Parenting Tips at NeenMachine.com » Travel

Britax Car Seats on Sale

Neena — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 20:33:57 +0000

Copyright © 2008 Neena. Visit the original article at http://neenmachine.com/2008/09/13/britax-car-seats-on-sale/.
A new friend of mine on Twitter - firemom, of the fine blog Stop Drop and Blog, was looking for Britax car seats on sale.

I figured she wasn’t the only one that would be looking for Britax booster seats at a good price. So when I came across this sale to today I decided to share it here (instead of on my coupon codes and sales site - I Love A Good Sale):

Huge Britax Sale!!! Hot Prices - Limited Time Only!

This sale is at Baby Age and runs from today through Saturday September 21, 2008 or while supplies last.

Be sure and report back with any good deals and steals that you find there.

Beach Bag Parenting Tips

Neena — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:14:25 +0000

Copyright © 2008 Neena. Visit the original article at http://neenmachine.com/2008/07/01/beach-bag-parenting-tips/.
Here is another one of those “Why didn’t I think of that?” parenting tips.

Arriving into my RSS reader, as Murphy would have it, right after I donated my old and last diaper bag to Goodwill.

One of Parent Hacks readers (I love that site!) wrote in about how old diaper bags make wonderful beach bags. Lots of compartments for stuff - and my favorite feature - a waterproof compartment for wet bathing suits.

Groan! Will I find myself shopping for a diaper bag yet again? If I run to the Goodwill, maybe I can buy my old one back.

Family Beach Vacations

Neena — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 12:53:55 +0000

Copyright © 2008 Neena. Visit the original article at http://neenmachine.com/2008/04/13/family-beach-vacations/.
Spring break is here this week and somehow I missed the boat on this one. It kind of creeped up on me - so needless to say - I don’t have much by way of plans. Once you have a family, a lazy, unplanned vacation becomes a thing of the past.

Nothing is worse and more stressful than a houseful of bored kids. Don’t you just cringe when you hear “Mom, what can I do now? - I’m bored.” Especially when there are only about 500 things on my own to-do list. I would love to hear your parenting tips on managing bored kids - that don’t include tv, Playstation etc.

Anyhow, the point of all this - is that summer is around the corner. And if I don’t get moving then spring break will just repeat itself. Family beach vacations are a fantastic way to keep kids of all ages busy and parents seem to enjoy them too. Maybe I am dreaming a bit too much about sun and surf right now.

The problem is that when it comes to planning family beach vacations, I tend to revisit the same destinations that we have been to before. I am not one for adventurous. So tell me, what places have you found that awesome for family beach vacations? Details, please! Do share your parenting tips!

Butterflies at the Smithsonian

Neena — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 05:43:07 +0000

Butterflies have arrived at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History! Oh yes, there is a new permanent exhibit at the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History called “Butterflies + Plants: Partners in Evolution“.

Sure to be a crowd pleaser, the stars of this exhibit are fluttering around in a new Live Butterfly Pavilion. Home to 400 live butterflies this Pavilion features a warm, tropical climate, bright lighting, and lots of interesting plant life. Visitors will stroll amongst the jasmine, verbena, pentas, lantana, and other plant species while a beautiful and varied collection of butterflies from around the world fly amongst them to entertain and delight.

As enchanting as the Live Pavilion promises to be, the core of the Smithsonian’s butterfly exhibit lies in the education. Exploring the theory of co-evolution, the Butterflies + Plants exhibit includes an Exhibition Hall that explores how organisms interact with each other and how, over time (generations), each species changes because of those interactions.

You may be familiar with Charles Darwin’s prediction that a large moth existed in Madagascar, when he saw the Madagascar star orchid. This flower produces nectar at the base of long, narrow bloom. Darwin’s logic was that only a moth with a very long proboscis could reach the nectar at the bottom of the flower. Sure enough, many years later, the existance of a giant hawk moth species came to light. This is just one example of how plant life adapts to organisms and vice versa - classic co-evolution.

The Exhibition Hall looks at the relationship between butterflies and plants beginning in prehistoric times all the way through to modern day. Museum goers will be treated to an array of pictures, paintings, movies, and timelines that are dedicated to the co-evolution process. Through the Butterflies + Plants exhibit, the Smithsonian is teaching people to appreciate the world’s ecology. The mission is to stop extinction by giving people a new respect for all the life around them.

There is a charge for tickets to the Smithsonian Live Butterfly Pavilion and they can be purchased in advance. Admission to the Exhibition Hall is free. More information on purchasing tickets can be found at the Smithsonian Institution website.

Washington D.C. is a great place for a family vacation. Filled with opportunities to educate children about our wonderful nation - there is no shortage of things to do. Make sure to add a stop at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History to your itinerary. The Butterflies + Plants exhibit is one that you won’t want to miss!

Kaboost!

Neena — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 15:58:46 +0000

Why raise the child when you can raise the chair? Here is a parenting tip that you won’t want to miss - Kaboost is a new spin on the old booster.

When children graduate from the high chair, they are usually not tall enough to sit in a regular “adult” size chair. When I was a kid, my parents solved this problem with a thick stack of phone books - eat dinner, make a phone call ….., I digress.

Kaboost vs. the “old fashioned” booster

Times changed and the booster seat became a common addition to households with toddlers. I found these booster seats to be a necessary evil. The booster itself was difficult to clean (think sticky fingers, messy spills, and crumbs - lots of crumbs). Also, the booster was a space hog. If you had a small kitchen or dining area, then seating was limited. If you had company over you would have to remove the booster to accommodate an adult (and you would have to make profuse apologies for the muck that you just knew was lurking under the seat).

Kaboost elimates this issue. By raising the whole chair, clean up is easy - no little crevices to deal with. The weight limit for Kaboost is a hefty 300 pounds, so many adults will be able to use the seat in pinch, without having to remove Kaboost first. (They will be sitting a bit higher up though. )

Kaboost makes toddlers feel like “big kids”

And then - the booster seat wars. This happens when the child decides he is too old for a booster and you know better. My kids were smart and removed the booster seat every chance they got creating an obstacle course on the kitchen floor.

With Kaboost, kids are actually sitting in the grown up chair. So they will probably forget that they are being “boosterized” (like that word?). And while Kaboost is easy for adults to set up, it is hard for little kids to remove - no more obstacle course.

Traveling with Kaboost

Remeber lugging around booster seats to grandma’s house or on vacation? Don’t remind me! Unlike traditional boosters - Kaboost is easy to travel with. It folds up easily, into a lightweigt package that won’t take too much luggage space.

Okay, what’s the downside of Kaboost? I can only see just one - no seatbelt. The youngest and wiggliest booster users will probably still need their traditional boosters if they need to be buckled in.

For more information about Kaboost visit Kaboost.com.

Travel Packing Tips

Neena — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 17:41:40 +0000

Copyright © 2008 Neena. Visit the original article at http://neenmachine.com/2008/02/19/travel-packing-tips/.
A good set of travel packing tips is very useful to parents that are traveling with babies and young children. Once upon a time travel packing tips consisted of ticket - check, passport - check, something to read - check, ok - let’s go!

Once baby entered the scene, traveling became a lot more complicated. Between strollers, portable, cribs, diapers, baby food, toys, extra clothes, blankies, binkies - it’s a wonder that parents leave the house at all. I know I traveled as little as possible when my children were under 1 year old. It just wasn’t worth the effort and I usually returned from the trip more stressed out than when I left. So the best of my travel packing tips is - Just Stay Home!

But I know that many of you are more adventurous than I, and truth be told, I did end up leaving the house from time to time. Actually I have become quite adept at packing up a family of six - although traveling is still not my favorite thing to do.

But rather than rely on my travel packing tips expertise, I will point you over to Aruni’s excellent site - Entrepremusings, where she hosts a variety of Guest Baby Tips. If you recall, back in December I had the honor of guest posting my time honored parenting tip about keeping a baby food journal. This month Aruni’s Guest Baby Tip is authored by Maryam Ghaemmaghami Scoble, wife of Robert Scoble of Scobelizer fame. Entitled “15 Tips for Traveling with Baby“, this month’s Guest Baby Tip outlines some great travel packing tips for parents to keep in mind. Covering everything from necessary baby equipment, to diapers and formula, to airport activities for children Maryam covers it all.

Now that winter break is upon some of us, with others planning vacations during the March spring break, these travel packing tips are very timely. If anything, these tips may just motivate me to leave the comforts of home and pursue some foreign adventure.

Top 5 Things Moms Should Keep in the Family Minivan

Neena — Tue, 08 May 2007 11:08:00 +0000

Copyright © 2008 Neena. Visit the original article at http://neenmachine.com/2007/05/08/top-5-things-moms-should-keep-in-the-family-minivan/.
Now that spring sports have started, my kids and I spend a lot of time in our family minivan traveling from one activity to another.

My minivan has become a home away from home of sorts. I have learned that I must keep it well stocked so that everyone will remain happy.

The Top 5 things I must have in my Minivan are:

Food
Snacks, snacks, and more snacks
Because - full kids are happy kids. (One good choice is Cheerios Snack Mix - a healthier alternative than some of the other grab and go snacks)
Drinks
Water, juice, and Gatorade
Because - hydrated kids are healthy kids.
Clean Up Stuff
Wet wipes, paper towels, anti-bacterial hand cleaner, and several empty plastic grocery bags for garbage
Because - clean kids and cars make for happy mommies.
Sweatshirts and extra t-shirts
Because - warm and dry kids tend not to complain as much.
Stroller
Because - preschoolers don’t always want to walk or stay put.

This Top 5 post has been submitted to the Top 5 - Group Writing Project at Problogger.net.
Thank you, Darren, for running the project - what a wonderful opportunity to network with other bloggers!