In their infnite wisdom, Italian design house Gucci has decided to introduce their first clothing lines for children in the spring of 2011. Because nothing celebrates a double-dip recession like a Gucci-logoed bib!

To be honest, I have a “thing” about paying to have my children be walking advertisements for clothing companies.  In short, I try really hard not to.  Although I have to say as the Munchkin is getting older, that is getting harder.  But those wanna-be Vans? No way.   I cannot see any boy over the age of 5 wearing those without some sort of bribe being involved.  And the muti-colored belts? Really?  Those look exactly like the ones that come free with off-brand cargo shorts. 

But, if this preview is the best that Gucci has, you’ll have to excuse me.  Because I can’t stop yawning.

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Cynthia Rowley is designing a new capsule collection for Target, which normally is not big news.  I mean, she’s nice and all, but a headline-maker, it ain’t.

However, it’s a different story when the collection is comprised completely of Pampers.

Yes, it seems that in order to compete with the mind-bogglingly weird Huggies diaper jeans collection, Pampers comissioned good ole Cynthia to preppy up your infant’s bum.

I’m not here to discuss the relative merits of classic denim over madras, as odd as that feels when I’m referring to diapers.  Nor am I here to dilute the discussion with how bad for the environment disposable diapers are, we all know that.

No, what I want to address is the wonderment why anyone would think a child’s diaper should be seen by anyone but the person changing them.  Maybe it was the way my mama raised me, but in my eyes, seeing a diaper is gauche, akin to seeing someone’s underwear.  I don’t want to see underwear, period.  And I don’t know why anyone would want to show their child’s underwear to the general public, no matter how cutely it is patterned. Viewing of underwear should be an “oops,” not an aspiration.

So let’s hope that unfettered diaper viewing is not the next Big Thing.

Fellow parents, I beg you.  Don’t do it!

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How to keep your teens from drinking…

People find blogs in the weirdest ways…

Chichimama doesn’t really mourn making that last school lunch…

Marketing to kids is scary stuff…

It takes a Canadian to say it so eloquently…

Candy is tired…

The Consumerist tells of a UK woman selling her breastmilk at $22 for 4 oz. I’m apparently in the wrong business.

I wish my 8th grade dance had been this awesome. Wait, I went to Catholic school.  I never got a dance.

Would you like to Dilly Dally in Pussy Park? I thought so.

Is it ever OK to let your kid quit?

The latest Toddlers n’ Tiaras recap.

Christa doesn’t like this onesie one little bit.

Willow Smith’s outfit? Raincoaster is not a fan.

Cynthia gives me new knowledge that there are four verses to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  My son was robbed all those years ago because I only sang two!

Class Factotum lurves Wisconsin! The beer! The motorcycles!

These breakfast cereals ain’t all that.  Prevents swine flu? Rilly?

A Stormtrooper a day keeps the blues away!

The gold digger resents having to share her blueberries.  With a baby.

A four day school week? Hmmmm…

The Environmental Working Group just came out with their new sunscreen ratings.

My friends, we are currently in the throes of cutting that first tooth, and boy is my daughter pissed.  And non-sleepy.  And constantly shoving anything and everything into her mouth and chomping hard.

Of course we have all different types of soothers, and my mom tried to cut down on some of everyone’s misery by purchasing some St. Amour’s Teething Biscuits on a shopping trip to Whole Paycheck.

I was skeptical.

All of my previous experiences with teething biscuits were pretty negative, with them either being vehemently rejected (for taste, or lack thereof, I’m assuming) or turning into somewhat of a choking hazard by being a bit too prone to chunkiness for my comfort.

Enter St. Amour’s.

My daughter pounced on them like only a person in discomfort can when they find something to ease their pain.  Actually, she is a fairly non-engaged eater of “big people food” at this point, but I have never seen her be so interested in a food item before.  These biscuits dissolve wonderfully, while still retaining the firmness that is so pleasing to the gums.  I never once worried that she was going to choke, and before I knew it, the rather substantial biscuit was gone. 

These are based on a French recipe and available at various retailers. Click the link to check locations by state.  Add the fact that they are vegan, all natural, and fat-free, and you’ve got yourself a winner.

*I was given no free product or compensation for this review.  Well, unless you count the fact my mom bought it for me.

 This is supposedly about Finding Nemo, but it just might make you a bit teary…

Candy will do anything to keep her walker down.

Lindsay and her family were lucky in the recent Nashville flooding.  Her neighbors, not so much.  If you have any unused gift cards or money you would like to send to help, click here.

Mrs. G works it.

Another study to tell you that TV is bad for toddlers.

Check out a fifth-grade fashion designer.

Shit My Kids Ruined.

A couple of weeks ago, I was at Target.  I’m at Target a lot, a lot more than is probably healthy, but it’s close to my house and I can’t help myself.  Anyhoo, for some reason I had never bought the Munchkinette any infant’s Tylenol. Which makes me fairly lame, because it really is sort of a basic that you should always have on hand.   Well, the thought crossed my mind and I casually tossed the box into my cart.

Fast forward to one day later, and the news is all abuzz with the children’s Tylenol recall, and how some of the medicine may contain too much active ingredient, some may have not enough active ingredient, and I quote from the recall site, some may contain “tiny particles.”

WTF?

They never elaborate on what TYPE of tiny particles may be floating around in the medicine, so my mind is left to wander, which is always a bad thing.  Are there tiny particles of glass? Of plants? Of fecal material?  Hey, if Tylenol chooses to be deliberately non-specific, then they deserve whatever my fevered brain can imagine.  And a mom’s brain can go lots of weird places, I assure you.

Then I check the number on the box against the one on the website, and sure enough, I’ve got a tainted box o’ poison.

The next time I visit Target, which is fairly alarmingly soon after this, I try and see if there are any infant drops with acetaminophen. No dice.  The shelves are completely bare of Tylenol and any other type of off-brand that may have been previously lurking.

Fine, whatever.  I’ve gone this far without it. I’ll be fine, I thought.

Well, the Fates must have been extremely bored during that nanosecond, because what happens two days later? Yup, my daughter has a fever and there isn’t a store within a ten mile radius that has infant acetaminophen drops.  So my husband and I spend the night trading off getting up with her every three hours because that is the longest she can sleep because she is uncomfortable.  Yeah, and the lukewarm baths that are recommended to lower the fever?  Those don’t do anything except really piss the kid off.   Because who the hell likes lukewarm baths?

So thanks, Tylenol. Thanks for totally ruining my week.

I hope you and your tiny particles are happy.

We jokingly refer to it as the ”barber chair” but there really is a lot to like about the Boon Flair high chair.

I had spent much too much time deciding on a high chair for the Munchkinette, and I almost bought a Stokke Tripp Trapp until I saw this. Yeah, the chair now comes with plastic extenders that supposedly make the whole falling-backward-so-they-can-crack-their-head-open thing not happen, but if I am going to be spending almost four hundred dollars on a high chair (paying extra for the infant adapter AND the cloth cushion AND for a tray) I decided that I should NEVER have to think even for a nanosecond that my daughter could push the chair back from the table like that. Her chubby little legs are surprisingly strong, and she likes kicking as much as David Beckham, and with almost as much accuracy. As my kitchen table has quite a significant drop down portion beneath the table top proper, the Tripp Trapp was just not an option for me, no matter how “cool” it may look.

The Boon Flair is a single piece of molded plastic that rests on a pneumatic lift, thus giving it that old-timey barber chair vibe. But, it is insanely easy to clean, has a removable tray with two plastic liners, all of which fit in the dishwasher. As any parent who has had to clean off dried baby food knows, ease of cleaning is huge. It also has very cool casters on the bottom which make it a breeze to move around the kitchen, which my daughter loves since there is quite a bit of distance between the table and the kitchen sink, where she enjoys watching me do the dishes. I actually don’t enjoy doing the dishes, but it makes it less of a chore when I can interact with her.  The Flair has a five-point harness for keeping the squirmers in their place, and the removable tray means that I can still push her up to the table when she gets older.  And obviously, the pneumatic lift makes it ridiculously easy to adjust up or down.

The only drawback I can see is that for small kitchens, the bottom of the chair where the casters are placed might take up a bit too much room.   It doesn’t have any reclining features or huge plastic-y cushions, which might be a minus for some  but which I view as a plus.  It isn’t a chair for napping, and the plastic cushions just make the child sticky and whiny in the warmer months.  Not to mention they are a pain to clean.

Other than that, having dealt with a more traditional high chair with my first child, I’m actually looking forward to feeding times with the Flair!

*I was given no compensation for this review. Money spent on this product was my own hard-earned cash.

I applaud the creativity of both her dress and her boyfriend’s vest, but his hat will hopefully disappear before the actual prom.