UPDATE on CSPIA Changes

Well , hot off the press we have a letter from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission regarding my concerns on the pending legislation I talked about here.

In a nutshell, they now say...

The new safety law does not require resellers to test children’s products in inventory for compliance with the lead limit before they are sold. However, resellers cannot sell children’s products that exceed the lead limit and therefore should avoid products that are likely to have lead content, unless they have testing or other information to indicate the products being sold have less than the new limit. Those resellers that do sell products in violation of the new limits could face civil and/or criminal penalties.

Hmmm....




[tagname tagname]

A Fresh, New Perspective and a Lot of Ideas ~ Review: Read Kiddo Read

Well, we are officially back in school....woohoo!! How do I know we are back in school? You mean other than the fact that tranquility reigns at our home until about 3pm M-F? Well, that would be because P1 came home with a reminder from her First grade English teacher that the kiddos are to read at least one book a night and then mark it off on their reading log. P1 LOVES to be able to mark off the design of the month - Oct was Pumpkins, Nov. was Turkeys, Dec. was Reindeer, and Jan is Snowflakes. They read for about 20 minutes - or one book and then they can mark off one of the designs. The more they read, the more they can mark off. When school started in August, they did not have these sheets to mark off and many nights, it was really tough convincing P1 that she had to read again. Once those sheets started coming home though, it was a whole new ballgame. Who knew that something that simple could provide such great motivation to read?!

P2 is beginning to make good progress in her reading skills as well and it is really thrilling to see the pride in her eyes each time she can figure out a new word or two. She also loves to be read to and the more dramaticly it is presented, the better. The latest thing with her is the Tales of Abby the Panda that I tell her each night. Sometimes these tales are long, sometimes short and some are decidedly better than others but my sweet girl does not care. She just loves that I tell them, just for her.

Funny, but I do not remember ever learning to read. It just seems that I have always been able to read and I have always loved it! Aside from being told by experts that our children really must learn to enjoy reading, I think it is my happy childhood memories relating to reading that fires my enthusiasm for them to learn to love to read too.

Brett does not share that same love of reading that I have and we have talked about why. He has several siblings who love to read, as do his folks now but while he was growing up, there just was not a lot of time available for someone to read with him and the choices of literature for geeky little boys was not then what it is today. We have talked about how we can develop that love of reading in our girls, both drawing on our past experience.

After one of these discussions between Brett and I, I wrote a post back in October titled Reading to Develop a Reader. In it, I give the great suggestions provided by the American Library Association on how to turn the average child into a voracious reader. I also list some good recommendations of types of books but it is very general in nature. So imagine my delight, if you will, when I learned about what renowned-author James Patterson has created - ReadKiddoRead.

ReadKiddoRead is a website where you will find lists of books for varying age groups. It’s divided into four age categories: Great Illustrated Books (0-8), Great Transitional Books (6 & up), Great Page Turners (8 & up), and Great Advanced Reads (10 & up). What's really cool is that you can read reviews by authors and publishers, giving both parents and their children a great place to find an exciting new story lines your kids are sure to love.

Along with the book recommendations, he includes related themes, links to find the book in all sorts of locations including your local library, quotes from critics, even similar suggested reads. The website also helps you find book discounts, special promotions, featured interviews and a variety of contributions from authors and celebrities. It is a fantastic help for parents like us.

Thankfully, our girls are all showing the beginnings of a great love affair with books. I told you about P2 earlier in this post and P3 is already showing an interest in them as well, whether she is looking at them on her own, with her sisters, or being read to by Mama or Daddy. And I love nothing better than when I go to check on P1 in her room and she is in there happily reading away, all by herself. But I know sooner or later, we will need a fresh new perspective and helpful ideas and I am grateful for wonderful places like ReadKiddoRead where we can go for inspiration.

This review written in partnership with Mom Central.




Teaching+Reading

Are We THIS Anal???

"Barring a reprieve, regulations set to take effect next month [Feb. 10] could force thousands of clothing retailers and thrift stores to throw away trunkloads of children's clothing."

Read the rest of the L.A. Times article, "New safety rules for children's clothes have stores in a fit",

Talk about shooting ourselves in the foot!! Come on people!!

So what will be next - the Yard Sale police? the Thrift store guardian? the arrest of innocent ebay retailers?

Let's back up. Have you heard about the CPSIA? The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) goes into effect on Februry 10, 2009. This recently-enacted piece of work was created with the noble purpose of protecting our children from lead and phthalates (for which the recent spate of recalls has underscored a need). Yes, on one hand, we need to protect children. On the other, the economic effect this act will have on families who depend on thrift and consignment stores to clothe their children is unmeasurable. Add to that the homegrown variety of creative gurus out there who provide their own livelyhood by creating and selling adorable things for children.

And yet smoking cigarettes around kids is perfectly legal.

So why should you care?

The cost of 3rd party testing for certification to prove products do not contain lead or other harmful matters will put many small business owners out of business.

There is no exemption for 100% natural products. So a mama sewing diapers from cotton fabric, or my friends at NorthStar Toys, carving wooden toys… Everyone would have to pay for costly certification lab tests on each batch produced.

- If you are a business owner selling products for children 12 and under this will effect you.

- As a consumer you may see many of your favorite products removed from the shelves until testing takes place.

- As a consumer you may see many of your favorite online shops close because testing rates are too high.

- As a consumer you may see an increase in price for products geared toward children 12 and under. The expense of testing will most likely be passed on to the consumer.

- As a WAHM or SAHD that crafts or decorates garments, jewelry or anything for children 12 and under this will effect you.

- Sites such as Wishpot, Etsy and ArtFire or any other Indie hosted sites may lose products and vendors.

- Many of the moms who review products will be effected.

Another big one is on the issue of resale

This impacts resellers, thrifty buyers, and the environment. (Thrifty buyers? The environment? This is all of us, not just manufacturers!)

Clearly, this will stop resale and consignment stores, church rummage sales, eBay sales, etc. and that would TOTALLY hit home here.

And, although it could hardly be enforced, this would even prohibit you from selling your children’s old clothes at a Yard Sale.

Even books are included in the CPSIA, and thus another big resale issue. More on that from the Book Shop Blog.

You can’t even donate your old books to a library. Charities can’t give blankets to cancer stricken babies… Wow.

This is going to be a chain reaction that will stretch far and wide as of February 10, 2009 (Now known as National Bankruptcy Day).

The CPSIA was written with good intent. It just needs to be adjusted to account for things that weren’t properly thought out ahead of time.

What can we do?

Write your Congresspeople!

Support the idea by voting for it on Change.org.

Pass it on! Email your friends, post it to your blog or Facebook account, Tweet about it on Twitter, share it with your networking groups.

Rather than repeat what everyone else is saying I will just list the most effective links that I have found so far. There’s a great post about this at Baby Cheapskate, which she is updating as new information becomes available. Since people are up in arms and things ARE actually being discussed, this is often. I welcome you to comment here and leave more links that you might know about.

CPSIA Petition for Apparel Industry
What Needs To Be Tested?
ETSY’s open letter
VOTE @ Change.org

Blog Posts:

5 Minutes For Mom
Startup Nation
Cheeky & Swank
Fashion-Incubator
Moon Fly Kids
The Diary of a Poshpreneur
The Smart Mama
Ohana Mama

Forums:
Social Ning
Toy Industry
Craig’s List
Squidoo

PLEASE DO WHAT YOU CAN!!!!
THIS CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO HAPPEN!!!!

CPSIA+Change.org

Dallas Chinese School Open House

The Dallas Overseas Chinese School will host an open house from 2 to
3:30 p.m. Jan. 11 at Richardson North Junior High School, 1820 N. Floyd
Road in Richardson. The school focuses on teaching spoken Chinese,
including its cultural and historical influences. Various educational
prizes, including one complete tuition voucher, will be awarded.
www.overseaschinese school.com; 972-467-3942.




Chinese+School

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: Tutu Funny

I am speechless....
Silly P2 and Daddy
Christmas Morning 2008

Thanks for stopping by! Head on over to 5 Minutes for Mom and Wordless Wednesday HQ for the full scoop and bigger list!

Wordless+Wednesday

Help Support Adoption NOW!!! Here is how....

Joint Council Call to Action: Vietnam

For the thousands of Vietnamese children living outside of a family, intercountry adoption is no longer an option. Please help the Joint Council on International Children's Services change this by participating in their Call to Action.

Senators Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Norm Coleman of Minnesota will be forwarding a letter to the Prime Minister of Vietnam, to encourage Vietnam's continued participation in negotiations on intercountry adoption. The letter will express Congressional support for the continuation of intercountry adoption.

Between Monday, January 5th and Wednesday, January 7th, you can support this important initiative through the following methods.

1. Contact your Congressional Representatives and Senators and ask them to sign
the letter to the Prime Minister of Vietnam regarding the future of intercountry
adoptions from Vietnam. Also, note that if they are interested in signing, they
should contact Sarada Peri from Senator Landrieu's office (Sarada_Peri@landrieu.senate.gov) by Wednesday, January 7th. For a list of
Senators and Congressman that have signed the letter as of the time of this
writing, please see below. You can find your Senators' phone numbers and e-mail addresses at www.senate.gov. You can find your Representatives' phone numbers and e-mail addresses at www.house.gov.

2. Send a notice of support (and ensure that you receive updates on this initiative) via the Joint Council website.

• Click "Sign me up for Joint Council news."
• Under the communications preferences, select the drop down menu for "Newsflashes and Updates."
• Click "Sign me up."
• Fill in your information.
• Under the comment section, type "Letter to Vietnam Prime Minister." Joint Council will also be forwarding the names of individual who contact us to Senators Landrieu and Coleman.

The letter to the Prime Minister can only be successful with your help! If you have any

questions, please do not hesitate to contact Joint Council staff via advocate@jcics.org.

Please note the following Senators have already signed the letter to the Prime Minister of Vietnam as of 12/17/2008:

Senator Landrieu
Senator Coleman
Senator Johnson
Senator Bill Nelson
Senator Oberstar
Senator Akaka
Senator Lincoln
Senator Roberts
Senator Lautenberg
Senator Murkowski
Senator Menendez
Senator Durbin
Senator Kerry
Senator Klobuchar

Please note the following Representatives have already signed the letter to the Prime Minister of Vietnam as of 12/17/2008:

Rep. Jim Oberstar
Rep. Jerry Costello
Rep. Scott Garrett

--------------------------------------------------------

Remember, what affects one, affects all. Please do what you can NOW to help ensure these children have a CHANCE to get a Family of their VERY OWN!!!

Vietnam+Adoption

Be Careful Out There!!

Some of you probably heard about this weekend's Twitter excitement with some morons sending out yet another phishing scam. If you didn't, you can read about it here, here and here. This is of course, on the heels of the Facebook Phishing of late as well. Do these idiots have nothing better to do than create malicious activity? As my Mom always used to say, if you have nothing to do, let me find you something to do. Sheesh!

I have at least a couple of friends whose Facebook accounts were hijacked and I myself received one of the Twitter fraud posts. Since I did not know who they were, I was leery but once I saw they wanted my password, well, I made a hasty exit as it has been well drilled into my head to give my information to NO ONE who is soliciting it. I think of it like how I teach my kids - it they contact me, then I do not give it out. If I initiated the contact and everything else seems in place, then I may.

Bottom line, there are just way too many idiots out there trying to get into our personal information for malicious purposes. Don't let it be you. Be careful out there!




[tagname tagname]

Review: The Curse of the Bone Pirates - Arghhh!

Recognize these eyes? Argh, those be the eyes of me favorite pirate o' all time...Cap'n Jack Sparrow of Pirates of the Caribbean fame, they be. Aye, I loves ol' Cap'n Jack- er, Johnny Depp.:)

So, when I heard about a new book called Curse of the Bone Pirates, a Nui Island Eco-Logical Adventure by B.T. Hope (Brian Machovina and Tina DiCicco), well, I couldn't pass up the chance to check it out.

The Nui Island book site describes the book as:

An evil force is destroying the natural wonders of Nui Island, and it’s up to three new friends to solve the mystery. When Big B is dragged from his comfortable life and close friends in Chicago by his grandfather’s mysterious affliction, he’s sure he’s going to have the worst summer ever. But soon after arriving in the tropical paradise of Nui Island, he is caught in a web of danger and intrigue. The Maemae reef is dying, his grandfather’s brilliant mind has been infected and creepy Island legends are coming to life. Big B and his new friends, Sam and Nalu, rely on wit, courage and strength to unravel Nui’s ancient mysteries. What they uncover will help them save the Island, restore his grandfather’s soul, and break the curse of the Bone Pirates. With a captivating plot, fascinating characters and an important ecological message, Curse of the Bone Pirates: Nui Island Eco-Logical Adventures will haunt and delight young readers.

All of that is true but the book is all of that and so much more!!

I have mentioned before that my daughter, P1 is learning how to read and has an extremly inquisitive mind. One look at this book and I knew she would love it so she and her Dad are very busy reading it together these days. Of course, P2 does not want to be left out and I love listening to Brett read so there are often many sets of ears listening in.

Big B is a totally likable unlikely hero with hair that never fails to make my girls laugh. And of course my hubby likes him because his real name is - Brett.:) Big B has a HUGE transition to make when he arrives at Nui Island - think Mrs. Howell on Gilligan's Island. Big B is, after all, a city kid from Chicago and Nui Island is, well, rather low key and unsophistcated.

Sam however, is our favorite. Seriously, she gives girl-power new meaning. Anyone who can carry off purple and lavender hair like she does, is that quick and agile and well, let's face it, is one smart and wise cookie, well, she simply rocks! She and Nalu are like salt and pepper with Nalu being the calm, cool and laid back character that every good threesome needs.

Professor Prune is Big B’s grandpa and it is his 'illness' that gets Big B to the island in the first place. While he is the local eco-Einstein eco-logical genius and all around good guy working to help nature along in any way he can - had something happen to scramble his brain a bit, and it is up to Big B, Sara and Nalu to find out what it was ... before it is too late!

The entire book is entertaining - start to finish. It is what one might call a real page turner and I say that in the best sense. While it is designated a 'juvenile book, for ages 9-12, I dare any adult to read it and not find it entertaining. Seriously. The back cover even goes so far as to say that it is “safe for adults with kid supervision.” Yes, it is that sense of humor that you cannot help but enjoy.

Now as any good mama would do, I have pretty much kept to myself the educational aspect of the book. Curse of the Bone Pirates gives great examples all through the book of things that the island does to keep their environment healthy. Talk about a good example! And I loved how there are true fact interwoven as you go along...what an easy way to learn!

Besides, if you buy Curse of the Bone Pirates, you’re buying a book printed on recycled paper with soy inks! And Nui donates $1 from every copy sold to “charities that empower youth.” And add to that, the publisher, Greenleaf Book Group, operates a Tree Neutral program that plants trees to balance out our extensive use of trees.

The Curse of the Bone Pirates can be purchased at Nui’s online store or at Amazon.com for about $11.95

But if you just need to interest your child - young or old - in reading a great pirate adventure matey, well, then show them this bit o' treasure -

Cool stuff hidden between the covers of this book include: poisonous sea snakes, black gold, biomimetics, Sirius, seagull poop, how to say paradise in Polynesian, hidden volcanic caves, Shakespearean verse, the Cliff Hanger, a shell phone, bioluminescence, names to call your friends in Spanish, dinoflagellates, waste water webs, carrot toothbrushes, drinking green slime, rainbow salsa, getting worked by a wave, the Bloodlust, archeology, screm do kafle, vaporous cannonballs, katuk, an anamorphoscope, eating ants, banana-mobiles and much, mucho, more.

Read it. Life may depend on it.

Arrrghh!

A very special thanks to the Family Review Network and Nui for providing a copy of the Curse of the Bone Pirates for our opinions.