To all the parents of young children out there who are constantly wrangled into making playdates for your kid(s). Just because you’ve scheduled a playdate for your little one(s), it doesn’t mean you can’t also get in some all-important shopping while the youngsters amuse each other for a few hours. [More]
Should Clothes For Larger Children Be Called 'Plus-Size'?
By September 7, 2012
People come in different sizes. This is particularly true for children, whose bodies are constantly growing and changing. Standard sizes meant for all kids don’t fit all kids, especially with an increasing percentage of overweight children. Boys’ clothing cut larger with the designation of “Husky” have been around for a while, and some kids and parents find them embarrassing. But what about girls? Some retailers of children’s clothing have introduced larger cuts of clothing for girls as young as 3, but have designated these clothes “plus size,” just like clothes for larger adult women. [More]
Potty Training Your Kids At The Restaurant Table Might Possibly Upset Nearby Diners
By September 5, 2012
Whatever you might think of mom’s breastfeeding their young children in public, there are generally laws protecting those women. The same can’t be said for potty training your kids in the middle of a restaurant. [More]
Parents Of Twin Tots Appease Fellow Travelers By Handing Out Bags Of Candy, Ear Plugs
By September 4, 2012
There is nothing like the experience of being stuck thousands of feet in the air in a tiny metal tube with screaming newborns. Knowing this, it appears that the parents of one set of twin babies wanted to get in the good graces of their fellow travelers by handing out bags of candy — and offering free earplugs to — the people around them. [More]
Recall: Babies Fall Out Of Bumbo Seats At Ground Level, Too
By August 15, 2012
Babies: they comprise the future of our species, and they’re awfully cute, but they’re top-heavy. And early in their lives, their muscle control is pretty poor. The Bumbo baby seat is an adorable piece of molded plastic designed to let your baby sit up and look around before it has developed sufficient muscle control to sit up on its own for extended periods. They’re immensely popular, but frequently misused, and not wriggle-proof. So the Consumer Products Safety Commission has announced yet another voluntary recall on the seats. [More]
I Didn't Buy A Ticket To An R-Rated Movie So I Could Entertain Your Toddler
By August 13, 2012
Baby-sitters must be hard to come by these days. That’s the only possible explanation for why Kelly found herself entertaining the small child next to her during a showing of the R-rated movie “Ted.” The encounter raised all kinds of questions. For example: why was this child sitting in a stroller that was positioned to block Kelly’s seat? Why didn’t Regal Cinemas staff do anything about the stroller? Why didn’t the child’s mother notice or care that the kid was yapping to Kelly? Then, of course, there’s the key question on which this entire problem hinges: why bring a toddler with you to an R-rated movie? [More]
What's The Best Way For A Cashier To Handle Problem Child With Complaining Mom?
By August 10, 2012
Learning how to handle problem customers in retail isn’t easy. If you treat them with even a fraction of the lack of respect they show to you, it can balloon into a full-on “situation.” And things can get especially complicated if that bad consumer has a little kid in tow. [More]
Why Do You Disapprove Of My Capitalist Kid’s Lemonade Stand?
By July 27, 2012
Writer Helaine Olen has a young son, and he engaged in a classic American summer activity: he started a lemonade stand on his quiet suburban street. He earns some spending money and probably learns some important lessons about customer service and profit, and the neighbors who patronize his stand get a refreshing beverage. But, Olen writes, her son’s customers want more than that. They ask what charitable cause his lemonade stand is raising money for, and disapprove when they learn that his stand is a for-profit venture. What the heck? [More]
13-Year-Old Left In Parked Car Goes On Destructive Rampage, Parks On Top Of Another Car
By July 19, 2012
Just about everyone has done it: leave kids in the car, even for just a minute or two, with the keys still in the ignition so the air conditioning, heat, or radio can keep running. For people without kids, surely your own parents left you in the car with the keys at some point. Or maybe they never did, fearing that something would go terribly wrong. Like when a Michigan teen with the keys to her grandmother’s car launched a one-girl demolition derby in the parking lot of a Bed, Bath, and Beyond. She hit a utility pole and a few parked cars before eventually nestling the vehicle sideways between two other parked cars. [More]
United Books Unaccompanied Minor On Flight That Bans Unaccompanied Minors
By July 3, 2012
United Airlines has a simple enough policy regarding children flying alone (unaccompanied minors, as airlines call them.) They cannot travel on the last flight of the day. This makes sense: no one wants an unaccompanied minor to become a stranded unaccompanied minor if their flight is canceled. But when Hannah booked a flight for her 12-year-old son to travel unaccompanied, no one mentioned this rule, and United phone agents placed him on the last flight of the day. This meant that he was turned away at the airport, and his departure delayed until the next day. Hannah thinks that the family deserves some kind of compensation for this inconvenience due to United’s screwup. [More]
A Few More Recalls: Bunny Sippy Cups, Plastic Rattles, And Instant Knives
By April 27, 2012
The Consumer Products Safety Commission announced these three recalls were announced too late to make yesterday’s Recall Roundup, but we wanted to share them as soon as possible since two of them could affect small children. We don’t want to see anyone get hurt, ever, but a little kid getting poked in the eye by an Easter-themed sippy cup shaped like a smiling bunny? That’s particularly undignified. [More]
Parents, Do Everyone A Favor And Keep Your Toddlers Away From These Public Places
By April 4, 2012
Some parents think its adorable for their tykes to scream their ABCs in public or use waiting room chairs as jungle gyms. Most others, though, are simply annoyed by the presence of unruly rugrats and would rather not be subjected to their antics while they try to take care of business. [More]
Money Mistakes Parents Unwittingly Teach Their Kids
By March 29, 2012
No matter how good a game parents talk to their kids, it’s their actions and inactions that leave the most impact. This is especially true regarding money. Parents can pass on poor financial habits to their kids just as definitively as they did their genes. [More]
Study: Stairs Are Toddlers' Public Enemy Number One
By March 13, 2012
Parents who think it’s adorable to let their toddlers wobbly amble up and down stairs are putting their kids at risk of severe injury. A study shows that stairs sent children under age 5 to the emergency room 931,000 times between 1998 and 2008. [More]
CDC Says Processed Foods Are Making Kids Fat
By March 1, 2012
A major reason more than a third of American children are struggling with obesity is the copious amount of sugar they take in every day, with processed foods providing a significant share. That’s the opinion of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which found that sugars made up 16.3 percent of boys’ calorie intake and 15.5 percent of that of girls. The CDC recommends that kids’ discretionary calorie intake be 15 percent or lower. [More]
In These Tough Times, Even The Tooth Fairy Is Cutting Back
By February 24, 2012
Current economic turmoil is so severe that it’s even reaching the magical realm. A survey of parents found that, on average, they were slipping a bit less money under the pillows of their gap-toothed munchkins. [More]
Free Games That Teach Kids Stuff About Money
By February 8, 2012
A significant amount of parenting is about coercing your kids into doing things that are good for them, such as eating vegetables and learning life skills. Playing computer games with your kids is a way to do just that. Under the guise of sitting at the computer to have fun, games can make it easy to teach them financial lessons, such as simple math, fractions and more abstract concepts. [More]
Should Companies Advertise To Kids At The Library?
By January 19, 2012
Who doesn’t like stuffed animals? Free stuffed animals, even! E. isn’t happy, though. At storytime at her local public library, people representing Wells Fargo brought stuffed ponies with the Wells Fargo logo to distribute to the children, and donated a large pony to decorate the children’s section. [More]
