Whoa, Momma!

The giving keeps going

2009-11-23T10:00:00-05:00

Thank you to all who entered our Energizer rechargeable battery giveaway this past week -- two local readers will be fully charged this holiday season.

And as our gift to you, we here at Whoa, Momma! want to keep the giving going throughout the entire holiday season with similar giveaways posted every Monday through December. Look for goodies from our friends at See's Candies, Hallmark and Pepsi, just to name a few.

Hopefully we can knock off a gift or two from your list, or at least have some fun trying.

-- Tracey Henry, Suburban Diva

Parents, park your helicopters

2009-11-23T06:00:00-05:00

Bravo for Time magazine's cover story this week noting the backlash that is growing over "the almost comical overprotectiveness and overinvestment of moms and dads."

"The insurgency goes by many names — slow parenting, simplicity parenting, free-range parenting — but the message is the same: Less is more; hovering is dangerous; failure is fruitful. You really want your children to succeed? Learn when to leave them alone. When you lighten up, they'll fly higher. We're often the ones who hold them down."

*applause applause*

I'm really getting tired of defending the fact that I let my 6 year old walk the dog alone or a 10 year old roam the neighborhood on his bike and just check in now and again, or go a whole season without being signed up for any organized sports. We live in a nice quiet neighborhood, not downtown Tehran, but you'd think I was letting them play in a minefield. In the last 15 years, the crime rate has plunged, but anxiety has skyrocketed.

Fear of danger is one thing, fear of failure is another. That's where tutors and music lessons and pitching coaches come in. And that's where an overparenting backlash is also coming from the Slow Parenting Movement, which says it's okay to take a simpler approach to parenting and cut back on all those extra activities and toys. The message: Parents should just chill. It's okay to pay attention to your own needs and back off on the kids. Everyone will be happier.

-- Sharon Kennedy Wynne

Free and cheap family fun Nov. 20-22

2009-11-20T07:00:00-05:00

It's the most wonderful time of the year: The weather is fantastic and with the holidays just around the corner, there is plenty to do in the bay area. It's time to take advantage of the reason we like living here.

The Mirror Lake Complex is throwing a free Grand Re-Opening and Cookout celebration from 7-11 p.m. Friday at 559 Mirror Lake Drive in downtown St. Petersburg. A special recognition ceremony will be held at 7:15 p.m. The whole family, even the family pet, can attend the party that features an arts and crafts show, lawn bowling, badminton, volleyball, bocce ball, croquet, horseshoes, bean-bag toss, ping pong, billiards, chess, card and board games. Hot dogs, burgers and sodas will be available, and adults can buy beer and wine. For information, call (727) 893-7190 or go here.

Grab your water shoes for a Swamp Walk along the mangrove shoreline and tidal flats of Weedon Island. It’s suitable for ages 8 and older and runs 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at the Weedon Island Preserve, 1800 Weedon Drive NE, St. Petersburg. It’s free but registration is required at (727) 453-6500.

The annual Christmas extravaganza Symphony in Lights kicks off Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Shops at Wiregrass, 28211 Paseo Drive, Wesley Chapel. The Alan Darcy Group will perform just a bit before 6 p.m. and then make way for a special North Pole visitor to arrive to spread some holiday cheer. Each night through Dec. 31, there will be a show at 6 p.m., 7 p.m., 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. The show features thousands of lights and the music of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. It's free at the mall. Call (813) 994-2242 or go to the mall Web site.

Blinking lights and Santa should get you to stop griping about how it’s not even Thanksgiving yet when Seminole holds its Bright Before Your Eyes Illuminated Night Parade. Starting at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, some 25 floats, cars and walking units will light the way for special guest Santa Claus. It begins at the Seminole Mall, 11201 Park Blvd., and moves north to the Seminole Recreation Center.

If you're looking for an event that has a little spirit, check out the Cheer and Dance Blast from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Entertainment Hall at Florida State Fairgrounds, Interstate 4 at U.S. 301 N, Tampa. Cheer and dance teams from schools, recreation centers, dance studios and Al-Star teams from across Florida compete to see who's best in the state. All participants are ages 5-18. Cost is $10 to see them bring it on. Okay? Okay! Call toll-free 1-877-852-4337 for more information or go to the cheer Web site.

Bring your pillows and jammies for the Family Flicks! Movies on the Waterfront at dusk Saturday at the Pier, 800 Second Ave. NE, St. Petersburg. This month's film will be The Velveteen Rabbit projected onto an inflatable screen in the Waterside Courtyard. Call (727) 821-6443 for the details.

If these events don't float your boat, check out all the other activities happening this weekend. Get out of the house people because you know you'll be there all day on Thursday watching football and eating the bird.

-- Sherry Robinson and Sharon Kennedy Wynne

[Special to the Times; The Velveteen Rabbit]

Update: Senator from Alaska says program to answer children's letters to Santa is saved

2009-11-20T06:23:00-05:00

UPDATE: Apparently, North Pole, Alaska, has a little pull with the Postal Service -- thanks to a U.S. Senator from the state. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, sent out a media release saying that she had gotten a commitment from the Postal Service to resume the Santa letter answering program in her state. According to the release, "In a phone call today, Deputy Postmaster General Pat Donahoe told Murkowski that the USPS had reconsidered its position not to allow Alaskan volunteers to answer letters addressed “Dear Santa, North Pole.” Apparently the program will resume as it has in years before but with much tighter security requirements. Now that the program is back, here's hoping that enough elves sign up to make this a bright holiday for kids who want to hear from Santa.

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UPDATE: Hey, never tell one of Santa's helpers that he can't get something done. Apparently the folks who have been answering letters in the tiny Alaska town of North Pole are not going down without a fight. They are trying to save the program that lets volunteers answer the letters that children address to "Santa Claus, North Pole". Chief Elf Gabby Gaborik, told the Associated Press that he met with Postal Service officials to try to work out a compromise to save the program. "This is our identity," he said. "This is North Pole, Alaska."

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Boy, the Grinch is out in full force this year. We already heard that we probably won't be spending as much money on the holidays this year. And Santa wants his H1N1 shot ahead of everyone else before the kids come sit on his knee.

Now, a sexual predator who volunteered to answer letters from Santa has messed up a longstanding tradition of Kris Kringle responding to kids' letters sent to the North Pole, according to the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

Since 1954, the Postal Service has sent letters generically addressed to "Santa Claus, North Pole" — as many as 150,000 annually — to the tiny Alaska town of North Pole. Volunteers there would answer as many letters as they could as if they were signed by the right jolly old elf himself, sending them back with envelopes that featured the North Pole postmark.

But last year, a postal worker in Maryland recognized an Operation Santa Claus volunteer there as a registered sex offender.So the Postal Service tightened its restrictions on how letters to kids would be answered, prohibiting volunteers in such programs to have access to children's last names and addresses. Instead the service is supposed to redact the addresses and convert any names into codes before turning the letters over to any volunteers.

Those restrictions are just too difficult to deal with because of a lack of resources among Alaska's postal facilities, an agency spokesman said. So any children's Dear Santa letters that wind up in Alaska may end up being recycled instead of answered.

North Pole Mayor Doug Isaacson has called on Alaska’s congressional delegation to intervene, saying the Postal Service is “running roughshod” over the city whose very identity is tied to the holiday. If someone doesn't fix this mess before Christmas, I bet some Postal Service bigwigs will find nothing but coal in their stockings.

-- Sherry Robinson

[AP]

IKEA Black Friday deals

2009-11-20T06:00:00-05:00

We make no bones about it: We are definitely fans of IKEA. We wrote that when we toured the new store as we Tweeted through the gigantic space. Well, on Black Friday, IKEA will have some sweet deals, including a set of six wine glasses for $1.99. That's like 33-cents a glass. If those get broken at your holiday party, you really won't care. Have a girlfriend of two go with you because you can only get two sets at that price. There's also other cheap deals like a kitchen cart for $19.99 (regularly $59.99) or a coffee table for $59 (regularly $119). Perhaps the best deal will be free breakfast until 10:30 a.m. Nov. 27-29. Offer is valid for one small breakfast and one small cup of coffee.

This all starts a week from day. Plan your Black Friday attack before the day creeps up on you.

-- Sherry Robinson

Just a few hours left to enter for the Energizer Battery giveaway

2009-11-19T16:00:00-05:00

You've got until midnight tonight to enter for the giveaway of a one of two sets of Energizer 2450mAh Rechargeable batteries, courtesy of the company with the pink bunny and Whoa, Momma! Get all the details here and hurry up before the contest is over.

"Planet 51" flips usual alien invader storyline, but kids laugh at slapstick from any galaxy

2009-11-19T08:00:00-05:00

The concept behind "Planet 51" is so simple, it's amazing no one has thought of it before.

An astronaut (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) lands on a distant planet. Just as he plants the American flag, he discovers that there's already intelligent life there -- and the denizens of Planet 51 regard HIM as the frightening alien. The reverse-engineered paranoia makes for plenty of warped comedy.

To Capt. Charles "Chuck" Baker's surprise, this strange new world is weirdly reminiscent of a cheerfully innocent '50s America. There are tailfins on the flying cars. Long hair on boys is considered weird. And everyone's obsessed with scary movies about mind-melting aliens from outer space.

So when word gets out that a real alien has landed in the white-picket-fence town of Glipforg, the army shows up to capture it, led by a tough general (Gary Oldman doing a letter-perfect Robert Stack) imitation. It's up to teenage planetarium employee Lem (Justin Long) to help the astronaut get back home -- and along the way, figure out how to win the girl of his dreams (Jessica Biel) and dodge the general and a crazy professor voiced by John Cleese.

The movie is the first project from a new combatant in the Pixar-versus-Dreamworks animation wars, Madrid-based Ilion Animation Studios. While those big studios have moved into making 3-D movies like "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," this flick gets some of its texture by littering the script with references to older films. Adults will sit there thinking: Hey, there's an "E.T" spoof! Hey, there's a shout-out to "Terminator"! Hey, there's a reference to "Star Wars" -- and another! And another!

By far the funniest character in the film is "Rover," the astronaut's rock-collecting robot, which behaves like a cross between Wall-E and Lassie. Rover's riff on "Singin' in the Rain" may be the movie's greatest gag.

Kids are likely to enjoy the slapstick and the mild potty humor. Adults may just enjoy seeing a flick that -- unlike more derivative children's fare like "Astro Boy" -- takes a stock situation and flips it 180 degrees.

Make sure you stay through the credits, by the way, to see one of the bad guys get a delayed, but well-deserved, comeuppance.

-- Sherry Robinson

Free Ringling Bros. Circus tickets if you donate food Friday

2009-11-19T06:00:00-05:00

It's always nice to do something really good. But when you do a good deed and and get a little something in return, it's a bonus. Well this Friday, you can help stock the shelves of Metropolitan Ministries by donating food to them. And in return, you can get up to four tickets to the 140th edition of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, called Barnum’s FUNundrum, which kicks off in January.

Here's how it works: Donations can be dropped off Friday, Nov. 20, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. ONLY, in front of the McDonald’s Box Office at the St. Pete Times Forum, 401 Channelside Drive, Tampa.
A minimum donation of 10 items is required to receive a ticket and there is a limit of four tickets per family. Tickets are for the 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 6, opening night performance at the Forum.

Metropolitan Ministries, a non-profit, nondenominational organization in Tampa that provides food and services for poor and homeless families, is in need of any non-perishable item you can think of: boxed cereal, stuffing, canned fruit. canned meat, cranberry sauce, gravy and vegetables. the agency serves more than 150 families a day. And need is felt most acutely during the holidays. And if you want to help by throwing a food drive, the agency has a list of ideas on how to have a successful one.

If you'd like to donate food but don't want the free tickets, you can still buy them beginning Friday at any Ticketmaster outlet or by calling Ticketmaster toll free at 1-800-745-3000; or at the Forum box office. Performances are Jan. 6-10 with matinees set for Jan. 9-10.

Help others and get the chance to have a little fun. Now that's a good deed.

-- Sherry Robinson

[Photo: Last week, Ringling Bros. performers clowned around while introducing a the new Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey video games for Wii and Nintendo DS]

WATCH releases 2009 list of top 10 worst toys for kids this holiday season

2009-11-18T12:00:00-05:00

The World Against Toys Causing Harm Inc. group released today its list of the worst 10 toys that it thinks will cause injuries, or even death, to children this holiday season. Some of the toys on the list include the Disney-Pixar Wall-E Foam Rocket Launcher, the Moon Board Pogo Board, the Lots to Love Babies Mini Nursery and the Spy Gear Viper-Blaster. According to a press release about the toys, there are small parts that can cause choking hazards, potential for eye injuries, and potential for strangulation on the toys. When you go to the Web site, click on the printer-friendly version of the list to get the scoop.

-- Sherry Robinson

[Photo: Moon Board Pogo Board]

Single mom refuses deployment to care for baby

2009-11-17T14:02:04-05:00

This is the ultimate working mother issue. A single mother says she was told by her superiors that if she couldn't find a relative or someone trustworthy to care for her 10 month old son, she'd have to put him in foster care while she served in Afghanistan.

According to this story, Spc. Alexis Hutchinson, 21, who was arrested by military police Nov. 6, claims she had no choice but to refuse deployment orders when her mother was unable to care for her 10-month-old son, Kamani.

No charges have been filed, but Kevin Larson, a spokesman for the Army post, says commanders are investigating, the Associated Press says. Larson says he does not know what Hutchinson's commanders may have said, but that the Army would not deploy a single parent who had nobody to care for a child.

And I thought checking out day cares and nannies was tough! I really can't imagine how hard military life can be for mothers, especially single ones, in search of someone they can leave their children with for months at a time.

--Sharon Kennedy Wynne

Photo: AP