LilSugar

My Kid Is Not Up For Adoption!

babysugar — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:00:00 -0700

Posting photos online has pros and cons. Families separated by mountains and seas can share photos and stories instantaneously, but there are hazards to the free space as well. A Massachusetts mother recently discovered her son was being falsely advertised on Craigslist for adoption. A good Samaritan of sorts notified the woman that her kid's photos were being used by a scammer.

Following up on her lead, the curious mom emailed the poster and asked for a picture of the child that they looked to place. Much to her surprise, the mommy was horrified to see her own child staring back at her. Safe in his home, the impostor pulled off his stunt by swiping the picture of the youngster from the family's blog with hopes of collecting a $300 fee to start an adoption process. This is a red flag for the many women sharing their experiences on mommy blogs. Do you openly share photos of your family online?

Do Mom Bloggers Take It Too Far?

LilSugar — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 06:00:05 -0800

When moms blog, we often broadcast aspects of our lives including stories about our partners and tidbits about our children similar to how women swap stories (or vent) at the playground. Do you think it's appropriate?

Mommy Bloggers and UNICEF Unite to Wipe Out Tetanus

LilSugar — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 08:00:46 -0700

As mothers, it is our instinct to help those we see in harm's way - the fallen child on the playground, the lost lil one in the supermarket or the tot running toward traffic, but it's hard to assist those that we do not see, people who struggle just to survive. At the Pampers Mommy Blogger Event earlier this month, I had the great pleasure of meeting Caryl Stern, the President and CEO of the US Fund for UNICEF. She is both an inspiring woman and a mother of three who is committed to wiping out tetanus, which killed 140,000 babies and 30,000 mothers last year. These deaths are preventable with a vaccine that costs five cents.

Pampers has partnered with UNICEF on this cause and allowed us to screen an internal video they made for their employees. After watching this footage of Bryan McCleary (director of external relations for P&G baby care) in Angola, there was not a dry eye in the room or a blogger who wasn't committed to making a difference. We asked that Pampers release this video so we could share it with our readers and inspire them to join the movement to help fellow mothers and babies around the world. Please be warned that there is an image of a baby who contracted tetanus in the tape.
To find out how you can contribute to wiping out tetanus, read more.

Mommy Bloggers Get Pampered

LilSugar — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 08:00:00 -0700

Aside from incredibly cute commercials of sleeping babies or offering my kids amazing leak protection, I've never given much thought to Pampers. When Proctor & Gamble invited me to be their guest at a mommy bloggers event in Cincinnati, I kept an open mind, but knew the two days could end up being a corporate panel of suits trying to push us to peddle their wares on our websites. Curious to see why they were summoning women of the web and which, if any, environmental practices the company had adopted, I boarded the plane. In Ohio, I met fourteen amazing mothers that blog from across the country - New York, Hawaii, Georgia, even Appalachia. We were warmly welcomed by fellow parents, the Pampers executives, who shared the reasons why they are committed to children. To hear their stories, read more. One big wig spent time in an orphanage as a baby prior to being adopted, and another staffer traveled to Asia to adopt her two daughters. As the execs shared tales of their global efforts from taking long winter walks with mothers in Moscow to exploring inserts for children's split pants in China, it was clear these people were impassioned by their work.

My whirlwind jaunt to Ohio turned out to be incredibly informative and in regards to the company's charitable efforts, moving. Stay tuned for more posts on everything from indicator diapers to our meeting with the CEO of UNICEF and her efforts to end infant death from tetanus around the world.

Lil Links: Mommy Blogger Fakes Pregnancy With Ill Child

LilSugar — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:00:18 -0700

"Mommy" blogger fakes pregnancy with terminally ill child - The Mommy Files
Carnie Wilson gave birth to a baby girl! - Celebrity Baby Blog
Jessica and Honor pucker up in Paris - Celebrity Baby Scoop
Zen blocks bring balance to the playroom - Inhabitots
Depression linked to bedtimes - ParentDish
Which subjects should be taught in school but aren't? -Cafemom

School Year's Resolutions: Edit What Goes on Internet!

LilSugar — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 13:15:28 -0700

As the kiddos return to school, proud parents will snap shots of their children heading into class. Some mommy bloggers have launched photo contests encouraging fellow moms to upload pictures of their youngsters under their school signs. Tweens post their class assignments and schedules on Facebook to compare with friends. Young athletes tweet the location of their sports practice and games. And looking to hang out with others, kids twitter their whereabouts and contact information. While technology allows families the benefit of being constantly connected, take precaution. Too much seemingly harmless information on public sites allows strangers access to your personal lives. Here are some good tips to follow on public forums:

Do not post pictures of your children with uniforms or signs that identify where they go to school.
Do not post your child's class or sports schedule.
Educate your tweens so they do not tweet their whereabouts.
Do not publish personal contact information including phone numbers and addresses.
Do not publish the means of transportation your child uses - pictures of car with license plate, bus line, or the route they walk.

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

Will Wal-Mart's New Cookies Hurt the Girl Scouts?

YumSugar — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 10:30:00 -0700

Over the years, world's biggest retailer Wal-Mart has been the source of heated scrutiny for many organizations, from labor unions to environmental groups. The grocery giant's latest purported victim? The Girl Scouts.

According to Ad Age, the corporation, which has focused on expanding its Great Value private label, handed out test versions of its cookies at Chicago's recent BlogHer conference. One Ohio mommy blogger - and former Girl Scout cookie mom - took immediate notice of the cookies' resemblance to Girl Scout varieties.

"Wal-Mart has copied the Girl Scouts' two best selling cookie types, Thin Mints and Tagalongs," wrote C.V. Harquail on her blog, Authentic Organizations. "There goes the Girl Scout cookies' special allure, and there go the profits that fund the Girl Scouts' programs."

The issue, which has already garnered a reasonable amount of attention, once again raises the question of the corporation's concern for its community. Do you think the new cookies will cannibalize sales of Girl Scout cookies? Is Wal-Mart responsible for considering the impact of its sales on its surroundings - or is it up to the Girl Scouts to evolve with the times?

Source: Flickr User zaui

Lil Links: Jude Law to Be a Daddy Again

babysugar — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:00:49 -0700

Jude Law was informed that a woman he was with at the end of last year is pregnant - PopSugar UK
Katherine Jackson, the 79-year-old mother of Michael Jackson, will raise Michael's children - Celebrity Baby Scoop
David Duchovny, Tea Leoni and kids bond over the Beatles - Celebrity Baby Blog
What's in that bottle? - Parentdish
Baby mama surrogate finder application for the iPhone - CafeMom
Are sonogram cakes a do or a don't? - Momversation
Angie Everhart talks pregnancy and what it's like to be a pregnant model - Fit Pregnancy
When life revolves around nap time - The Poop
Birth announcement from fellow mommy blogger Candy Kirby..."she's hee-eeere! - Laughing Stork

2009 Sundance Spotlight: Motherhood and Grace

BuzzSugar — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:30:07 -0800

While I won't be heading down to the 2009 Sundance Film Festival this year, I will be sorting through the humongous pile of festival entries to share with you some of the films I think look most promising. From quirky documentaries to talented young filmmaker debuts to a potential runaway hit, Sundance is filled with entertainment possibilities.

Today's spotlight is kind of fun in that both of these selections have some provocative points of view regarding motherhood and make for a nice - if a little weird - themed post. Check them out:

Motherhood
"Mommy blogging" is a pretty popular thing to do, what with many new moms wanting to document each and every step of their parental journeys. This movie, starring Uma Thurman and Minnie Driver, looks like it takes a darkly humorous look at the life of one such mommy blogger. Motherhood follows Uma's character Eliza who "has to throw her daughter's sixth birthday party, battle for a parking space, chase her toddler son, navigate playground politics, repair a botched birthday cake, contemplate a fling with a sexy messenger half her age, juggle a career-changing opportunity, find time to have a breakdown, briefly run away from home, and realize what is truly valuable in her life - all in one day." Sounds kind of funny, actually

You can check out a clip of Motherhood in which Minnie Driver's character is pretty peeved at Uma's character for blogging about her here.

To see another one of my Sundance finds that has to do with a very, very different kind of motherhood, just read more.

Grace
Um. So. This movie looks really disturbing and that's a huge understatement. I'm not totally sure I'll ever be able to see this myself, but I feel compelled to share with you my awe that this is out there in the world. Grace is about a pregnant woman who is "determined to carry the stillborn baby to term, where she miraculously wills the delivered corpse into life. But it is not too long before the increasingly isolated mother realizes that something is not right with baby Grace, and she must make horrible sacrifices to keep her living." One reviewer who watched this at Sundance describes it in this way: "If you are the sort of person who might enjoy an effed-up gore fest about a woman who delivers an undead baby, you can rest assured that Grace lives up to its potential." It sounds nuts!

Here's the teaser trailer. Nothing insane happens per se, but there is a baby with blood on it and other stuff that makes for a generally disturbing video-watching experience. Proceed with caution.

Photos courtesy of Sundance

Four Bloggers Talk About Parenthood

LilSugar — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 06:00:00 -0800

We asked four of our favorite mommy and daddy bloggers to answer a few questions about parenthood and the lil loves of their lives - their children - for Valentine's Day. In case you missed their honest and witty answers, check out our slideshow to see all that they had to say!

View Slideshow ›