LilSugar

Guess the Carpool Lane Celebrity Parents

LilSugar — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 06:00:22 -0700

It's back-to-school season and celeb parents are gearing up for another year of drop-offs and pickups, albeit with a few cameras in their faces. Before gathering your number two pencils and clean marble notebooks, take our quiz and see if you can guess which celeb moms and dads were spotted in the carpool line.

Enter to win a $1,000 wardrobe for your child from Tea Collection!

Question 1 of 10

Which mama was spotted carrying an art project while picking up her lil ones from school?

School Year's Resolutions: Budget-Friendly School Supplies

LilSugar — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 06:50:15 -0700

Keep most of your money in your wallet while you stock up for the school year. As parents and kids prepare to head back to school, retailers are expecting families to spend 7.7 percent less than they have in years' past.

Staying within a tight school supply budget doesn't mean that the kiddos have to sacrifice their Hannah Montana logoed merchandise for characters they've never seen before. Check out our tips for spreading your dollars as far as possible.

Discuss wants versus needs. Allow the kids to pick one special item they want for the school year – be it a special backpack, a logoed notebook, or nice pens – before ever leaving home.
Shop early. The sagging economy has forced retailers to cut their school supply inventory dramatically, meaning they will be advertising their best sales early in the season, rather than later. Almost half of all shoppers plan to do their back-to-school shopping a month before school begins to take advantage of the sales.
Stock up on basics. Take advantage of the pre-schoolyear prices – as much as your budget allows - to build up your supply of basics like paper, pens, crayons, markers, etc.
Check online in addition to newspaper circulars. Many stores offer additional coupons on their web sites to the ones found in your weekly newspaper.
Leave no stone unturned. Before heading to your office superstore or major discounter, check your kiddo's closets, desks, and even backpack from last year to see just which supplies you need. Many may still be unused from previous school years.

Enter to win a $1,000 wardrobe for your child from Tea Collection!

Simple or Swank: Laptop Computers

babysugar — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 10:00:00 -0700

When I'm not playing with my kids or hanging out with my husband, I am usually attached to my laptop. So it is no surprise that my daughter is crazy about her own computer. She likes to put it on her lap and tap away on the keyboard while saying, "I'm jus' checkin' my wubsite Mom." If she wants to look like me, I need to get her one of these bad boys.
Simple: Meant for children age five and up, the Vtech Nitro Notebook - Original is quite a deal at $50. The chic, geek gear has games and activities that encourage wee ones to read in two different languages!
Swank: Much like its simpler counterpart, the Vtech Color Blast Notebook ($130) also engages youngsters in games, activities and foreign languages. For an extra $80, kids can look like mini Mac users while enjoying a sizable color screen and learning more subjects: math, science, and history! Perfect for budding Einsteins age six and up.

Track Diapers and Feedings on Lullaboards Baby Log

LilSugar — Wed, 27 May 2009 10:38:19 -0700

New parents anxiously track their wee one's feedings and changes. While some rely on notebooks and loose-leaf paper, others count on electronic devices to do the dirty work for them.

For the eco-conscience mom, Lullaboards ($28) is a dry erase system for reporting a baby or toddler's daily duties. The boards come with an attached dry erase marker and magnets and adhesives to attach to any surface. The boards are available in baby and toddler editions with numerous design options to choose from. Depending on the edition, the boards have space for recording feeding sessions, nap-times, diaper duty and to-do lists.

Take a Hike to Entertain and Engage Your Youngster

LilSugar — Wed, 13 May 2009 09:00:38 -0700

Fresh air, green leaves and singing birds can put anyone in the mood for a good hike. In addition to the aerobic exercise hiking provides, it's a great way to spend some quality time with family and friends. Given a tot's natural curiosity about their surroundings, kids make excellent hiking partners, if parents go into the activity realizing that they might not reach their end point, mileage or exercise goals during the outing.

Hiking with children involves frequent stops, sedate trails and some extra gear. Youngsters normally focus on the excitement of a new experience rather than the destination so finding a local trail or creek to walk along will suffice.

To capture their curiosity, be sure to bring along "tools" that will help your lil one gain the most from the experience. Butterfly nets, assorted plastic containers for storing pebbles and leaves, a canteen and a magnifying glass will add intrigue to the excursion. The outing should also provide many opportunities for capturing memories – either through the eye of a camera or a notebook where kids sketch their surroundings.

For more information on what parents should pack when hiking with their offspring, read more.

Packing for a hike with kids is no easy feat. Depending on the ages of the tots, diapers, snacks and changes of clothing should be packed – even for the shortest of outings. Safe Kids USA also recommends the following precautions.

Keep first aid supplies and emergency phone numbers handy, and know where the nearest phone is located. Cell phones might not work in remote areas. Let friends and relatives know where you’re going and when you’re coming home.
Dress children in layers of clothing to help prevent heat-related illness and hypothermia. A child’s body temperature changes faster than an adult’s.
Never let children hike alone.
Don’t push kids to go on a longer or more strenuous hike than they can handle. Exhausted children are more likely to fall, wander off or otherwise get injured. Bring plenty of drinking water or sports drinks and high-energy snacks.
Kids should wear hiking boots and clothing that offers protection from scrapes, bites and poisonous plants. Following the manufacturer’s instructions, apply insect repellent to a child’s clothing and exposed skin.
Apply sunscreen rated SPF 15 or higher to your child’s exposed skin 15 to 30 minutes before going out, and reapply frequently. (It is possible to get a sunburn in cloudy conditions.)

Most of all, it's important to remember that the hike is a journey. Getting out in the great outdoors with your wee ones is an ideal way to spend the day.
Source

Six- and 7-Year-Old German Kids Set Out to Elope in Africa

LilSugar — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:00:53 -0800

I'm pretty sure this surpasses the term puppy love. A couple of German children decided to skip doodling each other's names on their notebooks and set out to elope in Africa. And, they weren't about to skimp on any details. After devising a plan while their families celebrated New Year's Eve together, the kids packed all the marriage and honeymoon must haves - sunglasses, swimming trunks, a lilo, and a sibling!

One report said:

The pair identified as Mika and Anna-Lena "are very much in love and decided to get married in Africa where it is warm, taking with them as a witness Anna-Lena's little sister, aged five," police spokesman Holger Jureczko told AFP.

The tykes took off while their parents slept and boarded a nearby tram en route to a central station where the tots could connect with another train to the airport. There, a security guard got suspicious and contacted police, who alerted the lovebirds' parents.

Source

Mommy's Lil Helper: BlackBerry

LilSugar — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 06:00:06 -0700

When you don't have a pen and paper, introduce your preschooler to technology. I normally carry a notebook and pencil in my purse so my daughter can doodle if we get stuck in a long line or dressing room, but the other day an impromptu trip to the mall turned into an hour of waiting while my husband got fitted for suits. Though my purse was loaded with items to entertain an almost-2-year-old, my son slept and my daughter wasn't all that interested in toying around his Hot Wheels.

She is, however, learning to write the alphabet, so I handed her my BlackBerry, opened the memo setting, and asked her to write her name and age. Then, we killed time and sharpened her letter recognition skills by identifying different letters and numbers from the keyboard. And, of course, I taught her how to make a happy face!

Lil's Favorite Five: Boys of Summer

LilSugar — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:00:35 -0700

As store aisles fill with pencils and notebooks and children get ready to head back to school, the sun is setting on another Summer. Wee ones grow up fast these days, especially in Tinseltown, so it's fun to see our favorite lil rascals running wild, catching waves, and being, well, kids. Check out this slideshow of a few of Hollywood's hottest tots and how they kept cool.

View Slideshow ›

Simple or Swank: Fashionable Tube Socks

babysugar — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 07:00:28 -0700

Heading back to school means stocking up on basic items like notebooks, pencils, socks, tees and sneakers. A popular brand among elementary and tween girls, Juicy Couture makes frilly and sporty gear to suit the most posh of princesses. The problem is not every mom can (or wants to) pay the label's high prices. Check out these trendy tube socks that are nearly indecipherable.

Simple: Get the festive tube look with the colorful hearts and skulls on a pair of $3 Old Navy socks.
Swank: If you must wear the label, the "Juicy Couture Addict" or "The Queen Wears Juicy" footwear may suit your fancy. Buyer beware . . . the $48 four pack is hardly a steal!

Should Chelsea Have Answered the Kids Questions?

LilSugar — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 07:00:54 -0800

Presidential candidates are all about the future, but what about their kids who are the next generation? When Scholastic News student reporters questioned the candidate's children, their inquires were welcomed by most from Cate Edwards to Tagg Romney. But former White House daughter, Chelsea Clinton was tight lipped.

A recent Associated Press article said:

"Fifth-grader Kyle Nowak of Nevada met Chelsea Clinton, the former first lady's daughter, at a campaign event for her mother in Las Vegas. While she did not answer questions, she signed a page in his notebook, "To Kyle, Support Hillary!"

And, the piece said Chelsea denied a nine-year-old's question at another campaign event. It said:

"I'm sorry, I don't talk to the press and that applies to you, unfortunately. Even though I think you're cute," she told the Scholastic News' student reporter.

Do you think these kids should be considered press?

Source