I was particularly disturbed by a recent article in Newsweek. The magazine sat around my house for weeks (what parent has time to read a whole article?) until the article Tales of a Modern Diva caught my attention.
This story shared some shocking statistics about this generation of young girls, and their use of cosmetics that stopped me in my tracks. As a feminist and critic of the relentless media exposure most children face daily, I aggressively limit the amount of media my girls are exposed to. But ultimately, it will catch up with them, by way of their peers.
First of all, the whole idea that there is a reality show about the beauty industry of toddlers makes me nauseas (Toddlers and Tiaras on TLC). Add that to the fact that now there are actual spas for the girls and the preteen set, and I am tempted to take my girls and run for the hills in a hut with no Internet, TV and home schooling. In some ways, though, I might just be putting off the inevitable.
Habitat Heroes is the first global, social networking site for eco-kids. Created by Sharon Lowe, an Australian mother of three, after she observed her daughter online. Lowe decided her daughter and children like her needed a safe social network that was entertaining as well as worthwhile.
Receiving help from environmental experts the site was created and launched just in time for Earth Day 2009. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ll admit that I totally used to watch TLC’s Jon & Kate Plus Eight. We don’t have cable, but my grandparents do, and what ELSE is there to do when we visit them but watch the Jon & Kate Plus Eight marathon that it seems is always on?
And sure, I really enjoyed the show at first. The little kids were cute, and it was entertaining to spend an hour seeing two adults tearing their hair out trying to complete the simplest of tasks, like grocery shopping, or getting dressed, with six toddlers and two older kids.
And the parents? They were AWESOME! Kate’s obsessive need to dress the kids identically and keep a fastidious house clashing with her husband’s desire to just chill–now that’s entertainment.
I visited my grandpa at Christmas, though, and again for Spring Break, and I was disturbed to see that the tenor of Jon & Kate Plus Eight has really changed over its few seasons. The show has gone from a documentary about how to parent through the hard times, with integrity and an emphasis on maintaining family connections, to a documentary about a couple of stage parents and all the misery they put their unloved and ill-behaved little kids through in order to bring in the cash. Here’s why I think Jon & Kate Plus Eight has become distinctly family-unfriendly, both for me to watch and for Jon and Kate and their children to live through: Read the rest of this entry »
This great video has been circulating around the birth-activist regions of the blogosphere recently, since it first aired a few days ago. It’s a television commercial for a bed, and the characters in the commercial are no actors. It’s actual scenes from an actual family, giving birth at home while a peaceful soundtrack plays, and voiceovers talk about the miracle, the specialness, the joy of birth, and the tradition of birthing at home.
There is no fretting about whether or not home birth is safe. There is no screaming and panicking. There is a secure and confident woman with her family by her side, bringing her baby into the world in front of our very eyes.
Recently I was given a Thumbelina doll and DVD to review.
The DVD is lovely, it’s a great story, a classic even. Thumbelina is a fairy that lives in harmony with nature. If you have a little girl, you already know that they love faeries, and glitter, and shiny things. Some folks hate Barbie, I think she’s the ultimate feminist. She’s had almost 100 jobs, and done them all with grace.
Thumbelina is the classic tale of even the tiniest person making a difference. In this DVD Thumbelina lives in the forest, in harmony with nature. Thumbelina is instrumental in keeping the Twillerbees’ home from being demolished.
Who doesn’t love a story that kids can apply to the headlines? Overdevelopment is a very real issue in our world and if our kids have a heightened awareness of it, perhaps they will opt against it in twenty years when they have the checkbooks.
It’s a great story, much along the lines of Hoot, only it’s a magical fantasy. The Thumbelina doll that I was given to review opens up into a flower when you press a button. It’s very simple and reminds of the Barbie’s I used to play with. I love that the doll is packaged in matte recycled cardboard, but I’m sure that Thumbelina’s curviness and a short dress will not delight some. The movie is far less seductive than the doll, but still if you are wildly protective of your daughter’s modesty this is not the toy for you. Read the rest of this entry »
Earth Day is a fantastic holiday. I’ve heard folks say that it’s the most celebrated secular holiday ever.
This year to celebrate Earth Day Disneynature, Disney’s new independent film label, will release their first film, Earth. Earth is narrated by James Earl Jones and tells the remarkable story of three animal families and their amazing journey across the planet we all call home. Earth combines rare action, unimaginable scale and impossible locations by capturing the most intimate moments of our planet’s wildest and most elusive creatures. Directors Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield, the acclaimed creative team behind the Emmy Award-winning “Planet Earth” series combine forces again to bring this epic adventure to the big screen, beginning Earth Day 2009. To celebrate the film’s theatrical release, Disneynature will be planting a tree in the endangered Brazilian Atlantic Rain Forest in honor of every person who sees the film during its opening week! Read the rest of this entry »
I blog for the Lorax who speaks for the trees.
Watch this video, read the book, and–I beg from my knees–
Do everything you can to clean up the earth, PLEASE!
Dr. Seuss’s, The Lorax has long been a popular environmental children’s book. In his magical display of rhyming and timing Dr. Seuss shines a light on the effects “progress” has on the environment. The movie of course is not as good as the book–but it’s fun to hear the Lorax speak, watch the Onceler’s empire grow , and hear songs created just for this animated special.
My favorite quote in the movie (which is not in the book) is:
“I speak for the trees and I’ll yell and I’ll shout for the fine things on earth that are on their way out!”-The Lorax
Watch the video with your kid(s) after the break. And pick up the book–it’s even better!
Ugh. Kid music. Who wants to listen to faa-laa-laas and cheeriness worthy of Disney 24/7?
Sorry. I gotta be honest with you: Not me. If you fancy yourself a sassy and hip parent, sometime the Raffi can be a little hard on the ears. And right about now, you may be planning the big family trips: what to listen to on the way to the campsite?
But I found the perfect sound, dubbed a “postmodern jug band” and “Hee-Haw for hipsters,”in Asylum Street Spankers,
You only love me for my lunchbox, baby.
You only love me ’cause it rules.
You only love me for my lunchbox, baby.
‘Cause it’s the coolest one in school!
Now all the other kids are standing in line
‘Cause they ain’t never seen a lunchbox so fine
And everything inside it tastes so divine!
I’ll admit that I totally used to watch TLC’s 
