How did your toddler do the last time he had to catch some shut-eye in a hotel crib? Did he actually shut his eyes? Some parents tote their own Pack-N-Plays to provide their children with a familiar place to sleep and to avoid having to pay extra for a crib. However, after viewing the results of an investigation by the consumer safety group, Safe Kids Worldwide, hotels would have to pay me (A LOT) to place my toddler in one of their cribs. The Safe Kids report exposed the poor quality of hotel cribs and the risk you are exposing … Continue reading →

Who says you have to break the bank to keep your toddler occupied on a long road trip? The following frugal ideas are simple, cost-effective, and will help you preserve your sanity while traveling to grandma’s house this summer: Make Your Own Books on Tape: Each year my mom presents my daughter with a backpack full of new books and cassettes of her reading each out loud. This is an ideal gift for toddlers who cannot read on their own. In addition to reading the words on each page, my mom describes the pictures, then instructs my daughter to “turn … Continue reading →

Magicians, clowns, petting zoos, bouncy houses, and five-tiered cakes in the shape of man-eating dinosaurs are just some of the ostentatious elements that have become commonplace at kiddie birthday parties. But with the economy in the dumpster and many parents looking for work, parties for kids (from toddlers to teens) have had to be scaled back or eliminated all together. Childhood experts say that parents shouldn’t mortgage their house to pay for a birthday extravaganza for a three-year-old. Rather, the key to commemorating a milestone is simply making it a meaningful day that your child will have fond memories of. … Continue reading →

What happens when your child is clearly smarter than you are… and she is only a toddler? You can ask Elise Tan Roberts parents, but they’ll tell you that they are still trying to figure out the answer themselves. The parents from North London were blessed with a healthy baby girl, who morphed into a genius tot. According to reports, at just 2 years, 6 months and 2 weeks old, Elise has an estimated I.Q. of 156 — putting her in the top 0.2 percent of children her age and qualifying her as the youngest member of Mensa, the well-known … Continue reading →

My parents live 5000 miles away from my young daughter. Yet, the three of them act as though they have lived together all of their lives. They are like peas in a pod, despite the miles that separate them. People are always amazed that while they only see each other for a few weeks twice a year, their bond is rock solid. We speak on the phone regularly and I send home videos to keep everyone updated on my daughter’s milestones, but I also try to bridge the gap between the two states by employing the following ideas: Photo Placemats … Continue reading →