Let me take you back a few years. It is Christmas Eve. You are running about the house pausing every few moments to strain your ears for any sound resembling sleigh bells, flight or a boisterous ‘ho, ho, ho’. What you do hear is mom calling that it is time to open a gift.
The first gift
You race as fast as you can to the tree. You hardly dare believe your ears: open a gift, now, tonight? Older siblings greet the news with less enthusiasm, and rather knowing expressions. Missing these subtle clues you tear into your box expecting to find the toy of your dreams. What you get are PJ’s.
Your childish heart is only momentarily dampened, older siblings dive into new jammies with familiarity and gratitude. This scene repeats every year. You can mark holidays in photos by what jammies you are wearing, not the gift you open.
A New Night Dress
Flash forward; you are the parent creating and contemplating holiday traditions. As you and your spouse begin a family the need for holiday traditions becomes more personal and warm. Your baby may not remember opening a red pair of footie PJ’s, but the photos will tell the story.
Christmas pajamas are a great way to curb, control or reward your toddler’s Christmas enthusiasm. Knowing there is a special gift under the tree that they get to open on Christmas Eve will occupy their attention and relieve pestering questions of, “When can I open my presents?”…or “Can’t I open just one?”
The practical side
As a toddler or child, it may not have occurred to you that your yearly gift of pajamas was not only fun, but practical. Christmas is in winter, and kids grow so fast. Often there is a need for warm pajamas that fit, which perfectly coincides with the advent of the holiday season. Making the necessary item into a fun tradition is a great way to meet two needs with one solution.
Toddler appeal
New parents might worry that their toddler will be less than pleased with this gift and feel cheated on Christmas Eve. This feeling of being slighted may lead their precious toddler to spoil the holiday spirit with a full-blown tantrum! Well, this is not usually the case. Toddlers just love to open gifts. They might show a preference for one toy over another once they are all opened, but if there is only one gift opened this is not an issue.
Toddlers also love to be included with what their parents or older siblings are doing. If mom, dad as well as brothers and sisters all get jammies, then your two year old is not going to be disappointed.
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Filed under Birthday by on Oct 13th, 2010. Comment. 
This is your first Christmas as the proud Grandparent. There is no greater joy than that of greeting a new baby, except perhaps that joy of greeting a new grandbaby. Grandparenthood is a special club that encourages reckless spoiling of those beloved creatures. There was no true maxim than that of: many a child is spoiled because you can’t spank Grandma.
If this year is your first year celebrating Christmas as a grandparent, congratulations! Not since the magical days spent with your own children will the Holidays seem so full. There are however a few pitfalls that new grandparents are susceptible to. For a joyous celebration that won’t create ill will here are a few tips to follow.
Holiday Gift Giving
This is the season of giving, and it is so much fun to give gifts to a toddler or baby. Baby clothes are so much fun to pick out and wrap. Toys are much more exciting to purchase and watch being unwrapped than the offerings for adults. It is easy to go overboard.
Remember, gifts are often expected at Christmas time, and they are very appreciated but an over abundance of gifts rivaling the collection of Ritchie Rich is not likely to engender the appreciation of the new parents. Try to set a limit for yourself. Your grandbaby does not need every single toy or pair of shoes you lay eyes on.
If you are not sure what the limit should be have an honest conversation with your grandbaby’s parents. When everyone is on the same page from the beginning there is much less chance of hurting feelings or over stepping some unknown boundary.
Special Gifts
When it comes to specific gifts some are just off limits to grandparents. This means that perhaps your daughter-in-law feels it a parental right to purchase her baby girl that all important first doll. Perhaps it is the unknown wish of your child to present his or her own baby with a keepsake quilt.
The problem with these special gifts is not so much the desire to be the one to give it to the baby, but the symbolism behind it. The flip side of the special gift scenario is that of contraband gifts. Perhaps guns or overly frivolous Barbies have been placed on the no-no list by the baby’s parent. As the grandparent you may have no idea what these special or contraband gifts might be.
Again it is time to discuss gift options with your grandbaby’s parents. No grandparent wants to become the stereotypical ‘in-law’. Keeping communication lines open will ensure that Christmas is a time of fun giving and spoiling that leaves everyone with feelings of love and respect.
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Filed under Birthday by on Oct 12th, 2010. Comment.
Some of the most important and memorable experiences of a baby shower are the baby-themed games that are characteristic of the American baby shower. Games and activities make up a big part of the fun and excitement in the celebration that will welcome your new coming baby into the world. When it comes to picking the right games for your shower, be sure to center your activities on the overall theme of the party. Consider the number of guests that have been invited, your budget, and the location of the baby shower, in order to choose the games that will be best suited for your event. Creating a combination of traditional, timeless games and new, original activities is always a good way to go to add festivity to the segment of the shower whereby Mom opens up all the newborn gifts.
Games can be classic and general, or more specific and tied to your theme. One of the most universal baby shower games that everyone seems to love is called “Dont Say Baby.” At the beginning of the baby shower, each guest is given a string with a pacifier on it, which he or she ties on his or her neck as a necklace. Throughout the course of the baby shower, nobody is allowed to say the word, “baby.” Whoever slips and says “baby,” risks losing their pacifier; any person who hears someone say the forbidden word is entitled to take their pacifier and add it to their necklace. Even when she opens up a newborn baby gift, no one can exclaim how neat the baby gift is. At the end of the baby shower, whoever collects the most pacifiers on their necklace is the winner of the game.
Another good classic activity is “Guess Mommys Belly Size.” For this game, you will need yarn or string, and a pair of scissors. Each guest proceeds to pull and cut the yarn or string to the size they believe that the mommys tummy is. After everyone has estimated the size of the mommy-to-bes stomach, measure the actual size of the belly, and cut the string or yarn to match that length. The person whose string is the closest in size to the string that was cut to mommys real tummy measurement is the winner.
A fun and amusing game that is always a hit in baby showers is a “Blindfolded Baby Food Race.” In this game, you will need a few volunteers to act as the “mommies” in this game, and matching pairs to act as “babies.” Mommies will be blindfolded and the babies will sit on their laps. When the clock starts, the blindfolded mommies have to feed the babies as quickly and efficiently as they can. To make the activity more pleasant for the “baby” volunteers, it is important to purchase yummy, fruit-flavored baby foods. Otherwise, your guests will be making funny faces as they try to gulp down peas and asparagus flavored puree. The mommy-and-baby team that finishes the fastest is the winning pair.
Games add fun, spirit, and laughs to your celebration that are sure to make lifetime memories that will never be forgotten. Be sure to get small gifts for the winners of the games with anticipation. The prizes that you buy for the event are completely up to you, depending on your shower theme and budget. Whatever the case may be, be sure to make the game-planning and prize-choosing process enjoyable and fun! The whole event, including games, food and opening all the unique baby gifts for the new little prince should be a memorable one for everyone.
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Filed under Birthday by on Jun 30th, 2010. Comment.
Today, baby shower etiquette has evolved from a set of rules and procedures to a few flexible guidelines from which to base the structure of your shower on. Although there are no specific rules on how to host your baby shower, there are some basic rules of thumb that will help you have an amazing shower that will be comfortable and enjoyable for you and your guests. This article will answer all of the questions that you may have in mind and will address the issues at hand that matter when planning a baby shower.
Who should host the baby shower?
Years ago, the tradition was for non-related friends or co-workers to host the shower. However, today, many expectant mothers like for their own mothers and sisters to plan and host the event. The decision of who should host of the shower is completely up to you. In todays society, anyone from the mommys sister, to her mom, to her best friend, to her co-worker, is acceptable. There is no right or wrong host. The important part here is that whoever decides to host the baby shower be close to the mother and know her very well, in order to plan and execute the event according to her taste and preferences.
When is it appropriate to have the baby shower?
Typically, a baby shower is held about one to two months before the babys due date. This is a good time because the mother will know the gender of the baby by this date, and it will be easier to shop for gifts knowing if the baby will be a boy or a girl. One or two months before the babys birth date also gives the mother time to buy the items that she did not receive or that she is missing, before the babys arrival. Some people prefer to have the shower a few weeks after the baby is born. This is also perfectly acceptable, and completely up to you.
Where should the shower take place?
Depending on the number of guests, hosts can choose to have the shower at a house, a restaurant, or a banquet hall. The location of the baby shower is the hosts decision, and is dependant on the budget, too. When choosing the place for the celebration, consider the size of your audience, the mommys preferences, and the total costs.
Can I invite men to the baby shower?
Whether you decide to have an all-women baby shower or a co-ed baby shower is up to you. Years ago, most women had women-only showers, but today, co-ed baby showers have become increasingly popular. This gives the daddy-to-be, his friends, and male members of the family a chance to participate in the celebration.
When making decisions about the baby shower, it is critical to cater to the mommy-to-be and her preferences. There are no set dos and donts in todays society. More and more taboos have been broken, and many things have become appropriate and acceptable, as long as the expectant parents are happy with the celebration.
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Filed under Birthday by on Jun 23rd, 2010. Comment.
A common new tradition that began a few years ago is to include an arts and crafts segment as part of your baby showers itinerary. Arts and crafts are a great way to create fun and excitement, and to strengthen bonds between friends and family. Many women, and even men, enjoy spending time together while practicing fun activities like arts and crafts. Today, there are several baby-related crafts that are a blast and will create a great time for your guests at your celebration.
The most common craft for baby showers is probably the diaper cake. This is a group activity that all your guests can do together. This is a great way to start the party, as it creates a mood of togetherness and establishes unity among all your friends and family. For this activity, you will need around fifty diapers, fifty feet of a smaller, narrow ribbon, and eight feet of a thicker, wide ribbon. Cut the fifty feet of thin ribbon into one-foot segments.
Have your guests roll up each diaper and tie in place with a thin piece of ribbon. Ribbon can be baby blue for a boy, and pink for a girl. For a more neutral color, soft green or light yellow work fabulously. Start the base of your diaper cake with twenty-five diapers; stand them together in a circle. Use fifteen diapers for the next level of the “cake,” and then eight diapers for the top level of your cake. Make each level separately and tie each group of diapers, or each level of the cake, with a strand of wide ribbon. Now, stack the levels of the diaper cake in order from largest to smallest, and you should have a wonderful baby diaper cake!
Baby bottle sand art is a fun craft that render fabulous souvenirs that your guests can take home. All you need for this activity is at least the same amount of baby bottles as your number of guests, different colors of sand, and funnels. Baby bottles can be the simple, inexpensive ones, and the sand should match your color palette for the baby shower. Distribute the baby bottles among all your guests. Have them fill the baby bottles up with several layers of different color sand using the funnels, and then close the baby bottles with their tops.
These turn out beautiful, and they are easy to make; they also make great party favors from which your guests can always remember your baby shower. For a special touch, you can have ribbon that has been personalized with your name and the date of the shower. You can also have stickers made with the title of the event and the date, and stick them on the baby bottles.
Scrapbooking is an art that so many people have come to love nowadays, and also makes a great craft at baby showers. You can give each guest a layout page and supplies, and have them decorate a background page. These can be put together to form an album for the baby shower.
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Filed under Birthday by on Jun 14th, 2010. Comment.
If you decide to choose a toy as your baby shower gift, it is important to consider things like simplicity, practicality, how educative the toy is, and its ability to develop the infants senses through different colors and textures. Every year, toys for infants and toddlers are rated using many criteria in order to recognize and award the best, most useful, and most beneficial toys for babies.
This article will feature some of the top-rated infant and toddler toys, and the characteristics that make them great. Remember, there are tons of toys out there that are comparable to the ones that won awards (and might even have more features), which are available for a fraction of the cost. Note the attributes that make them top quality baby toys, and aim for gifts that match or beat these award-winning characteristics.
Some popular toys of this era are those that help babies develop their sense of hearing, touch, and sight. Musical toys are some of the most purchased toys these years, and one musical toy that has stirred up commotion and praise is the Learn and Groove Musical Table by LeapFrog. This table for infants and tots from six months to three years is a bilingual learning table that teaches children the alphabet, counting from one to ten, colors, and first words in both English and Spanish.
The Learn and Groove Musical Table is great for developing motor skills with gadgets that teach skills like sliding, spinning, opening, closing, pulling, and pushing. This toy features over fifteen musical activities and over forty songs! LeapFrogs Learn and Groove Musical Table has won many awards such as the iParenting Media Award for Outstanding Products.
Another wonderful toy for building your babys motor skills is the Amazing Baby Developmental Light-Up Pullstring Musical by Kids Preferred. This cool, star-shaped toy has a baby-safe mirror, a peek-a-boo flap, features flashing lights, plays “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” and is suitable for babies from ages birth and up. A dangling heart, butterfly, and sun rattle are great attachments on this musical toy that are wonderful for developing your infants sense of sight and touch. The ten-inch toy is very versatile and will attach to a car set, crib rail, stroller, and a diaper bag. Kids Preferreds Amazing Developmental Light-Up Pullstring Musical is the winner of the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Best Toy Award.
LeapFrogs 10th Anniversary Hug and Learn Baby Tad is a tenth edition, award-winning toy that is full of interactive activities for your baby. This baby tad teaches infants the different parts of the body, letters, and numbers; it emphasizes basic movements, motor skills, and language acquisition skills. This 10th Anniversary Hug and Learn Baby Tad will even play classical music for your little one, which is proven to be good for the development of your mind.
The common characteristics amongst these award-winning, stellar toys are the development of movement and language skills, an emphasis on the five senses, and intellectual advancement; today, the best-rated toys are the smartest toys.
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Filed under Birthday by on Jun 10th, 2010. Comment.
A common trend today is to have different era-inspired, retro baby showers. These themes work great regardless of whether the baby is a boy, girl, or if the parents choose to not know the gender of the baby until the date of birth. Great decades from which to base your shower on are the roaring twenties, the rock-n-roll fifties, the hippie sixties, and of course, the unforgettable eighties. Do some research on each decade, and pick the one that you love the most, and that you think you can be the most creative with.
The twenties were a blast, and a twenties-themed shower will definitely be a blast, too. The music alone will have people dancing and smiling. Specify in the invitations for the gals to wear their most twenties-like dresses, and for the gents to wear a tidy suit. The more the outfits match what people wore in the twenties, the better. Award the person with the best costume. Decorate the room with big band and swing decorations. You can have toy musical instruments as centerpieces, and provide hats for the gents and twenties headbands for the ladies. Put on some great music, and make everyone get up and dance the Charleston!
The fifties is a great decade to pick for any party theme. On the invitations, tell the ladies to wear poodle skirts, and tell the guys to wear leather jackets, and tell all your guests to get ready for the best ice cream social ever! Play classic rock-n-roll in the background to set the mood to your fifties celebration, and decorate your party room with fifties inspired pictures and dcor.
Serve different types of ice cream with a variety of toppings, and have your guests each make their own sundaes! For a twist, also serve bananas for those that want to make their own banana split. Make or buy fun mini jukeboxes for centerpieces. For a fun game, have your guests partner up for a dance off, and award the best pair.
If you or any of your family members was a hippie back in the sixties, that might be the era of your choice. This theme is fun and easy to assemble. Decorate the whole area with hearts, happy faces, and music notes. Tell your guests to wear their bell-bottom jeans, and psychedelic tie-dye shirts. If you have an Afro wig in your closet, pull it out, because this sixties party is going to be groovy! Buy toy school buses and decorate them as they did in the sixties; these make great centerpieces. Dont forget to play some groovy tunes and dance, dance, dance!
For a cool eighties-themed baby shower, send out a funky invitation and tell your guests to wear their favorite retro outfits. For an easy outfit, wear leggings or tight jeans, and cut off the neckline of an old T-shirt. Wear a headband and pull your hair up to a side ponytail.
Cool eighties movies or old music records make great centerpiece bases. Decorate them with colorful decor and candy, and youve got great, inexpensive pieces. For a fun activity, put on a Richard Simmons dance workout video, and award the best dancer. Remember, regardless of which era you pick for your baby shower, do your research and be as creative as you can!
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Filed under Birthday by on Jun 7th, 2010. Comment.
The purpose of a baby shower is to celebrate the arrival of a new baby, and to welcome the little one into the world. Today, expectant mothers often decide to know the gender of the baby before they give birth, and it is known ahead of the baby shower. However, in some cases, parents choose to wait until the due date to know the sex of the baby and be surprised the day that the infant arrives.
In American society, when the gender of the baby is known, parents often begin brainstorming ideas and deciding on some names that they believe will be perfect for the baby. In many cases, parents already know what they want to name the baby even before the child is born. This is not the case, however, for various different cultures.
There are a variety of different cultures that view the baby-naming process from a completely different perspective. Each cultural group generally has some sort of a baby-naming ceremony or traditional process. From the Jewish to the Japanese, each culture views the act of giving a name to a baby from a very interesting and distinct angle.
In Japan, the baby naming ceremony is typically held seven days after the babys birth. The name is written in Kanji, which are Chinese characters that are usually used in the modern Japanese Iogographic writing system. On this seventh day, the Japanese give their children a first name and a last name, but no middle name, which is a common custom in American society. Girls are usually given names that are associated with purity and morality, and boys are often associated with their position in the family.
Greek families also often name their babies on the seventh day after their birth, and sometimes on the tenth day. Traditionally, first-born males are named after their paternal grandfather, and first-born females are named after their paternal grandmother. The Greek Orthodox Church also strongly influences the baby-naming process, and many infants are given the names of saints. Because of this saint name acquisition, children acquire their saints name day. Therefore, many Greek Orthodox people celebrate their lives on two occasions: their actual birth date and their saints name day.
For many Italian and Hispanic cultures, baby names are also often influenced by religion. In these areas, the Roman Catholic religion is the most prevalent; therefore, biblical names like Maria (in Hispanic culture), and Paulo (in Italian culture) are common.
In Jewish culture, baby girls have what is called the Zeved Habat ceremony, while baby boys have the Berit Milah ceremony. The Zevet Habat is a small ceremony held at a home or in a synagogue. During the ceremony, which is led by a Rabbi, the mother recites a word, the name-giving prayer is said, and she then gives thanks to everyone.
There are countless different ways of naming a baby, and there is no right or wrong method to giving your child the perfect name. It is interesting to see, however, the traditions and customs of baby naming across the globe.
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Filed under Birthday by on Jun 4th, 2010. Comment.
Although traditional baby shower games never fail and are always a success, new baby shower games are emerging and spreading across the United States. These cool, unconventional activities are different than the classics but with all the fun and more. If you are aiming for a hip, edgier baby shower with a twist from the classic, all-American baby shower, include a few of these new, trendy games that are sure to be a hit at your shower.
The “Dirty Diaper” game is one of the most clever and unusual, yet surprisingly sweet games out there. For this game, fold white cloth napkins or square pieces of white fabric into small diapers. Inside one of these mini diapers, place an unwrapped Hersheys kiss or any other chocolate bonbon. Fasten all the diapers with a baby diaper safety pin.
When guests arrive to the baby shower, hand one mini baby diaper to each person. Tell the guests to keep them closed and to not open them until instructed to do so. Then, when the time comes for all your games and activities, tell your guests that one of them has a dirty diaper. Tell them to open the diapers all at once, and whoever has the “dirty diaper,” or the chocolate bonbon inside of their diaper, wins a prize.
Another game with a meaning is the “umbilical cord.” For this game, you will need two spools of string or yarn, and two spoons. Choose volunteers and set up two or more teams of about eight to ten people. Attach each spoon to the tip of each string or yarn. The point of the game is to pass the “umbilical cord” through all the members of each team, by passing the string in through the neck seam and out through the opening of the skirt of each team player. This is very humorous, as you can imagine. The first team that passes the cord through all of the members wins.
A game that is becoming increasingly popular among baby showers is “Guess Whose Baby Picture?” For this game, make sure to tell guests on the invitations, and remind them before the shower, to bring in a baby picture of themselves when they were infants. Number each picture and put them up on a big bulletin board. During the games and activities session of your baby shower, give each guest a paper and pens or pencils. Have each paper numbered with the amount of pictures posted on the bulletin board.
When the game begins, tell the guests to fill in the numbers on the paper with the names of the people who they believe correspond to the baby picture. For example, if I think that baby picture #1 corresponds to Katie, I would write “Katie” after the number one on my paper. The guest that has highest number of right answers wins the challenge. If there is more than one guest with the same highest number of right answers, issue a tiebreaker.
Remember, all of these new games started as an idea. Try to come up with a few clever, never before used games. Who knows, they could potentially become a hit by the end of the year!
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Filed under Birthday by on May 21st, 2010. Comment.