The CPSC has issued a voluntary recall of the Sassy refreshing red rings used as an infant teethers. Reported incident of parts of the soft balls at the end of the rattle coming apart and pose as a choking and ingestion hazard. No infants have been reported injured, but the company is instituting the voluntary recall just in case. The company is based in, Michigan. The teethers are made in China.

 The teether is meant for babies three months or older and has a red, water-filled ring on one end and a black and white polka dot ball on the other end. The two ends of the rattles/teethers are connected by a black and white, flexible plastic rod with three floating rings. The plastic ball can detach from the Refreshing Rings. This happens when a child chews on it, and since it’s intended as a teether, it obviously poses a threat. The teethers/rattles were sold for about $5 at mass merchandise and baby specialty shops across the U.S. from July 2009 through January 2011. Sassy Inc. said consumers who have this product should immediately discontinue its use and contact Sassy, Inc. to return it and receive a free replacement toy.

The CPSC warns that it is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.

For additional information, contact Sassy Inc. at (800) 323-6336 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday or visit the firm’s website at www.sassybaby.com    

Sassy Refreshing Teether / Rattle Recalled

The CPSC in cooperation with Dollar Tree announced Thursday a recall of 682,000 lanterns shaped like pumpkins, ghosts and skulls due to fire and burn hazards.

The problem is the bulb in the battery-operated lanterns can overheat, posing fire and burn hazards to consumers.

Several Dollar Stores nationwide sold the lanterns. You can return them for a full refund.

For additional information, contact Dollar Tree Stores Inc. at (800) 876-8077 (800) 876-8077      between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or visit the firm’s website at www.dollartree.com

Dollar Tree Recalls Halloween Lanterns

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Fisher-Price recalled several toys named below. Consumers should stop using the recalled products with inflatable balls due to choking hazard.  About 2.8 million were sold in the US. 

CPSC and Fisher-Price are aware of 46 reports of incidents where the valve came off in the US and eight incidents were reported in Canada. These include 14 reports of the valve found in a child’s mouth and three reports of a child beginning to choke. No injuries have been reported.

Name of Recalled Products: Baby Playzone™ Crawl & Cruise Playground™, Baby Playzone™ Crawl & Slide Arcade™, Baby Gymtastics™ Play Wall, Ocean Wonders™ Kick & Crawl™ Aquarium (C3068 and H8094), 1-2-3 Tetherball™, Bat & Score Goal™

 CPSC & Fisher-Price Recalls Healthy Care, Easy Clean and Close to Me High Chairs Due to Laceration Hazard

About 950,000 Healthy Care, Easy Clean and Close to Me High Chairs sold in the U.S. and 125,000 in Canada have been recalled because children can fall on or against the pegs on the rear legs of the high chair resulting in injuries or lacerations. The pegs are used for high chair tray storage.

CPSC and Fisher-Price are aware of 14 reports of incidents, including seven reports of children requiring stitches and one tooth injury. One of these incidents was reported in Canada.

Consumers should stop using these products immediately and contact Fisher-Price for instructions and a free repair kit.  For additional information, contact Fisher-Price at (800) 432-5437

Fisher Price High Chair

Ocean Wonders Kick & Crawl

Baat & Score Goal

Baby Playzone Crawl and Cruise Playground

1-2-3 Tetherball

Baby-Gymtastics-Play-Wall

Baby-Playzone-Crawl-Slide-Arcade

Step2 Transportation Station Toys were recalled due to choking hazards. 

The Land of Nod Vegetable Toys were recalled Due to Laceration Hazard

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firms named above announced a voluntary recall of their two products.

The Land of Nod “Play With Your Veggies” toys were recalled because the metal wire in the toy asparagus can become exposed, posing a laceration hazard to children.  The firm had received a report of an exposed wire in the asparagus. No injuries have been reported.  The recall involved The Land of Nod toy vegetables sets made of felt wool. The toy set has six vegetables: radish, onion, asparagus, tomato, lettuce and carrot. The asparagus is the only toy vegetable involved in this recall.  The toys were sold at the Land of Nod stores in Illinois and Washington, the Land of Nod catalog and www.landofnod.com from October 2007 through February 2010 for about $25. 

For additional information, contact The Land of Nod at (800) 933-9904 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 

Step2 Recalls Children’s Transportation Station Toys Due to Choking Hazard

The Step2 Company’s Sand & Water Transportation Station Toys (about 56,000 units in US and 7,700 in Canada) were recalled because the light blue plastic wheels on the train cars can detach, posing a choking hazard to young children.

The Sand & Water Transportation Station is a standalone play station for children ages two and up. The toy station consists of: a round blue plastic table, including train tracks, train cars in blue, red and yellow, toy sailboats and a hand rake/shovel. A red Step2 logo decal is on the side of the table. Train cars with grey wheels are not included in this recall.

The toy was sold at Target and other major retailers, specialty stores and by online retailers from December 2008 through June 2010 for between $49 and $59.  For additional information, contact Step2 at (800) 347-8372 

As children across the country start school, we as parents need to remember one very basic safety rule:  if your child rides a bike they need to wear a helmet.  Their brains will thank you. 

As parents, we’re not idiots.  All parents worry about their kids’ health and safety. We protect our children with cupboard latches, electrical plug covers and car seats, but when it comes to our kid’s recreational activities we relax the overprotective paranoia and give in.  I know.  I do it too.  I see kids riding bikes and skateboarding through my neighborhood streets without helmets. My neighbor’s give-in too. 

And yet, sports and recreation accidents, such as bicycling, skating and skateboarding account for 10% of all head traumas.  Of these head injuries 88% of that could be eliminated if helmets were worn.  Then why do only 8% of all riders wear helmets?

In some states, like mine, it’s mandatory to wear helmets while riding bikes, but not for skateboarding or skating, or even motorcycle riders do not need helmets.  Really?   Riders, you gotta wear helmets! Parents, you gotta get your kids to wear helmets!  Not encasing your head in this protective layer when you’re moving on anything except your own two feet is just stupid.  Plain stoopid.  Helmets protect the head from injury.  Think of jello in a jar shaken up.  That’s what happens to your brain if your head hits the pavement hard.

Why do parents let their kids ride their bikes or skateboards without helmets?  We parents give in when our children complain that their helmet messes up their hair, or that their helmet makes them too hot, or it’s not “cool” to wear a helmet.  My kids have also pleaded with me saying, “mom, we won’t fall off our bike.”  And for the most part they do not.  “But,” I remind them, “we always wear seatbelts in the car, and we’ve never had an accident.” 

Maybe we need to be reminded ourselves on what can happen to their brain when it’s not protected should they fall.  Demonstrate to your kids how a helmet can protect their precious brain by dropping an egg into a styrofoam lined box.   Then drop the egg on the pavement.  Point made.  The helmet cushions their head. 

My kids ride bikes, skateboard and play hockey.  When I see them, they are wearing helmets.  However, I was horrified by a youtube video I saw of my teenage son preforming skateboarding tricks sans a helmet.   If your stomach can handle it, check out the first few seconds of the attached skateboarding video where my son flew over a staircase and landed smack-dab on his back and conked his head!  Turn up the sound and you can actually hear the “thud” of his noggin hitting pavement.  Not cool.  He is a poster child for why kids SHOULD wear helmets and the motivation for this blog.  And yes, he has since been reprimanded (so no hate emails please) and he does get up and walk away.  He is reminded over and over to wear a helmet.  He wears it while ice skating and we now pray he wears it skateboarding, even when we’re not looking. 

Kids wear helmets!  Your parents are not being overprotective paranoia freaks; it’s just one less thing for us to worry about.

Do you have your kids wear helmets?  Is it a law in your state? 

 I was horrified by this youtube video I saw of my teenage son preforming skateboarding tricks sans a helmet.

“An estimated 500,000 persons per year in the United States sustain a brain or spinal cord injury. In fact, injury is the leading cause of death among children and teens. The most frequent causes of these injuries are motor vehicle crashes, violence, falls, sports and recreation. The good news is that most injuries are preventable!” ThinkFirst

Go to the ThinkFirst National Injury Prevention Foundation’s web site to learn more about programs aimed at helping people learn to reduce their risk for injury.  www.thinkfirst.org

This weekend as Americans celebrate the “birthday” of the United States of America with flags, BBQs, fireworks and picnics, I am reminded of a story about my daughter’s eighth birthday where we commemorated the Fourth of July and her birthday with a fish fight.   

I’m known around our circles as the “Martha Stewart” of entertaining.  Even my children’s birthday parties were becoming more elaborate as the children got older.  Lissa’s 8^th birthday was no exception.  I wanted it to be magical and memorable.  It was memorable alright.  It was a birthday party that any kid that attended would always remember.   

I had been planning her birthday bash for weeks.  That year, my daughter had a love for dolphins and wanted to be a marine biologist when she grew up.  I planned a red, white and blue nautical theme for her birthday.  I covered our wood patio table with bags and bags of white sand and seashells and starfish. The centerpiece for the table was a fish bowl lined with red and blue crystal marbles and radiant live fish.

I had picked out three gorgeous fish for the center bowl; a red, a white and a blue fantailed Betta.  They were the main attraction for all the boys and girls.  The fish kept the rambunctious, highly energized eight year olds from running around wild from being pumped full of adrenaline with party excitement.

At cake time, my daughter and her friends were so thrilled to be able to make sand paintings on the table and to watch the beautiful long tailed fish swimming in the bowl in the center of the table.  
Everything was perfect. 

Pam, the party planner extraordinaire had every detail covered, with one small exception; Bettas are called Siamese fighting fish for a reason.  Who knew?  I had no idea that a dominant male Betta would fight to death to protect his territory and that Bettas should not be placed together in a small environment. 

Yep, you guessed it.

Within a short while the blue Betta puffed up his brilliant colors and began chasing and attacking the red Betta! At first they acted like two cats chasing each other and nipping at each other’s tails.  But soon it became apparent that this was aggression, not playfulness.

Then the white Betta decided to flex his muscles and he too got in on the action.  He flared up his brilliant iridescent fins to make himself look bigger and more menacing.  He began attacking the blue Betta.  It was a fin flaring contest, albeit red, white and blue, accompanied by fireworks and tail nipping.  Who knew Bettas were little Piranhas.   When I look back at the whole incident, I marvel at the interesting phenomenon of the way Bettas puff out in aggression.  But not that day.

At first the kids thought they were cute, and just innocent fish rough housing, until pieces of the red Bettas fluffy fins started falling off and floating to the bottom of the bowl. 

Lissa screeched and screamed, “Mom, they’re eating each other!” 

“No, honey, they’re just playing,” I said staring at the bowl.   But it did appear that they were attacking each other and the blue one was indeed nibbling on the red ones long, but tasting looking fins.

The three fish were putting on quite a show with all the chasing and biting of their fins and heads.

The bowl soon became a plethora of torn fish pieces.  Red, white and blue fins, tails and scales floated in the milky water.  Unknown to me and the kids, the “males” were trying to figure out their “pecking” order.   

The kids were screaming as I ran around looking for anything that would work as a net.   I couldn’t find a net.  There was no way I was sticking my hand in the bowl to separate the aggressive Bettas.  I pictured my fingers going in to grab the fish and being nipped until I pulled out only my finger bone.

A wounded fish floated to the bottom of the bowl while a group of little girls watched on in tears.  WARNING: Do not watch this show with young kids!  

The boys watched with fascination as the fish fought.  Some even pulled their chairs closer to the action.  Great.   Nothing like a patio full of little munchkins in a frenzied motion yelling and screaming at a bowl full of fighting Siamese fish.  This party had plenty of liveliness with the wrong distractions and excitement.

In a freakish Frankensteinian fashion, I had created a monster of a mess.  A memorable birthday party for sure.  I felt like Hannibal Lecter’s fish hating cousin.    

Staying in the party master of ceremonies mode, I finally scooped the fish out of the bowl and separated them into plastic cups.  I salvaged the party with silly tactics like, “look the fish are smiling now” and “look their wagging their tails, so they’re happy again.”  Their tails resembled a tattered fringed flag. 

Separated at last the fish and the kids both settled down.  The kids were not so traumatized that they would not eat cake.  Needless to say I had to forgo the game, “pin the tail on the fish.”  And my “catch of the day” treats of fish shaped gummies threaded on a pretzel fishing poles, did not make it out of the kitchen. 

I heard later on that the kids talked about it for many weeks after.  “Mommy can I have a fish attack birthday party like Lissa had?” 

As I tucked my daughter into bed that night, I made a mental note to cancel the pot belly pig party for my son.  

How have you celebrated your kids birthday parties?   What do you have planned for the fourth?  Do you have any crazy “pet” stories? 

We are all forgetful at times.  We are all guilty of every day distractions.  We are all human.   However, since it is Father’s Day this weekend, I felt compelled to pick on the man of the house.  The following story could easily be replaced with “me” versus my husband, but this week “dads” are the focus of my blog.  

When my husband is not traveling, he works from our home.  He often heads to his study early in the morning and there he will stay… sometimes all day.  There are days, when he rarely leaves his office, but he says he feels like nothing seems to get done.

I diagnose these activity disorders as adult A.D.D. or Age Deficit Disorder.  We both suffer from it.  There’s also Activity (as in TOO much activity) Deficit Disorder.   Too much activity on one’s brain can cause one to lose track of the simpler tasks and daily activities.  This is common among parents of newborns, as well as expecting parents.  

It has become apparent to me over the years how this ADD can manifest.   I know several people have written on this same subject, but I find it fitting to share our family’s version of our adult ADD.

In honor of Father’s Day, here’s a scenario of my hubby’s typical ADD day.  Many dads (& moms) can relate.     

As my husband comes in from getting the newspaper, he walks by the front porch pots and he decides the plants need watering.  So he lays the paper and his glasses on the porch table.  

He gets the hose to water the porch flowers, but as he walks past our son’s car parked in the driveway, he notices our teenager has driven through a puddle and splashed mud on his otherwise clean car.   He decides to wash off the tires.  He puts down the hose and goes back inside to get a carwash towel.  As he walks by the foyer table he sees the mail he brought in from the mailbox yesterday and he decides to go through it quickly, before watering the plants and cleaning the tires. 

He opens the electric bill, a company expense reimbursement check and junk mail.  He walks to the kitchen to throw the junk mail away.  He notices the kitchen trash can is full.   He decides he better take out the garbage first, because no one else will.  

Since he is going outside to take out the trash, he should pay the electric bill too because he can drop it in the mailbox.   He goes to his study and opens the drawer to get a check.  The checkbook is out of checks.  He needs to order more.  He takes a sip of his coffee he poured earlier, but it is now cold.  He decides to go to the kitchen and get a fresh cup.  As he walks to the kitchen he notices his blackberry on the sofa table.  He decides he better put his blackberry back on his desk or he’ll never find it, but first that fresh cup of coffee.  He sets his mug down, but before he fills it up he notices our daughter’s missing iPod sitting on the counter hidden by a vase of droopy flowers.   He decides to take her ipod to her room, but first he needs to water the wilted flowers for his lovely wife; me.   

Before he can water the vase of flowers, one of our dogs wants to be let outside.  He walks to the backdoor and lets her out.  He decides to check the dog’s water bowls.   Their water needs refilling. 

He gets a pitcher of water from the sink and he walks to the dog’s bowl but before he can pour it into the bowl, he spills water on the floor.  He goes back to the kitchen to get a dishrag to clean up the spill.   

After he cleans up the spill, he hears the dog bark outside.  He goes back to the kitchen to let the dog back inside.   As he is letting the dog in the house, he sees a beach towel has blown into the pool.  He goes to retrieve the hook to pull out the towel.   The dog barks again.  He returns to let the dog back in the house.   After he lets the dog in, he goes back to his study trying to remember what he came out to do.

At the end of the day:

The front porch pots are not watered.    The car tires are still dirty.   The kitchen trash is overflowing.  The electric bill is unpaid.  The expense check is not deposited.   New checks are not ordered.  There’s a cold mug of coffee on the counter. There’s a wilted vase of flowers.  The dogs are out of water.   Our daughter’s ipod is still missing.  There’s a beach towel at the bottom of the pool.  He can’t find his glasses or his blackberry.   

Then he tries to figure out why nothing seems to get done! 

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads of the world.

What are  your Father’s Day traditions?    What will you do special for the men in your life? 

Memorial Day remembrance

The remembrance of the United States Memorial Day is a day we commemorate U.S. men and women who died gallantly in the military service. This celebration was formerly known as Decoration Day.

This is the day of remembrance where we honor those men and women whom have served our country – you, me and the world – by dedicating themselves in an ultimate sacrifice. I am grateful to be living in a free country because of these men and women. Their honor, duty and dedication allow us the freedoms to enjoy this weekend, and every other day of my life, with friends and family doing something as basic as grilling food and sharing it in peace and safety. Freedom isn’t free. Honor those who paid for it. Fly your flags and thank soldiers and enjoy our freedom.

There are many Memorial Day quotes which we have remembered throughout the years. This year as part of the Memorial Day Celebration, I share with you Memorial Day quotes. Here are some of the memorable and inspiring Memorial Day Quotes:

• It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived. — General George S. Patton
• Decoration Day is the most beautiful of our national holidays…. The grim cannon have turned into palm branches, and the shell and shrapnel into peach blossoms. -Thomas Bailey Aldrich
• Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. – John F. Kennedy
• And I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free. And I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me. – Lee Greenwood
• The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example. – Benjamin Disraeli
• Although no sculptured marble should rise to their memory, nor engraved stone bear record of their deeds, yet will their remembrance be as lasting as the land they honored. – Daniel Webster
• So long as there are men there will be wars. -Albert Einstein
• Each man is a hero and an oracle to somebody. -Ralph Waldo Emerson
• But the freedom that they fought for, and the country grand they wrought for,
Is their monument to-day, and for aye. -Thomas Dunn English
• For love of country they accepted death. -James A. Garfield
• The greatest glory of a free-born people is to transmit that freedom to their children. -William Havard
• The dead soldier’s silence sings our national anthem. -Aaron Kilbourn
• For death is no more than a turning of us over from time to eternity. -William Penn
• I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones. -Albert Einstein
• The patriot’s blood is the seed of Freedom’s tree. – Thomas Campbell
• On thy grave the rain shall fall from the eyes of a mighty nation! -Thomas William Parsons
• The brave die never, though they sleep in dust: Their courage nerves a thousand living men. -Minot J. Savage
• We come, not to mourn our dead soldiers, but to praise them. -Francis A. Walker
• Isn’t death to fall for Freedom’s right? He’s dead alone who lacks her light! – Thomas Campbell
• I have never been able to think of the day as one of mourning; I have never quite been able to feel that half-masted flags were appropriate on Decoration Day. I have rather felt that the flag should be at the peak, because those whose dying we commemorate rejoiced in seeing it where their valor placed it. We honor them in a joyous, thankful, triumphant commemoration of what they did. – Benjamin Harrison
• The dead soldier’s silence sings our national anthem. -Rev. Aaron Kilbourn
• I think that, as life is action and passion, it is required of a man that he should share the passion and action of his time at peril of being judged not to have lived. -Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
• Fold him in his country’s stars. Roll the drum and fire the volley! What to him are all our wars, What but death bemocking folly?” – George Henry Boker
• The cost of liberty is less than the cost of repression. -Web Dubois
• With the tears a Land hath shed. Their graves should ever be green. – Thomas Bailey Aldrich
• Green sods are all their monuments; and yet it tells A noaler history than pillared piles, or the eternal pyramids. – James Gates Percival
• They fell, but o’er their glorious grave , Floats free the banner of the cause they died to save. – Francis Marion Crawford
• The purpose of all war is ultimately peace. -Saint Augustine
• As I approach the gates of heaven; St. Peter I will tell; One more soldier reporting sir; I’ve served my time in hell. -Mark Anthony Gresswell
• The story of America’s quest for freedom is inscribed on her history in the blood of her patriots. -Randy Vader
• When we say “War is over if you want it,” we mean that if everyone demanded peace instead of another TV set, we’d have peace. -John Lennon
• Peace is more important than all justice; and peace was not made for the sake of justice, but justice for the sake of peace. -Martin Luther

What are some of your favorite Memorial Day quotes? Who are you honoring this weekend?

Other Related Memorial Day Articles:

Babies & Kids and POOLS: (New Guidelines for Kids and learning to swim): http://bit.ly/bFl6BA ( Drowning is the second leading accidental death in children under the age of 4)

Best Burgers: http://bit.ly/96RBKJ

Backyard trends: http://bit.ly/avAFsS
(Forget a simple patch of grass. Today’s yards sport gourmet outdoor kitchens, waterproof TVs — even air conditioning.)

Burnt , don’t get Sunburnt this weekend. http://bit.ly/dwrh0l

Other Memorial Day Articles: http://bit.ly/clSxPE

Memorial Day

I suck at remembering names.   Is it possible that our minds load up so fast over the years, that we just don’t have room anymore for one simple thing, like a person’s name?  It’s true, I am afraid to admit, that I am horrible at remembering people’s names.

I suck so bad at remembering names that my kids would often quiz me on the way to their friend’s house, “Mom, who is my best friend again?”   I hesitate and stare blankly at my daughter.

“For the last three years?” She coaxes.

“Um, girl with long brown hair, umm, she lives by the elementary school, ummm, it’s Cindy, right?”

“No mom, Sydney.”

As she jumps out of the car, I yell, “Tell Sydney’s mom, I said ‘hi’.”

“Her name is Pam.  Like your name. “

“Oh yeah, ok, Umm, tell Pam, ‘hi’”.   Sigh.

I’m at the point where my brain not only forgets names, but faces too. So I’m always snubbing people in the grocery store line without even realizing it.  Not good in a small town.  I’m not a snob, promise, just forgetful.

I use to remember the kids’ names, but not the adults.  Adults always end up being “Sydney’s mom or Sydney’s dad”.  And when I really needed to know the mom’s name, I’d ask my child to ask their friend, how her mom spells her name (so I can add it to my contacts). This works well if the mom whose name I can’t remember turns out to be Onalyce, but not so well if she is named, Pam.

My family has given up on me and my memory name bank.  They have learned to whisper in my ear when someone I know walks up to me at a restaurant or a sporting event and I get that look that wheels are spinning around in my head but their name just can’t be found.  My family has saved my ass on so many occasions.  As I stare at the face in front of me trying to remember their name, my daughter will quickly say, “Hi, Ms. Kathy”.  Her grin at me says oh-so-eloquently, “You owe me mom, big time!”

My husband is fantastic at names.  He can recall a person’s face and name from someone he met briefly two years earlier when they sat two rows in front of us at a hockey game, even after drinking three beers.

He just can’t remember our kid’s names.

He often gets our three kids, and our three dogs names mixed up.  He’s always rattling through their names and doesn’t get it right until he hits the 4^th or 5^th one.   This makes it hard for him to discipline the kids.  The other night, our daughter, Courtney, left a mess on the kitchen counter.  He yelled, “Torrey! Lissa! Ben! Brandy! Mich! …eh, eh.” He stopped and pointed at her on the couch, “You! You know who you are! Clean up this mess.”  By then Courtney was laughing so hard, all we could do was laugh too.  She’s the youngest, so most of her life her name has been; “TorreyLissaBenBrandyMich”.

It’s hard to openly admit that I suck with names, but can now blame it on my age.  I guess I should be thankful that it’s only names and faces I forget.  I will worry when there comes a day when I can barely remember where I live and the names of my own children.

And don’t even get me started on trying to remember where I left my car keys!

What do you seem to forget most?  Adult names?  Where you left the fifth grocery list you wrote today?  Or that bad round of golf?      Let me hear from you!