Go for essentials- onsies, bibs, socks, etc. You get the idea, don’t get the run of the mill stuff- you want to get something memorable (also not too expensive, from my experience with three babies- expensive does not necessarily mean ‘quality’). Get natural fiber stuff and if possible get natural rubber toys and pacifiers.

Pictured above is some excellent stuff from the Modern Baby Company. There products are consistently made with quality fabrics (super-stretchy onesies and tops make it easy to change the kid) and sweet modern designs.

Most adults are likely to have a common cold two to four times a year. Children, especially preschoolers, may have a common cold as many as six to 10 times annually.” ~ Common Cold, Mayo Clinic

We all know the symptoms, it plays out like a NyQuil commercial; runny or stuffy nose, itchy or sore throat, cough, congestion, slight body aches or a mild headache, sneezing, watery eyes, low-grade fever (up to 102 F, or 39 C) and mild fatigue. In lieu of the recent trend by pediatricians and toxicologists to put pressure on the F.D.A. to clear over the counter cough & cold medicines from the shelves, what are we left to do when un-medicated kids have symptoms that linger for days and sometimes weeks?

Illness can occur throughout the year, but tends to cluster in the winter due to flu season. These illnesses can seem to spread like wild fire affecting other students, teachers, and family members. Families and schools need to balance the child’s school attendance with the risk of spreading the illness to others in the school. Sometimes even minor illnesses require the child to stay home just to prevent the further spread of a contagious disease.” ~ Gwenn Schurgin O’Keeffe, MD, FAAP, Pediatrics Now | When to keep kids home

So what symptoms are worthy of missing a day of school? Here’s an at-a-glance list of the deal-breakers:

• Fever: indicative an infection elsewhere in their body. A child with a fever greater than 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit needs to stay home from school until the fever is gone for at least 24 hours. If the fever does not resolve in 2 to 3 days, or if your child appears sick with any fever, call your doctor.
• Rash: many rashes will resolve spontaneously and are not reason alone to keep a child home from school. Any rash associated with symptoms such as trouble breathing or swallowing, fever, or ill appearance, should be evaluated by your physician. Rashes that are itchy or scaly may be contagious and should be evaluated before sending a child back to school.
• Cough alone may not be a deal breaker, unless it is deemed contagious or is interfering with sleep or is frequent enough to interfere with their day. If the cough is productive and has phlegm or is associated with fever or trouble breathing, keep your child home from school and call their pediatrician for an appointment.
• Diarrhea: where the stool frequency is often many times an hour. Diarrhea that is bloody or associated with fever, abdominal pain, or vomiting should be evaluated by your doctor.
• Vomiting: with or without diarrhea, needs to stay home from school. Your child can return to school when the symptoms have stopped and the child has eased back to their regular diet.
• Sore Throat: children can attend school with mild sore throats if no other symptoms are occurring. Any child with a sore throat associated with fever, vomiting, abdominal pain, or difficulty swallowing should be evaluated by a doctor before returning to school. Call your child’s school to see if strep throat is going through the school population; if so, they should be evaluated by their doctor. A child with a diagnosis of strep throat needs to stay out of school until on antibiotics for 24 hours.
• Lethargy: if your child appears really sick, keep your child home and arrange an evaluation by your doctor that day. If you can’t get through to your doctor and you are really concerned, either call 911 or bring your child to the nearest emergency room for evaluation.

And of all the popular opinions I found they all mention enthusiastically the best deterrent of spreading germs and disease is to consistently and routinely wash your hands and practice go hygiene.

Sited & Related Links:
Mayo Clinic | Common Cold Symptoms
NY Times Health | The Cough-and-sniffle Question; When to Keep a Child Home
Pediatrics Now | When to Keep Kids Home

meta-DAD | Wash your hands
meta-DAD | How cough and cold medicine can adversely affect your child
meta-DAD | Use with caution – cough and cold medicine not for the young ones

After all, what good is a lunchbox that doesn’t look good?

• MADE FROM SOFT SIDED POLYPROPYLENE
• TESTED LEAD AND FOOD SAFE
• INSULATES FOOD AND BEVERAGE
• SMALL HANDLES FOR SMALL HANDS
• SAVES HUNDREDS OF BAGS OVER THE COURSE OF A YEAR
• UNZIPS TO A PLACE-MAT (STORES FLAT)

Munchler Bags @ BUILT-NY for $10 bucks [+shipping]

With sustainable design and practical function in mind, this eco-friendly Bedol water clock keeps perfect time without batteries. Just add water and a dash of table salt to the clock’s water tank to make it work.

4.25″h x 3.75″w x 3.5″d
$22 bucks [+ shipping] via SFMOMA store

Check out the Frederator Studios link, it seems like they are involved with the production of the show and have some interesting articles and videos. Also, surprisingly, Amazon has done a decent job at creating a Wubbzy mini-store complete with free coloring pages and discounted and hard to find items.

A bit of show trivia for you thanks to the folks at Little Toons, originally based on a story by the show’s creator’s niece, Viviana Ogawa, which he assembled into a storybook called The Tail of Flopsy, Mopsy, and Ted which he later renamed as Widget, Wubby, and Walden. Wubby morphed into Wubbzy and Walden was named after Walden Pond.

Helpful Links:
Little Toons.Com | Wow! Wow! Wubbzy [*Beware! Loud streamed music on this page, adjust your speakers now!]
Baby Dreams | Wow! Wow! Wubbzy Party Supplies
Baby Dreams | Wubbzy Sticker Sheets
M80 | Great printable Wubbzy images (*great to set the stage for a Wubbzy Party)

Wow! Wo! Wubbzy! Videoblogs and Webcast
Frederator Studios | Talk to the Snail
Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! Wubcast [* video webcast]
Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! production blog and webcast

Wubbzy Coloring Pages & Activities
Nick Jr. | Wow! Wow! Wubbzy Free printables and colouring sheets
Kids Turn Central | Wubbzy Coloring Book [*PDF download]
Amazon | Discounted Wubbzy Activity Books

I have spent almost five years, along-side my wife in the trenches, as they like to say, taking care of the kids. Here are five simple Dad Hacks for parents of infants, babies and young children that may help some parents make their day that a little easier.

1. Changing Diapers – give them a toy (to distract them and keep there hands busy) and lift their legs from under their knees to reduce strain on their knees and ankles, opposed to the ankle grab.

2. Baby Fashion Faux Pas – never get a shirt with your kids name on it, you are giving pedophiles (and general Bad Guys) way too much information about your kid.

3. Is Baby Tired? – ever find yourself trying to figure out whether or not you kid is hungry, tired or needs to be changed? If I need to figure out if my baby is tired I hold them and stand in front of a mirror with them facing the mirror, if they turn away from their own gaze- it is nap time! Try it.

4. I.C.E. – In Case of Emergency (I.C.E.), put an entry in your every cell phone on your Family Plan (Mom, Dad + Kids) with an emergency number in case of an accident so the Paramedic, Firefighter or Police can reach your family as quick as possible in case something dreadful happens to you or a loved one. They will look for it in your address book.

Also, studies say men’s wallets with baby pictures in them have a 88% better chance of being returned, so if you don’t have any pictures in there maybe you should.

5. Bag of Tricks – I have found it to be priceless to grab a small action figure, matchbox car before leaving the hose with the kids when going out to run errands with them. In case you find yourself standing in line at the post office and the kid needs a distraction, I have something in my pocket.

The key is to keep them item as a surprise and hang onto it until they are at the end of their ‘rope’. If it is a well chosen toy, it may keep them entertained long enough to get to the front of the line. I also keep sheets of paper in my glove compartment for the same reason. In case of a parking lot emergency, I can whip out a couple sheets of paper and fashion a triangle football or paper airplane to entertain them while Mom runs in-n-out of a store while I wait in the car with the kids.

PayJR.Com has an allowance system that is based on paying your kid’s allowance vis a vis a refillable Gift Card, specifically a Target Gift Card, branded as a PayJR. Visa Buxx Card. Parents can use this system to their benefit because it is complete with custom a Chore Chart and email notifications for both kid and parent.

Personally, I think this would work best if employed with a built in matching system. That is, what ever they earn on their Buxx Card will be matched in their savings account, this way they are learn about healthy money management.

Looking back, I am glad we found something local because well made solid wood beds are heavy and the shipping cost would have killed us in the end. Don’t buy a bed frame on line unless it is an amazing deal, even still you will be paying an arm-n-leg for shipping, I guarantee it. At the local Costco we got ours for just over $500 (tax included) and another $100 for a quality twin mattress. A similar Cafe Kid trundle bed is listed online for as much as $937.50 (tax and shipping not included)!

The Cafe Kid brand has proven to be our wisest furniture purchase yet. With solid wood dove-tail construction and non-toxic veneers and lead-free paints it seems we have a good understanding of what heirloom quality means now, not that it will really make it to the next generation but it should last this one. Regardless, it is a solid piece of furniture that I would recommend.

The Gangsta Rap Coloring Book is just as it sounds: a series of images in thick black lines of the most popular gangsta rappers from hip-hop. The juxtaposition of hard-core thugs portrayed through a children’s medium made this book an underground hit in Aye Jay Moreno’s first, self-published edition. Now expanded from 20 to 48 pages to include even more of the music’s superstars, this collection is a witty hall of fame of gangsta rap.

Seems that the legislation that was recently enacted to protect us the Consumer from lead-filled toys puts the smaller toy makers at risk. The third-party testing portion of the bill adds a costly leg to the toy-making process for companies like this and may squeeze many of them out of business. While lobbists and industry are busy raising fists at each other, we should be helping out the small companies that consistently craft good safe stuff. There are two great reasons to shop from a place like Happy Squash, they make unique & safe hand-crafted toys at a good price and we need to support these smaller shops anyway we can or they will simply disappear.

HappySquashToys @ Etsy.Com

Related Articles:
Star Tribune | New toy-safety laws are no game for toymakers
Washington Examiner | Washington toy story shows why regulation help the big guy