Monthly Archives: December 2016

Safety

Go Directly to (Baby) Jail!

It looks like this time the baby can’t pass “Go” and collect $200. Like any monopoly opponent, you rejoice when the other person has to go to jail because that means you have time to own the game, or in this case, the house.

Baby jail is a great way to keep your crawling infant safe, and also free up your hands to catch up on all of the housework!

The walls are great for balance, and allows the baby to pull themselves up to stand or walk.

You can even place your baby’s favorite toys inside for play and exploration!

Here’s one I put together for my little guy. You can buy it online at Target here.

Jail

Written by our Founder & CEO, Lindsay Bell

 

Family

A Bell Girl Christmas Tree

Growing up, putting up the family Christmas tree was always such a spectacle. My mom has always been into interior design, so when you add that fascination to her love of celebrating the holidays, you end up with one jaw dropping Christmas tree. A Christmas tree that would have the heads of Martha Stewart and Nate Berkus turning.

Given that my mom is such a fan of the holidays, it’s only natural that some of the fandom gets passed down to myself and four older sisters. That’s usually how it works, right?

My sisters and I live in various places across the US. My oldest sister Lindsay lives in New York City, Courtney in Ohio, Jamie and I in Washington, DC, and Katie in Indiana. Now that we no longer live under the same roof, each year we put up our own Christmas tree. Our trees usually vary in size, type, and decorations, but I’m sure my sisters and I can agree that they all have one thing in common – we put them up thinking about all of the years we decorated the tree together as a family in small town Ohio.

This year we are sharing our Christmas trees with you and wishing all of our readers a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Lindsay’s tree

Christmas_Linds copy

Courtney’s tree

Christmas_Court copy

Jamie’s tree

Christmas_Jamie copy

Katie’s tree

Christmas_Kate

Taylor’s tree

Christmas_Tay

Written by our Marketing & Social Media Coordinator, Taylor Bell

Uncategorized

Your Holiday Gift Guide

Looking for just the right gift this year for your friend, family member, or significant other? Well, you’re in luck thanks to Issuu – an online publication that posts thousands of digital articles that are all available to active readers.

Their 2016 Holiday Gift Guide is helping to make this the easiest shopping year yet. Below you can find some suggestions to get you started.

Top toys for 2016:
Hatchimal Hatching Egg
Cosmo Robot
Think & Learn Code-A-Pillar

Build and create toys:
Shape Mags Advance Starter Kit
Wonderhood Grand Hotel
Meccanoid 2.0

Wheels that wow:
Micro Kickboards
Penny Skateboard
PlayWheels Trolls Glitter Skates

Gifs for mom:
Josie Maran Argan Sugar Scrub
Madewell Tote
Duckfeet Arhus Boot

For the full 2016 Holiday Gift Guide, read through the online magazine here!

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Holiday Camps for Kids

Looking for some fun activities for the lil’ ones this winter break? Kidz Central Station is offering some great classes to keep them active and your hands free!

From December 19th-30th, you can check out these classes:

1. Holiday Camp Snowflakes
Age: 3-4 years
Time: Weekdays 9am-Noon or 12:30pm-3:30pm
Cost: $15-$75

2. Holiday Camp Full Day (Peppermints)
Age: 4-5 years
Time: Weekdays 9am-3pm
Cost: $15-$125

3. Holiday Camp Full Day (Gingerbreads)
Age: 5-8 years
Time: Weekdays 9am-3pm
Cost: $15-$125

4. Holiday Cookie Wars
Age: 4-8 years or 9-13 years
Time: Weekdays 9am-Noon or 1pm-4pm
Cost: $100+

For the full list of semester holiday classes and additional event details, click here!

Kidz-Central-Station-1024x775

Written by our Marketing & Social Media Coordinator, Taylor Bell

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Ride-Sharing Tips with Lyft and Uber

Trips with Tykes released an article a few months ago that highlighted some great tips to keep in mind if your kids are traveling with Lyft or Uber.

If you’ve never used either of these services, first download either the Lyft or Uber app to your smartphone and set up an account with your credit card information. You will be prompted what to do next once you’ve completed this step. At the end of your ride, the app allows you to rate the driver, and the driver can also rate you as a passenger. You’ve been warned not to throw a ragging party in the back seat. The app will then charge the linked credit card on the account. No need to rustle in your bag to find buried cash or your credit card anymore!

Now that you are comfortable with how it works, let’s hear about some great tips if you are using either of these services to travel with kids.

1. Lyft and Uber will save you money.
Perk: both car services regularly offer promotions to entice new members to join and try them out.

2. They’ll keep you from being ripped off.
Technology tracks Lyft and Uber drivers and charges by the mile, so it keeps the drivers honest.

3. Make sure to select the right vehicle size.
The bigger the car you request, the more you’ll pay with ride-sharing services. My family of four (including two small kids) has never had an issue squeezing into a regular Lyft or a standard Uber (called UberX).

4. Plan for carseats.
Many Lyft and Uber drivers in the US will deny you a ride if you don’t have a car seat for a child of an age that requires one. Uber offers UberFamily in a few cities that includes a single car seat for an additional charge (usually $10).

5. Know about surge pricing.
Both services implement surge pricing when cars are in short supply (Lyft calls it Prime Time).

For the complete list of tips, read the article, here.

Ava_car

 

Written by our Marketing & Social Media Coordinator, Taylor Bell 

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Cardamom Event Recap

Our Founder & CEO, Lindsay Bell, recently attended CARDAMOM’S event that took place last week in NYC. Here is what Lindsay had to say about the “Girlfriends, Glam, & Giving” event (full details on the event can be found in our blog).

The event was well attended at a local salon in Flatiron; where moms were welcomed with complimentary blow-outs… wow! Then h’orderves and vino were passed around, and Project Playdate presented on behalf of Founder, Amanda Raposo. Project Playdate is an award winning alternative to babysitting that helps women and children in need. There was a silent auction on site where 100% proceeds of the auction went to Project Playdate. It was truly a great event all around!

To learn more about CARDAMOM read the release below.

Cardamom_event

CARDAMOM app launches to connect moms with one easy “wave”.

They say it takes a village. But modern motherhood can be an isolating experience, without ready-made friends to lean on, laugh with or talk with. Many women, disconnected from their “pre-mom” lives, struggle to find and make connections that are in sync with their new lifestyles.

Enter Cardamom, a game-changing new app for moms. Launched for iOS last week, Cardamom utilizes profile-matching technology to introduce moms by neighborhood, kids’ ages, availability, interests, and even niche factors such as language and career choices. Users create a customized profile Card, then digitally “wave” hello to each other to explore a friendship. Cardamom makes it easy to connect and chat with other women in real time.

“Before motherhood, we made friends organically through decades of life,” says Cardamom cofounder Sonal Patel, a New York City-based mother of two, “When you have a child, it can feel like starting all over. So, women expend a tremendous amount of time and effort in meeting other moms, through meet-ups, mommy-and-me classes, playgrounds, moms’ groups, events and more. But it can be overwhelming, exhausting and uncertain.”

The Cardamom app is an easy solution for moms to quickly find and connect with each other. “It’s all done from the comfort of your phone, with no planning and no pressure,” offers Patel. “And it’s not just about play dates. We connect women who just want to chat with other moms in their local areas or someone to grab coffee, or even build professional networks.”

Now available in New York City and the surrounding areas, Cardamom will be building out networks in the coming months, with a nationwide expansion planned by early 2017.

The Cardamom app is available for free download at the iTunes store. It is compatible with iPhone, and an Android-compatible version will be released in the coming weeks.

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A Radio City Rockette Newbie

I have visited New York City countless times and even lived there for about five months for a summer internship. It’s easy to rack up the visits when you have two sisters that move there by the time you are 10 years old.

Given all of my visits, I’ve done my fair share of activities – the top of the Empire State Building, walks through Central Park, Broadway shows, golf at Chelsea Pier, games at Yankee Stadium – the list goes on and on. However, there was one thing that remained on my NYC bucket list, and that was to see the Radio City Rockettes.

A few weeks ago my dream came true and I found myself inside Radio City Music Hall (thanks Mom)! The entire experience was like no other. It all started with a preshow drink with my mom and big sis, Lindsay, at Del Frisco’s. My sister considers this move a preshow staple each time she sees it. An hour later I found myself stepping into the grand lobby with two story Christmas trees and decorations to my left and right. We soon made our way to our seats and the show started right then. Cue the orchestra, dim the lights, and here comes Santa Clause.

Each act throughout the show was a show stopper. There were shopping scenes, toys that came to life, a tour through NYC, fireworks, snowfall, and the conclusion gave you a reminder of the true meaning of Christmas (tears might have been shed). If you sat near me you would often see my jaw dropped, eyes sparkling, or constantly poking my mom who sat next to me saying, “WOW!” I’ve been to many Broadway shows and musicals, and I can honestly say that nothing has compared to the experience I felt while inside this grand music hall.

We exited out of the gold doors and onto 6th Ave, when I felt as if I should be skipping down the street and singing Christmas carols. It was like I was ten again and believing in all things Santa.

If you haven’t seen the show… go! It’s great entertainment for all ages. Take it from the toddlers to the grandparents that were seen in the audience at the show I went to. If you can’t make it to Radio City, pull up your Netflix app. Believe it or not, you can watch the Christmas Spectacular right at home! You won’t have the live fireworks or snowfall (unless your are seriously invested), but you can appreciate the story just the same.

I’ll leave you with a photo I took of my favorite act in the show. The synchronicity of these girls was INSANE!

Rockettes

Written by our Marketing & Social Media Coordinator, Taylor Bell!

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Choking Hazards for Kids

In a recent article published by Lucie’s List, they talk about the most common choking hazards amongst children. Now that you are up to date with the CPR procedures from our last blog (read here), we wanted to highlight some of the items to look out for in the case you need to perform CPR.

Choking is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among children, especially those aged three years or younger. More than 60% of childhood deaths due to choking occur in the first year of life.

Of 17,500 incidences of non-fatal choking here are the items kids most often choke on:

Food: 41%
Candy and gum: 19%
Other non-foods: 17%
Coins: 13%
Unknown: 10%

In the breakdown of these categories, here are some specific items to pay special caution to:

1. Balloons (other) – latex balloons were associated with 29% of deaths overall, making it the most dangerous hazard for kids. TIP: Use the Mylar balloons instead (the shiny foil ones).
2. Hot dogs (food) – about 17% of choking deaths are form hot dogs alone. TIP: Cut hot dogs length-wise before serving.
3. Grapes, carrots, and bananas (food) – the pediatrician of the article writer said that bananas are the number one choking hazard based on his personal experience. TIP: Never give your child a whole item; cut them into halves or quarters.
4. Water bottle tops (other) – bottle tops are everywhere and often ignored. TIP: Make sure the tops are always tightly sealed and/or out of the reach of children.
5. Coins – these aren’t high on the “deadly stuff” list, but coins are around everywhere especially on the ground (a kid’s favorite place to be). Pennies and nickels are the highest risk. TIP: Shiny coins often attract kids. To be safe, don’t let them play with them. Plus, they are dirty and germ-infested. Yuck!

For additional items to look out for, read the full article here.