Category Archives: Uncategorized

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Ghouls, Ghosts, and Goblins, OH MY!

On the hunt for a perfect Halloween costume this year? Fear no more because we’ve done our research so you don’t have to!

Take a look at what category best fits you and then suit up for a fun night of trick-or-treating!

1. For the gamer
2. For the movie-buff
3. For the traditionalist
4. For the family outing
5. For the DIY-er
6. For the emoji-obsessed
7. For the youngster
8. For the tween
9. For the too old to be trick-or-treater
10. For the pup

Happy Haunting!

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Written by our Marketing & Social Media Coordinator, Taylor Bell

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What You Need to Know About SIDS

Sorry to be a downer with this article, but we want to make sure everyone is aware of every new parents greatest fear, SIDS.

SIDS is very rare, but such a great fear because we don’t know why it happens. The best way to prevent SIDS is to have your baby sleep on his/her back. Most SIDS cases happen between one to four months, with 90% of all cases happening before six months of age.

 Ways to prevent SIDS:

1. Have the baby sleep on his/her back
2. Sleep in the same room (not bed) as baby
3. Be firm about baby’s sleep spot
4. Choose baby’s bedding carefully
5. Keep baby from overheating
6. Breastfeed as much and for as long as you can
7. Stick to your doctor’s schedule
8. Avoid smoke
9. Offer a pacifier
10. Avoid baby sleeping in a car seat, swing, or stroller for long periods of time

The data for this article was from The Bump.com.

 

Written by our CEO & Founder, Lindsay Bell

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Event: Turn Each Good into a Greater Good

This Sunday, goods for good, a nonprofit using microenterprise to transform orphan care in Southern Africa, will host their family-focused Kids for Good: Meet Me in Malawi on October 23rd from 10:30 am –1:30 pm at 501 Union, Brooklyn. The event will feature African drumming, a magic show, music, and arts and crafts while raising support for their programs in Malawi.

goods for good empowers local communities in Southern Africa to transform orphan care. By partnering directly with Malawian community centers that care for orphans, goods for good gives communities the resources and industry knowledge required to build successful businesses. In so doing, these community centers become fiscally equipped to support orphan care, all while creating living wage jobs that boost the local economy. So far, goods for good has launched ten community businesses and forty household businesses that have helped provide 95,000 orphans and vulnerable children with the care they need.

Three years ago, goods for good realized there was a real need to get families involved in learning about other parts of the world and giving back to kids in need. From this—Kids for Good was born! Now in its third year, Kids for Good uses entertainment, arts & crafts, and interactive learning to get kids involved in goods for good’s mission of empowering communities to transform orphan care.

“We take great pride in Kids for Good,” founder Melissa Kushner says, “and it’s largely because this event naturally captures children’s behaviors and uses them as a way to teach them more about Malawi and what we do. By harnessing kids’ energy in familiar activities and then giving them a twist, we’re able to get kids excited about learning, exploring the world, and making a difference.”

For more information about the event, please e-mail Kathleen Rommel at [email protected].

For tickets, visit give.goodsforgood.org/MeetMeinMalawi.

GOODS FOR GOOD - Malawi Project Awareness Tour: UFULU Community Center [Day 1]

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When Your Baby Hits Their Head

When your baby falls and bumps their head, mama calls the doctor and the doctor said..

When your baby hits his/her head for the first time it is no joking matter. A wave of fear, nervousness, and helplessness overcomes you. I was out at a work meeting when I came home to my husband and baby. My baby was cheerful as usual, but then my husband looks at me intently and says “I **cked up.”

I immediately get that sinking feeling in my stomach and he goes into how the baby fell out of his swing. I remain as calm as I can and pick up my baby, analyzing his body for any bumps or bruises. He looks fine. I then call my sister who has toddler twins (that fell constantly) and asked her what she recommended. She gave me a few stories about how the girls fell and then said to call the pediatrician just in case. We make the call and the doctor calls us back within 20 minutes.

The doctor was calm and asked us for a play by play. She said the couple she spoke to prior to us had the same thing happen.

We were instructed to do the following:

1. Scope out his body for any bumps or bruises.
2. Pay special attention to the baby’s head exactly where he fell.
3. Be aware of any troubled breathing or changes in breathing patterns.
4. Be aware of any projectile vomiting.

I couldn’t hear the monitor well at night, so I slept in the nursery with the sleep machine off to hear better. I checked on him every hour or so (I couldn’t sleep anyway), and then monitored him for a full 24 hours for any changes in behavior, vomiting, or trouble breathing.

He seemed fine. In  the end, I’m glad we called the doctor and I stayed in the same room as him. It gave me a piece of mind.

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Written by our Founder & CEO, Lindsay Bell

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Village Maternity Making a Difference

There are a lot of options for an expecting mother on how she would like her pregnancy to go. A lot can go as planned, but of course some people have to roll with the punches and figure it out along the way.

Birth transforms your life and body completely. Whom you select as your pregnancy caregiver makes all the difference in determining the satisfaction and safety of your pregnancy journey and birth experience.

Village Maternity believes the best birth for mom and baby comes from blending the unique strengths of midwives and doctors with the safety of a wonderful hospital partner.

‎The Village Maternity team firmly believe that true collaboration of midwives and doctors provides you with the safest and most satisfying birth experience. They approach your pregnancy with energy and enthusiasm and strive to help make your care with Village Maternity an amazing journey.

Village Maternity proudly collaborates with Metropolitan Hospital – a hidden gem for NYC families. Among Manhattan birth sites, Metropolitan has a long history of true midwifery care, including support for unmedicated birth with one of the lowest epidural rates. Metropolitan has one of the lowest cesarean section rates and the least overcrowding.  Metropolitan physicians provide support for one of the highest rates of vaginal birth after cesarean section.

Village Maternity offers both Maternity Care (prenatal and postpartum) as well as Preconception Care. Not to mention 24/7 phone access. How reassuring to have your doctor a call away. They even have weekend and evening office hours. Village Maternity offices are conveniently based in midtown east.

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Note: Village Maternity did not pay for this post. I met the doctors at Village Maternity and truly believe in their mission. For more information please visit their website.

Written by our Founder & CEO, Lindsay Bell

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What an Upset Kid Is Trying to Say

Tantrums and kids are two things parents wish never went together. Unfortunately, parents can only put off the inevitable for so long, and are in the position to help their child through something that upsets them.

A Bell Family mom that uses approaches from this article says, “I see this to be effective in certain situations, but in others I feel like the child has too much control, therefore running the show and their parents in circles.”

Read the full article titled, “What an Upset Kid Is Really Trying to Say” from Goop, and let us know your thoughts!

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Written by our Marketing & Social Media Coordinator, Taylor Bell

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Meeting Local Moms with Cardamom!

Are you a mom looking to get to know other moms around you?  The Cardamom app is bringing all like-moms together to do just that.

We recently got to know all about the Cardamom app through a Q&A, and here’s everything you should know now!

Q: What should our readers know about the new Cardamom app?
A: Cardamom is a cool, new friend-networking app, designed just for moms. The app is “matches” local moms to each other for friendship, playdates, and professional connections, and is customized to what each mom is looking for. Introductions and connections are made directly on your phone so there is no planning or pressure. It’s like a friend-dating app for moms!

Q: What inspired you to create this fun and easy way to meet other moms in your “hood” app?
A: I’m a working mom of two girls, raising my kids in Manhattan. I know firsthand how important a friend to laugh with, lean on, cry with, drink with (coffee or wine J) can be. Before we were “moms”, we spent decades of our lives making friends organically, through school, work and play. Enter motherhood, and it’s like starting all over again.

It can be so hard to make new friends as a mom – to find the time and energy to go out to events, classes, playgrounds, activities, meetups, moms’ groups, and other places where moms are, in the hopes of meeting someone you click with… and then even if you do, your kids, schedules and lifestyles need to be in sync too.  It can be exhausting and overwhelming. With Cardamom, the app does the hard work of making introductions to like-minded moms, all from the comfort of your phone, so new friends are just a tap away.

Q: How easy/hard is it to use the app?
A: It’s simple and easy. We want the whole experience to be beautiful, since it’s such a personal thing and most moms are always on-the-go. After a mom creates her profile (the “Card” in Cardamom), she can just sit back and let Cardamom do the hard work of finding her potential new friends.

Q: How does the app work?
A: Moms create a profile Card to share things like where they live, kids’ ages, work status, availability, interests, and even other niche things like career choices and languages. Cardamom’s fancy matching algorithm then introduces local, like-minded moms to each other. Moms can see their matches on a map, so they know who’s near them. If a mom wants to meet another mom, she simply “waves” to her on the app; when the other mom waves back, they are connected with a high-five and can start chatting directly on the app. The app also tells both moms when they have common availability, since we want to encourage our users to meet up live and grow their friendships.

Each mom receives a limited number of introductions per day. After she has either waved, saved the Card or declined the introduction (don’t worry, its anonymous so no hard feelings), she’ll receive a new set the next day. So check back often as your village grows!

Q: Will the moms find other like-minded moms on the app?
A: Absolutely. We’ve already made over 2,500 introductions in NYC alone, and sparked many great conversations. We just launched last month, with new moms joining every day. So if you don’t meet the right one just yet, check back when you can!

Q: How can a mom actually engage with another mom on the app?
A: Once both moms “wave” to each other, they can chat on the app. We’re building out a mom-date planning service as well as group boards where moms can ask each other questions, coordinate nanny-shares, and other things that make motherhood fun and easier. Stay tuned!

Q: How will a mom know if another mom wants to meet up with them?
A:  The mom will receive a message that another mom has “waved” to her. If she wants to meet the other mom, she simply taps “wave back” and let the friendship begin! Moms can chat, learn more about each other and coordinate meet ups with or without the kids.

Q: Is there a cost to use the app?
A: No, the app is free. We just launched for iPhone/iOS and Android will be available soon.

To download the app, click here!

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Written by our Marketing & Social Media Coordinator, Taylor Bell

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Time for a Staycation

Being cooped up in your apartment can leave you stir crazy, especially if you spend daytime there during the week (looking at you moms and dads at home with kids). One night when I couldn’t sleep, I did some research on staycation spots near NYC, and here is what I found.

1. Upstate New York
This Inn seems perfect once it gets a bit cooler, think fire place, hot beverage or red vino, and maybe some hiking in the good ole outdoors. The rates seem really reasonable too, around $160 a night.

2. Long Island
For food.
For wine.
For stay.

3. North Fork
This place seems the place to be in October, as I can’t find a hotel or bed & breakfast available for under $700 a night. It may be worth waiting till off season.

For additional things to do in North Fork check out Conde Nast Traveler.

And for future trips around the city check out Timeout New York!

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Power Your Happy

On September 20th, I attended a local book signing for Lisa Sugar. Lisa is mom of three, entrepreneur, wife, and now author of the recently published Power Your Happy: Work Hard, Play Nice & Build Your Dream Life. She is the founder of PopSugar, the number one independent media company for women. In her book, Lisa shares her journey of turning a passion into a job. Her passion of sharing pop news to women was taken to the next level with some support from her husband. They grew a small scale blog into an enormously successful, growing company with over 500 employees who also love what they do. PopSugar’s current reach is 100 million unique visitors.

My favorite sound bite from her keynote was about making every day of the week enjoyable. How much do we all dread Monday’s? Lisa’s book coaches readers to love EVERY SINGLE DAY! Lisa helps you navigate your overwhelming, confusing days, to end up in a place where you can combine your passions and talents for success.

I hope you all find time to read it! Big congrats to Lisa on all her hard work!

You can order her book here.

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Written by our Founder & President, Lindsay Bell

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Meet Songs for Seeds!

Songs for Seeds introduces an interactive class that encourages children (newborn to 6 years old)  to sing, dance, and play along with a live, three-piece band. After being named “Best Kids’ Music Class” by New York Magazine and “Most Magical Music Class” by Red Tricycle, it’s no wonder everyone is wanting to know more about Songs for Seeds. We sat down with them for a short Q&A to learn all about their offerings. Read below, and sign your little one up for a class today!

1. What can a child and their parent(s) expect to takeaway from one of your 45-minute classes?
The biggest takeaway from our class is that it is really awesome to learn through play! Without even realizing it, the children walk away signing songs that reinforce colors, shapes, numbers, animals ad all they know is that they just had a good time! The parents walking away having just been able to enjoy themselves and their children is a relaxed, stimulating area.

2. How involved are the child’s parent(s) in each of the classes? Are they actively participating or just looking on from the sidelines? Parents/Caregivers are encouraged to participate throughout the entire class, however, it is their choice to be involved as little or as much as they want to be and feel their child wants them to be. All of the clapping, playing, dancing and questions-answer activities are designed to include a child and their adult.

3. You also make your services available for birthday parties and events. What do you provide for such events and how would someone go about hiring you?
Although we are not able to bring our roadie box (classroom setup) with us for parties or events, we do create an interactive concert. Using a lot of the songs/activities from class, we are able to engage them children with instruments, scarves, magic and of course, play! A quick inquiry e-mail to [email protected] OR a phone call (646-820-9916) is all it will take the get the conversation going and book your party or event.

4. For the moms and dads wanting to sign their little one up for a class, how do they get started?
Head to our website! You can find all schedules, classes, and pricing information directly on our site. You can also call me, Courtney Fischer-Karasin, directly 646-820-9916. We are so excited to share this AMAZING program with all of the little seedlings of Fairfield County!

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Written by our Marketing & Social Media Coordinator, Taylor Bell