Simpler Family Life ideas

This blog post has some very good tips to make family life easier with kids.  I really like these suggestions:

1. Self-sufficiency


2. One Calendar


3. Quiet bedtime routines


4. Reduce Commitments

[via The Blogfathers]

Adult lollipops

This post on Strollerderby mentions some hilarious, but real, lollipops.

The Kid's Song

Yesterday, I decided to listed to last.fm, which I haven't done in a while.  While listening, I heard The Kid's Song by Moxy Früvous.  This is a pretty fun song, that I think that the kids would like, and I don't mind.  I am going to check out the other songs on the album, to see if we want to get it.

http://xml.truveo.com/eb/i/2732558404/a/58ef677afb89fc040e3dec6de7dd6c26/p/1

Britax Sale

Amazon is having a sale on Britax products.  We really like the Roundabout, and have two of them.

Safety at Toys "R" Us

I received this email from Toys R Us a few days ago.  It looks like they want to sell toys that are safer for children.  They are now going to have stricter standards for lead in toys.  Also toys with PVC and toys that contain nickel-cadmium batterys are going to be restricted.

I think that this is a great step, but this seems to be more of a marketing message than real change.  For example, they are making these requirments only for products that are made exclusively for Toys R Us.  How much of a change will this actually be?

• How many manufacturers make products that are only sold through Toys R Us?  How many products will this affect?


• Will products exclusively sold at stores owned by the company that owned by Toys R Us be included?  For example, if a toy is only sold at Babies R Us and Toys R U will it be required to meet the new requirements?


• Since Amazon has partnered with Toys R Us, will the toys that are sold on Amazon complay with the new standards?

 

Father/Son Wii

Our son has been having trouble focusing on his school work, while he is at school.  We are trying different tactics to encourage him to do his work at school, so he doesn't get behind his class. 

What is working now is that if he finishes his work at school, we can play 20 minutes of video games, while his sisters are taking their baths and getting ready for bed.

I think that he really enjoys this time with me. A couple of days ago, when I was pulling into the garage, he came downstairs and told me, before I even finished getting out of the care that "I finished all of my seat work at school!"

It is nice to see him excited about hanging out with his dad.

Shades of Black

Shades Of Black is a great children's book that our kids love.  We actually just bought another copy, since the first really started to show a lot of wear.