Date: January, 2010
Personalized Gift Tags from Etsy
by Karen on 1/31/10 | 0 Comment(s)
The best gift I got from my mom last year? A set of labels that said, “Happy Birthday, love your friend Birch.” They’re brilliant for the kids’ birthday parties. I don’t need to buy a card, make a card or even put a bow on a present. The labels dress up a gift and your [...]
Giveaway: Photograpy Session for your valentines
by Karen on 1/31/10 | 119 Comment(s)
Valentines Day is coming up! Are you searching for the perfect gift? Something meaningful, beautiful and lasting? Well, we have a chance for you to win the most perfect Valentines gift of all- and you can give it to your sweetie, your parents and yourself! Have a professional portrait taken of your family, child or [...]
Recall: The Princess and The Frog Necklaces
by Karen on 1/31/10 | 3 Comment(s)
Cute movie, sickening necklaces. Truly sickening. 55,000 necklaces, made by FAF inc, have been recalled since they contain high levels of cadmium. Cadmium is toxic if ingested by young children and can cause adverse health effects. The necklaces were sold at Walmart for $5 and were manufactured in China (who would have guessed?!) Consumers should [...]
Event Picks for Jan. 29 and on…..
by Karen on 1/28/10 | 0 Comment(s)
There are some awesome events this weekend: the debut of Sleeping Beauty by the New York City Ballet, a Taco competition (that comes with a free beer!), family folk dancing, family yoga and a Sesame Street celebration. This coming week, join a breastfeeding circle, attend a cloth diapering workshop, a nursery talk or hear one [...]
Camp Fairs in Brooklyn and Downtown this weekend
by Karen on 1/28/10 | 0 Comment(s)
I don’t know about you, but when people ask me what my best educational experience was, I say “sleepaway camp.” My husband has never understood “camp.” As a farm kid, he couldn’t go away, but he can milk any cow and pick grapes off vines like the best of them. A few months ago, he [...]
How much to tip for food delivery
by Karen on 1/28/10 | 0 Comment(s)
Have you ever wondered if you were tipping enough for food delivery? Today, Brooklyn Based wrote about author Gabriel Thompson, a Crown Heights resident who worked as a bike deliveryman for an upscale Mexican restaurant in Manhattan as research for his book, Working in the Shadows, which came out Tuesday. “The minimum wage for delivery [...]
Free Hearing Tests for Adults
by Karen on 1/28/10 | 0 Comment(s)
Have the drone of the subways taken a toll on your hearing? Or those car alarms at night? Or perhaps your ipod has been a wee bit loud for too long? The Department of Otolaryngology’s board certified audiologists Long Island College Hospital (LICH) will conduct the screenings for adults every Monday, Wednesday and Friday throughout [...]
Winter Break Presidents Week Camps 2010
by Karen on 1/27/10 | 1 Comment(s)
Those holiday breaks! What’s a parent to do?! It’s hard not to view these school holidays as anything but a lot of juggling schedules and expenses, but there is an upside: your child can try something new and have a great time! This year there is almost double the amount of Presidents Week camps from [...]
A mention about us from MUG
by Karen on 1/27/10 | 0 Comment(s)
MUG (Manhattan Users Guide) gave our little blog a shout-out today in their Neww.York. Hooray and thanks! If you don’t know about MUG , you can get info on arts & entertainment, shopping sales, leisure and services….like today I found out where to get a lamp repaired. A VERY important item I picked up from [...]
19 NY Schools Will Close
by Karen on 1/27/10 | 0 Comment(s)
As most of us were counting sheep this morning at 2:40 a.m, the Panel for Educational Policy was voting to close 19 under-performing schools. According to the NY Times, the panel has been widely criticized as a rubber-stamp to the Bloomberg administration and has largely held an obscure role in education policy. But under new [...]
Blueberries and your family
by Jill on 1/27/10 | 0 Comment(s)
Even at $5.99/pound, I have been eating blueberries by the fistful, so enamored am I with blueberries’ many health benefits, from neutralizing free radicals to helping reduce belly fat. News flash: your parents (our kids’ grandparents!) should be too! Reported last week in the Science Daily , a new study showed that drinking wild blueberry [...]
To Work or Not to Work?
by Karen on 1/27/10 | 1 Comment(s)
That is the question for many women after having a baby. Alice Kaltman, Expert Parent Coach for our blog, tackles the issue in her workshops and here. It’s not an easy question, and the answer can change daily or it may be out of your control to change. It isn’t easy, but Alice helps guide [...]
Ban on liquids and solids in delivery room to be lifted?
by Karen on 1/27/10 | 0 Comment(s)
Were you told not to drink or eat during labor? And, did it make you want to scream: “give me that _____ now!” It was like running a marathon with no food or water. That might be changing in the delivery room. A recent small study found that there weren’t any risks to consuming liquids [...]
Dan Zanes Discounted tickets for BAM
by Karen on 1/26/10 | 0 Comment(s)
Next weekend, Grammy Award-winners Dan Zanes and Friends return with a fun-filled show created just for BAM. Performing old favorites and new songs in English and Spanish with many special guests including tap dancer Derick K Grant, an African drum and dance group from the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration’s Youth Arts Academy. BAM is now offering a [...]
Best sites for baby wearing and carrier reviews
by Karen on 1/26/10 | 3 Comment(s)
As I was sorting through my collection of slings the other night, desperately searching for the right one for a friend’s newborn and I thought this has to be easier! Someone, somewhere must have written about all the carriers, when to use them and HOW to use them. I couldn’t remember which sling was best [...]
The snotsucker (or nose hose, if you prefer)
by Karen on 1/25/10 | 4 Comment(s)
I have never been a fan of the word snot, so the slogan of Nosefrida’s nasal aspirator, “the snotsucker” does not appeal to me…at all. However, the whole idea does. Extract the mucus from your miserable infant’s nose without frustration? Sounds good to me. I just have to refer to it as the “nose hose”. [...]
Toilet seats that can cause a rash
by Jill on 1/25/10 | 0 Comment(s)
At first, you peg those irritated red bumps on your child’s bum as winter dry skin. And hopefully, that’s the case. But a small study out by Johns Hopkins Children’s Center points to the resurgence of another possible – though rare – culprit: toilet seat dermatitis. Toilet seat dermatitis causes skin irritation around the buttocks [...]
Your Facebook Settings might make you vulnerable
by Karen on 1/25/10 | 0 Comment(s)
Did you notice in December when you logged onto Facebook, that there was a whole set of questions about updating your Privacy Settings? I coasted through the questions and settings. I thought I made my account pretty private, until now. Now that Facebook has changed its policy, your privacy could be in danger, warns The [...]
Our favorite lactation consultants in Brooklyn
by Karen on 1/25/10 | 2 Comment(s)
My good friend (CONGRATULATIONS R!) just had her baby last week. She called me desperate for a Lactation Consultant’s phone number. Since our Directory is not quite finished (cross your fingers for this week!), she couldn’t find a list of LCs. So, here is my list of favorite Lactation Consultants and their reviews to R [...]
School Terms You Need to Know
by Karen on 1/25/10 | 0 Comment(s)
I went on a tour of PS 11 in Brooklyn last week (my Zoned school) and will go on a tour of Community Roots this week (a Charter School). On the tour, it occurred to me that I didn’t know what half of the terms meant that were being mentioned. I thought I knew the [...]
School Gossip Alert
by Karen on 1/25/10 | 0 Comment(s)
We have some new school gossip to share with you all. The first review is courtesy of Joyce Szuflita, our School Expert. Ft. Greene/Clinton Hill: First, If you live in Ft. Greene/Clinton Hill (and even if you don’t) you should check out the new Spanish dual language program at PS 46, Edward Blum School, in [...]
Agave Nectar: healthy or not?
by Karen on 1/21/10 | 1 Comment(s)
The Kitchn‘s post today about Agave Nectar as a potentially unhealthy food caught my eye. We use it in our oatmeal every morning and I squeeze it on toast. We have been using it for years thinking it was a good alternative to honey or maple syrup. So, I was surprised to read this about [...]
Event Picks Jan. 22 and on
by Karen on 1/21/10 | 2 Comment(s)
Would you like to introduce your child your child to opera? The Chocolate Chip Chamber Music Group is doing just that with abbreviated arias from famous operas. If show tunes are more your speed, try a spin on the ice during “Show Tune Day” at Wollman rink in Prospect Park. Let’s not forget the great [...]
Replace those plastic baggies now!
by Karen on 1/20/10 | 3 Comment(s)
Are you starting to wonder if washing those plastic baggies over and over is really safe? Or do you just throw them out in the garbage like guilty-ol me? There is finally a solution for us! Lunch skins can replace your ziploc bags and tupperware containers. These baggies are made from a thick cotton fabric [...]
Incorrect Calorie Counts on menus?
by Jill on 1/20/10 | 0 Comment(s)
Your New Year’s resolutions are still hanging on by a thread and you settle in to a restaurant dinner, looking to the calorie counts on the menu for guidance. As you recover from the initial horror of the calories in most dishes, you are buoyed to see a “Healthy Choices” section. Phew. You dive into [...]
