Remember when our biggest toy concern was our brother running over our Barbie with his dump truck, or if mom would actually allow us to have the newest video game for our next birthday?

    Even as recent as two years ago our biggest concern over the toys we allowed our charges as caregivers was if the parts had sharp edges or pieces were too small for toddlers to not choke on.  Now with all the recent toy recalls of some of the most popular toys of today our biggest concern as caregivers is if the toys can be used in our child care facilities.

    The most shocking of recent recalls was by the toy giant, Mattel, Inc.  Mattel's division, Fisher Price has recalled more than eighty of its licensed toys such as Dora, Diego and Sesame Street.  Big toys to today's child.  They have also recently had to pull in about 683 thousand units of the Barbie and Tanner playsets.

    Even the Easy Bake Oven had a recall of around 1 million units that were sold between May 2006 and July 2007 by Hasbro, another well-known name in toys.

    This year is definitely going to be very different as we try to replenish our toys for the little tykes returning to our care facilities after the Christmas vacation.  But with all these recalls, what would be a great choice for preschoolers that are educational and entertaining?  One idea is Zizzle's Smart Sticks.  Smart Sticks are based on the Hooked on Phonics concept, they teach shapes, numbers, letters and colors.  With fun sounds and music, it was voted one of the top ten toys for 2007 in the age category of age 2+, and it doesn't hurt that it resembles a remote control, a toy most toddler's love.  The street price of the Smart Stick is about $14.99 each. 

    In a way it has been bad around here for a couple of days.  Some people I love dearly have lost someone.

    See, I have these four stepchildren that I adore but they lost their real mom two days ago.  It is so sad in many circumstances, even sadder in this case as they were all estranged from her because she wasn't exactly the typical mom kind.  The sad fact is she pretty much died alone because of distancing herself from her own children and the fact that there was such a rift in these relationships is causing a lot of guilt for not having done more to mend it in these children of hers.  I think as the mother, she should have put forth more effort, but no one can know what she was feeling or thinking.

    I also feel bad because it has been commented upon  about my refusal to attend the services, some people think I should go for the children's sake, to be there for them.  But I think it would be disrespectful to her family and I didn't know her in life.  My husband even thinks I should go with him but I think he should go to his ex wife's funeral to pay his own respects and be there for the children. 

    If you have had a similar experience, let me know what you think or just comment in general.

   

    Lots of lights, decorations, food and family all around.  Doesn't seem like it would all be so fascinating to a forty-four year old, but as a child my family's religion prohibited celebrating holidays.  My youngest sister who is ten years younger than me didn't have her first Christmas until she was fourteen and then it was on.  Since then we've always celebrated.  Myself, not quite as elaborately as she does, because as a single parent of four it was a bit of a struggle.

    Then, a couple of years ago, with four, almost, grown children and four grandchildren, two at four years and two at two years of age, all decided to come to my house for Christmas dinner.

    There had been talk of taking the grandchildren to the mall, community center, churches, anywhere to have their pictures made with Santa.  One daughter-in-law just couldn't stand to wait in the long lines with her two and the other daughter-in-law had to work all the times Santa would be available.

    So, what to do?  Have Santa come to them.  I fancied myself a photographer at the time so I had all the equipment, lights, backdrop, professional camera and had it all set up when they got there. 

    One funny moment of the night was that two of my son's thought they had it all figured out.  But the shock was evident on their faces when the person they thought might "play" Santa strolled in behind "Santa".

     One of the highlights was my four year old granddaughter looking up with eyes as big as sugarplums and saying with reverential awe "I didn't ever know you knew Santa Claus".  There was tears of joy in the wide-eyed expressions of the twenty and twenty-three year old daughter-in-laws and much laughter as both of them, as well as my "Santa isn't cool" sixteen year old daughter clambered into the ample lap of Santa whispering in his ear their wishes as if they were only four years old themselves.

    The rest of the night passed in a flurry of gifts and joy and at the end my twenty five year old son kind of sheepishly whispered to me, "Well, it isn't like it was really Santa---was it?
   
    I guess they will never really know, will they?

Hey, all you well-seasoned bloggers probably already know about this.  Since I am fairly new to actually blogging, getting away with writing what I want, when I want, about whatever I want, (too great).  But for those of you that are new to blogging there are a lot of places to list your blog site for others to see and one of the best ones, quick to reply, don't penalize you for being new and all that is  http://blogoria.com/ 
 There is no fee to sign up and it looked like a really good site. 

   It is hard to make the decision of which type of insurance to purchase.  It's also hard to know where to gather the information needed to make an informed decision.  But without insurance, how will you take care of your children or even your spouse?  No one likes to think of that inevitable day when we will no longer be here to take care of our loved ones.  But there is someone that will help you in the decision process, making getting the insurance you need or want a lot easier on you.  You can get great quotes and coverage online for family insurance at: http://www.advantagetermlife.com/.

   Maybe you own a business with employees and need a corporate insurance plan.  What better way to provide for those that provide for you?  Give them the option to purchase an employee benefit package.  They have great rates on corporate insurance plans for employers online at:  http://www.advantagetermlife.com. 

   By looking into any type of insurance coverage you're taking the first major step in securing the rest of your future.   Online at: http://www.advantagetermlife.com/ offers a huge list of services and detailed explanations for any and every kind of policy you can imagine needing, even addressing the pros and cons of different insurance policies.

  You know they say one man's junk is another man's treasure.  Would you like to get rid of some of your old treasure?  There's a great classifieds site online and it's free too.  Check it out at:  http://flugpo.com  They have some interesting items on there and it's not just stuff for sell.  If you go to their blog post you'll be amused and surprised too.  It's located at http://flugpo-blog.blogspot.com/   They had some great articles posted in there, even a contest and a place to put your own blog if you want.  Make your favorite new sell site Flugpo.