Archive for the ‘Raising 3 Little Monkeys’ Category
April 29th, 2010 | 
Author: Thousands of cribs recalled
Simplicity and Graco cribs linked to suffocation risk
Wow, I have this exact crib. This is such a scary thing, so make sure to tell your friends and family too!
The Consumer Product Safety Commission said the Simplicity recall was linked to at least one death and involved thousands of cribs, possibly hundreds of thousands, though many had previously been recalled for other defects. The agency said about 217,000 Graco dropside cribs made by LaJobi were also being recalled.
The problem with both types of cribs stems from hardware failures.
In the case of the Graco-branded wood cribs, the side that moves up and down — the dropside — can break or detach, creating a dangerous gap between the crib mattress and dropped side. A baby can become trapped and suffocate or strangle. CPSC and LaJobi have received 99 complaints of dropside problems with the cribs. None involved serious injuries.
A retrofit kit will be available to consumers to prevent the dropside from moving, making all four sides of the crib stationary.
The Simplicity recall is for all of the full-sized cribs with tubular metal mattress-support frames. Those frames can bend or detach, causing the mattress to collapse and creating a space that a baby can roll into, become trapped in and suffocate.
A 1-year-old boy in North Attleboro, Mass., became trapped in his Simplicity crib and suffocated in 2008, according to the commission.
“CPSC urges all parents and caregivers to not attempt to resell any Simplicity crib to a thrift store, at a yard sale or online,” said agency spokesman Scott Wolfson. “These recalled cribs have killed far too many babies and need to be kept out of homes and daycare centers.”
Simplicity has been the subject of almost a dozen recalls since 2005 and its cribs and bassinets have been linked to 13 deaths.
The commission had previously recalled all Simplicity dropside cribs. With the latest recall, nearly all Simplicity cribs have now been recalled, possibly hundreds of thousands. Simplicity and its successor company, SFCA Inc., are no longer in business, so the agency doesn’t know exactly how many cribs were sold.
Digi Time Capsule is Going to Hollywood Baby…
Hollywood, Florida that is! This opportunity is the equivalent to me as receiving a Golden Ticket to Hollywood, CA is for American Idol hopefuls. I just pray that Simon Cowell will not be a judge at my event. Digi Time Capsule was selected by Shark Tank Shark and Infomercial King, Kevin Harrington, as a top 20 finalist to pitch our business LIVE at The Pitch Maker Contest and 2010 Professional Athletes Business Summit held at Trump Hollywood, February 1st for a chance win an infomercial produced by the Infomercial King, Kevin Harrington. I will be pitching the My Pregnancy Digi Time Capsule Pregnancy Journaling Suite, the 11 time award winner and recent winner of the Family Choice award as well as the Newly Released, My Baby Book Digi Time Capsule Baby Memory Book Suite.
I will be pitching my products to a panel of 3 judges who include:
Kevin Harrington
Kevin Harrington, CEO of TVGoods.com, LLC, is widely acknowledged as the pioneer and principal architect of the “infomercial” industry. Since producing the industry’s first infomercial in the 1980s, Harrington has financed more than 500 product launches resulting in sales of more than $4 billion worldwide with 20 products reaching individual sales of over $100 million each, and creating dozens of millionaires. In his latest venture, Harrington is an investor on a new ABC show called “Shark Tank”, in which budding entrepreneurs compete in pitching their potentially moneymaking ideas to business experts in hopes of securing investment financing. The show is owned by SONY Pictures and produced by Mark Burnett.
Regent Ducas
Regent is charged with the sales and marketing of our coaching and media training for professional athletes. He is a seasoned media professional himself, having spent the last 22 years as a manager in local news and sports. He has produced award winning newscasts, sports specials and player/coaches shows, including the Dan Marino and Jimmy Johnson Shows. He has personally conducted countless interviews in and out of locker rooms with athletes and personalities from every sport and has been the first mentor for athletes who have entered the television world. In addition to working with Talent Dynamics, Regent was an Adjunct Professor at The University of Texas at Arlington teaching Current Issues in Telecommunications.
Ricardo Bellino
Ricardo Bellino is an international entrepreneur who brought Elite Models and The Look of the Year, the most famous modeling contest in the world, to Brazil.
Now Bellino is the founder and dealmaker behind Trump Realty Brazil, an enterprise born from the creation of the largest golf complex in Latin America, Villa Trump.
The author of three business books focusing on the power of ideas and sales techniques, Bellino is the first commercial partner of the Trump Organization outside the United States.
This is just an awesome opportunity and although I am gunning to win, either way, it’s an experience of a life time! I get an amazing experience, get to be in my Mentor, Donald Trump’s Hollywood location and in the presence of entrepreneur geniuses.
Wish Me Luck And Make Sure to Follow Me on Twitter as I tweet Live from the Event!
Doing Homework With the Kids Leads Me to Believe I Am Not Smarter Than a 5th Grader!
Now that you are a parent and back to doing homework again, is there anything that you have realized that you still don’t know? Here’s My List of Things I still don’t know.
Ok, so my boys are now both in grammar school and their homework is also my homework. I thought I was done with school, but Oh no my friend…I get to relive it all over again with the kids! Like if redoing grammar school isn’t bad enough, I have learned there is a ton of stuff that I don’t know. Nothing like telling the kids, “hold on, let me Google that!”
So, these are the things that as a 35 year old mom I should know but don’t:
1- I have no idea what direction I am heading if the sun is not out or I don’t have a compass! Tell Me Left or Right for the love of God!
2- What the hell is an integer?
3- No, I cannot look at a blank map of the US and tell you what state goes where… Dah, that’s why I have a GPS!
4- I never found it important to remember the 15th president of the United States… I do, however, know that he is no longer with us!
5- Do I know the pre-amble by heart? Seriously? I’m lucky if I can remember where my head is everyday!
6- How long would it take to travel from the sun past all planets? Assuming you would travel in the fastest spacecraft today. “WHATEVER TEACHER”
7- Mommy, in what order are the planets closest to the Sun? ” Ummmm…Let’s Google That”
8- For Science Fair I need to make a toy car run from a Potato… “Yeah, that’s why they invented gas. Tell your teacher to get with today’s technology”
9- Mommy, who invented the phone? ”T-Mobile, At&T, Verizon and Sprint! I know this for sure!”
10- Mommy, I have to explain and site an example of osmosis. “Ok, so every night when daddy goes to bed, I slip a note under his pillow that says ” Always lift the toilet seat up before peeing and put it back down when done so mommy’s butt doesn’t take a 2am swim.” Eventually the note sinks into daddy’s head, and that is osmosis!”
So, as a parent doing homework with the kids, what have you realized that you just don’t know? I would love to know! Mostly so I know that I am not alone!
Is My Little Princess Turning Into a Toddler DIVA?
And The 10 Sure Signs That “Oh Yes She Is”
So, I have 2 boys and thought I would never have a daughter so we decided not to try for #3. I just thought one more boy would just kill me! They are dangerous little things… Low and behold, 7 years
Mommy's Little Diva is mad I made her wear fake Croc's and a dress from Target for her first day of pre-school
BAMMMM! A smack from reality, my little princess has somehow turned into this Diva straight from the movies. For the first time ever, her angel kisses and tight hugs turned into a smack in my face. She literally smacked me in the face because I took a pen away from her. What was I thinking? Toddlers should be allowed to run around the house with pens! Of course. What was I thinking…that’s the in thing to do when you’re 2.
Today, she looked right at me with this little Diva mean face and said “Mommy, you a bad girl. You give me that toy right now.” For a minute I was like oh, ok, here you go, just don’t hurt me… But seriously OMG where did she come from? My boys never acted like this.
So, if you are raising a little princess and have thoughts that she is turning into a Diva, check all that apply!
She is turning into a Toddler Diva If:
1) She will not go to the park without her “Apple Bottom Jeans and Boots with the Fur”. Girl wants the whole world lookin at her!
2) She can already pop it and lock it! OMG and the Booty Dance…Where did she learn this?
3) Her screams are so deafening that you have actually used tampons as ear plugs because that was all that was in your purse at the time.
4) She knows which of her dresses are from Target and which are from Children’s Place and will only wear the Target dresses if she’s not expecting company!
5) She owns more shoes than anyone else in the house and more than all the shoes in the house combined! She changes them frequently throughout the day and insists they are not on the wrong feet!…because that’s how she rolls!
6) She demands to take a bath before she is taken to McDonald’s Play land so she can smell better than any of the other girls there.
7) She refuses to get in her car seat until you put the pink cover back on it. Black is not an acceptable Diva Carseat Color!
She refers to you as Mother at the ripe old age of 2.
9) She demands your Coach purse to play with and not the cute little girly one from Target.
10) She smacks you right in the face when she doesn’t get her way.
If any of the above apply to your little princess, I think it’s time to call Nanny 911! Maybe we can get the Multiple Diva Discount!
Happy Parenting!
Posted in Everything!, Raising 3 Little Monkeys, Terrible Two's | 
Tags: diva, my little girl is a Diva, princess, raising a toddler girl, Terrible Two's | 
3 Comments »
Real Parenting Classes for Real Moms
Ok, so you’re just about at your due date and you’re so excited about signing up for Lamaze and other 
parenting classes. Been there, done that! I now have 3 children, ages 9, 6 & 2 and could have really used practical parenting classes. So, I’ve come up with a few really important ones that will get your through!
Diapering The New Baby
- If you have a boy, always make sure their little thing is always covered. Those little things shoot off with no warning like the Mega Soaker Water Guns!
- If you have a girl, the white stuff that you just can’t seem to wipe off is not diaper cream. It will go away on its own, so stop wiping. This one little tip would have saved me a very embarrassing trip to the pediatrician.
Baby’s Sleep Time
- Never, Never, Never let the baby sleep in your bed. I know they are so soft, cuddly and you need to make sure they are breathing, but make the mistake early and you will have a 16 year old tossing the car keys on the night stand and jumping in the middle.
Baby’s and Cell Phones Don’t Mix
Baby’s love to play with your cell phone. However, this mistake may cost you $64 when they call Africa for 10 minutes.- If you quickly pull your cell phone out of the toilet, take all the pieces apart and blow dry it. There is a really good chance it will work again.
- Get insurance on all cell phones.
- Baby spit will kill your cell phone speaker. Well at least the Blackberry Pearl Cell phone speaker, so keep you phone out of baby’s mouth until Blackberry can resolve this super annoying oversite of theirs.
Baby’s Nutrition
- Make sure baby eats blah, blah, blah on the recommended guidelines. Give your baby whatever he or she will actually eat and not paint the walls with. Tomato Puree is really hard to get off the flat white paint in the kitchen.
- Never paint a kitchen in flat white paint.
Traveling with Baby
- Don’t Do It!!! Unless you want everyone on the plane rolling their eyes, moaning super loud like you can’t hear it and turning around to see the screaming child and their awful parent. And to all of you travelers who have encountered a screaming baby on the plane, roll your eyes at the flight crew. If I could get up to walk the baby we wouldn’t have this problem in the first place. I want to see you try to keep a 2 year old in a seat belt for 2 hours.
- Never expect anyone to help you while you check your stroller in at the plane entrance while you juggle the baby in one arm, your purse, diaper bag, bottle and baby toys in the other while still managing to get the stroller folded up!
Candy is on the Food Pyramid
- When all standard and acceptable parenting tactics do not work, Candy does.
- Replace all Rolaids from your pregnancy heartburn with baby’s favorite candy.
Do NOT Laugh
- We all know how hilarious baby’s first bad word is or how funny baby’s silly stick your tongue out face is. Control yourself or laugh in private. It is Not funny when they do or say it to the old lady in the grocery store checkout line.
Get Your “Oh No She Didn’t” List Together
- You know, the list of excuses you will have to rattle off to explain away baby’s less than acceptable public behavior. Like “he learned that from his cousin” or “she’s really been learning a lot about beaver’s lately and how they make dams”!
Ok, I think this list will get you started! We sure would love to hear your real parenting class ideas so when I do submit them to the Association of Pediatrics they can create a very thorough curriculum.
Happy Parenting! Love Sherri
Posted in Baby, Everything!, Raising 3 Little Monkeys, Terrible Two's |
Tags: Baby, parenting classes, screw lamaze, things new parents should know |
3 Comments »
Thinking of Having Kids? Do this 11 step program first!
Lesson 1
1. Go to the grocery store.
2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home.
4. Pick up the paper.
5. Read it for the last time.
Lesson 2
Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their…
1. Methods of discipline.
2. Lack of patience.
3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.
4. Allowing their children to run wild.
5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child’s breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.
6. Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.
Lesson 3
A really good way to discover how the nights might feel…
1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)
2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.
4. Set the alarm for 3AM.
5. As you can’t get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.
6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.
7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.
9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and
be productive)
Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.
Lesson 4
Can you stand the mess children make? T o find out…
1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.
2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.
4. Then rub them on the clean walls.
5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.
6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?
Lesson 5
Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.
1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.
Time allowed for this – all morning.
Lesson 6
Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don’t think
that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don’t look like that.
1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.
Leave it there.
2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.
3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat.
4. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.
5. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.
Lesson 7
Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week’s groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.
Lesson 8
1. Hollow out a melon.
2. Make a small hole in the side.
3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.
6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.
You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.
Lesson 9
Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you’re thinking What’s ‘Noggin’?) Exactly the point.
Lesson 10
Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying ‘mommy’ repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each ‘mommy’; occasional crescendo to the
level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.
Lesson 11
Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the ‘mommy’ tape made from Lesson 10 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.
Posted in Pregnancy, Raising 3 Little Monkeys, Terrible Two's |
Tags: parenthood humor, parenting, Pregnancy, pregnancy humor |
2 Comments »
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My Little Devil
My Little Devil
Jumping Off the Bed on the Second Story Can Be Hazardous to Your Health!
So here’s todays dilemma! We have a 2 story house and I am forever yelling at my middle child, Christian, to not jump up and down or off the bed onto the floor. Come to think of it, I am yelling at my middle child like every other minute! I don’t know if it’s coincidence or if he really does have the middle child syndrome. He’s the most gorgeous little devil ever. Anyway, most of the time I yell at him not to jump because it’s so freaking loud and it sounds like he’s about ready to come through the floor. Other times it’s because the baby is asleep.
Well, today, I now have a real reason to tell him not to do that anymore! Christian, my 7 year old, has this really crazy habit of finding a pair of pants and wearing them until they crawl away. We just moved away from the army cargo shorts this summer to now, the cool faded jeans he refuses to change. So this morning, I made him go back upstairs and change his pants in fear his school might finally call and ask me if the child owned any other clothes! I do not want to jeopardize my mother of the year award!
So, he goes upstairs and starts jumping off the bed, because apparantly that is the correct way to get dressed, and bam! All of a sudden I hear glass shattering! I run out into the hallway and holy OMG, his elephant pouncing made the chandalier fall down and freaking shatter all over the hardwood floors!
So people, the next time your kids sound like a heard of animals on the 2nd floor, there is now a very good reason to yell at them. So when they ask why? You can tell them they might kill someone if the chandalier falls down and hits another family member in the head!
H1N1 and the Regular Flu Prevention
Dr. Vinay Goyal is an MBBS, DRM, DNB (Intensivist and Thyroid specialist) The following message was given by him– it makes a lot of sense and is The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, |
Posted in Family Health & Wellness, Raising 3 Little Monkeys |
Tags: flu prevention, H1N1 |
1 Comment »
Ah! Look at that Mess!!!
Seriously, how many times can a mom go through the terrible “2’s” and survive? I am going on the third round of terrible 2’s! You would think by the third time I would really have the bribery, persuasion and patience down by now! Well, nope, no such luck. All things could be resolved with Dum-Dum suckers with my boys, but my daughter is not having it! Her screaming fits are at a decibel so high I swear that most days my ears are bleeding! No amount of candy or persuasion works on her!
So lets start with the whole it’s time for bed routine. OMG, let the pleading and crying begin on the oh so long walk up the stairs. Then there’s the limp body routine while I’m holding her hand. Well sister, mommy can just pick you up! Then we finally make it to the bed and get with the good night song, bedtime prayers and 1 story. She seems so happy after 15 minutes of this. Then I kiss her one more time and make my way to the door and the screaming starts all over again and the begging and pleading for one more story, one more prayer and one more song! Oh, the tears break my heart, so I very quickly go through it all one more time and make my way to the door again! Boom, enter the waterfall again… This time I am not going to be manipulated and I leave the room, only to make it 3 feet down the hall to hear the pitter-patter of those feet that have climbed right back out of bed! I put her back in bed with promises of a trip to the candy store tomorrow for her favorite ring pop if she stays in bed. She seems to understand and agree. One more kiss and a quick song and off I go. This time I make it all the way down the stairs until I hear the pitter-patter of those cute little feet again. I stomp my feet very hard so she knows I mean business this time! I take her hand, walk her back to bed and this time with no song and no story I firmly say “Goodnight and do not get up again”! With the tears and whimpers, she says “otay mommy”. WooHoo, I have made it to the couch this time! It’s very quiet for about 6 minutes and then boom, the of the Two Year old hits again! I walk her back up again and this time I just said “screw it”, and plop my butt on the hallway floor because I am seriously sick and tired of walking up and down the 15 stairs. For crying tears if I wanted exercise, I would go to the gym! About 2 hours later and 50 more attempts, she finally fell asleep. You would think Yes, I can watch some TV, but no, I too fell asleep in the freaking hallway! I got up about 2 am to the cat scratching at my feet and the dog barking to get in the house because I forgot to let her in! I take care of the stupid dog and finally go to bed! Heaven on earth!
Oh for the love of God, my daughter wakes up at 4:00 a.m and comes into my bed! I lost again! I had no energy left, so she just cuddled up next to me, happy to be with mommy and we both just fell asleep. Maybe tomorrow I will win, but for now, I just want some sleep.
Well tomorrow comes and the same routine all over again! Aside from needing Nanny 911 to get me through this, I created my very own sure “fix it solution”! I put the crib rail back on and am saving the “big girl bed” for another time!
Wow, bedtime sure got easier again! She can cry and scream all she wants, but no longer can she get her little butt out of bed! Again this lasts for 3 solid nights until she finally realizes she can’t get out of bed and she finally stops trying!!! Yeah! Now maybe I can watch a movie for 7 minutes before I myself pass out!
To be continued…
Posted in Raising 3 Little Monkeys, Terrible Two's |
Tags: potty training, Terrible Two's, toddlers |
2 Comments »