Children Fighting in the Car: 5 Ways to Cope

October 11, 2012 by 6 Comments

Raising children is an amazing experience; watching kids learn and grow is one of the most enjoyable experiences in life. It is not, however, without its challenges. As kids grow, they go through phases where they can be difficult to deal with. Parents of grown children will all agree that kids in cars get in arguments. Here are five ways to cope with children fighting in the car.

car trip with kids

1) Give them a comfortable environment – One of the leading causes of kids fighting is boredom. On long trips, kids often resort to starting petty arguments with siblings that can spiral out of control. Giving them plenty of room to sit and entertainment options for long trips. A family car, for example, may offer DVD players that you can use to distract your kids while on the road.

2) Be firm – Make sure the rules are clear before leaving. Fighting will not be allowed, and fighting will lead to punishment. Make sure that you catch them fighting early in the process, and remind them of the consequences. Simply being told that fighting will result in punishment may not be enough, but it will eventually lead to results. Make sure you remind your kids why rules are important; when driving, fighting in the back distracts the driver and can lead to dangerous driving situations.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: evergreen, family, kids, travel Tagged With: , , , , ,

Legos- Fun for Fall

October 2, 2012 by 8 Comments

Ahh, it’s a scary LEGO! Yes, the scariest LEGO of them all- the dreaded small brick sitting sideways in the middle of the carpet at night. This evil beast loves to roll around your floors while everyone is sleeping and wait for an unsuspecting bare foot to trample it, thus giving it it’s sustenance- profanities. The choicest cuts being those spewed at 2:00 am on the way to the bathroom. Up until now there was no one to help you fight these beasts, but fret no longer, the Monster Fighters are here! Just kidding. Sort of. 😛

The Monster Fighters are actually here to fight Lord Vampyre in his quest to collect all the moonstones and block out the sun thus letting the monsters spread across the land. This newest line involved eight Lego construction sets ranging form the colossal Vampyre castle to the Werewolf Ambush. As always Lego has the fun of building with the quirky fun of Lego, sly smiles and gnarly monsters make for a very good Lego set. We had the chance to try out the Werewolf set which included two mini-figs, the werewolf and Major Quinton Steele. Both of which include a ton of accessories like claws and weapons. There is also a special werewolf launching ambush tree and the Major’s hot rod which is a really nice addition. A great set to get you a good feel for the new line of Monster Fighters.

Up next is the something for our younger Lego fans, Duplo. Duplo are the prefect size for little hands, and curious little ones who may want to “taste” the small regular [Read more…]

Filed Under: kids Tagged With: , ,

Peppa Pig- New Toys and Books Available!

September 25, 2012 by 7 Comments

My son loves Peppa Pig, the adorable cartoon originally created in the UK. Last year, the award-winning, animated series for pre-k kids jumped across the pond, much to the to delight of U.S. kids. Your children can tune in on Nick Jr.

The main character is a pig named Peppa, who likes to get into all sorts of things. The show follows the daily routines of Peppa, her brother George, as well as Mommy Pig and Daddy Pig. The episodes tend to feature everyday, relater activities like attending playgroup and being with friends, going to the playground, swimming, visiting with grandparents, playing in mud puddles and doing all sorts of fun stuff.

Little Man was super excited when his Peppa Pig toys got here- he asked me if we could “call England to say thank you”, LOL. They arrived just moments before we were on our way out the door for a weekend trip to CT, so guess who came with us? You got that right….Peppa Pig, in stuffed version, is really cute. She is soft and fuzzy, and snorts! (Don’t worry- she has an on/off button for sleep time, no waking up to pig noises!)
We love the “Muddy Puddles” DVD. It has tons of Peppa-sodes, ready to keep your little fan entertained on rainy or sicky days. My son also loved the Peppa Pig Christmas book, which also had coloring pages on the back of the color. Sweet for the car ride! A double-occupier.
The Peek n’ Surprise Playhouse was another hit- it is played with everyday. It came with 2 piggies, and you can get extra characters [Read more…]
Filed Under: holidays, kids, movie, review Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Right Car Seat Could Save Your Child’s Life

September 25, 2012 by 3 Comments

Sadly, children under 12 years of age die because of car accidents, daily. Automobile accidents are the number one cause, and many of these tragedies are preventable. By choosing the right car seat and using it correctly, every single time, parents give their children the best gift of all: a future.

Anyone who drives a vehicle with children onboard needs to ensure these three things: the right car seat is chosen, it is correctly used and it is in use every time. While there are no national regulations for car seat safety, each state sets their own laws about their use. Additionally, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) makes recommendations, and along with Tesco.com, these two resources provide a wealth of knowledge for drivers.

Picking The Right Size Car Seat

Babies and children up to age 12 need their own child seat, which attaches to the vehicle using the car’s factory seat belt. Different makes of cars require slightly different shapes of child seats; the child seat must be able to sit flush and secure against the vehicle’s back seat. Back seats are far safer than front seats so are always preferable.

Rear-facing infant seats are designed for newborns and up to the age [Read more…]

Filed Under: baby, kids Tagged With: , , , , ,

Razor Scooter- Perfect for Fall!

September 24, 2012 by 11 Comments

Now is the time to raise to your feet, grab your wheels, and hit the road/driveway/park. Fall is a great season to go out and have fun! The summer heat is over, the winter cold isn’t here, and the leaves will start changing any day to reveal a cascade of colors and patterns everywhere you look. Walking also works, but I know kids prefer their transportation involve wheels, bikes and scooters.

Razor scooter has a great line of products, for kids of all ages and heights. Little Man is learning how to ride his bike, but for now nothing beats the ease of zipping around on a scooter. He especially likes the ability to go as fast, or slow as he likes. Little Man can be very cautious some days, and as adventurous as a cat others.

There is a very important point I must make before going any further safety. Please be sure to get a helmet and pads before putting your kids on anything with wheels, [Read more…]

Filed Under: kids, review Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Watch It – Teaching Kids to Tell Time (and count money)

September 21, 2012 by 7 Comments

Time is a difficult concept to wrap your mind around. You can measure it but not with a ruler, you can lose it but will never find it. Oh, and it makes your hair grey 😛

When you are having fun it flies, but when you are not it drags on by- and of course it will continue on until…. well…. the end of time. Let’s get all the little guys and gals involved in all the ticking fun with Watch It! The elapsed time clock. This clock will help kids thinking hours and minutes instead of 5 minutes, 5 minutes. The clock itself is big and tough for little kids to play with. It is also well built and easy to use. The stopwatch in the middle tells the difference between the two clock on either side of the apparatus. Both clocks display the clock on both their faces and the numerical display below. This [Read more…]

Filed Under: education, kids, review Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Rookie USA Kids SportsWear Store Moves into Manhattan #RookieUSA #CBias

September 21, 2012 by 11 Comments

I recently went to the newly opened Rookie USA store, located at 808 Columbus on the Upper West Side. Rookie USA was in a super convenient location, with lots of other stores and shopping nearby, on street parking and parking garages available. It was a beautiful day, on a beautiful street- AND I even found a parking space, and successfully parallel parked 🙂 Hey- sometimes it’s the little things!

I know- But I was so proud of myself- I am the worst parallel parker!

Rookie USA is beautifully set up, with wide open spaces (easy for pushing strollers in) and racks that are not overcrowded with clothes. The employees were friendly, and the store itself was clean and had a nice atmosphere- no loud music or flashing lights that make me want to run out as fast as I can, LOL.

The store sells clothing and accessories such as backpacks and baseball hats for infants through teenagers. They carry brands like Nike, Levi’s, Converse and Air Jordan, and even have very small jerseys. There is an entire wall of sneakers as well.

There [Read more…]

Filed Under: family, fashion, fitness, kids, review Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Little Pim – Language Fun For Kids

September 17, 2012 by 6 Comments

With school starting up, parents and kids everywhere are looking for that slight edge to bring their kids from middle of the class to top of the class. It is a fact that children who learn foreign languages early in life have a much easier time learning new languages later on in life. With this in mind, we have Little Pim. This cute little panda helps kids learn languages like Chinese, Spanish, Italian, German, English, French, Japanese, Arabic, Russian, Hebrew, and Portuguese. Little Pim teaches children not by associated words with translations or drills, but with actions and sounds, so kids don’t have to translate to learn- they just learn.

This way, instead of memorizing one word, they memorize strings of actions, where the words are simply the building blocks to the underlying concepts. Pim is a blast for kids, it is so much fun Little Man actually asks to watch on a regular basis. If it is good enough to be requested instead of assigned, that is pretty good in our house, especially for something educational.

Little Pim is also the winner of 10 top consumer awards for his educational DVDs. Pimis now available as a digital download as well. So now Pim can be everywhere you are! Pim is even available as an app on the iPad and is the winner of the 2012 National Parenting Center Seal of Approval.

About Little Pim:

Little Pim is an award-winning foreign language learning program for babies, toddlers and preschoolers. Between birth and the age of six, the human brain is hard-wired for language learning, and Little Pim helps families take advantage of this brief window, by making language learning easy, fun [Read more…]

Filed Under: education, kids, movie, review, technology Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,