Product Review:  Made by Me™ Time Capsule (Age 5+)

Create Your Own Time Capsule!

Brace Yourself for My LONGEST Review Yet for my ONE YEAR BLOG ANNIVERSARY and my hiatus announcement!

The Made by Me Time Capsule is a great way for your child to capture their memories to reveal at a time in the distant future to remember their past.  I’m using this product a little differently than intended because I will be the one that will be putting together this time capsule from the past year to include my year-long Momma’s Bacon blog posts.  I want my daughter, Brooke, to open this time capsule when she graduates and I am excited to give her a piece of our history as a *ahem* blog ‘guinea pig’ when she was a toddler and preschooler.  I am also planning to purchase one for her to do when she gets a little older to put together before she enters high school, and for now we are modifying it so that it works for us from our blog year together.  So excited!  I love all the little stickers and suggestions to make this an exciting and adorable time capsule for those like me who like a little guidance in crafts.  I am very happy with the passport book and picture frame and even got some input into Brooke on treasure map designs and some questions and pictures for her to draw.  It is a lovely and perfect way to end 2012.

Made by Me Time Capsule Includes:

• Plastic capsule
• Passport book
• Picture frame
• 4 markers
• 2 sticker sheets
• Treasure map
• 7 printed sheets, 5″ x 7″
• Mini keepsake bottle with rubber top
• Easy-to-follow instructions

The One Year Time Capsule a la Momma’s Bacon is dedicated to my sweet daughter Brooke.  Wow!  Has it been a year already?

Now, a special letter to my daughter so divert your eyes for a moment:

Dear Brooke,

As I wind down to my last entry in my one-year-long 2012 New Year’s Resolution of my Momma’s Bacon blog in many ways I wrote, sometimes flowing and sometimes painstakingly, over the year but always with the thought of you in the back of my mind.  I wanted you, my child, more than anything I have ever wanted in my life.  My journey into motherhood was something I tackled like most things in life; with over-planning and anxiety.  Luckily, I learned early on parenting is not an exact science, it is a blessing bestowed upon those who want (and can) do it with humbleness and being open-minded AND with as much patience as possible to give your child the gift of self-confidence and understanding that they can can someday pass on to their own families.  I may miss that mark of this high standard frequently, but I will always try and do better each and every day by respecting and guiding you in a thoughtful manner.

I plan to print this blog into a hardcover book (I just need to figure out how first…) for you to enjoy when you are older and I hope you get a sense of the love your daddy and I have for you through this interesting product review blog with you as somewhat of a test subject.  This blog is not just for (or about) our family, it is hopefully for all families that have the same mission of creating a positive family life of togetherness and empowerment for their kids to pass on to the next generation.  I want to leave a few parting words for you, my dear sweet child, because I hope that you will one day appreciate them and know they come straight from my heart directly to yours.

Be and Love Yourself.  I started writing this blog on the anniversary of my miscarriage of your younger sibling coupled by a few personal difficult journeys that culminated all at once.  The pain and guilt I felt at that moment was in deep contrast to the love that I felt for you and Daddy and I wanted to celebrate your life and OUR LIVES and wanted us to feel empowered in our own journey.  I never want you to feel that you are never good enough, smart enough, pretty enough or worthy enough for life; because YOU ARE ALL THAT AND MORE.  There will always be others out there will different talents and competencies that are stronger suited so just be you and let the things you do shine well through and just press forward with any struggles to be better and I firmly believe things will be fine.  At the end of the day, you have a family who loves you and we ALL want you to love yourself.  We will get you as far as we can go in your journey, but honey, loving yourself comes from within and if you don’t have that, tell us and we will help you in any way we possibly can because WE LOVE YOU and WANT YOU TO SUCCEED.

Forgive Your Momma (I am totally ripping this one off my blogger friend, Amanda, from her Keep It Complicated Blog). I am just a human who is trying to raise you the best way I know how without much more knowledge than from some parenting and educational books and a severe love for you I cannot even begin to express with words.  I have done some things right, but most things I wish I could have done (and will want to do) better but I did it all in the best way I knew how.  One day I do hope you will want to share in that beautiful gift of having a baby of your own (but, hey, it’s totally fine if you decide not to do that) and you will understand for the first time how much your momma has loved you and took care of you during those all nighters with a little one who can’t seem to get to sleep. And then you will (hopefully) forgive me for all perceived wrongs I have done to you in your life.  Quoting from Amanda, “Practice for that day, now, Brooke. Pretty please.”

Need Me Less But Want Me More. I want to give you wings to fly.  I want you to feel independent and empowered.  And…I want you to want me be your mom and come to me if you ever need advice, a helping hand or just someone who will listen to you.  I promise to always be there and will see you through all the good and dark times that life throws our way.  If you want me to drive 1500 miles in the middle of the night because you need a hug at college, I want to be the person drinking a Red Bull and stopping at the Flying J to catch a bite of those nasty sausage links before sunrise to see your face.  I will do that for you because I am your momma.

Don’t Lose Your Fighting Spirit and Know When to Let your Guard Down.  You have always amazed me from your fighting preemie beginnings in the NICU to your constant absorption of information and recollection.  Just never be afraid to ask for help when you need it because we are all in this life together just trying to do the best we can and we all need help at times of our life.  Ask for it and give help to others when they want it.

Take Care of Your Mind and Your Body.  Respect Yourself!  Move Often.  Eat Right.  Laugh.  Read.  Believe.  Experiment in a Positive Way.  People will treat you the way you let them treat you, so always demand respect by giving and earning it.  Those who don’t give it, pass them by.  There will always be those who do and will appreciate you and don’t let them go.  Dance when you are happy, cry when you are sad, accept and move on when you are embarrassed, or hurt or angry and sad.  Healing is a process that can temporarily derail you, but it is a process that CAN have an ending; always keep going forward because the only person who can stop you is yourself.  And, Brooke, I don’t ever want to see you feel unfulfilled and I am looking to you to reach your potential because…..you are the captain of your ship and your destiny.  I am just here to provide the sails and the wind in this moment and the ultimate steering is up to you.  I am on board for your ride and cheering you on all the way!  Never be afraid to ask for guidance because, I promise you, I will do my best to never let you down.

Love and Light, always and forever, my dear precious child,

YOUR Momma’s Bacon

“If ever there is a tomorrow when we’re not together…there is something you must remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we’re apart…I’ll always be with you”. – Winnie the Pooh

Now to my readers, you can open your eyes now!

To all my loyal readers, I thank you for taking this year long journey with me.  This blog was my perfect reminder that together our families need to face our challenges head on, not sweep them under the rug, so if problems arise we can heal and move on together.  My family and I have had our rough times and we have had our best times and we get through each one together and I look for us to do the same in the future.  I love you, Mom and Dad, thank you for being my parents.  My family read right along with you, my readers, keeping me going, giving me edits (thank you Bob, sis and me mummer) and just believing in me each and every day and I love them deeply despite any differences we have ever had.  To you and your families, keep doing the best job you are doing and if you are not doing your best, stop and correct it.  It’s that simple.  The best of luck and love from my family to yours.   Love deep, let things go and live life with a pure sense of kindness and purpose.  It will come back to you ten-fold.  Peace and love, my friends.  Life is what you make of it and I wish both love and light for you and your children.  Signing off for now and we will see what the future holds for me and for now I am taking a hiatus from Momma’s Bacon, be it short lived or more (my blog and domain name is renewed for another year so all my posts will be available through 2014…), we shall see what my future holds, so stay tuned!  My commitment remains to my family and my (paid) work, so while I have some pretty solid ideas of some creative endeavors to take on in 2013 it’s still anyone’s guess what sticks before January 1st, but I want you to know I have appreciated our time together.  Happy New Year 2013 and Namaste.

 Made by Me™ Time Capsule (Age 5)

www.craftprojectideas.com

List Price: $25.00

Product Review:  Little Bo in London [Hardcover] (Age 4+)

Little Bo’s Exciting Journey Brings Her Home to London with a Thrilling Conclusion to Her Globe-Trotting Adventures

Is there a crime in turning your child into a musical and cat lover before they hit kindergarten?  I may be in trouble!  My love of musicals was always two-fold.  First, I love music and dance, so that was a no brainer, but I also credit musicals as bringing me out of my shell at a much younger age than I would have normally reached out to others.  See, I was part of the local Players children’s group and I always wanted to do the musicals.  For someone who had not been very social as a child to get up on stage and sing and dance – oh Lord – yes, it was almost a mini-miracle in itself.  While I always played the dynamic duo singing and hamming it up team with my mom since I was young, that was different.  This was me on my own being on stage in my own skin.  Okay, so someone else’s clothes (and hair and make-up), but my OWN skin!  Ha!  While Guys and Dolls was probably a highlight musical for me, I always dug Julie Andrews and her magical voice and sassy characters from The Sound of Music to Mary Poppins.  So what has Ms. Andrews being doing these days?  Would you believe me if I said she was writing children’s books with her daughter?  And yes, it combines both Julie Andrews and cats!  Might as well call us the crazy cat family right now and get it over!

Little Bo in London is the latest release in the adventures of the globe-trotting cat, Bo, and her human friend, Billy, by the great musical legend Julie Andrews-Edwards and her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton.  Little Bo (whose real name is Bonnie Boadicea) is a world-traveling cat whose great adventures in previous books have had her interesting adventures in countries like France and Italy have her coming home to London on a sea-faring trip.  Of course, for Bo and Billy, it’s never quit as easy as it sounds and run-ins with pirates and Bo’s budding friendship with the ship cat named Panache make this quite an adventure for kids.  The details and lovely background of London is pure excitement for a child who has yet to visit and it helps that Little Bo looks a lot like our cat, Spike (Brooke likes to compare other cats to ours).  Just a fair warning, this book is quite wordy for a four year old independent reader (which is the youngest age recommendation for a reader) but I think it’s wonderful for a great read-aloud for young children.  After all, Brooke has enjoyed books like Dewey (the library cat – not a small child read) as a read-aloud and that does not have nearly as many adorable pictures as Little Bo!

Little Bo in London [Hardcover] (Age 4+)

www.harpercollinschildrens.com

List Price: $ 19.99 (Currently on sale for $13.59 at Amazon.com)

Product Review:  Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead [Hardcover] *For Parents*

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; . . . who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.” —Theodore Roosevelt

I have always been a fighter.  Not like Rocky Balboa.  No, more like Daniel from the first Karate Kid but without the actual physical karate.  I will always stand up for what I believe even if I need some serious Mr. Miyagi rubs during the fight to get me through.  I will show up and sometimes, darn it, I may even make a difference.  I also like to read A LOT.  I love self-help, parenting and leadership books because I think it does make you more aware and stronger as a person and parent and I want to constantly be getting better.  Vulnerability is not a weakness.  It is a path to courage.  That is Dr. Brené Brown’s truth to living our family lives and all of our relationships in an honest and engaging way to have meaningful connections in life especially with our kids.  Truth, trust and emotional exposure actually take away our uncertainty and risk if we choose to embrace this courageous task.  To speak openly and honestly about our weaknesses and strengths used to be a very frightening thing to me.  I could not or would not open up to people about even the smallest things that did not matter.  Why?  I lived that way because I did not want to get hurt and people used things against me when I was younger that I said to them in confidence so I closed myself off.  What I have realized through many events and years, especially since my late twenties, is that no one can hurt me.  Not really.  I do not give them that power.  That does not mean I still don’t have tough days, sad days, emotional days and the most giddy and happiest days I have ever experienced.  We are each a person, we have to take things personally, right?  (Oh, for those that have seen Boardwalk Empire, I totally just paraphrased that!  Ha!)  However, you have to embrace imperfection, in yourself and in others…to a point.  You can trust in many things: organizations, families, schools, and communities until they give you reason to not trust them.  While I used to work backwards (don’t trust until given reason), I am now trying to embrace life working and moving forward.  When you live your life in truth and look at each day with a clear and honest lens, you feel refreshed.  You do not feel scared.  I remember going through a very tough period two years ago and some days I did not want to get out of bed and go to work, and many mornings the words to the Decemberists song would pop into my head (Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” is an awesome pump up song for me, too!) and I thought….wow, yes, I get out of bed because I am strong even when vulnerable.  I am courageous, and I will not back down when things are not right.  I will keep going and I will not let others dictate my life.  I will tell you it got better.  It got So much better.  It is my life and I want my daughter to live her life just as freely.  We, as parents, lead by example.  So what example are you setting for your kids?  As your kids are in my child’s generation, I care how they will learn, live and grow with her and I hope to be that strong example to show my daughter you can be strong and vulnerable at the same time.  There is no shame in openness and there is no shame in sticking up for your beliefs while still maintaining your humanity and friendships.  I am just glad I allowed myself to learn those lessons (the hard way, I may add) so it will hopefully be easier for Brooke.  We will each find our way, but if we have parents to help guide us, I have to imagine it is an easier and more gentle road to follow.  That is my hope.  This is why I fight and this is why Daring Greatly helps me improve that path.

“This is why

Why we fight

Why we lie awake

This is why

This is why we fight

When we die

We will die with our arms unbound

And this is why

This is why we fight”

Taken from ‘This is Why We Fight’ – lyrics by the Decemberists

Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead [Hardcover] *For Parents*

us.penguingroup.com

List Price:  $26.00 (Also available in eBook for $12.99)

Product Review:  EscapeeJays Sleepwear (Toddler+)

Escape-Proof Pajamas!

Do you have a little Houdini on your hands?  I was told stories about kids taking off their pajamas and diapers at night and laughed it off like it would never happen to us.  Not Brooke.  She sleeps like a rock.  Au Contraire.  Somewhere after turning one she became somewhat of an escape artist.  Shoes, socks, shirts, pants, pajamas and, yes, diapers were taken off at random for no apparent reason.  I did do some research and I found out that some parents would put pjs on backwards and some would duct tape diapers (seriously, I read that!) so there were no interesting *ahem* surprises in the morning.  While we ended up not going those routes, I did come across EscapeeJays Sleepwear and I must say this sounds like a much easier way to deal with little clothing escape artists at night!

EscapeeJays Sleepwear is escape-proof pajamas that are also nice and cozy for comfortable sleeping for your little one.   The zipper is placed on the backside of the pajamas with a snap cover for no-hands access. The Sleepwear is available in both boy and girl colors and come in a variety of sizes from 12 months to 4T.  Be careful, though!  This is a HOT item.  They run out of stock periodically (I was told especially 2-4T sizes) and if a size is not available, it will not show up for purchase.  With patience, you should see an out of stock size appear as soon as they stock back up.  On a side note, this is an item I wish I had known about during early nighttime potty training because it is a useful reminder to the child to let a parent know when she has to go instead of trying to do the entire task herself.  While the lovely dirty diaper trail to the wastebasket was sweet in the sense that she was on that path of potty training empowerment, I would have loved to have had this item during that in-between stage of those delightful sanitation mornings!  Those are always fun before your first cup of joe.  Yum!

Psst!  EscapeeJays also sells the super cute Jay D. Rockafeather ‘spokesbird’ doll for the company (also on the cuff of the Sleepwear).  Adorable!

EscapeeJays Sleepwear (Toddler+)

www.escapeejays.com

List Price:  $ 21.99

Product Review:  No Year of the Cat [Hardcover] (Age 6+)

Auspicious – Giving or Being a Sign of Future Success

In the Chinese Zodiac I am an Earth Goat (the 8th position).  What does that mean?  It’s supposed to mean that I am creative, intelligent, dependable and calm.  Calm?  Hmmm….maybe they have me confused with someone else.  I am sure you have been to a Chinese restaurant that gives you your ‘auspicious year’ and possibly even wonder what I have, ‘why is there no cat’?  That’s actually a question that has become a Chinese legend throughout Chinese culture and Sleeping Bear Press put together a cute children’s book to explain the story after the author discovered the legend while vacationing in Taiwan.  I had never heard the story (which also details why cats are not so fond of the Rat) and found it quite delightful.  The pictures are beautiful and if you want to learn how to write the characters of the numbers 1-12 in Chinese, you are also in luck!

In Which Auspicious Year Was Your Child Born?
Rat – 1996 & 2008
Ox – 1997 & 2009
Tiger – 1998 & 2010
Rabbit – 1999 & 2011
Dragon – 2000 & 2012
Snake – 2001 & 2013
Horse – 2002 & 2014
Sheep – 2003 & 2015
Monkey – 2004 & 2016
Rooster – 2005 & 2017
Dog – 2006 & 2018
Pig – 2007 & 2019

Free!  Check out the free teacher’s guide for No Year of the Cat available here at the Sleeping Bear Press website.

No Year of the Cat [Hardcover] (Age 6+)

www.sleepingbearpress.com

List Price: $16.95 (Currently $13.22 through Amazon.com – pre-order available!)

Product Review:  Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909 [Hardcover] (Ages 4-9)

Are The Ladies Tough Enough To Strike?  Find Out!  Out 01/22/2013!

How quickly we seem to forget that our country is mostly made up of immigrants and workers who fought for their freedoms and their rights.  I know that I wrote recently about how my dad’s side of the family came to the United States from Ireland.  It is what makes this country great, right?  When standing up for oneself becomes a bad thing, I must admit that scares me a lot.  Perhaps we don’t have as much at risk or stake as we did at one time, but it is really all relative (my opinion, of course) when it comes to each person’s personal situation.  I have seen poverty, depression, bullying, unfairness and all that we would like to think does not exist in the U.S. still present which makes Clara’s story of being a girl during the harsh garment worker times in our country (where you would get fired if you accidentally bled onto a garment if you pricked your finger while sewing) still relevant.  If we and our children do not learn from our past, we are doomed to repeat our mistakes.  Like most people, I want to move forward and get better with age, and I feel the same way about the United States of America.  This is not a political post, it really does not matter what side of the fence you are on to me, the horrible labor conditions that have and can exist were happening right here in America.  Shining a light on our past warts is actually a positive thing to do if you are doing it to advance things and that is why I think Brave Girl does a great job at inspiring young children to stand up when things are not right.

Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909 is a children’s book that focuses on the largest strike in the (then) booming garment industry in the United States that was rampant with employee abuse.  Clara Lemlich’s story of coming to America, not knowing the language as a girl, to find herself working in bad factory conditions is true which is what makes this book so interesting.  During the time of the largest strike (which she organized in her Yiddish tongue), most of the garment workers (around 80 percent) were women between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five, although some factories were employing children as young as six to make clothes.  The influx of Eastern European families into the U.S. at the time made up much of the workforce as well as Italian immigrants and other Americans.  At the beginning of 1909, over six hundred young women were arrested (and some beaten) and negotiations only started to happen when the Women’s Trade Union League got involved.  Clara herself was arrested seventeen times and had six ribs broken during one strike.  When we think of today’s five-day work week, weekends and overtime pay, I imagine Clara would have been happy to know that her huge involvement as a garment industry activist (and many others who are not mentioned by name in this book) had a huge role to play in worker’s rights.  And that (stand together, take action and make a difference), my friends, is important to note to our kids.

Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909 [Hardcover] (Ages 4-9)

www.harpercollinschildrens.com

List Price: $17.99 (Currently on Pre-Order through Amazon.com for $ 12.14)

Product Review: Squirrel’s New Year’s Resolution [Hardcover] (Pre-K-3^rd Grade)

A Resolution is a Promise you Make to Yourself to Be Better or to Help Others

If you can believe it, 2012 is winding down and I am happy to report that my one and only resolution I made this year (Momma’s Bacon!) has been accomplished!  I am also starting to think about setting my new goals for 2013 and was hoping to include my preschooler and husband in this endeavor.  I love the realistic examples of New Year’s Family Goals presented on Happy Wink’s website which I will share the link here and the information below.

And you know what?  It’s HARD to find a good children’s book on New Year’s resolutions and what the holiday means.  But, I found a great one through Albert Whitman’s books called Squirrel’s New Year’s Resolution and I think you will find it is a great way to talk to your young ones about what it means to make a promise to yourself to be better or to help others that you plan to follow for an entire year.  Perhaps we don’t talk a lot about resolutions because we tend to set unrealistic goals or goals we have no intention of really following through.  But even young preschoolers have the ability to set resolutions for themselves and strive to do and be better each day.  After all, isn’t that what New Year’s Resolutions are all about?  Our personal family goal is to talk about the things we can do in our lives to make a change for the better.  Little Squirrel realized that helping people in need each day was a great goal for the year and planned to stick to it!  Let’s hope we can all do the same!

New Year’s Resolution Examples taken from the Happy Wink Website:

Examples of New Year’s Resolutions for Preschoolers (for parents with older children, check the site for examples for tweens and teens, too):

• I will brush my teeth twice a day
• I will wash my hands after going to the bathroom and before eating.
• I will clean up my toys.

Examples of New Year’s Parenting Resolutions (the site explains in detail HOW to do each of these things):

• I will be a Good Role Model for my Child
• I will make efforts to Understand my Child
• I will Teach my Child to Eat Healthy
• I will encourage my Child to take Regular Physical Activity
• I will Reward My Child for His Good Behavior

Here is to a happy, healthy and loving 2013, my dear readers!  Just remember, you can stick to your goals, so make this year and every day count!

Squirrel’s New Year’s Resolution [Hardcover] (Pre-K-3^rd Grade)

www.albertwhitman.com

List Price: $16.99

Product Review:  What Does It Mean To Be Safe? {Hardcover} (Pre-K+)

Rana DiOrio’s Newest Addition to her Award-winning Series that Explores Physical, Emotional, Social and Cyber Safety

I was a child with a lot of fear.  I won’t get into the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ I was that way (another blog perhaps), but that was me.  I distinctly remember writing a letter for school (an assignment by an English teacher) to myself that she was going to hold and mail to us in a self stamped envelope in our current address when we graduated from high school about what we thought we were going to ‘be’.  My parents did get that letter in the mail a week after I graduated and when I read it I admit I was a little shocked at how I did exactly what I said I was going to do.  It was in that letter I said I was tired of being shy and tired of being afraid.  I was going to change.  I wanted to do a 180 and go from being a student who people copied their homework assignments from to being the one who played guitar in large crowds and had lots of friends.  And….I did.  I went from an introvert to an extrovert, by choice, almost overnight.  I did not find a balance (and now lean towards being an introvert) until well after college.  I did not really understand in middle or high school that not all ‘friends’ were ‘friends’ and that not everyone meant what they said or did things that I just assumed were ‘right’.  Life wasn’t all fun and games just because you had lots of people surrounding you.  In fact, sometimes I felt even lonelier than when I only had just one great ‘nerd’ friend.  I learned a lot about myself and who I wanted to get close to and trust was something I had to learn (very painfully, I might add) up until my beginning twenties about who is safe and who is not.  That’s when I realized I did care more about myself and my safety (physically and mentally) than having lots of people in my life. There is a balance to strike and it is hard to find it when you do not have the right tools or understand your own self-worth which I personally think is a huge key when teaching kids about safety.  I hope it won’t take my daughter the difficult lessons and people I lost along the way to learn these things.  Books like What Does It Mean to Be Safe? are perfect examples of positive parenting books to read to our children starting at a young age so that they understand that their own physical being belongs to themselves and they need (and we want them) to protect it.

What Does It Mean To Be Safe? gives children guidelines on how they can protect themselves and how important it is to be secure in your surroundings.  While I can relate to the physical, emotional and social aspects of threatening environments, I am always interested in knowing more about cyber safety.  Since the ‘interwebs’ was not in full swing when I was in school, I have to learn the difficulties on how important it is to protect a child online from people who are not trustworthy.  It is very important to have those conversations with your children about unhealthy behavior and what it means to be safe in all environments.  Being safe does not just mean asking an adult for help when needed (although there is a huge element to that), it is also giving the child the tools to rely on their own inner voices and know what to do when an adult is not around to help.  Children have to learn to be strong enough and understand that they play the biggest part in their own safety.  If a friend is doing something unsafe, you want to know that your child would not just follow along like sheep, but to stand up and say, ‘No! That is not me!’ and to seek help from an adult if that is warranted.  We, as parents, are responsible for teaching our kids these tools and that their body is a temple and no one should violate them.  One day, they won’t be kids and they will be making and doing decisions on their own.  If we help them define what it means to be safe now and stay vigilant, we will have to trust that this will be the path they choose and that we have done our part in teaching them well.

Being Safe Lesson Plans!  Check out this page and download the lesson plans for FREE (you have to sign up to get the information) here!

What Does It Mean To Be Safe? {Hardcover} (Pre-K+)

www.littlepicklepress.com

List Price: $16.95 (Kindle Edition is just $2.99)

Product Review:  Star Wars Lightsaber (Fun for Preschool +) *Stocking Stuffer*

Unique Costumes and Gifts with Same Day Shipping!

If there is one franchise I can’t help but get sucked into, it is Star Wars.  I have talked about my love of the movies (IV-VI) in a past post and it really did affect my childhood in many positive ways.  With any luck, Brooke will be a Luke Skywalker fan and have fun playing with a costume prop lightsaber (this really is her stocking stuffer, so she’ll see it on Christmas Day!).  While we used sticks for our imaginary toys when I was a kid, Halloween Costumes has their own cool light up lightsabers for less than ten dollars each.  That’s perfect for a stocking stuffer (or really ANYTIME), right?  I thought so!  The lightsaber extends up to three feet and lights up to a pretty blue which is still exciting to me as an adult (nerd alert!).  This is an officially licensed Star Wars accessory so your little Jedi will be as authentic as they come.  May the Force Be with You!

Psst!  Remember this is a ‘costume prop’ and not a ‘battle weapon’!

Star Wars Lightsaber (Fun for Preschool +) *Stocking Stuffer*

www.HalloweenCostumes.com

List Price:  $ 9.99