Archive for the ‘Toys’ Category

Inappropriate Marketing

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

So we had swim class in the morning and the San Francisco Free Folk Festival in the afternoon.  It was a full day, to be sure, but the real challenge was that the two were 40 miles apart.  So while the Junior Partner was practicing his up-faces, I took the older two to a nearby Subway to get sandwiches for a quick lunch on the road.  Unfortunately, when I ordered a kid’s meal for the three-year-old, it came in a bag emblazoned with the Green Lantern character from the recent film.  A film, I will note, that is rated PG-13 by the MPAA and given a 4.7.4 for sex, violence, and profanity by Kids-in-Mind.com.

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Of Bicycles and Inspiration

Thursday, June 2nd, 2011

There have been many great speeches in our history. From Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address to Martin Luther King’s I Have A Dream, the power of words to move and to motivate us should never be underestimated. That inspiration, too, can come from the most unexpected places. While we expect wisdom from political leaders and activists and occasionally find someone on television with something important to say and the ability to express it, sometimes powerful insight and motivation comes from the most unexpected places — like a little boy who just learned to ride his bike.

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Designing With Kids In Mind

Monday, May 16th, 2011

Many couples, when looking at new digs, do so with the needs of children in mind, even if they don’t have any as yet.  It’s also very common for parents to trade up to a larger house as more kids arrive on the scene.  That’s what my parents did, the summer before my youngest sister — their fifth kid — was born.  I remember helping to repaint the attic before moving in so that we could use it as a bedroom for the younger kids.

What about taking it a step further?  It’s pretty standard, if the magazines, television shows, and designers are to be believed, to redecorate a room as a nursery when a baby is on the way.  And a playroom or den wouldn’t raise any eyebrows.  Designing spaces for homework, TV watching, and playing games into the overall floorplan makes sense if you can do it.  After all, kids are more important than a wine cellar, sewing room or man-cave, right?  But just how far would you go to make your home child-friendly?

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Should Toy Donation Programs Censor Toys?

Thursday, December 9th, 2010

When I was growing up, toy guns were strictly forbidden in our house and we were not even supposed to play with them elsewhere.  While I didn’t like that policy as a kid, now that I am a parent myself, I have the same rule in place for my children.  I don’t think guns are an appropriate toy for kids to play with and I don’t think I’m alone.  So what sort of donated toys do you suppose the Salvation Army destroys rather than see end up in the hands of children?

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