Practically everyone knows about Mom Central and the variety of blogs full of expert advice, opinions from real parents and of course, the amazing community run under their banner. We like Mom Central a lot, we participate in the community, in their awesome Twitter parties and write about them fairly often. Well, considering moms have been having a blast over at Mom Central for such a long time, it was only natural for them to branch out some more and have a little nook for all the dads.
Dad Central Consulting is a division of Mom Central just for all the dads out there who are pretty spectacular and eager to connect and engage with each other while building brands. On Thursday, August 26th from 12PM to 1PM EST (that’s tomorrow, folks!) join Dad Central for the Power of Dads Twitter party. The focus of the Twitter party will be discussing how becoming a dad has influenced what you buy, why you but it and who you trust for advice. As an extra, special perk for participating in the party, Dad Central will be giving away six $50 American Express gift cards during the party. To join in on the Twitter party, just search for and use Twitter hashtag #PowerofDads. Also, make sure you’re following @DadCentral and @MomCentral for the discussion and chance to win prizes.
If you’re a blogging dad and want to get involved with Dad Central, join the Dad Central Blog Roll. If you want to be considered for getting to test and review cool new products and take surveys for the chance to win prizes, join the Dad Testing Panel and if you’re on Twitter, join the Dad Twitter Team! If you’re on Facebook, you may also want to join the Dad Central Facebook page to stay up to date on all things Dad Central, participate in discussions and more!
The first day of school–not to mention all the preparation leading up to it–can be an extremely hectic, stressful and downright scary time; especially if your child is just starting school and doesn’t know what to expect or even why they have to go in the first place. As a parent, you want to make sure that when you get your child to their classroom on that fateful morning, you can turn around and walk out the door knowing full well that you eased your child’s fears and anxiety about school and got them excited to learn new things and making new friends.
Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! is an Emmy Award-winning Nick Jr. preschool TV series that is super cute, engaging and encourages young viewers to embark on new, exciting adventures. Each episode has a lesson or teaches social skills like sharing, listening, compromising, helping and appreciating others and self-awareness.
In Wubbzy Goes to School, the cute and quirky bendy-tailed character is nervous about going to school for the first time and because he knows best, as all kids tend to think they do, he decides that he will learn everything he needs to know all by himself. Wubbzy realizes that he can’t teach himself everything and even worse, he has no friends to play with, he gives school a shot and realizes it isn’t so bad after all.
In addition to the back-to-school episode, the DVD also includes an episode about making friends and acceptance after the larger-than-life new student named Murphy joins the class. Wubbzy finds that good friends can come in all shapes and sizes. Additional episodes include “Gotta Dance”, “Wubbzy the Star”, “You Gotta Have Art” and “Magic Tricks”. There are also a slew of bonus features on the DVD, including a photo gallery, coloring and activity sheets and more.
Thanks to Grand Communications, we are able to give one Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! Wubbzy Goes to School DVD away to a lucky Woman Tribune reader.
Mandatory Entry
To enter to win the Wubbzy Goes to School DVD, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling us one back-to-school memory you have either from your own school days or your child’s. [REQUIRED]
Tweet about this giveaway. Feel free to use the following tweet or write your own. [Can be done once per day.]
Win Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! DVD ‘Wubbzy Goes to School’ from @WomanTribune http://t.co/OL4fAdx ends 8/25
Leave a comment on any other Woman Tribune post and come back here and leave a comment telling us what post you commented on.
Blog about this giveaway with a link to this post. [5 entries, so leave 5 comments.]
This giveaway ends Wednesday, August 25th at 11:59PM EST. This giveaway is open to all US residents over the age of 18 at the time of entry. The winner will be contacted by email and has 48 hours (2 days) to respond to that email or another winner will be chosen.
Bill O’Reilly recently attacked Jennifer Aniston because of her new movie The Switch, about a single woman deciding to have a baby using a sperm donor and not with a man who would be a father to her child. While promoting the movie, Jennifer Aniston commented on the movie’s premise, saying:
“Women are realizing more and more that you don’t have to settle, they don’t have to fiddle with a man to have that child. They are realizing if it’s that time in their life and they want this part they can do it with or without that.”
Many have been commenting on what the movie is really saying about society, but this commentary goes back as far as when other movies of the same type came out; movies like like Baby Mama and Miss Conception. But one person in particular had quite the negative reaction to Aniston’s comments about women having children without fathers being in the picture; and that person is none other than Bill O’Reilly.
O’Reilly is under the impression that Jennifer Aniston is some gigantic role model amongst children and commented saying, “She’s throwing a message out to 12-year-olds and 13-year-olds that, ‘Hey you don’t need a guy. You don’t need a dad.’ That is destructive to our society.”
When I heard about this comment, the first thing I thought of was “Why would 12 and 13-year olds need a guy in the first place? At that age, you kind of want them to stay far, far away from guys”, but perhaps he just meant that Jennifer Aniston is out there saying that kids don’t need any kind of male figures in their lives whatsoever. Even so, that’s a pretty big slip up on O’Reilly’s part. Secondly, what 12 and 13-year-olds know who Jennifer Aniston is or what she is doing or what movies she is in? I really don’t think they care much about Jennifer Aniston and I was assured in my thought about this when Beth Feldman of Role Mommy came out and said the same thing.
But let’s get down to the real point of this topic–Do children of single mothers suffer more than if they were brought up in a household with a father present?
“The traditional family that we have always known as mom, dad and two kids is no longer the traditional family. … Children of single parents do just as well as kids who have two parents. There’s nothing in the research that says having a baby by yourself is a terrible thing.”
Carl Pickhardt, a parenting expert and psychologist also commented on where Bill O’Reilly’s comments were coming from and what to take away from them, saying that while fathers are important in a child’s life, what it is even more important and downright crucial is “the quality of parental commitment to raising that child after it is born. … It is a prejudice that single parents — mostly moms — are deficient parents. In fact, they are among the strongest and most resourceful parents I see.”
Creating a comfortable, safe and stylish nursery doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive. All it takes is some simple research, good advice and a plan to get you started and you can’t go wrong. You probably already have a few ideas for the decor, and have thought a little about cribs and other furniture. Here are a few more things to keep in mind.
Do start out by making a plan. How do you want the nursery to look? Will the colors and decor blend with the rest of the house, in keeping with current trends? Or do you prefer a colorful room, busy with children’s characters? Remember that it will always be easier to create a new look by swapping out art and toys than it will be to paint over a bright wall color. A clean and simple design, embellished with changeable design elements, will ensure that the room can grow with your child.
Don’t make the nursery an obstacle course. It’s tempting when you’re pregnant to buy lots of fun gadgets and cute furniture, but keep in mind that the nursery needs to be a functional room. A crib that converts to a toddler bed, a changing table, a small dresser and a relaxing chair are all you really need. If the nursery is large you can certainly add a rocking horse or other decorative items, but keep in mind that the room should be open and accessible. If the room has little or no closet space, look for furniture with built-in storage. Otherwise, be sure to stash all of your supplies in the closet and up off the floor. You should have unhindered access to the crib and other furniture, and not be in danger of tripping over anything when you walk in the room.
Do load up on supplies well before your due date. Check the Sunday paper for coupons, keep an eye out for sales and sign up online with manufacturers of baby products. Your nursery should be stocked with plenty of baby wipes, diapers, diaper cream, lotion and powder. Don’t forget the hand sanitizer for yourself, and a bottle of rubbing alcohol for swabbing the umbilical cord.
Don’t settle for a cheap chair. Skimping on a chair will cost you in the long run. You will be spending many exhausted hours in your nursery chair– make sure it’s one that will provide plenty of back support and cushioning. It’s also a good idea to look for features such as recline and swivel, and for locking mechanisms, all of which make resting (and standing up) while holding a baby much easier. You can customize a Storkcraft glider and ottoman to fit your nursery decor, or choose one of the styles available in-store if you’re pressed for time. The advantage of choosing a quality custom chair is that it will fit effortlessly into your living room, or your next nursery, when the time comes for it to be moved out of the baby’s room.
Do outfit the baby’s room with organic bed linens. You don’t have to pay a fortune for exotic or expensive brands. Most retail stores now carry cute and affordable bedding made with unbleached cotton that is produced without the use of chemical pesticides. You can be confident that your baby is sleeping in a healthy environment, free from harsh chemicals, and you don’t have to break the bank.
Don’t paint the walls with standard paints. They contain substances known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which emit toxic fumes. Low or no VOC paint is available in all price ranges at home improvement stores and at many large retailers. You can find it in any color, or you can have it custom mixed to suit your design plan. A popular trend for nurseries is to paint the lower and upper parts of the walls in different colors. Even if you choose colors that complement the rest of your house, this fun design idea can help to make the nursery unique. Whichever color you choose, be sure to paint the nursery at least a month before your due date to ensure that any fumes will have dissipated before you bring your baby home.
Do look over the nursery one last time with safety in mind. Get down on the floor and consider the room from a baby’s perspective. Are there lamp cords within reach, or other electrical cords that could be pulled down? You should conceal them behind furniture. Also remove any curtains or blinds with cords that might present a risk of strangulation. Have you fitted all of the electrical outlets with plastic covers? Those little holes are enticing to little fingers.
The most important item on your to-do list is to get started. Your pregnancy will be over before you know it, and taking care of a new baby leaves little time for anything else. If you plan ahead and take some time every day to work on your nursery then you’ll be able to breathe easier in the days leading up to your baby’s birth. And you’ll both come home to a nursery that is functional, warm and welcoming.
The back to school season is already in full swing and now that you may have a lot of your kids’ back to school shopping completed, it’s time to start thinking about how you can support their education aside from the new clothes, shoes, backpack, lunch box, pencil cases, folders, notebooks, protractors and the rest of the supplies they need throughout the school year.
Box Tops for Education is a great way to support your child’s education. Just buy some of your favorite items at the store, like Betty Crocker cake mix, Pillsbury Toaster Strudel Pastries, Yoplait Kids Yogurt, Hamburger Helper, among many others, clip the Box Tops for Education coupon off of the package and send them in to your school’s Box Tops coordinator. With over 20 great brands and more than 40 products participating in Box Tops for Education, it won’t be very hard to find items you and your family will love and support education at the same time. Each Box Top coupon is worth 10 cents for your school. It doesn’t take long for those Box Tops to add up and the money collected from them goes towards school field trips, activities and supplies your child’s school needs to continue giving them the best education possible. Don’t have a child currently enrolled in school? That’s okay, collect Box Tops and save them for a friend or family member who does.
As if it weren’t already super easy to collect Box Tops for Education, Walmart is making it even easier! From August 3rd to August 31st, head over to your local Walmart to find 4 Box Tops on participating General Mills products and earn even more cash for the participating school of your choice. Walmart is already helping families save on all of their back to school supplies, so it’s only natural for Walmart to also help you save and earn more with the Box Tops for Education brands you love.
To help families save money on their groceries and earn more cash for the participating school of your choice, General Mills is giving away a $25 gift card to Walmart through the awesome folks at MyBlogSpark.
Mandatory Entry:
To win the $25 Walmart gift card all you have to do is leave a comment telling us what General Mills Box Top item you plan to purchase at Walmart during the month of August. [REQUIRED] For a list of participating General Mills products, click here [PDF]
Tweet about this giveaway. Feel free to use the following tweet or write your own. [Can be done once per day.]
Win a $25 Walmart gift card and earn money for your school with Box Tops @WomanTribune http://ow.ly/2mlFz ends 8/13
Leave a comment on any other Woman Tribune post and come back here and leave a comment telling us what post you commented on.
Blog about this giveaway with a link to this post. [5 entries, so leave 5 comments.]
This giveaway ends Friday, August 13th at 11:59PM EST. This giveaway is open to all US residents over the age of 18 at the time of entry. The winner will be contacted by email and has 48 hours (2 days) to respond to that email or another winner will be chosen.
Disclosure: General Mills provided me with a $25 gift card, information and giveaway through MyBlogSpark. All opinions expressed throughout this post are 100% mine.
If you’re one of the thousands of bloggers heading to the BlogHer conference in New York City this weekend, be sure to stop by thredUP’s booth (#1812) to help make a big difference for underprivileged kids this back to school season.
The average American family spends more than $1,000 every year on children’s clothing. thredUP has made it easier than ever to save time and money on children’s clothing by creating a national network of parents and caregivers that can trade boxes of new and gently-worn children’s clothing. Just put up a box of clothing you would like to get rid of and choose a box within thredUP’s network that you would like to receive. thredUP will even pick up your box of clothing for free and the only thing you pay for is the shipping cost of your box when it is picked by someone in the network.
thredUP is helping families across the country save time and money and they have recently partnered with Cradles to Crayons, an organization dedicated to providing children ages 0 to 12 some of the most important basics of life like clothing, school supplies, toys and much more–free of charge.
If you will be at BlogHer this weekend, make sure you set a few minutes of your day aside to stop by the thredUP booth and make a Green School Year Pledge, vowing to reduce, reuse or recycle kids clothing and school supplies this year. For every signature thredUP receives $1 will be donated by thredUP to Cradles to Crayons. If you aren’t going to BlogHer this weekend, you can still help Cradles to Crayons by making a transaction on thredUP.com.
This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of PBM Products. All opinions are 100% mine.
Parent’s Choice formula just got a brand new makeover and has been totally re-branded. Bright Beginnings available at diapers.com is the same quality of infant formula that you already know and swear by from Parent’s Choice, but the new, bright blue can and playful, fun and colorful new logo and name, make it hard to mistake for any other brand of infant formula on the shelves.
Bright Beginnings infant formula contains all of the nutrients, vitamins and minerals your infant needs for excellent growth and development during their first twelve months. Bright Beginnings Premium formula is said to be nutritionally equivalent to the national leading brand formulas currently on the market, but what makes this brand better than others is that it is much cheaper. A 23.4oz can of Bright Beginnings Premium is priced at $14.99 on diapers.com and there is also a customer offer available for $5 off any one diaper or formula product with coupon code FIVEBABY and 10% off almost the entire stock of items available on diapers.com with coupon code 10PERCENT. That is pretty awesome, especially when so many families are continuously looking for ways to stretch their dollar.
If you’ve been on the lookout for a quality infant formula full of all of the nutrients your baby needs at a price you need, you’ve just found it and not only that, but be sure to stock up sooner, rather than later, to take advantage of diaper.com’s current customer offer.
Jeans aren’t the only thing gracing disposable diapers as of late. Diaper giant and fashion designer Cynthia Rowley, has created a line of designer diaper for Pampers that are being sold exclusively at Target.
Cynthia Rowley Cruisers come in 11 different designs full of playful colors, plaids, stripes, prints and patterns. They are sold in sizes 3 (26 count) and 4 (23 count) and can be bought in either a package for girls or boys for $14.99.
The word on the street around the blogosphere is that these diapers are incredibly cute, great quality, durable, didn’t leak and absorbed moisture away from their baby’s skin. But when you break it down, these designer diapers carry that word designer for a reason. They cost 57 cents (26 count package) and 65 cents (23 count) per diaper. When you’re changing six or more diapers a day, that isn’t a very wise spending habit to get yourself into, especially considering mainstream Pampers Cruisers retail for $4 less than Cynthia Rowley’s collection.
Huggies unveiled their Limited Edition jeans diapers in early May. They are available for an extremely limited time, only throughout the months of June and July, and can be picked up from any mass diaper retailer, including Target, Walmart, Babies R Us, among others.
Telling from their Facebook, a great deal of parents are over the moon about these diapers that are made to look like jeans. While most, if not all children will spend a good amount of time around the house sporting just a diaper, if you’re looking for a fashionable alternative to the standard, white disposable diaper, now may be a good time to look into cloth diapers that are not only reusable and environmentally-friendly, but also better for your baby. A great deal of cloth diapers also come in cool colors, patterns and prints–and in my very humble opinion, look much more fashionable than Huggies new jeans diapers.
However, when it comes to Huggies new Limited Edition jeans diapers, I am not as enthusiastic about them as many seem to be. I just think they’re a bit… unnecessary. But if you’re crazy about them and need to have them, they are available in sizes 3 to 5 and they are said to be made to fit the same as Huggies Little Movers and offer serious leakage protection that is known from the Huggies brand.
Will you be going out and stocking up on Huggies’ new jeans diapers?
How would tweens and teens react if you banned Facebook or the new social media sensation, Formspring? Of course, many would be outraged, but Lori Getz turned up some really interesting information about how seventh graders view and use social media and how they may even want their parents to limit their online use.
Getz learned from her recent informal survey of 100 middle-school students that more than 50 percent of them would feel relieved and also have more time to do other things if their school were to ban Facebook for all middle-school students.
During a presentation conducted by Getz with a group of seventh graders, she brought up the subject of Principal Anthony Orsini and Benjamin Franklin Middle School, who asked parents to ban all social networking for children ages 11 to 14. At first, the kids were outraged, but after they had time to think about it for a little while, a lot of them thought that social media, within the age group of middle-schoolers, is a playing ground for busy-bodies and constantly puts people directly in other’s business. Because of this, they came to the conclusion that a lot of cyberbullying would stop if they didn’t have access to the sites it is constantly happening on.
But make no mistake about it, kids wouldn’t necessarily benefit as a whole from schools, school districts, or parents banning them from Facebook and other social media sites. Some kids are using it to do homework with their friends, to start or be a part of online campaigns dealing with issues they believe in, and are the younger generation making their voices heard in their own communities.
When I first saw this post mentioned on Twitter, I found it just a little misleading, saying that “kids want restrictions on internet usage.” I immediately clicked over thinking “Oh no, no, no.” but obviously the misleading remark worked because I absolutely needed to know what it brought to the table as far as how parents should field their children’s internet usage, and I did learn a great deal from it. However, I am still a bit conflicted on the issue.
I am all about seeing more tweens and teens get away from the computer and go outside with their friends. Kids should have social lives and go out and have fun, instead of living through the internet and taking part in or becoming victims of cyberbullying and other damaging things that are happening via the internet. The internet has undoubtedly sparked way too much conflict when it comes to middle-school and high-school students using it to cyberbully classmates and people they don’t like and that has caused a great deal of grief in the lives of those children, their families, and their friends. However, everyone must remember that simply taking away social media from children, or limiting their usage is not going to cure all children of becoming bullies or being bullied, and it can actually have some adverse effects on some tweens and teens.
Children in middle-school and high-school are at the age where they are growing into the adult they will become. They are recognizing what they believe in, what they are passionate about, and they are building the foundation that they will later be used by them to decide what line of work they want to be in in the future. Some of these children may have a real passion for computers and the use of the internet. They may take what they learn through social media and use it to implement in their own lives.
When I read about the survey, I could not help but to think of my own life. At around 13 years old, my father brought in our first home computer. I remember being told that I could get rid of my Encyclopedias because I wouldn’t have a use for them now and I really didn’t understand and was actually mad at the thought that I wouldn’t have a use for my Encyclopedias. I was a nerd, I am very much aware, and in a lot of ways I still am. So my father immediately loved computers and began taking them apart, putting them back together again, and gaining the knowledge he needed to be able to put together his own computers, which he does now. With this passion of his, he built me the first computer of my own and put it in my bedroom–with no internet restrictions. As long as I behaved, did what I was told, didn’t stay out past my curfew, and kept up my grades at school, the computer was mine and I could be on it whenever I wanted.
When I started spending time online, there wasn’t a huge social networking craze out there. There was MySpace a few years later, but at that time I read a lot of blogs–before blog was a word everyone knew the meaning of and everyone had one. It started when I wanted to know how to simply create a blog of my own, so I learned HTML. As soon as I took that first step to learning something internet-related I was hooked. All through high school I had a passion and it was creating through the internet and it definitely shaped who I am today since I use the web development skills I learned as a teenager every single day and coupled with my love of writing, I make a pretty awesome blogger–if I do say so myself.
The point of this is sure, cyberbullying happens and it’s very easy for a teen to get roped into creating and fostering enemies through social media and networking, but if your tween and teen has a passion that just so happens to be internet or social media-related, that is something that as a parent, you should definitely encourage.
Sexuality is something to be celebrated and explored and we hope to help you do just that with the articles and reviews we publish in our love and sex category.
The first day of school–not to mention all the preparation leading up to it–can be an extremely hectic, stressful and downright scary time; especially if your child is just starting school and doesn’t know what to expect or even why they have to go in the first place. As a parent, you want to make sure that when you get your child to their classroom on that fateful morning, you can turn around and walk out the door knowing full well that you eased your child’s fears and anxiety about school and got them excited to learn new things and making new friends.
Bill O’Reilly 
The back to school season is already in full swing and now that you may have a lot of your kids’ back to school shopping completed, it’s time to start thinking about how you can support their education aside from the new clothes, shoes, backpack, lunch box, pencil cases, folders, notebooks, protractors and the rest of the supplies they need throughout the school year.
As if it weren’t already super easy to collect Box Tops for Education, Walmart is making it even easier! From August 3rd to August 31st, head over to your local Walmart to find 4 Box Tops on participating General Mills products and earn even more cash for the participating school of your choice. Walmart is already helping families save on all of their back to school supplies, so it’s only natural for Walmart to also help you save and earn more with the Box Tops for Education brands you love.
Parent’s Choice formula just got a brand new makeover and has been totally re-branded. 
How would tweens and teens react if you banned Facebook or the new social media sensation, Formspring? Of course, many would be outraged, but Lori Getz turned up some really interesting information about how seventh graders 
