Baby’s First D4-55 Riot Helmet; the model features an optically clear, UV resistant, polycarbonate face shield with an integrally molded liquid seal. My first riot helmet can be trusted to protect your baby in any riot situation.

(Via BulletProofBaby.Net)

   

Grade 1-6; Most people are familiar with Howitt’s poem, but DiTerlizzi’s art raises this hackneyed classic to a new level. Rendered in black-and-white gouache and pencil, then reproduced in silver-and-black duotone, the paintings have a spooky quality perfectly suited to retelling this melancholy tale. Ms. Fly, with her whimsical flower umbrella and Roaring ’20s attire, captures the flavor of an old-time Hollywood heroine. Her nemesis, seated on his Victorian chair, is dressed like a pasha in silk robe and slippers (six, of course) or resplendent in tails, top hat, and spats; he is clearly a dastardly fiend cloaked in splendid apparel to dazzle his victim. Wispy, transparent, ghostly shapes haunt the eerie mansion; the white print on the black pages stands out against the shadows creeping across each spread. All of these elements foreshadow the fly’s untimely demise.With its tragic ending, heavy moralizing, and sophisticated artwork, this book will appeal to older children as well as to adult fans of old horror movies. This title is worth purchasing for its valuable artwork alone.” ~ School Library Journal , Laurie Edwards, West Shore School District, Camp Hill, PA

(Via Amazon.Com)

   

Russian Governor, Sergei Morozov is being forced to think outside the box. His problem is the population in the area is dwindling. Actually, the population throughout Russia is dwindling. Russia is the largest country in the world but also the sparsest populated country with 141 million citizens (compared to over 302 million in the U.S.).

Ever since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, coupled with the growing emigration rates, low life-expectancy, bad health insurance and other quality of life issues the government has seen a steady decline in population. In an attempt to reconcile this decline they are starting new “incentives” to prop up their diminishing population.

They have declared September 12th, Procreation Day. Local employers are supporting this by giving them the day off. Nine-months later, the pay-off is if a lucky couple has a baby on the Russia’s National Day - June 12th - they will be eligible to win money, appliances or even an SUV. The grand prize (SUV), goes to the couple judged by a committee as “respectable and commendable” parents - so there seems to be an effort for both quality and quantity, clever. Now think about it, our OB/GYN says that only 5% of expecting mothers give birth on their due date; perhaps the government is privy to this and is banking on it.

Even if this is not absolutely true and we expand those numbers to 5-15% of expectant mothers, and you were planning on having another kid anyway — just plan on keeping yourself busy that week and you’ll probably up your odds a bit.

Sited Links;
CNN Europe | Russians Offered Cars For Babies
U.S. Population Clock

Links Of Interest;
CCCP | USSR Merchandise
Flckr | Russian Posters

   

( Notley Hawkins [aka 10thavenue] Fairs Photoset Via Flckr)

   

Always in search of the best beach, my wife and I with kids-in-tow recently rolled over to this wonderful state beach. It has a sharper than usual slope to the water but provides a fun and dramatic surf for the kids to play in. Boogie boards dash the horizon. You may see an occasional sea lion and if your lucky a starlet strolling the sands.

With a car full of all the necessary toys, food and equipment the paid parking is perfect. For eight dollars, we were able to park right up to the edge of the sand within fifty feet of our claimed spot in the sand (dads read: not too much schlepping for me!) and this was on a Saturday. You can park for free on the road leading up to the beach or back on the Pacific Coast Highway and hike it, but with kids and coolers and such, I highly advise the paid parking area.

The people watching is great, too - you have a wonderful cross-section of Angelenos enjoying the surf.

Related Links;
Parentography | MetaDAD Reviews
Overheard At The Beach
California Beaches | Dume State Beach

   

My father was very strong. I don’t agree with a lot of the ways he brought me up. I don’t agree with a lot of his values, but he did have a lot of integrity, and if he told us not to do something, he didn’t do it either. ~ Madonna

   

It was recently reported in local news that a baby arched his back enough to dislodge him from the Bumbo Baby Sitter he was in while atop a kitchen table and the child toppled backward off the table sustaining a near fatal head injury. The Bumbo has become a very popular first-time seat for babies but if warning labels are disregarded, it can prove to be very dangerous for your child.

One of Bumbo biggest advantages is it allows a soft pre-formed back support for babies as young as three months depending on when they can support their head. The suggested age of use is between six weeks and fourteen months.

One of the unique aspects of the Bumbo design is the fact that it has no safety straps. The baby is secured but the soft concave cup design of the seat that offers critical back support and keeps the baby snug in the seat. The Manufacturer warning labels heed:

Never leave your baby unattended. Never use on a raised or uneven surface, as a car seat, in a bath or in other water. Bumbo^TM is happiest on the floor. Do not use until your baby is fully able to support its head.” ~ Bumbo Baby Sitter Website

The said incident has sparked a lawsuit from the parents, who claim the Bumbo instructions led them to believe it was safe to use up high. Perhaps they have changed their website since the investigation because the report states their site previously included photos of babies sitting in Bumbos on top of a picnic table and written claims that the Bumbo is good on “any level surface.”

I can say from experience that my oldest son was never a Wiggler but our youngest is a Master Wiggler and we had to retire the Bumbo early because he would roll out of it so quickly. So the bottom line, use with caution and keep that Bumbo on the floor.

Sited Links;
Serious Safety Concerns Over Baby Chair
Bumbo Baby Sitter

   

It is crazy to think that back in the early sixties they were doing tests to determine whether “love” is an important thing between parents and their children. These scientific experiments where paramount in fact, since prior to this it was believed by the scientific community, the psychological establishment, pediatricians of the day and even the federal government that the exact opposite was true. Yes, that’s right. They believed that showing love or displays of affection had a profoundly negative impact on children. They went so far as to say it was detrimental to their health. “Mother-love is a dangerous instrument” was a popular saying in the age of Detachment Parenting.

Harry Harlow carried out these widely publicized maternal-deprivation and social isolation experiments on rhesus monkeys to debunk the common belief that maternal or parental affection was not healthy for children. He is most cited for two types of experiments he did with infant monkeys, the surrogate mother experiment in which he separated newborn monkeys from their biological mother and gave them access to two fabricated surrogates (one made of wood and mesh wire that had food and another made from terrycloth with a cue-ball for a head and no food source associated to it) and the isolation experiments where he did varying partial and total isolation experiments on newborn monkeys and mothers. The byproduct of these perceivably sadist experiments was a precursor to the Animal Liberation Movement.

Ira Glass from, “This American Life” explains the situation in practical terms - not only was psychology by-in-large in its infancy but medicine was still making major discoveries on things like how bacteria spread infections. Essentially, doctors in the early part of the century noticed that children in the hospital who were picked up a lot would have adverse affect on their condition (it didn’t dawn on them that it may have to do with the nurses and/or doctors may have been transmitting harmful bacteria to the child through bad practice) — so the mandate of the day was that sick children should not be touched - in fact it was dangerous for them. What is fascinating is the Psychologists of the time backed up this theory by saying, if you follow this you will raise healthier children.

So this is were Harry Harlow steps into the picture to say - I can prove that love is important to raising healthy children, that in fact love is an important key to their development. The surrogate Mother experiments showed that the monkey preferred to spend all of its time with the terrycloth surrogate unless it was hungry, then it would feed from the other and return to the terrycloth one straight-away.

In another experiment, Harry rigged the terrycloth one to reject the baby in a number of ways (either with spring-loaded action - to hurl the baby across the cage or with retractable blunt spikes on its chest) that showed the baby did everything in its power to reconcile with the surrogate even after being rejected over and over again. This proving that the need for maternal acceptance was quintessential. This quote from an essay in 1971 puts these initial efforts into perspective;

“In our study of psychopathology, we began as sadists trying to produce abnormality. Today we are psychiatrists trying to achieve normality and equanimity.” ~ American Scientist. vol. 59. no. 5. September-October; 1971

This seems particularly poignant when I turn the lens on my myself and my upbringing and reconsider my parents and their parenting style, in contrast to mine. There is an undeniable difference between the amount of affection I show to my children in comparison to what I got as a child - remembering, of course, that detachment parenting was the norm. Now that I know they were living in a time where, giving your child more than one kiss a year was considered “bad parenting” — I have a new-found perspective on my parents.

Where they stealing extra hugs and kisses contrary to the Day’s dictum even though by today’s standards they may have been perceived as reserved or dare I say, even stoic? Where they holding back their affections for the sake of raising good well-balanced children? And to both questions I say, “probably” and to that I would thank them, of course.

Sited Links;
YouTube | Harry Harlow & Rhesus Monkeys
This American Life | Unconditional Love
Wikipedia | Harry Harlow

   

This is a great comic featuring “I Had No Right to LOVE,” “Stay Away From My Heart,” and “The Voice of Love.” The comic also contains To You…from Carol Andrews, a one-page advice column full of timeless advice from the 60s.

(Via Day-Lab.Com)