Mom Central: Hot Parenting Products

Little Masterpieces

Though we love to admire the latest macaroni/construction paper creation our children create, it’s tough to find the wall space to display each masterpiece. Instead of piling paintings and drawings in boxes to collect dust, transform them into a beautiful hard- or soft-cover book with the new Little Masterpieces book by The Little Author. Just send the company the original artwork, and they’ll scan it and print on high-quality paper. You’ll get the originals back when your book arrives.

It’s the perfect coffee table book, customized to your preference: each piece can have a page to itself with captions, names, or dates, or an entire page can contain text.  The art you can submit isn’t limited to drawings or paintings, they even accept pictures with popsicle sticks, feathers, glitter, and yes, macaroni.

In addition to the books, Little Author can turn your kids’ artwork into note cards or teacher or coach appreciation books from a whole class or team.  Prices range from $15 to $108. More information is available at www.littleauthor.com.

Mandy and Andy

Ever wish you had learned a second language as a kid. Even after years of French I think I can only repeat, oui! Give your kids a head start with the Mandy and Andy books, a new bilingual book series written by Florida-based grandfather William J. Adams and illustrated by Philadelphia-based cartoonist Tom Stiglich.

The books feature rhyming stories accompanied by large, colorful drawings. Each book has two sides—one in English, and one in Spanish, so kids can read the story first in English, then flip it over and read it again en Español.

Mandy and Andy are twins who go through bilingual adventures together. In the first book, Hate That Thunder, blonde-pigtailed Mandy hides under her bed during a storm, but eventually confronts her fear of the loud thunder. In the second, Goin’ to the Zoo, the twins spend a day visiting animals at the zoo. In addition to the story, a glossary of English to Spanish words.

Though the rhymes are sometimes clunky and the text is strangely laid out, the stories are fun and the illustrations engaging. It’s simple enough for small children to read, and the vocabulary in the second book is especially  easy to teach kids. If you’re looking for a way to introduce a second language to your kids, the Mandy and Andy books are a fun, easy way to start learning a lifelong skill.

Carry It All

As any mother of a newborn would know, sometimes you could use an extra hand (or five). Get the extra hand you’ve been looking for with stroller organizing products from Carry You. The simple installation process lasts all of ten seconds since the organizers attach onto the back of your stroller with Velcro, and they won't interfere with the reclining & collapsing features of the stroller. The waterproof and spill-proof Nylon organizers are large enough to fit all the little extras for baby.

The Carry You Milan Deluxe Stroller Organizer has two cup holders, which are perfect for holding your water and your baby’s bottle. The large Velcro pockets that are great for important items that you can’t lose (your wallet, your planner) and two smaller pockets for pacifiers and snacks. The front mesh pocket is great for the things you need to get to right away.

Carry You has a variety of different organizers, snack trays, and other stroller accessories, and can even tell you if the Carry You products will fit your stroller. Prices range from about $30 to $40 for an organizer. Check them out at www.carryyou.com. 

Boon Products: Making bathing safe and fun!

As Moms we all worry a little bit about the hard, metal faucet when we give out children a bath. The Flo Water Deflector and Protective Faucet Cover by Boon gives your normal faucet a protector against injury and allows the water to gently stream out.

The white and green oval-shaped cover is sleek and fun looking, kinda like a UFO prop from a sci-fi movie. To attach it to your faucet, all you have to do is squeeze the top and bottom sections together and slip it over top, making sure the mouth of the spigot reaches over the inside flap (you might need to turn the water on and shimmy the device around a little until you find the ideal placement on your faucet). The water hits the slide-like bottom of the Flo, and fans out into a thin stream (instead of a thick gush), perfect for tear-free rinsing.

Now, washing the shampoo off of tiny heads is less frightening, though avoid over-sudsing—the water flow won’t be strong enough to handle the extra soap. The soft rubber makes the formerly hard, metal faucet kid-friendly. Extra bonus: according to the box, 10% of the profits from this product will be donated to children’s charities.

Once you’ve tucked the kids into bed, you can use the niftiest feature of all—the green compartment on the top of the Flo holds bubble bath, dispensable with a tiny button on the front. Sure, the kids might like that too, but maybe you should keep that one to yourself. Just light some candles, get a book, and bubble, rinse, and repeat.

Check it out at Amazon. 

My Heritage Book

Our kids grow up in a country rich in culture, heritage, tradition and religion. Inspired by the diverse fabric of America, author and founder of kidsHeritage, Inc., Deanna Novak has created an amazing, personalized book series to help children learn about, engage and share their ancestries with anothers. My Heritage Book not only helps instill tolerance of others but also promotes a sense of identity about one’s own cultures and traditions.   

My Heritage Book is a unique since it is specifically tailored to your children’s cultural background and helps bring understanding as to why they celebrate the traditions that they do. The book opens with a brief history and some interesting facts from countries all over the world. You can choose up to four countries for your child according to your ethnic background from a list of previously ordered countries. If the country is not present, you can special order it. The book is easy to understand for young readers, with bold, large-print words and lovely watercolor illustrations to accompany the information. Even if your child can’t yet read, he can still enjoy the colorful pictures in the meantime.

Each My Heritage Book is completely original, with your child’s name printed on the first page and throughout, a letter to your child from the purchaser of the book, fun tidbits of information about each country selected, and room for a family tree. The length of the book depends on the number of countries that you request, and there is an equal amount of information provided for each country. The last few pages encourage further discussion of your heritage between you and your child with space to create your family tree and record family traditions. It’s all too easy to disregard previous generations if we don’t take the time to remember them. How fascinating it is to consider the journeys of family members who walked before us!

This book is educational, exclusive, and will give your child a true appreciation of who he is and his special place in this big big world.