The Mother's Way

I always make sure that my daughter wears a helmet when she bikes.  According to Helmets.org, 540,000 bicyclists visit emergency rooms with injuries every year, and 770 of these bicyclists died in 2006.  Quite frankly, the statistics show that 1 in 8 cyclists with bicycle-related injuries had a brain injury.

So when my daughter’s friend showed up this weekend without a helmet, there was no way I was letting her ride helmet-less with my daughter using one of our bikes!  Her friend’s head was too small, and her head would not fit any of our helmets.  And quite frankly, a helmet that is loose-fitting (and can be moved from side to side exposing the head) will do nothing to protect a victim in the event of an accident.

So I improvised.  Since I was going for a run anyways, I let my daughter’s friend run along with me for the first 3km, so she could run back home to her parent’s place.  She, out of breath, then managed to pick up her helmet, and her own bike, and I accompanied her back to our house.

As a parent, my motto is always: safety first!

I tried Wii Fit for the first time, and I loved it!

I am not a gamer.  Video games bore me.  I don’t care for explosions or life-like graphics and screenplay.

What first attracted me to the Wii was the interactive aspect of the gameplay.  It seemed like a great way to “trick” children into actually doing exercise!

“Instead of joining Sony and Microsoft in the arms race to pack their consoles with ever-higher-performance graphics chips (to better attract sophisticated gamers), Nintendo built the Wii–a cuddly, low-priced, motion-controlled machine that broke the market wide open by appealing to everyone from grade-schoolers to grandmas. “  John Gaudiosi, Business 2.0 Magazine

Now, with the Wii fit, I can get a great aerobic workout at home, work on my yoga stances, do strength training and conditioning, and play fun and interactive balance games!  Wii Fit makes exercise fun!  And the console actually charts my daily progress against my fitness goals.

Wii Fit is great fun for both yourself, and the entire family!  The only problem is, if you want to get it for your family for the Christmas holidays, you had better start scouring stores now.  Wii Fit is in such high demand, that they are hard to come by.

Toys these days bear no resemblance to those of my childhood.  What comprises a toy these days are blinking gizmos, moving pictures, and electronic marvels, do little to encourage a child to work our their body, and their minds!  You know the saying “healthy body, healthy mind?”  Well, children cannot fully develop their minds or their bodies by vegging out all day on the couch, in front of the television.

In order for children to grow up to be contributing members of society, they need to develop their creativity, adaptability, confidence, and respect.  Toys alone cannot accomplish this.  As a parent, I believe that the way to accomplish this is to spend time playing with your child instead of investing in expensive toys.  In the long run, this will challenge him or her to learn how to entertain himself/herself, while encouraging to develop their own creativity and imagination.

My children love being read to, because I started reading to them since they were young.  Sometimes, we’ll do crafts together.  I’m not very crafty; however, the ideas for these crafts always come from books from the library.  And when I do buy toys, I like to keep them simple.  For example, many hours of fun can be had with wooden cars.  An entire journey can be played out by taking a car for a road trip around the house! 

In the long run, I think my children will appreciate my time more so than any blinking gizmo.  Remember, quality time with your children is what helps them to develop into healthy adults.

My 4-year old came back from his friend’s house the other day after spending hours playing with a Parking Tower.  After he babbled nonsensically about the car wash and the car stop, I thought that I would have to check it out for myself.  So the next time he went over to his friend’s house, I made sure to take a peak at the Parking Tower. 

Wader’s Park Tower is a super-sized 7-level parking structure that is 40 inches tall!  No wonder he enjoyed playing with this toy so much.  Not only is this toy NOT made in China, but it also challenges children to play with their imagination.  Instead of spending hour upon hour as a mindless zombie (who needs to be constantly entertained by a television or a computer monitor), my child was not actively using his imagination! 

It seemed like the perfect gift for his upcoming birthday, and I managed to find the Park Tower online.  The complete garage is easy-to-assemble (no tools required), and comes complete with:

• A car lift
• A car wash
• A tank stop
• A heli-port
• A car service center
• A crane
• 5 cars

Wader Toys is a German company.  Unfortunatley, Wader Toys does not have an english website.  However, all of Wader’s toy components made in Germany, are child-safe, and are lead and toxin free.