Tag: school age

Back to School Must Have: Lovable Labels

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

For most kids, school has been underway for a few weeks now.  While most families have already satisfied their schooLovable Labels Bear_withTAG_8 (120x120)l supplies shopping list, there will always be those lingering must haves.  Since our family vacation coincided with Labor Day and a lot of my energy was exerted into preparing for the trip leading up to my cousin’s wedding, I didn’t have a chance to do a Back to School Shopping Guide.  And so this week, I will be featuring my Back to School Must Haves.

IMG_0459Moms and dads with kids in school and daycare know how pertinent it is to label every single item.  My kid has lost entire outfits at daycare because I failed to label them!  Well, thanks to Lovable Labels, we can set our Sharpies down since they’ve made labeling a breeze.

Lovable Labels kindly sent our family the Back to School Pack to review, and I’ve been on a labeling frenzy ever since.  Even though my kid isn’t in school yet, as a family who is constantly on the go, The Back to School Pack is ideal for all of our labeling purposes.  We received the black labels with a fun little dinosaur graphic that I adore.  I labeled our playground toys with the slimline labels since we go to the park every day, and those toys can be exchanged with numerous little hands.  The labels are durable, distinctive and pretty darn cute!
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Play Like a Pirate

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Arrrrrrgh matey! That’s right, everyone. Tomorrow, September 19, marks Talk Like a Pirate Day! There’s a lot going on to mark this fun day that was started back in 1995 by two pirate fans from Oregon, but we got wind that Monkey Island, the swashbuckling pirate games by LucasArts and Telltale is making the premiere episode of Tales of Monkey Island a free download on their website all day.

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Not only that, but today through September 21, LucasArts is offering a treasure trove of deals on several versions of The Secret of Monkey Island, including:
• 50% off the iPhone and iPod touch version of The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition via Apple’s App Store
• 50% off The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition on Steam, Valve Corporation’s delivery and management platform for the PC and Direct2Drive, IGN Entertainment’s digital download store

Get ye these games before the deals expire! Arrrrrghhhh!

Smart & Silky: kid friendly hand sanitizer

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Nothing can replace good old fashioned hand-washing, but in this day in age where the H1N1 virus still looms, with the kids back in school and the upcoming flu season, it’s important as ever to emphasize illness-prevention.

Just in time for prime kiddie germ season, Smart & Silky and Kids Smart & Silky Foaming Hand Sanitizers is set to hit the shelves. Smart & Silky is alcohol-free, hypoallergenic and is not flammable or poisonous, making it ideal for kids.

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The Young and Not-So-Fabulous

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

9781416980063In the day and age of blogs, MySpace and Facebook, where so much is put out there, there’s still nothing like a good old fashioned journal. You know, the kind where you share your private thoughts and ideas—the kind where you actually write in! Ah, the good ol’ days!

As a lifelong journaler, my love for the written diary runs deep, which is why I adore the premise behind The Dork Diaries: The Tales Behind the Not-So-Fabulous Life by Rachael Renee Russell. Sure, The Dork Diaries could’ve been written by yours truly, but this fun read geared to the tween set, is a collection of the main character, Nikki Maxwell’s school, friends, frenemies, crushes, and family.
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Listen up: Where the Wild Things Are soundtrack

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Spike Jonze’s adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s classic, “Where the Wild Things” continues to create buzz. This time, there’s been some rumblings of the highly anticipated movie’s soundtrack. wild

Specifically, what caught MY attention is the fact that the Karen O, the frontlady of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, is just one of the many rockstars that will be featured on the soundtrack. According to Rolling Stone, the soundtrack will also feature:

Karen O’s YYYs bandmates Brian Chase and Nick Zinner along with Tristan Bechet (Services), Bradford Cox (Deerhunter), Dean Fertita (Queens of the Stone Age, The Dead Weather, The Raconteurs), Aaron Hemphill (Liars), Greg Kurstin (The Bird and the Bee), Jack Lawrence (The Dead Weather, The Raconteurs, The Greenhornes), Oscar Michel (Gris Gris), Imaad Wasif (New Folk Implosion, Alaska). An untrained children’s choir contributes to the songs and soundscapes.

The soundtrack will be released on September 29th and first single “All Is Love” will come out August 25th digitally.

Where the Wild Things is gearing up to not only be a movie to be seen, but also to be heard! In case you haven’t seen the trailer, be sure to check it out!

I just love that one of my favorite books ever is being made into a movie by one of my favorite directors and writers! I seriously can’t wait for this one!

Bugging Out at the Bronx Zoo

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

With illness always lingering, especially in a time where the H1N1 virus often makes headlines than not, Kleenex and The Motherhood partnered together to spread the word about the Battle of the Bug campaign. Last Friday, together with a group of NYC/NJ-area bloggers, I was invited to participate and learn more about the Battle of the Bug campaign.

It’s Wellness Wednesday over here on NKT, what perfect timing to share more about Kleenex’s Battle the Bug campaign.

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The Battle the Bug tour has been making its rounds and spreading the word on how to combat and avoid sickness. The tour made its way to the Bronx Zoo where we whacked bugs, got “sneezed on” and even had photo opps with the big blue bug and reinforced that ongoing battle of keeping our kids healthy.

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As families begin to fulfill their school shopping lists, it’s no doubt that boxes of tissues and hand sanitizer will find their way into many shopping carts. But in addition to the usual supplies, Kleenex tapped Jean Grabeel, to arm families with helpful tips and tactics on staying healthy all year.

Did you know

Grabeel, the Executive Committee member of the National Association of School Nurses (NASN), has been the Coordinator for Health Services for the Springfield Missouri Public Schools. Grabeel, who has been a healthcare professional for close to 30 years, highlighted a few techniques on how to Battle the Bug:

  1. Help kids understand the importance of washing hands

    • -washing in between fingers is just as important too!
  2. Teach kids the importance of covering their nose and mouths when sneezing

    • -use tissues (Kleenex’s anti-viral tissues are said to kill 99.9% of cold and flu viruses
    • -use the interior of their arm to cover nose/mouth and not their hands
  3. If kids have signs or symptoms of illness, STAY HOME

    • -signs include temperature over 100 degrees
    • -vomiting
    • -diarrhea
    • -kids should stay home until sickness and the symptoms subside.

When you sneeze, over 100,000 droplets go into the air at once at 200 mph and can reach up to 3 ft.
Knowing those details, why wouldn’t you cover your nose and mouth? Yuck!

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Grabeel noted that if kids don’t cover their noses and mouth when sneezing, it obviously increases the the possibility of spreading those nasty bugs, especially because of kids’ lack of social distancing. In your face, all the time.

The moms in attendance all asked a variety of questions, but Kimberly’s question regarding the safety of hand sanitizers caught my attention, particularly because I try to avoid alcohol-based sanitizers. Grabeel suggested that the these hand sanitizers are safe, and that even the CDC recommends using them. Though I”ll continue to use our natural sanitizers, I’ll keep in mind that the other stuff should be just fine too.

And finally, perhaps one most helpful suggestions that Grabeel offered was for parents to help keep their kids healthy is to be in communication with school health professionals. Grabeel said that school nurses and other health professionals are the best advocate for keeping our kids healthy.

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There won’t be a pop quiz later, but keeping the kidlets healthy is enough motivation to enforce the importance of battling the bug. Don’t forget: wash your hands, cover your mouths and if you’re sick, stay home!


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Full disclosure: Though not affiliated with Kleenex, I was compensated for this event.

All dolled up

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Get ready girls, Toy company, Spin Master, has introduced Liv, a new line of dolls.  The stylish teenage gal pals, Daniela, Sophie, Katie and Alexis, are unique and relatable, and are geared to girls in the 6-10 age range.  In addition to their cool outfits, each Liv doll has a special access code to an online world, which will give girls a different dimension to interact with their dolls to collect fashions in their virtual closet, view webisodes, games and more.

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What’s notable about the Liv dolls is that their style and appearance is much different and more age appropriate for the range that they’re targeting.  As an aunt who has had to shop for dolls for tween nieces and cringing at the options, I appreciate the market research that Spin Master has done.  I think the online world is also an innovative idea, giving girls even more opportunities to engage in imaginative, interactive play.  What I love most: the dolls’ believable attributes and diverse appearance gives girls a better understanding of what it’s like to be a teen.  [Boy craziness and angst aren’t included :)]

Livworld doesn’t officially launch until August 15, but the dolls, which retail for $20, are in stores now.

Appaman AVONE Collection

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

School shopping…what? already? It’s hard to believe that it’s not even August yet and store shelves and racks have been filled with a plethora of school supplies and the latest threads for weeks. Yeah, weeks.

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I’m in the process of preparing a Back to School shopping guide that I’ll post in a few weeks, but until then, check out this recently launched collection from Appaman. Paying an homage to art and using their clothing as canvases, Appaman introduced the first collection of what they’ve dubbed, “wearable art capsule.”


The first collection features AVONE, a renowned NYC graffitti artist. Each piece in the collection has imagery photographed by AVONE and is tagged with his signature. AVONE and Appaman produced a four piece capsule collection for boys consisting of three long sleeve tees ($32) and a hoodie ($52). With their edgy, unique and cool tagged-inspired designs in the AVONE collection, I can’t wait to see what other artistic brilliance Appaman has up their sleeves. Or should I say on their sleeves.

Appaman clothing can be found online and in various retail locations.

Spotted at BlogHer

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

While at BlogHer, I had the chance to peruse the Expo floor a few times. The Expo floor was basically a trade show for women bloggers that featured products to be used in the kitchen to spiffy vacuums to gold kiwis (based on Tweets, seemed like the belle of the ball!) and of course, the latest and greatest kids’ products.
Lucky me, I got to check out a few products that I’ve blogged about here on NKT.

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I took a look at the Complete Air Car Seat that features Safety 1st’s new Air Protect technology. As I envisioned, it’s a sleek-looking car seat that has the hard-to-miss side head cushions. The pictures of this car seat certainly don’t do it any justice, especially the cool brown and orange colored Complete Air car seat which first caught my attention. I liked that it’s not a huge seat, like the one we currently own. This car seat has definitely piqued my interest!

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I also spotted the Disney Netpal, the kid-friendly laptop that I blogged about last month. Again, it was much cooler in person.  It’s as petite as I imagined, but not overly kiddie-centric at all. The rep. at the booth walked me through a lot of its functions and reiterated its kid-friendliness.  After speaking to her, I was sold; I actually want one for myself, now :)  At $350, I thought it was a decent deal for what you get.  At this day and age, electronics, especially ones that are educational and functional for school-aged kids, are a great, if not imperative, investment.

Getting Funky for Music Monday

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

funky kidsHappy Monday, everyone.  We had quite an exciting music-filled weekend, and I can’t wait to share all about it.  But in honor of yet another fun adventure with NKT in mind, I’m happy to announce another weekly editorial focus. Every Monday will be fittingly dubbed, Music Monday, and will feature music-influenced posts.

To start off the first Music Monday, how about some funky, jazzy kids tunes? I recently had the chance to check out Funky Kidz, which is a musical compilation performed by several artists from New Orleans and features covers of children’s songs.  Including classic kiddie songs like “Hokey Pokey” and “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” the award-winning CD includes musicians include such as Ivan Neville of the Neville Brothers; The Radiators; George Porter Jr. of The Meters;  Bonerama, and more.
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