Check out this awesome piece of personalized artwork from Sticks and Stones. Visit their site and choose from the library of letters to spell out a word or name and they'll mail you a matted and framed keepsake - a one of a kind gift for sure! (Fun Fact: All the photos were taken by the company's founders and their three young daughters when they started an ongoing project to find letters in nature and architecture.) So cool!
Your kids may breathe easier if you live on a tree-lined street, according to new research. BBC News
More U.S. mothers are at least trying to breastfeed, says a CDC survey. New York Times
Why your child may be dyslexic in English, but not in Chinese. Wall Street Journal
Immunization rates for American children are lower than experts thought. ABC News
You probably really are tougher on your firstborn, a new study finds. Newsweek
Original photo via
Priceless memorabilia, great food and a family-friendly atmosphere make Hard Rock Cafe a fun dinner destination. And now here's another reason that the Hard Rock Cafe, well, rocks. Beginning Arbor Day (tomorrow!) the restaurants located in North America and Puerto Rico will include tree seed packets with their kid's meals. Sure, initially your kids might not be as excited about the seeds as they would be about finding a plastic toy with their meal, but how cool is it that ten years from now their "prize" will still be around and doing the earth good (the same can't be said for the plastic toy...) In addition, Hard Rock International has teamed up with the Arbor Day Foundation, making the commitment to plant at least 25,000 trees this year.
On Earth Day, it's totally appropriate to focus on environmentally friendly products, habits, and the like. I love new gadgets and energy-saving technology as much as the next geek. But I'd rather skip all that and go right to the pith of the day: Enjoying and exploring nature. Without experiencing the world as it is, with all its wonder and color, the message of Earth Day seems severely lacking at best.
And, in my opinion, the best way to do this is to take a hike. A good hike is the perfect weekend day trip, especially as the weather gets warmer. The trail is not just a destination, it's a classroom, an art museum, a workshop, and a playground. Showing your kids the splendor of the out-of-doors is easy when you're surrounded by it.
Most likely, there's hiking closer than you think. For example, there's excellent hiking only about 20-30 minutes northwest of New York at the Palisades Interstate Park in New Jersey. Considering the stereotypes both NYC and Jersey have, if we can find beautiful hiking, so can you.
Online, there are plenty of resources available. The National Park Service and your state park's web site has plenty of information and ideas on where to go. In addition, most states have hiking or trail clubs. These are excellent resources to tap into. Not only do they offer maps, books, and other information, they offer opportunities for group hiking, volunteer projects, activism, and more.
So this Earth Day, plant a tree, recycle, and consider planning a hiking trip with your family.
Spring is slowly emerging within the wilds of Central New Jersey. Forsythia have begun to show their sunny glow. Trees have that impressionistic blur when buds start to
turn into leaves. The ground is no longer crunchy and hard.
And, of course, there are the skunk cabbages. They've been around for a few weeks now. They're the first sign of spring in the Central Jersey area, appearing before any of their attractive and nicely fragranced cousins. But when I see them pop up around the local creek, the sight warms the heart.
But the heart isn't the only thing they warm—they generate their own heat. When the plant blooms, it's able to raise its heat to about 70°F. This is why you can see them poke through the grounded snow.
Mom always warned us not to kick them, because our shoes would stink afterward. So, when we eventually did, our shoes did indeed smell of skunk. But why the stink? The odor, which is akin to rotting flesh, attracts carrion-attracted flies who eventually pollinate the plants. Crushed leaves bring out more of their hellish perfume.
Of course, kids probably shouldn't be kicking the skunk cabbages anyhow, due to the fact that they usually grow on protected wetlands. (In Tennessee, they're considered protected.) Perhaps they're best appreciated from afar—laws being the least of it.
Point them out to your kids on your next family walk in the out-of-doors. Unless you're in Manhattan. You can get any type of vegetable in the City, but skunk cabbages aren't in the mix. Their roots are poisonous and the smell can't be appealing to the palate. You'd be better off buying bok choy.
Waiting for daycare can start in utero. Wall Street Journal
The rate of late pre-term births—deliveries between the 34th and 36th week—is growing, and these infants often have medical complications. Chicago Tribune
Most kids still have 2 parents at home, according to a census bureau report. New York Times
Why nature-time is important for children. U.S. News & World Report
Are your online photos of your kids as private as you think? The Washington Post
Original photo via
I can't decide what's more amazing about Zulugrass jewelry: The fact that the beautiful grass beads are strung on super-durable elastic (the same used to film the movie Spiderman) or that handcrafting these works of art has given more than 1,400 Massai women in Kenya steady work for over 5 years.
Zulugrass is the brainchild of The Leakey Collection, created by a husband and wife team in hope of giving the people in the Rift Valley a means to take care of their families when their pasture lands were devastated by drought in 2001. They harvest, dry and cut grass into tiny beads, which they then dye and string with elastic. To balance the modern, natural feel of the grass beads, they intersperse glass beads from the Czech Republic (the only material imported to create the jewelry) in the design to give each piece a soft, classic feel.
Each piece is designed to be worn a number of ways, which makes Zulugrass jewelry extremely versatile. I absolutely love the clasps too. They act more like a finishing touch than a single-purpose clasp! And even better is that the elastic used doesn't lose shape if it's stretched. So your baby can tug away on your arms and neck without you worrying about delicate chains breaking or stretching.
Yes, I know it's already January 9th, but if no one gave you a desk calendar over the holidays, check out cute and clever "plantable" calendar from Botanical Paperworks. Each month's sheet is embedded with wildflower seeds, so once the month is up, you can plant it and enjoy! Not in the market for a calendar? They also sell plantable cards, gift tags, and more. Love it!
Now before you say, "duh"... do you know how to make a naturally green Christmas tree, well, Green? Here's a hint: You don't have to chop down an evergreen to enjoy it during the holiday season. (And I'm not suggesting you decorate the fir tree in your front yard instead of putting one up in the living room either.) This year I'm taking a cue from my sister (who normally scoffs at what she calls my "tree-hugging ways"). She and her boyfriend will soon decorate a live Blue Spruce Christmas tree, which they bought from the local nursery for $95 (not much more than your average cut-tree price tag, mind you). Their plan is to plant O' Tannenbaum in the backyard after the new year and have something to remember their first Christmas together by for years to come. Now of course for this to work every year one would need a very large backyard that could accommodate a lifetime of Christmas trees, but even still I think it's a pretty cool, eco-friendly idea. So when she sent this picture of her new tree to my cell phone last night, I praised her efforts and welcomed her to the "green side". Then I reminded her to decorate with LED lights, since they use 90% less energy (I just couldn't resist).
It may feel still feel like summer (it's supposed to hit 85 degrees today here in NYC) but it's most definitely fall now. And what better thing to do on a fall weekend than go apple picking? Unfortunately, I'm unlikely to make it out to an orchard this year because 1) I don't have a car and 2) my fiancé is allergic to apples. But if I do go apple picking I plan to bring back a few bushels, give some to friends, and turn the rest into my favorite snack: Applesauce.
Here's a recipe from our fabulous food department for making applesauce with your kids:
1. PARENT/CHILD Peel and core 2 Fuji and 2 Golden Delicious apples. Using a serrated plastic knife, chop apples and place in a saucepan.
2. PARENT/CHILD Stir in 1/4 cup water and 2 Tbs. butter. Cook, covered, over medium heat, stirring occaisonally, until soft, about 30 minutes. Let cool.
3. CHILD Mash apple mixture with a potato masher until smooth. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.
From October 2004 Parents, Kids Can Cook, A is for Apple Sauce by Jackie Plant and Fraya Berg
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