Valentine’s Day is a day for couples and lovers but pre-schoolers have been taught early about showing love and appreciation for that special someone. They love this day, too! And they love giving out heart candies and short notes to other kids.

Celebrating Valentine’s day with your children is a fun activity you can do together. Here are some ideas to commemorate this day with your kids:

1. Go on a special “date”. Daddies can take the daughters while mom’s can “date” the sons. The best date for kids would be a trip to the ice cream parlor or spending time playing bumper cars. As a child, I used to love this special moments spent with just my Dad and it makes for one memorable time any child would treasure.

2. Spend movie night at home and let the children pick the film. The parents can prepare the popcorn and drinks and simply just have fun as a family.

3. Take a leisurely walk in the park in the late afternoon. I know that this may be a usual activity most families do, but how often do you do this with every member? Make it a point for everyone to be present. It’s the day of togetherness and love.

4. Create special cards for someone special in the family. Have your daughter craft a homemade card for Dad. Have your son do the same for Mom. Most young kids love doing something special for their parents.

Hope you celebrate this day with love and happiness in your heart!

After you have a baby, especially a first child, life becomes busy in ways most never dream of.  There isn’t much time to do much else than taking care of your newborn and their needs.  Especially during those first few months, it is almost impossible to keep in touch with friends.

However, even after life settles back down into a more comfortable routine keeping in touch with friends still may be placed on the back burner.  There are a million and one excuses, and it does happens but picking up that telephone and calling can have some great benefits for you.

Even though you may other things that seems to take over the forefront in your mind, making some time to catch up and get together with good friends can really make a lot of difference in how you feel.  While even if your own parenthood status among your friends is more unique, and have more childless friends, call them and just catch up.

Be assured that while your friends love you and your child, and may ask some questions about your child try not to overload them with all the little details.  While it is tempting, and we have all been there more than likely your friends are more interested in hearing other news about you.  Especially if it has been a while since you last talked.  Sure, that potty training is really exciting, but generally speaking you friends more than likely don’t need (or want) all the details.

That’s not to say you should put a complete ban on talking about your child (or children), but keep it minimal.  While it may be assuring that your friends will more than likely one day have kids of their own, and eventually understand the want to talk about them, now try to keep the baby talk minimal.

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Like many modern moms, I have all those little social networks as my stops online.  It’s primarily due to them that I can stay in touch with friends and family that otherwise I would have lost contact with a long time ago. 

Besides, let’s face it- social networking can be incredibly fun. 

Also like a lot of other moms, I have quite a few mom friends online too.  Most of them are a lot more talkative about their children that I am, as I tend to take the private route.  With many of those friends, you wouldn’t even have to be right there to know what’s going on at any given time with them, their children, and every other little detail.

Unfortunately, this same openness has also seemingly erased any real acknowledgement of things that may be left not online.  While at some point most people have secretly laughed at some of the digital faux-paux online, many of the same people who wouldn’t dream of doing ‘something like that’ could still putting themselves at risk.  Maybe even in ways they aren’t thinking of.

The case of a mom who recently found her child at the center of a Craigslist adoption scam recently found this out the hard way.  While yes, her child was home and not going to be kidnapped- the entire incident left her understandably shaken. 

When it comes to our children, everything is exciting.  In a world of firsts it can be hard to not over-share all those firsts, and besides (and especially for parents) they are exciting.  With digital cameras you can take a ton of photos and post them all in a matter of seconds, and really with our cell phones- it really doesn’t take much to update everyone on all those same things.s

A simple ‘first’ update with a photo can have some lasting problems for children, especially in their later years.   Kids can be cruel, and if your blog or status updates are uncovered by a bully, that really won’t bode well for your child.

Also considering the sheer amount of people online, and how many people may be on your ‘friends’ list, many that you may not really know- there’s always the chance that someone with some not so great intentions may stumble upon those photos.

The easiest way to protect yourself is really to keep private.  Be it by not sharing too much, or just remembering to to update privacy settings on your social networks.

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Families come in so many different shapes and forms that it’s hard to imagine that there is still some surprise when it comes to some ‘configurations’.  Yet there still is what one could assume, some left over animosity towards some, especially fathers, who choose to be the ‘homemaker’.

While that term in and of itself has fallen drastically out of favor, it still does normally conjure images of a June Cleaver clone happily working away for her family (although, most will also admit there is no such thing as a June Cleaver clone).  However, today- many dads are now taking over on the home front, while mom works.Yet, sometimes- mom can earn more.

So, it just makes sense that she is the one out in the workforce.  For so long it was just expected that a dad would be the breadwinner.  It’s become the cliché and the stereotype.

While this is something that would more than likely be shocking in the years past, it’s a family set up that really does work for many.  One could suppose that it’s become the social norm for either both parents to work, or just mom stay home- it’s comfortable to many. 

Why do some people find it so shocking when dad is the stay at home parent?   Any ideas?

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Having your child snuggled in using a baby carrier is a great way to promote parent- child bonding.  However if your child has one of the many issues that requires proper leg support these same carriers posed many issues and concerns.  Even if your child didn’t have one of these issues, proper leg support is still an important feature to ward off potential future problems in the growing muscles.

NAP Inc has introduced the first soft structured baby carrier with proper and full leg supports, called the Boba.  They are simple to use (just slide in your child’s feet) and support your baby’s growing legs.

From the Press Release:

The backpack-style Boba ensures that the toddler’s knees are supported and the legs are placed at a natural 90-degree angle. When the child is seated in this flexed abducted position (legs apart, knees bent) and oriented towards the carrying adult, their hips and pelvis naturally align to support and take pressure off of the spine which means increased support and increased comfort for the baby or toddler. In addition, the design of the Boba uses more material providing higher back support.

This is a brilliant design, and truly supports your child’s growing frame and extremities.  It also supports your comfort as well, using many other features.  Baby wearing is popular, but a few problems can make the practice painful, a proper fit and proper support of your child however reduces the risk of pain.

Additional benefits of the Boba include:

Additional Boba benefits for babies, toddlers and parents include:

• The most affordable organic and locally made soft structured baby carrier available on the market.
• Eco-friendly – shell and batting made with GOTS and OE100 certified organic cotton and lined with 100% organic Texas cotton. No pesticides or herbicides are used – ever.
• Extremely easy to wear and use with the option of carrying the child on the adult’s front or back. Parents can be ready to go in just minutes.
• Strong enough to carry a child weighing 15 to 45 lbs.
• Lightweight for adults – Boba weighs less than 2 lbs.
• Eliminates the feeling of wearing an expedition backpack – no poles or metal parts. The soft Boba is compact, adjustable, gently form fitting, and is 15″ tall x 16″ wide.
• Super secure waist belt comes with a triple lock military grade buckle to ensure child is safe at all times.
• Completely adjustable and easily fits moms and dads of all shapes and sizes.
• Available in six sophisticated, earth-inspired color choices that will match any outfit.

Boba is available for $99.00. Visit http://www.bobacarrier.com to purchase online or to find out more information regarding retail availability nationwide.

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