Maclaren Strollers Amputate Fingers

People mistakenly believe that if something costs more, it is better and safer.  WRONG!  Maclaren has proven to us that is a fallacy and has recalled one million strollers sold at Babies R Us and Target since 1999.  The problem?  Their strollers have a tendency to amputate the fingers of babies and toddlers.  It is nice to know that they waited 10 YEARS to announce a recall.  The recall affects the following models: Volo, Triumph, Quest Sport, Quest Mod, Techno XT, TechnoXLR, Twin Triumph, Twin Techno, and Easy Traveller.

The stroller pictured above is a Maclaren Quest Mod that sells for $245 at Target.  Maclaren has put out the statement that consumers can contact Maclaren at 877-688-2326 or visit www.maclaren.us/recall to receive a free repair kit.  If I spent $245 on a stroller, I would expect the manufacturer to refund my money or replace my stroller NOT to give me a toll free number to ask for a repair kit so my kids fingers don't get cut off.  What is wrong with them???

Raising Boys Who Cook

I can't believe that I even NEED to post about the importance of teaching boys how to cook in the year 2009. The truth is that the old gender based stereotypes still exist that girls cook and boys get waited on hand and foot. Wake up world...boys need to learn how to cook and let's throw in housework while we are at it.

A couple of weeks ago, I was watching an episode of John Edward Crossing Over. There was a man lamenting over the passing of his wife. He described her as an "amazing woman". Then he went on to say, she did everything...she cooked and cleaned and made everything perfect. "I miss her so much because now I have to do all of these things by myself and I don't know how I am going to get by." WHAT??? First of all, I was struck by the disbelief that his own fear of having to take care of himself superseded his grief of losing his wife and the mother of his child. Unbelievable.

My boys want to learn to cook. They think it is fun. They love helping me with the more complex recipes and love to cook all by themselves also. Tennessee (age 10) makes his own grilled cheese and cheese quesadillas. He also uses the microwave to make his oatmeal in the morning. He also makes many things that don't require the stove on his own. He serves himself his own cereal, makes PB & J sandwiches and PB & Honey sandwiches. He helps with baking cookies, muffins, cake etc. California (age 4) loves to cook also. He also helps with the more complex recipes and baking.

Below are some photos of Tennessee and California in the kitchen:

Making Pumpkin Bread

Making Scrambled Eggs       &            Making Pumpkin Pie

Tennessee and California are vegetarians.  If your children are vegetarians, you might want to start them out cooking with this cookbook-----> Kids Can Cook: Vegetarian Recipes

More pictures of raising boys who cook coming soon...

FDA Panel Backs First Non-Drug Asthma Treatment - Allergy

Watch the video below to understand how doctors plan to use heat to treat asthma.




Read the article below:

FDA Panel Backs First Non-Drug Asthma Treatment - Allergy & Asthma - FOXNews.com

Posted using ShareThis

Swine Flu Vaccine Side Effects?

Photo above:  California with his Tweety Bird band-aid covering his Swine Flu vaccination boo boo

California received the H1N1 vaccine Friday morning.  So far, he has had no side effects and/or noticeable reaction to the vaccine.  However, he did have a reaction to the preservative free seasonal flu vaccine, which he got on Wednesday of this week.  His eyes became sore and red.  He also ran a fever for a brief moment.  Other than that, he had no serious reaction to the seasonal flu vaccine.  I will post an update if anything changes, but so far so good :) 

Zyrtec is Evil

Now, I am sure that Zyrtec works well for SOME kids, but let me tell you about our experience with Zyrtec.  The last time (which makes the 4th time) that California was in the hospital with pneumonia (click here to read about his last hospitalization), he was prescribed Zyrtec to be taken on a daily basis for so so called "allergies". 

He was prescribed one teaspoon daily, which I quickly noted was too much for his age and weight, so I gave him 1/2 teaspoon as prescribed on the label of Zyrtec.  Everything seemed to be fine.  I did notice that he began to have nightmares twice a week.  These nightmares started to increase in frequency and severity until he began having them EVERY night; 5 or 6 times a night.  He was inconsolable and was unable to wake from his nightmares.  They were very aggressive nightmares that seemed to border on hallucinations.  During the day, his behavior changed.  He was extremely hyper, seemed to be manic at times, angry and aggressive. 

All of this seemed to peak after he had been taking Zyrtec for about 5 or 6 weeks.  I felt so badly for him.  It didn't seem like he was the same child.  Then I realized that it was the Zyrtec.  I stopped giving it to him and he immediately went from having 5 or 6 nightmares each night to have two or three.  He has been off of it for over a week now, and he is sleeping soundly through the night.  His behavior has greatly improved during the day as well.  He is the sweet little boy that I always knew. 

This was written to alert other parents to the side effects of Zyrtec (and maybe other allergy meds also).  If your child has been having nightmares, lacks focus, seems hyper or manic, angry, depressed, aggressive etc - please consider that his/her allergy medication might be causing these problems, especially those of you using Zyrtec.  It is so incredibly sad to know that Califiornia was suffering through all of these side effects and behaving in ways that he couldn't help for 5 or 6 weeks.  I was in tears many nights, but I am glad that I finally figured it out. 

Go to askapatient.com to read about the horror thousands of other parents and children have experienced while taking Zyrtec:  link ---> Ask A Patient

Raising Cali Boys

Above picture taken at Underwood Family Farms

in Moorpark, CA.

Raising boys in California is a multi-faceted journey that requires a clever trick of the hand. When I appear to be "absent" from this blog, I am busy homeschooling, researching and publishing other blogs that directly relate to our California way of life. I also read. I read a lot. I usually read three or four books at a time. I am not sure if this is adult ADD or if this is merely the need to multi-task, since I seem to pile so much on my plate.

The books that I am reading right now are:
Home Learning Year by Year: How to Design a Homeschool Curriculum from Preschool Through High School
 
Discipline Without Distress: 135 tools for raising caring, responsible children without time-out, spanking, punishment or bribery

The Highly Intuitive Child: A Guide to Understanding and Parenting Unusually Sensitive and Empathic Children

Heaven on Earth: A Handbook for Parents of Young Children


I have also been diligently working on my other blogs and websites recently. Some of them have had complete makeovers and a new one has cropped up that is a new project for me.

Check out the other blogs/websites that I have been working on:
The Souls of Boys
Raising California Homeschool
The Childhood Asthma Gazette  (new)

Happy Birthday, Gandhi!

Here are some of our favorite Gandhi quotes:

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

"Live as if your were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

"The good man is the friend of all living things."

"An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind."

"If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children."

"You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty."

Click here to pick your favorite quotes -> Gandhi Quotes

To learn more about Gandhi, read his biography by clicking here - > Gandhi is Awesome!

If you live in the Los Angeles area, or plan to visit, you can pay your respects to Gandhi at the Self Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine Temple. A portion of Gandhi's ashes are enshrined at the Mahatma Gandhi World Peace Memorial.

Go to the Lake Shrine Temple site for more information. Click here - > Lake Shrine Temple