Holly Robinson Peete to Host Webinar on Food Allergies

Because allergies run rampant in our family, this topic has been on my radar well before I became a parent.  Once I became a mom, introducing food to the kid with the possibility of food allergies became an even bigger reality.  Aside from real-life experience by helping my younger brother cope with being “allergic to the world,” my husband and I researched to educate ourselves for the uncertainty of having a child with food sensitivities.

Amidst all the gatherings this time of year, it’s the parties and family events that can be a cause of concern for allergic reactions.  After being so cautious with anything new that the three year old has eaten, over Christmas, he had an allergic reaction after having some cashews.  Of course, the reaction happened the evening of the post-Christmas blizzard and weather conditions would have complicated everything.  Thankfully, the kid is at an age where he can verbally communicate with us now, and immediately told us that his tongue was itchy—a telltale sign of an allergic reaction, and something that I always remember my brother describing after eating various things he was allergic to, when we were kids.

Always reluctant to let the kid have nuts in anything, for some reason, I thought he would have been ok trying cashews for the first time that night.  I thought he was in the clear with any nut allergies, but I was wrong.

The kid’s hives, swollen lips and an itchy tongue was enough to remind us that not all foods are safe for our allergy-prone kid.  Thankfully, we had Children’s Benadryl onhand to remedy the situation and that it didn’t require a trip to the ER.  We learned from this terrifying situation and are grateful it didn’t transpire differently.

Because of our family’s allergies and my interest in sharing this sort of information to other parents, I will be logging into a video webinar on the topic tomorrow.

Super Bowl Sunday is the second biggest eating day of the year after Thanksgiving. Since severe allergic reactions to food send 90,000 people to the emergency room annually, TV personality Holly Robinson Peete of CBS’s The Talk (who is married to former NFL quarterback Rodney Peete) will be hosting an online video webinar about handling food allergy dangers at gatherings like Super Bowl parties. Nine out of 10 people say they will be attending one this year, according to a recent Nielsen survey.  Since Holly’s four children all have some kind of food allergy, she has plenty of expertise in this topic.

After the webinar, I’ll be one of a few bloggers who will ask Holly questions pertaining to allergies and her experience.  It’s always interesting to hear other parents shed light on issues that hit so close to home.  I’ll of course share Holly’s insight after the interview, but I’d also like to invite you to watch the online webinar.

Allergy Friendly Superbowl Webinar with Holly Robinson Peete

When: Tuesday, Feb. 1, at 5 p.m. ET (2 p.m. PT)

Where: Click this link
to get to the webinar, where you will be able to watch Holly via live video feed: http://agencyroad.na4.acrobat.com/allergyfriendlysuperbowl/

Full disclosure: I am being compensated for my participation in this webinar and Q&A via TheMotherhood. The webinar is being sponsored by Dey Pharma L.P.  As always all opinions on NKT are my own.

Toy Fair 2010: Teeny Tiny Trend

Toy Fair had so many larger than life toys that were on display, but one trend that I noticed that paralleled the aforementioned accessibility theme was the presence of so many teeny tiny toys.  And for this first toy, I’m talking tiny.

Teeny Little Families

Teeny Little Families

Bandai was showcasing their new Tiny Little Families line, which is described to be the smallest collectible doll.  The story behind these guys is that the little animal families–The Bakers, Acorns, Nibbles, Purrbrights, Waddles and Pollywogs–take up residence in abandoned, mundane objects such as shoes, alarm clocks and even a wee little cell phone. Their little town/playsets include homes, pampering spots and many more locations for the families to enjoy.  Teeny Little Families is a new take on doll houses, giving girls another  alternative for cutesy collectibles.

Tiny Families

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Best of ’09: Polliwalks

The first ‘Best of 2009’ and companies and products to watch in 2010 is Polliwalks.

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To be upfront, we are not a clog kind of family. Y’know, as in Crocs and the like…well, until we tried Polliwalks on for size.
Clogs, personally, are not my style, but for kids, I think they’re functional and they seem comfortable. True story: the summer when the kid started to cruise, I brought a pair of clogs home. The next day, I was asked to return them. That’s right, the clogs were vetoed.  And of course a few months later, at a family outing, we learned that the kid has a fondness for clog. (pastel pink ones to be exact!) They always want what they don’t have; funny how that works!

And so, this fall when Polliwalks approached me to check out their line of clogs, I happily obliged. Polliwalks has a wide variety of animals, bugs, creatures and character-themed clogs, so it was hard to choose which shoe to try. Since it was around the time of my trip to Sesame Street, the characters were even closer to our hearts, so we went with Cookie Monster.
Cookie Monster Polliwalks
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NKT’s Best of 2009

Without a doubt, in 2009 I researched, tested and reviewed more baby and kid products than I could comprehend—truly.  Some of the products I wanted to share with you just didn’t make it on to the blog because of time, especially with the madness of the holidays and wrangling an active kid.  And because of this, I wanted to do my roundup of innovative gear, gadgets and goodies of 2009.  These are all products that I thought made an impression to me and certainly companies that I will watch in 2010.

I’ll post the products in the following days in no particular, with a few giveaways to boot.

First up:

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New year, new horizons

Happy Monday and happy 2010, everyone. I hope you had a lovely holiday break and are recovering/transitioning ok! Our family enjoyed a very nice Christmas and quiet New Year; it was just the right amount of family time. After a hectic fall and holiday season, I took a much needed break from blogging and writing. Apologies for the lack of posts, but things will be back to normal this week.

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photo credit: Selva Ganapathy

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Music Monday: A Family Christmas

Way before tracking trends and kid’s products even became a blip on my radar, I stumbled upon Putumayo Kids music at a local gift store.  A huge advocate for diversity and lover of all things music-related, falling in love with Putumayo Kids was a given.

There are children’s music compilations and then, there is Putumayo Kids.  Putumayo’s various cds, which are geared to entertain, educate and inspire cultural curiosity in children, boast upwards to 3 million cds sold and stands apart from other children’s cds.  The compilations are well-thought out and enjoyable for both kids and adults—a must for our music-loving family.

616FLxA340L._SL500_AA240_This fall, Putumayo released A Family Christmas, which I found to be one of the best recent kid-centric Christmas music collections.  Putumayo’s A Family Christmas is a melodic departure from all the character-based songbooks, shows and cds that seem to monopolize the storeshelves, especially this time of year.  The songs on this cd are ones that we know and love, but the artists featured are none that I can recognize aside from Big VooDoo Daddy, (though you might recognize a few) which makes it even more appealing.  Can you think of a better way to enjoy the songs you hear a billion times over during the holidays than with a new fresh take on the classics for kids?

From Johnny Bregar’s acoustic take on “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” to Big Bad Voodoo Daddy retro-swing version of Louis Armstrong’s song, “Is Zat You Santa Claus?,” to The Christmas Jug Band featuring Angela Strehli and Maria Muldaur’s “Boogie Woogie Santa Claus,” Putumayo’s A Family Christmas covers all the music genre on one fun collection.  This compilation truly appeals to music lovers of all ages and from all walks of life!  My only complaint is that I can’t seem to locate Putumayo on iTunes.  Maybe the next one?

My personal favorite on the cd is definitely Mele Kalikimaka by Debbie Davis & Matt Perrine, which I consider a kind reminder and shout out to one of our family’s highlights of the year—our trip to Hawaii this summer to celebrate the kid’s Godmother’s wedding!
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Be sure to check out the Putumayo Kid’s site to check out their other award-winning cd collections.  Also, head on over to Amazon to give a listen to A Family Christmas, which is where I sampled this cd myself.  Music is a wonderful gift for everyone, especially cd compilations that have garnered awards like, Parents’ Choice Awards, National Parenting Publications Gold Awards, iParenting Media Award and Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award.

Without a doubt, after I pick up this cd from Barnes and Noble, Putumayo’s A Family Christmas will be blaring from our speakers on our drive back to Virginia for the holidays.  Putumayo is so cool, they’re offering a free MP3 download!  Just sign up here to receive your free download of the song “Jolly Old St. Nick” by Brave Combo from the new Putumayo CD A Family Christmas.

A Family Christmas can be found at retailers like Barnes and Noble, as well as online.

Gift Glossary: great video games

In the video game sector, titles and technology are constantly evolving. With many new handheld titles and fun family titles to choose from, I had a tough time narrowing down NKT picks. I could go on and on with this exhaustive list for great family video games, but I chose many of the ones below because I had the unique chance to experience them first hand. For the ones that I didn’t try out myself, I felt that their family-friendliness and entertainment value coincided with NKT’s scope.  And as far as giveaways go, this is a biggie!  Enter for a chance to win these recently released video games and NKT picks!
So, here they are:

51zxuPNAUVL._SL500_AA280_Dora Saves the Crystal Kingdom
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See this: Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas

As a huge fan of Jim Henson, naturally, I love all of the quirky characters, including Emmet Otter! Moms and dads, do you remember Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas from the Muppets? I sure do! Who could forget Emmet and his Ma and their take on the “Gift of the Magi.” This holiday season, especially in these economic times, Emmett and his Ma’s story hits home even more.

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And how cool is this? The Goodspeed Musical Theatre is now featuring A Goodspeed Christmas, their theatrical adaptation of Jim Henson’s Emmet Otter. The Goodspeed Theatre is located in East Haddam, CT and the Goodspeed Christmas is playing now until January 3.

Over on Twitter, it’s Emett Otter Day on the Jim Henson Company’s feed, so be sure to check them out for cool updates and giveaways! My guy is loving Emett Otter and friends because of the cool music; I can’t wait to watch it again with him!

NKT Gift Glossary: great games

Finally! I’m just now getting all caught up and posting my much delayed Holiday Gift Glossary! Over the next few days, I will be unveiling my favorite top picks for the NKT Holiday Gift Glossary. And oh yeah, I’ll be giving away a few goodies, too!

Today’s installment of the Holiday Gift Glossary is all about games! Check them out here or under the Gift Glossary tab above!
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