Beyond Santa Claus
According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics, the United States had 902,270 public charities in 2006. You can choose to give you money to help build houses for the poor, find cures for diseases, protect endangered animals, or help children learn to read. The problem isn’t finding a charity to support, but narrowing down your options and choosing the one you find most worthy.
Personalized gifts add a little something to any Christmas, Birthdays, or just about any special occassion. Not only do they help a child to feel special but they also become a worthwhile and cherished memory.
There are a number of personalized gifts for kids that can be given but music and books help to provide a lasting memory that is not just a treasured possession but can have educational benefits as well.
Getting your child to read can be a difficult challenge especially in the day and age of video games, computers and loads of television programming. Personalized books can be a fun way to get your child interested in reading along with their favorite characters. Your child’s name is placed within the text of each story making them feel like an active part of the adventure and getting them interested in reading. This can provide not only hours of quality time and a love of reading but also an increase in academic awareness that can help your child throughout their life as they learn to read. Personalized books can also help with name recognition, which is an important part, and step to self-awareness in children.
READ More on Personalize This Christmas With a Personalized Childrens Gift
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My son and I usually get up early the day after Thanksgiving and spend a couple hours hitting the Black Friday sales. And you know what? That is about all the “bricks and mortar” shopping I do. Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving is the start of the online shopping frenzy. I have discovered the joy of online shopping, and it sure does make Christmas a whole lot easier and more fun –- I get my shopping done from the comfort of home after the kids are in bed. No schlepping through the mall, trying to find a parking place, waiting in line to check out, and then trying to sneak packages into the house.
- We get mail! What is more exciting for kids than the UPS truck stopping in front of their house and delivering a mysterious brown box? But I can leave the box securely taped shut until I am ready to open it far away from prying eyes.
- I can find more unusual gifts. My daughter collects Statue of Liberty items and one of sons collects owls. I have been able to find cool items for their collections that I would never find on a store shelf at the mall.
Filed under Gifts, Parenting, Thanksgiving, Toys by
Have you discovered the world of podcasts yet? A podcast is an audio or video recording posted on a website that you can download to your computer or MP3 player and play anytime. Podcasts are a great way to learn new information and keep up on trends while you are driving, exercising, cooking, etc.
So have your kids ever asked why does Mommy and Daddy go away all day? For many families having both mom and dad work is a neccesity. In these situations parenting can be a challenge. It is important to remember that just because we have children, it doesn't mean we can work to earn a living any less than before the kids arrived. Today more and more households that have children are maintained by Mothers and Fathers that who both hold full time careers. It is inevitable to have to work full time in order to make a good living for you and your children, but how do you explain to them the reason why you are gone all day? How do you keep them from feeling that you don't care enough to be at home all of the time? READ More on Working Parents – Juggling Kids and a Career
Thankyou very much for joining our Newsletter. Don't forget to check your email. Very soon you will be receiving an email from us. Please open that email and confirm your subsciption. This is to prevent spam and unauthorized use of your email address.
As a special thankyou we are offering all our new subscribers a special coupon. So be sure to check your email and confirm your subscription. Our main site offers personalized childrens gifts such as personalized books and music CD's that use your childs name throughout the story or CD. It is truely a unique gift your child will charish for years to come. Watch for the coupon in the email you will be receiving after you confirm your subscription. Its our way of welcoming you to More4kids.
Regards,
Julie and Kevin
"More4kids, because kids don't come with instructions"
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Welcome to the 37th Carnival of Family Life. Our family here at More4kids is very happy to be the host this week. Everyone is in for a special treat if you have not experienced a blog carnival before. The Carnival of Family Life is where people share their thoughts, stories and experiences on Family, Spouse, Children, Kids, Pets, Mom, Dad, or just about anything family related. This weeks Carnival is informative, funny and inspiring. So, sit back, relax and enjoy this weeks festivities!
Celebrations and Birthdays
We are going to start out with a very special celebration. Babylune, is an informational resource for women recovering from childbirth. It has just celebrated its first birthday this week. Remember any of these benchmarks from your own births? Congratulations as Kate celebrates Year One posted at Babylune.
Denise offers a fun family birthday tradition. A birthday present hunt. Read I'm your birthday present. Can you find me? posted at Let's play math!. Umm, I will have to try that on my sons fith birthday, it sounds like fun.
Save money by making your own birthday cake. I think a homemade cake just makes a birthday celebration even more special. I really enjoyed this article. Stephanie shares her experience with making a homemade birthday cake for their daughters 5th birthday in Homemade Birthday Cake posted at Stop the Ride!. Happy Birthday!
Family Stories
What did your family do this New Years? Laurie Bluedorn shares their story New Year?s Eve Party and a Contest For You! posted at Trivium Pursuit.
Everybody likes to talk about their family, especially if you have kids – but where do you draw the line when it comes to pictures, video, and even names? Rory presents Just How Far Should A Personal Blog Go? posted at hamelife.
Kelly, at Pass the Torch, shares the ups and downs of homeschooling after three months of the "experiment." in The homeschool experiment – three month review posted at Pass The Torch.
Does it pay to be a little bit sneaky for the benefit of your child? See what Christine did in Sometimes being a Sneaky Mom is a Good Thing! posted at arewethereyetmom.com.
We often think about what we can teach out children, but what can they teach us? I often think about that. Looking at ways kids do things can often help us think 'outside' the box. That is why I especially enjoyed reading Lessons From My Daughter – Creativity posted at My Wealth Builder. It reminded me of what our children can teach us parents if we open our minds a bit.
While her husband does not understand why Lara likes to read and re-read books, Lara talks about her love for reading and passing this love to her children in Re-Reading posted at The Open Door.
Linda, aka TherapyDoc thinks and reflects about something that happened 14 years ago when her middle daughter cut school in Skipping School posted at Everyone needs therapy? Lessons from a family therapist.
Tonya at There Is A Season shares with us this cute conversation with her youngest daughter in Conversations with Lu Lu
Praveen's son like to be read Little Bo Peep. Preveen ponders that it teaches the ideas of passivity, trust , and letting things take their natural course in Tao of Simplicity: Little Bo Peep – Taoist Nursery Rhyme? posted at Tao of Simplicity.
MamaDuck presents another episode in the life of her son Lil Duck in Why stickers before coffee are a bad, bad thing posted at Lil Duck Duck.
Activities, Arts and Crafts
So its winter, your kids are at home, bored, and going a bit stir crazy with being cooped up in the house. Melissa at Crafty Places gives us some "crafty and fun" ideas in Keeping Children Occupied During the Chill of Winter
Lori at Fun Play Dates shares a fun outdoor activity in Winter Outdoor Activity for Kids – Create a Great Angel Craft
Here is one mother's attempt to duplicate her daughter's imaginative time on an etch-a-sketch. Miscellaneous Mum presents Keira, artiste extraordinaire posted at Miscellanous Adventures of an Aussie Mum.
I would have never thought of some of these uses for a sterilizer bowl! Erica Douglas presents 4 Alternative Uses For A Sterilizer posted at Littlemummy.Com.
Keeping your childs room clean and your house clean for that matter can be a daunting task for parents of young children. Hsien Lei gives us some great ideas in Cleaning Kid Clutter posted at Play Library.
Family Vacations
Darlene at Every One Loves To Travel offers some great family travel tips in her article Family Travel Tips – Let The Fun Begin
Winter vacations can be a great getaway. Silicon Valley Blogger presents her families vacation in Walking In A Winter Wonderland For $1,300 posted at The Digerati Life.
Joanne shares a ski resort vacation in About the Ski Resort posted at Vacationing With Kids.
Health
Baby Jaundice is very important to diagnose early. Our youngest son born in June of this year had a touch of Jaundice. Everyone expecting a new one should read Lisa's article on Jaundice posted at Let's Talk Babies.
Child and Family Safety
One of the biggest fears every parent has is to turn around and realize theat their child not be there. Local Girl tells about her experience which thankfully turned out ok in Where Did She Go? posted at An Island Life.
Is your family a priority and do you show it? Discover what matters most to you as Patricia presents What Matters Most: Lessons From A Tornado posted at A Better You Blog.
Laura Young presents a public service announcement to help keep you and yours safe in the New Year in her article In Case of Emergency: Cell Phone Tip for Paramedics posted at The Dragon Slayer's Guide to Life.
Our Furry Friends
This was a great post! It almost makes me want to buy some kittens to help around the house! See some photos of Chris' kittents in Helping Out Around The House: A Kitten's Guide posted at Author Chris Dolley's Page.
A mom and dog lover, Karen presents The Slippers Tell All posted at Karen Shanley.
Help promote the Carnival of Family life:
In order to try and increase member participation through leaving comments, I’ll be giving away a $10 gift certificate that can be applied to a purchase of one of our childrens personalized gifts at WWW.MORE4KIDS.COM to the person who visits (and comments on) the most submissions. You have all this week to make your rounds and the winner will be announced at the next carnival edition. Please include that you’re visiting through the Carnival of Family Life to help me keep count.
Last week's comment contest WINNER of a box of chocolate covered macadamia nut candy or a bag of Kona coffee is Desert Songbird (http://deserticebox.blogspot.com/index.html).
The Carnival of Family Life has come to a close…….Thankyou from More4kids to all our readers and all the people who submited such great articles. From our family to yours have a safe and enjoyable week!
Filed under Blog Carnival by
by Dr. Caron Goode
Filed under Parenting by
