When I was 7, I learned the truth about Santa. Sort of. My friend Emily said Santa was not some jolly old elf who appeared in the night and left presents under the tree, but was really my father who would crawl out of bed and pull toys from the closet. I suppose I knew Emily was telling the truth, but inside I wanted to believe Santa was real. It was back when my family and I used to eat dinner around the dining room table that I made the announcement to my parents. “I know the truth about Santa. It’s you, Dad. You’re Santa.” My father put his fork down, placed his hands on the table and sighed. “You’re right, kiddo. I am Santa. And it is extremely exhausting getting up late at night, calling together the reindeer, and hitting every... [Read more]

I used to roll my eyes at people who would get depressed during holidays. Seriously, what was there to be depressed about? And then my mother died. It’s not her absence that upsets me the most. It’s been 10 years since she died and I have learned to live with that void. It’s how our family tradition and togetherness died with her. I don’t blame my father for that. He has a new life now with a wonderful, beautiful wife. And she has her family there. I’m a grownup now. I have husband and a child. And if anything, I should be grateful for my in-laws, who have readily filled that emptiness. But still, it depresses me. This is my problem, obviously. Each year I get upset about it and each year I eventually realize that just because... [Read more]

Um… My neighbor just sent this video to me. Am I the only one here who finds this dancing baby video mildly disturbing? Regardless, dancing diapered babies is always a hit on YouTube, and this “Stanky Legs” piece is no exception. I’ll hand it to this kid. He/she has some moves… that thankfully do not include falling off the kitchen table. I think the little guy is going to be sore tomorrow! Seriously, getting your toddler dancing not only can be entertaining for both of you, it can be beneficial for your little one as well. It provides plenty of exercise for tots with oodles of energy, and helps strengthen muscles and bones, says Early Childhood Education. Learning new moves, like our little YouTube star above, helps exercise... [Read more]

Christmas is less than two months away, which means you’d better get working on that Christmas list unless you want to spend your Christmas Eve fighting the masses at the mall. One of the luxuries of planning this far in advance is that you can get some really cool gifts for friends and family – like a custom made action figure of YOU! That’s right, if you’ve got the money, HeroBuilders.com will make a 12-inch-tall action figure of you, complete with accessories like beer bottles, earrings, tattoos, musical instruments and television remote controls. All you have to do is answer a short list of questions, detailed on their Web site, and provide a front and side photo of the person to be “action figured.” Your action figure can also... [Read more]

Here’s a newsflash. Makers of children’s cereals who advertiser to kids the most are the ones most likely loaded with sugar and starved of fiber. The obvious was revealed during a new study conducted by Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. The study found that an average American child sees 642 cereal ads each year. But the cereals most often advertised are those that contain 85 percent more sugar, 60 percent less fiber and 60 percent more sodium than those marketed to their parents. You could call it the icing on the cake, but those cereal ads are also more apt to have Web sites with groovy games for kids. Which make them more appealing to our children, and cause roaring riots when shopping with your child at the... [Read more]