Baby Strollers and Carriers for New Parents

Just about to have your first baby? Congratulations!!! You are
about to embark on one of the greatest moments in Life. I
remember having our first child. What a fantastic experience.
The fun of the anticipation leading up to the birth was like
Christmas eve for a four year old!

The part of having you baby that can be a bit overwhelming is
the preparation period. Especially for first time parents. You
have the nursery to decorate, a crib to buy, clothes, formula,
bottles, bottle sterilizers, bibs, diapers, a diaper Genie,
bouncers, toys, blankets, and of course a carrier and stroller
so you can actually leave home again! Whew!!!!

I’m just going to focus on strollers and
carriers because without them, you are just about stuck
at home for 3 years.

An Array of Products Available For Today’s Baby

With out first child, we wanted everything to be perfect.
(Since then, I have discovered that we were not alone). So when
shopping for that first stroller, we had little experience at
what was a good choice. Our shopping methods revolved around
safety and comfort for the baby (which is important). We looked
at a lot of strollers and eventually purchased the “Cadillac”
stroller that had a long sturdy frame, extra soft wheels (for
added comfort) and a seat that looked like a miniature Lazy Boy
recliner!

It had a ton of extras! unfortunately for us, we didn’t think
past the stroller itself.Things like… one of us would actually
have to lift this heavy thing out of the trunk and unfold it and
its many components EVERY time we went out with the baby! The
thing must have weighted sixty pounds!

The other half of the formula we missed was the fact that every
time we went some where, we had to unbuckle junior from the car
seat (a five point harness mind you) and carefully and gently
lift him from car seat firmly fastened in the back seat and
place him gingerly in the stroller seat, then buckle him in
there. Only to return from a fifteen minute stroll through the
drug store to go through this routine once again! Let’s hope it
wasn’t raining!!!

After about four months of this self inflicted, back straining,
time consuming regimen, we both agreed that we needed a more
practical, but still comfortable stroller.

We Discovered the Experienced Parents Secret Weapon for Easy
Travel

After four months of being the new parents with the “we’ll
do it our way, thank you” attitude, we talked with some friends
that had kids. We watched parents that had figured out the
secret weapon for quick and easy travel with a newborn. Travel
systems! I wish I could meet the person that invented these gems
- I would thank them for their fine contribution in life.

The baby carrier/stroller combination has to be the most
ingenious invention since the automobile! Don’t believe me? Try
the routine I described above for just two weeks and you’ll
agree.

These strollers have a baby carrier that attaches to the frame
with the baby facing you, the more practical way - especially in
the first six months. The carrier detaches with a simple tug on
a latch handle that locks the carrier to the stroller.

A car seat base that comes with the travel system is securely
attached to the back seat in the car by the seatbelt. You simple
“snap” the carrier into the base with one click and you are
ready to go! This is especially great when your little one is
sound asleep and you don’t want to have to wake her up as you
move her back and forth from the car seat to the stroller.

Safety Is Always an Issue

These travel systems are built with strict standards to
insure that your baby is safe and secure, while giving you a
lightweight and fast way to move from the house to the car, the
car to the store and back again. Always be sure that your
carrier is securely fastened and be certain that you only buy a
rear facing carrier/car seat for an infant. Many new designs are
reversible to let your newborn “grow into” your new
investment.

Design is Another Important Area

Of course as you decide on your travel accessories, you want
to look closely at how easily the stroller folds up and unfolds.
Pick it up a few times to be sure it isn’t going to be too heavy
for you to pull out of a trunk. And you’ll want to choose one
that looks cool too. But definitely choose portability and
convenience over looks. Trust me on this one

The Cost Factor

As a first time parent myself, I know that money can be
tight. One thing you will want to think hard about is the safety
of your most prized possession. There are things in life that
you cannot put a price on. Your child’s safety is one of them.

I’m not suggesting that you overspend, but definitely don’t cut
corners on equipment that you will use for transporting you
child on a daily basis. The aggravation of cheap equipment isn’t
worth the few dollars saved.

Look No Further - Online Shopping For Your Baby Needs

Keep in mind as you start to look for baby strollers
and carriers, you now have the ability to shop the
planet for the best items for your baby! As ecommerce gains
speed, literally millions of items are purchased and shipped to
buyers front doors every day! Hey, you don’t even need to get
out of your pajamas to research and shop for the best baby
products available.

Best of luck with your new family member and be sure to get the
travel system that makes sense for you!

Character is a set of qualities, or values, that shape our
thoughts, actions,reactions and feelings. People with strong
character show compassion are honest and fair display
self-discipline in setting and meeting goals make good
judgments,show respect to othersshow courage in standing up for
beliefs have a strong sense of responsibility are good citizens
who are concerned for their community maintain self-respect.

Compassion

Compassion, or empathy, means identifying with and being
concerned about other people’s feelings and needs. It provides
the emotional root for caring about other people. It allows us
to be understanding and tolerant of different points of views
and beliefs, it makes us aware of the suffering of others, and
it allows us to empathize with them or to feel their suffering
as our own.

Compassion also allows us to feel joy and excitement–rather
than anger and despair–at other people’s successes and
achievements.

Babies may begin to cry when they hear other sounds of crying,
and coo and laugh when they hear others making happy sounds. By
the age of three, many children will make an effort to hug or
comfort another child or a parent who seems upset. As children
grow, compassion can guide their actions and behaviors in
positive ways. They underst and that by doing something wrong,
they cause others pain or unhappiness.

We can promote compassion by helping our children to think about
how others feel. For example, if your child says or does
something hurtful to another child, help him* to focus his
attention on the feelings of his victim by saying, for example,
“How do you think Zack feels? Would you like to feel like that?”
Children develop compassion by practicing acts of caring and
kindness towards others. As adults, we need to emphasize the
importance of helping others, giving others the benefit of the
doubt and being open to differences.

What You Can Do

Talk about the point of view of others as you watch TV, read
booksor discuss other people with your child. For example, ask,
“What doyou think that character is feeling and thinking?”

Show care toward others, such as doing errands for sick
neighbors or opening doors for others.

Give others the benefit of the doubt. If your child complains
that a classmate deliberately pushed her down on the way to
lunch, explain that sometimes when people are in a hurry, they
don’t watch where they’re going–they don’t mean to push or hurt
anyone.

Be open to differences. If your child says “Our new neighbors
dressfunny,” explain that people often wear clothes that reflect
theircultures or native countries.

Brand new movies are great! It’s so much fun standing in line at the theater, breathing in the buttery popcorn smell, giddy with anticipation when a new movie is released.

My children love watching the latest and greatest movies, but I just grin when I hear my children singing the songs I used to sing as a kid - “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” or “Tomorrow”. Hearing their little off-key renditions is the best music to my ears.

Have you introduced your children to the movies you enjoyed when you were younger?

Swiss Family Robinson (1960)
The Robinson family gets shipwrecked near an island. With hard work and togetherness, they build a majestic tree house. They are faced with many trials - wild animals, weather, and pirates, but their ingenuity carries them through. Great family values!

The Parent Trap (1961)
Twin daughters are raised not knowing about each other, each living with one parent. They unexpectedly bump into each other at summer camp, put two and two together, and work out a scheme to get their parents back together again. This movie is just plain good fun.

Mary Poppins (1964)
Mr. and Mrs. Banks are both so preoccupied with their own interests that their children, Jane and Michael are unhappy. When the magical nanny, Mary Poppins enters their lives, she brings the family closer. Between the penguin scene, the chimney sweep dance, and the magic, your children will be entranced.

The Sound of Music (1965)
The hills are alive with the sound of music. Your home will be alive with the sound of music once your kids watch this one.

Annie (1982)
Oh, how we love Annie! The music, the dancing, the wealthy Mr. Warbucks, and a happy ending. It doesn’t get much better than that!

These five movies are a must in every family library. Share the memories, and sing the tunes. It’s ok if you’re a little off-key. I won’t tell.

Nicole Dean invites you to visit www.ShowKidsTheFun.com -a fun site to inspire parents to keep the lines of communication open with their children, making memories that last a lifetime.

It’s a lazy Saturday afternoon and you’re bored. Or maybe your
kids are bored. Why not go on a treasure hunt? A hobby that many
families are taking up these days is something known as
letterboxing.

Letterboxing gives you the opportunity to go on a treasure hunt,
no matter where you are. With thousands of boxes hidden all
over, you’re bound to find a treasure hunt waiting, no matter
where your travels may take you.

The premise is simple: letterboxers all over the globe will hide
what’s known as a letterbox in an outdoor public location - a
park, a hiking trail, etc. In this box will be a small notebook
and a rubber stamp. The letterboxer will then write directions
to the box in such a way that finding the box will be like a
treasure hunt - and make those directions available to other
letterboxers.

As a letterboxer, you will also purchase a small notebook and
rubber stamp that you carry along with you. Your notebook acts
as a type of passport, and your rubber stamp represents a symbol
of you. When you find a letterbox, you use the stamp found in
the letterbox to mark in your “passport” your trip, then use
your stamp to mark in the notebook in letterbox that you were
there. You then replace the letterbox where you found it for the
next treasure seeker.

Your stamp is a representation of you, so you will want
something that reflects your personality. Letterboxers that are
very serious about this hobby have stamps made personally for
them so that they know that they will never be duplicated.

If you decide to make a box of your own, make sure you are
placing the box in a safe location where it will most likely not
be disrupted. You also want to make sure you are placing the box
in an airtight container that will protect the box against the
elements. Some letterboxers also will include self-addressed
postcards so that those who come across the box can drop a line
letting them know how the box is doing, or simply that they were
there.

Letterboxing journeys can be as simple as a few easy directions,
or as complicated as hikes that take several hours. It all
depends on how intricate the letterboxer hiding the box wants to
be, and how committed you are as a letterboxer to finding a
hidden box. Many letterboxers will hide several different boxes
in a variety of different locations, even different cities and
countries!

Letterboxing can be a great way to see parts of cities you never
even knew existed! So the next time that you’re on vacation, or
you’re sitting around at home on those lazy Saturdays, try going
on a treasure hunt! You won’t be disappointed!

It’s undeniably difficult raising children in a changing world.
You want the best for your children and you want them to fulfill
their potential with each new activity that they undertake but,
in a society where certain endeavors are still too often
considered to be the domain of males only or of females only, it
may take a bit of effort to create a maximum of opportunities
for your children, whether they be girls or boys.

Every child, and for that matter, every adult, has innate
aptitudes for certain things. Some kids may do better in school
than others do, some excel in verbal skills, and for others
their forte may be analytical skills or problem-solving.
Mathematics and science come more easily to some children than
to others, while some are good with their hands. Many are
curious about how machines function. Some have the patience and
perseverence to stick with a complex new project, and some
don’t. Certain children have a talent for drawing or for music.
The possibilities and the individual variations are limitless.

As children grow up, what each child becomes is a combination of
these innate aptitudes, exposure to a variety of topics and
activities and experiences, plus the character-building lessons
learned from parents, teachers, siblings, peers and others. One
part of the equation, without the others, may lead nowhere. A
particular child may have the potential to become a great
musician but, unless that child is exposed to a variety of
musical forms or has the opportunity to see and touch musical
instruments and learn to play whichever one appeals to him or
her, it may come to nothing. Another child might grow up to
contribute great things to medical science but, unless taught
basic biology and other sciences, that child will never see
medicine as a possible career choice.

To allow your children to develop into the most that they can
be, it’s up to you to guide their education, in terms of their
choices, from the variety of classes available to them at
school, to their afterschool activities, public library use, the
joining of local clubs, and the use of other resources which are
available within your community or beyond it. You can also pass
your own special skills, storehouse of knowledge, and interests
on to your children.

Children are little bundles of potential. When raising your
children, try to be ever conscious of this, and of the subtle
sex role stereotyping that you yourself may have grown up with
and how it might affect what you offer to your daughters or to
your sons. As toddlers, are girls given dolls and boys given toy
trucks ? Is a seven-year-old boy signed up for Little League,
while a girl is offered ballet lessons ?

There’s nothing wrong with little girls playing with dolls and
taking dance lessons. Those activities are fine. Dolls are fun
and they allow little girls to vicariously experiment with and
prepare for real life social interactions. Dance lessons may
reveal a future professional dancer or give your daughter the
pleasure of a lifelong hobby, a great way to stay trim and fit,
or a passion for ballet music. The problem arises if little
girls are only exposed to traditional “female” pursuits and
interests, such as dolls and dance lessons. Starting from the
youngest age, give girls the opportunity to play with toy boats
and cars and trains, as well. Encourage participation in
organized sports and, when old enough, give your daughters
science experiment kits. Don’t limit your children’s potentials
by restricting their activities to traditional gender-based
categories.

As your daughters grow up, expose them to as many different
pursuits, of all types, as you can. Let them know how important
their intellectual achievements and success in school are to
you. Show them your pride in their accomplishments, but without
making them feel unduly pressured. With time, their natural
proclivities, abilities and talents will become more apparent
and they will gravitate towards certain activities, while
dropping others. In order for each to find the career and the
leisure time activities that are a perfect fit for them,
however, they need to have a smorgasbord of things from which to
choose. Sure, this is all just common sense but, amid the hustle
and bustle of everyday life, it’s easy to reinforce old gender
roles and girl/boy stereotypes without even being consciously
aware that they exist.

After a childhood rich in opportunities and choices, a young
woman still may ultimately choose a profession that’s always
been a female-dominated one and become a nurse or a teacher, for
example, and that is fine. Those can be wonderful choices and
they’re important jobs in our society. I’m not denigrating any
one job in relation to any other job. I just feel that a choice
can only truly be a choice when it is chosen from a maximum
variety of possibilities. If a girl (or a boy) becomes a nurse
because it is the job that most appeals to her or him, that’s
wonderful. If a girl grows up to be a nurse, however, because
she never realized that her interest in health care might have
led her to become a great heart surgeon, then that is sad and
not a true choice.

Ii’s not just little girls who might suffer from an
unnecessarily restricted set of choices. Little boys should also
have the opportunity to experiment with the widest possible
range of activities and interests. If dolls can help little
girls practice for motherhood or for social interactions with
their peers, then why can’t they help little boys learn to be
more nurturing future fathers ?

Doing their share of household chores can help all chidren
become more responsible and cooperative adults, but don’t
automatically make girls wash the dishes while boys take out the
garbage. Teach both sexes that all family members share both in
the labors of and the rewards of family life. Both can help with
the housework, both can help care for the new baby, and both can
learn to be responsible for the care of family pets. That way,
everyone wins. The world could do with more men who see
housework as something that everyone in the family shares
equally, who become equal partners in the raising of their own
children, and who develop their interpersonal skills, along with
their muscles. With that in mind, don’t restrict your sons’
extracurricular activities to all things macho. Your son may be
a budding Njinsky or Fred Astaire but he, and you, will never
know it if he’s never exposed to a single dance step.

As with other types of unfair limitations on individuals’
aspirations or lack of opportunities because of culture, race,
income level, or physical handicap, for example, gender is a
poor excuse for narrowing children’s choices or placing ceilings
on their dreams. It’s all too easy for all of us to revert to
old sex roles without even thinking, as some of these are so
deeply ingrained in our society, in popular culture, and in the
media. With a bit of care and thought, though, we can help the
next generation build a society where boys and girls, women and
men are all freer to find meaning in their lives by following
their personal dreams, choosing the career track that’s right
for them, and developing hobbies that are a perfect fit for
their individual interests and abilities. To do this, all they
need is plenty to choose from and the chance to try out whatever
interests them.