Have you been gazing longingly at your neighbors brand new stroller as you push your dilapidated clunker awkwardly along the sidewalk? Do you cringe when you place your toddler in your torn, worn and stained high chair or car seat and hope that mystery stain isn’t anything to worry about? Well, fear no more! Baby’s R Us has come to the rescue of us moms of multiples who have worn our baby gear into shreds! You now have until September 19th, 2010 to get your old gear into Baby’s R Us for a 25% discount on a brand new replacement in the same category as your trade-in!

Not all manufacturers are participating but here’s a list of those that are…

• Eddie Baurer
• Evenflo
• Graco
• Britax
• Jeep
• Baby Cache
• Baby Trend
• Bertini
• Chicco
• Contours by Kolcraft
• Carter’s
• Delta
• Sorelle
• Baby Italia

This great deal stems from a desire to get old and possibly unsafe baby equipment out of circulation. Most of us bargain shoppers frequent the discount stores or utilize hand-me-downs for baby gear because of price but we don’t often get safety and warranty guarantees with that equipment that always come with new gear. Equipment gets better all the time with great improvements to comfort as well as safety. This is a great opportunity to keep our little ones a bit safer, more comfortable and not have to break the bank to do it! Check out your local Baby’s R Us store for more details. Items need to be purchased on the same day as the trade-in so come prepared to shop!

For more information, visit Baby’s R Us Official website  to read more about this offer. But don’t miss out! You only have until September 19th!

Little Sammy was one of the inspirations behind Personal Child Stories

Personal Child Stories was begun specifically to address all of theses questions. The company owner, writer and designer, Shara Lawrence-Weiss is a journalist, early childhood specialist, experienced nanny and freelance writer who is also experienced in special needs children from a firsthand perspective. She has taken this diverse background and combined her many skills along with a passion for reading into a wonderful positive learning tool for children of all ages. Her books are custom designed for each individual child with pictures, story line and theme centered around each childs particular needs.

I had to see this for myself! I recently received some samples of her product and was most impressed! Her books come in two sizes, 5×5 for smaller children and 8.5×9 for older children. Trust me when I say that these books are meant to last! Each page is laminated and the book is spiral bound for easy page turning. The result is a sturdy book that will hold up to drooling, chewing, throwing, stepping on, and just about any other rough treatment your toddler can imagine! The pages will not tear, can be written or colored on and then can be wiped clean again with a damp cloth to look brand new again!

From babies to toddlers to even older children, Personal Child Stories inspire and teach all ages!

Storylines are completely customized and used in conjunction with actual submitted photos of the child to fit each childs individual need, situation or desired learning concept. She works closely with parents to accomplish this. Her alphabet book and counting book samples were a huge hit with my little toddler! She loved flipping through the book again and again, counting the pictures and pointing out the letters of the alphabet!…of course that was after I had exhausted my patience answering numerous requests to “read it again, mommy!”. The counting book was especially neat because it not only had a cute rhyming lilt to it but it also showed the numbers in Spanish, English, and sign language!

As a graphic designer of over 12 years experience, I can attest to the life-changing impact that strong images and well written copy can have on people of all ages. Shara has combined both in her product and I would highly recommend these books to anyone looking to teach their children through the power of positive reinforcement.

If you would like to learn more about obtaining your own personalized book for your child, visit Shara at www.personalchildstories.com

The momma cat is very docile, excellent with families (kid-tested, mother-approved!) and has passed those gentle traits onto her offspring. The kittens are very calm for being so young and very gentle with kids (my two-nine year olds all attest to that!). These friendly kittens have little fear of dogs and are nearly litterbox trained. They are currently eating solid foods while still occasionally nursing from their momma and are about 7 weeks old.

We have included some pictures of these little cuties and if you or someone you know is looking for a new family companion, we hope you will contact us at info@mytimecalendars.com with the subject of “kittens”. We would love for these good-natured kitties to go to good families.

If you live in Maricopa County, visit http://recorder.maricopa.gov/pollingplace/pollingplace.aspx to find the voting location closest to you. Simply enter your address in the fields provided and they will find the closest poll to you.

If you live in a county other than Maricopa, you can visit http://www.azsos.gov/election/county.htm#Maricopa where you can click on your individual county and be directed to their polling place locators.

For more information on this proposition, visit http://www.yeson100.com/

Remember, voting is not just a right, it’s a responsibility and a privilege!

As much as I wish our problems could be solved by cutting back on government alone, we currently have a $3.2 billion structural deficit, meaning Arizona is not bringing in enough revenue to fund basic services.

There are some scary actions that are on the drawing board if Prop 100 fails. One such idea proposed by the Sheriff’s department is to begin retrofitting existing buildings like motels, hotels and even schools to house the overflow of prisoners. I wonder what this will do to property values in these areas…doesn’t leave much to the imagination. Tucson Unified School District is already looking to close nine of their neighborhood schools this fall as a direct result of the budget cuts already in place from last year. This one school district could face a $28.6 million deficit of Prop 100 fails. They have already announced layoffs of more than 60 administrators. What will happen if education gets another swipe of the budgetary ax?

Some of the cuts already in place from November of 2009 were $144 million mid-year cuts in the state’s K-12 soft capital budget which pays for books, technology and school busses. This is in addition to the $133 million cut from K-12 in January of 2009. Increased class sizes, fewer qualified and experienced teachers, non-existent teaching materials, and reduced or eliminated electives and special needs programs are just a few of the outcomes we will face if Prop 100 fails. According to the Arizona Education Network, we will face a funding crisis of a $428 million loss to K-12 alone. Traditional public schools can expect a total funding cut of $748,775,148 while public charter schools can expect a cut of $63,663,047 in total funding. Even if voters approve the 1-cent tax increase of Prop 100, the state will still face significant cuts to even come close to closing the budget gap. If you would like to see how this will directly affect your own school district, check out a report released by Governor Brewer’s Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting which provides district-by-district estimates of the impact of legislative budget cuts for 2011, showing effects both with and without the passage of Prop 100. If this doesn’t keep you up at night, I’m not sure what will.

Whether you choose to vote yes or no on this proposition, I would hope that you at least intend to vote. One of the saddest commentaries on our time is the low turnout when it comes to exercising our right to vote. Please take a stand and show up at the polls. As for myself, I intend to vote yes on Prop 100. As unfortunate as it is to advocate additional taxes in a recession, my passion lies with my kids education. I hate to face a future in which my children’s education will not just suffer but will seriously cripple them when it comes time to compete with other states graduates for a place in a good college or a decent job. This isn’t the best solution but as we are finding out with many things right now, it’s the only solution we have.

Please take a moment and weigh in at our forum discussion. This is one of those most difficult topics and one we will all have an opportunity to voice our opinions on come May 18th. Share your views with us so that we can view the topic from all perspectives and be educated going into the polls.

• No single food item can contain more than 200 calories, the drink cannot have more than 120 calories, and the entire meal cannot exceed 485 calories.
• No single item can contain more than 480 milligrams of salt, and the entire meal is limited to 600mg of salt.
• No more than 35% of the caolories can come from fat.
• No more than 10% of total caolries can come from added sugar.

Even meals that offer apple slices as an alternative to fries or tater tots do not currently meet these standards. If the measures receive final approval in May, restaurants will have 90 days to present alternative meals for trimming the  fat, salt, sugar and calories in their kids meals. Violators could face fines of up to $1,000.

According to the Los Angeles Times, “In Santa Clara County, one out of every four kids is either overweight or obese. Among 2- to 5-year-olds from low-income families, the rate is one in three. The county health system spends millions of dollars a year treating kids for health problems related to obesity, and the tab is growing.”

Results from the 2007-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) show that childhood obesity is becoming a national epidemic among our little ones. According to the survey, among pre-school age children 2-5 years of age, obesity increased from 5 to 10.4% between 1976-1980 and 2007-2008 and from 6.5 to 19.6% among 6-11 year olds.  Among adolescents aged 12-19, obesity increased from 5 to 18.1% during the same period. Very scary statistics.

There are many out there that are loudly opposing this new fast food policy. Trying to decide how much and what we should allow our government to regulate does seem to be a very hot topic these days. How much is too much? Frankly, I would welcome a few less cheap, easily breakable toys in my house and since my kids are often relegated to a fast food dinner certain nights of the week because of time constraints on our evenings (sports activities for instance), I would definitely appreciate healthier “fast food” options. I think most parents recognize that these toys are not just benign additions to our kids meals. They are advertisers targeted efforts to attract the interest and demand of our children. As a parent, I welcome anything that will help encourage my children (and myself!) to make more nutritional food choices. I also welcome the encouragement it provides businesses to create more nutritionally sound meal options. By only allowing toys to be sold with nutritionally sound meals, we are rewarding kids and parents for wiser food choices and hopefully encouraging food establishments to offer these nutritional meals with more variety and frequency.

I wonder if more counties will fall in line with this philosophy. I am sure there will be many keeping a close eye on the Santa Clara County to measure the results of this new policy. We would love to hear your thoughts on this one as it very well could turn into a national movement. Are you in favor or against restrictions on fast food offerings? Join us in a forum discussion on the topic.

Comforter, playmate, body guard, monster-under-the-bed scarer... our family pup has a full time job!

Sound like a pretty hefty job description? Not for our family pup! He takes it all in stride. And while the rest of us moan daily for appreciation, or pay, or some sort of recompense for every good deed, he is content to carry this job out with a wag of his tail and comic loll of his tongue! Our pets do so much for us without ever expecting a return. It is amazing to me that we constantly search for heros for our children to emulate when in reality, the selfless nature of our family pets should be example enough for all of us!

Well, thanks to PetsWeekly.com, we now have a way to repay our little heros by giving them what they love most…time with us to play! They have organized their first Travel Contest for pets and their owners with the grand prize being a five day trip to the Rocky Mountain Wilderness in Colorado Springs, Colorado for two people and their pet!!

Some of the other prizes for runners up:

• $300 in Visa Gift cards
• DERMagic Groom and Go gift basket
• VIP package of Buckskin Joe Frontier Town & Railway
• VIP entry to the Garden of the Gods Trading Post and 10% off of all purchases
• Free HD Movie at the Garden of the Gods Visitor & Nature Center
• VIP entry to Historic Manitou Springs, which includes a free mineral spring tasting cup and map
• VIP entry into Manitou Cliff Dwellings
• VIP entry to Miramont Castle
• VIP entry Pikes Peak Highway
• VIP entry Royal Gorge Bridge & Park
• VIP entry Seven Falls
• VIP entry to Cripple Creek District Museum

It’s easy to enter! Simply visit their entry form page, upload a photo of your pet with an explanation of why your pet needs a vacation and you’re ready to go! Check out some of the entries where you can also vote for your favorite. He who has the most votes goes to Colorado! And yes, I have to make a hapless endorsement…if you see our photo (entitle Jennifer Allen and Chance), give us a vote will ya because me and my pet NEED A VACATION!

Get inspired! Write a poem for your pet and win!

If you have a child that loves to write and loves animals, we’ve got the perfect combination to help them celebrate National Poetry Month! The 3rd annual “Paws for Poetry” contest is in full swing and is a great opportunity for children ages 5-12 to showcase their poetry prowess! To enter, kids need only to write a poem to, and provide a photo of, their favorite animal friend.The contest is co-sponsored by kids’ virtual field trip web site Meet Me at the Corner and Flashlight Press. Teachers and parents, this is a great opportunity to not only encourage your kids to write but also get them excited about it!

Poems must be original work and can be submitted in one of two categories: Group One (ages 5-9) and Group Two (ages 10-12). One grand prize winner ine ach category will receive a $50.00 Amazon.com gift card. Two runners-up in each category will receive a $25.00 Amazon.com gift card. Winning poems and pet photos will also be highlighted in an upcoming Meet Me at the Corner video pod cast. The pod cast will be videotaped at New York’s Angellicle Cat Rescue Center. Local students will present the winning poems.

The contest judge will be Thad Krasnesky. Thad is a children’s author and poet as well as an Iraqi war veteran. He will also be providing contest winners with an autographed copy of his new book, “That Cat Can’t Stay”.

Celebrating the 3rd annual Paws for Poetry contest inspiring kids to celebrate National Poetry Month!

The contest deadline is April 15, 2010. All submissions should be mailed to:

“Paws for Poetry” contest
c/o Meet Me at the Corner
20 West Del Norte
Colorado Springs, CO 80907

Good luck to all our young Emily Dickensen’s and Edgar Allen Poe’s! We hope you will all take a crack at this contest as we take a moment this month to appreciate poetry in all it’s literary forms! wRite on!

Arizona Education Association (AEA) is currently lobbying for SB1299 which is sponsored by Senator Linda Lopez. If accepted, it would repeal these policies. HB 2226, which is being introduced by Representative Lauren Hendrix and will be heard in the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday of this week (February 24), would repeal these punitive policy provisions and then reinstate them. AEA will be present at this meeting to testify. Representative David Schapira will also be introducing an amendment to HB2226 which would eliminate the reinstatement of these punitive laws, effectively repealing them instead.

If you would like to support the amendment, contact committee members.

You can also show support for education in Arizona by attending the March4Schools Day of Action on March 4, 2010 at 4 p.m. This enormous community outreach action will bring thousands of education supporters statewide together to share their stories and concerns about the impact of legislative funding cuts to their schools with the voting public. It is hoped that this effort will bring attention to the anti-education legislation taking place.

If you would like to attend as a March4Schools Day of Action participant, it is asked that you wear a t-shirt (that can be purchased online) to present a unified front in support of quality public education for every child in Arizona. To join in and be a part of this event, check out what activities will be available in your individual local.

Weigh in with your thoughts on how our teachers are being treated from a legislative standpoint. Are they expendable? Or do we value them and want them to stay?

For more information: Download the AEA March4Schools Day of Action flyer.

In what some claim to be a backlash from a large teacher march on the capital in March, Arizona Legislature has made some controversial changes to the way Arizona teachers are going to be treated. Some of these changes included removing seniority, salary and contract guarantees. One of the more surprising facts of this bill being passed is that state lawmakers did so without committee hearings or public comment, using an emergency 51-day special session to create a budget to push these changes through.

These changes, falling under House Bill 2011, prevent districts from considering tenure when making decisions about which teachers will be laid off. This also applies to rehires. Here are a few more changes taking effect with this bill…Districts are no longer required to give teachers notification of contract status for the following school year. Prior to Bill 2011, Districts were required to notify teachers by April 15th whether they were going to return the next year.

• Districts can also now lower salaries mid year for select teachers without being required to take into account tenure.
• If a teacher is placed on an improvement plan for inadequate instruction, they are only required to have 60 days of instruction now rather then the previously required 85 days.
• If teachers wish to participate in union business during contracted time, they are no longer required to be compensated.

Looking at the pros and cons, it is easy to understand why these changes have become so controversial. First, it is important to understand that Arizona is now vying for a very lucrative $4.3 billion “Race to the Top” federal education grant sponsored by the US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan which has very specific requirements and guidelines that states must follow in order to be eligible. Once such requirement is linking teacher salaries with student achievement. Good? Bad? Well, it may spur teachers to put more effort into their classroom teaching. However, it may also cause teachers to encourage cheating, more lenient grade awarding, etc. in an effort to keep their jobs. It may also unfairly alienate teachers that are working in severely underprivileged areas where parent and community support are in short supply and children naturally suffer to no specific fault of the teacher.

Here are some interesting statistics on Arizona’s educational priorities (information obtained through the Arizona Education Association)…

• Arizona is currently ranked 49th out of the 50 states in the amount spent per student
• It has the second highest student-teacher ratio
• It has the second fastest growing student population
• It ranks 35th in the nation for average teacher salaries. That’s $6,536 BELOW the national average!
• To equal the national average spending per student, Arizona would need to increase their per student spending by 44%!
• In order to be equal to the national average, Arizona would need to spend in excess of $2.7 billion!

If we are not paying our teachers, not putting money into our educational facilities and materials, failing to offer our teachers any kind of job security and consistently watching our student population explode, then someone please tell me what person in their right mind would ever want to study and invest over $18,000 in education to become a teacher!!! With less qualified and fewer teacher applicants entering the field, how can this be good for our children?

I recently spoke with a local 1st grade teacher in her second year that is already expressing her regrets and frustrations with the system. “I spend so much time administering required aptitude tests to my students, that I don’t have time to even teach them the concepts I’m testing on!” she lamented. She refuses to allow her parent helpers to assist her with these tests because she feels it puts the students at a disadvantage. “I had to go through special training to administer these tests” she confided, “and I don’t feel that the students benefit when different, unqualified people are randomly administering these tests.” With some teachers relying on untrained parent helpers to administer tests to their students, there is no consistency and great room for error. Not to mention the huge amount of time wasted.

But then again, if Arizona were to win this “Race to the Top” grant money, perhaps great changes could be wrought to the benefit of both teacher and student. It certainly stands to encourage a great deal of innovative and forward thinking ideas about educational development as states fall all over themselves vying for the grant money. What do you think about the changes? Join the forum discussion on this topic and give us your thoughts. Please let us know if you are a teacher, parent or both in your comments.