or ask for it; this was just offered to us, and it had only been about 120 seconds longer than it should have taken. So on top of drinking a good, unique latte and having a pleasant experience, our time and patronage were valued. On that first trip when I tried Biggby, I returned through the drive-thru the following three mornings! I've been hooked and visit Biggby now everytime we're in the vicinity, and although that may  only be a couple of times a year, our frequent beverage card will likely be redeemed for a free drink on our next trip, and we live over 700 miles away! I'd love for Biggby to open a location in New Jersey - in part because they did one nice, unexpected thing for us.

Debbie Tenzer is on to something with her book about individuals committing to doing one nice thing a week, and how generosity is contagious. I've learned about Lands End's Feel Good sweater knitting campaign and was moved to not only purchase a sweater, but to register as a volunteer charitable knitter with Warming Families. If you're looking for ideas for ways to bring some joy to your own life or contribute to your community or those in need around the world, I recommend picking up Do One Nice Thing. I also encourage you to check out some of the other Mom's takes on Debbie's book when the nationwide monthly book club recap is posted on the Silicon Valley Moms Blog on Tuesday, September 29th.

A Kool-Aid KaBoom! Play Day for Playgrounds

So what is this KaBoom! I'm referring to? Oh, and before you even ask . . . YES! That's the Kool-Aid man with Li'l Boo! Today's Kool-Aid man isn't the huge red pitcher and red tight-wearing man of yesteryear (my memories of him growing up), but an updated, modern Kool-Aid man - complete with clothes. Check out the Kool-Aid website to see him dance.

KaBoom! is a non-profit that empowers communities to build playgrounds with the goal of having a great outdoor playspace within walking distance of every child. KaBoom! was developed on the philosophy that play has purpose, and that unstructured play helps to make happier, fitter, more creative and socially adept kids.

Li'l Boo and I recently attended a Kool-Aid KaBoom! Play Day hosted by RoleMommy in NYC where we were treated to lunch (complemented by several sugar-free Kool-Aid flavors), discussed some outdoor play ideas (mostly reminders of games from my childhood), the benefits of outdoor play, and had a professional photo taken by celebrity children's photographer Jade Albert right there in the Penthouse loft of Studio 450. I don't have many photos of Li'l Boo and me together, so we decided to do the shoot with both of us to give my hubby something for his desk at work.  

KaBoom! has launched a coast-to-coast initiative encouraging people to host community Play Days during the week of September 19 - 27 in a parking lot, park, playground, field or backyard to promote playing outdoors. You can find a Play Day already scheduled near you, or plan one of your own. Just for hosting a Play Day, you may be eligible for a KaBoom! grant for a playground project near you, or even $10,000 from the NFL to improve a playspace in your community! Plus, when you follow their steps for hosting a play day, you'll receive a Play Day kit to help you host it! We just received our play day kit this week (and look: it includes Kool-Aid!).

It was nice for Li'l Boo to run around and play with the balls and hula hoops with the Kool-Aid man. I mean really, what tastes better when coming in from outdoors all hot and sweaty than a glass of cold Kool-Aid? I try to remember to put some Kool-Aid (or Gatorade or lemonade) in the freezer or have a pitcher waiting in the fridge when we come inside from mowing the lawn or gardening. Ahhh . . . oh yeah!