Baby Einstein Buying Back DVD's

Good grief.  Maybe its because I was up a good bit of the night dealing with 3 of my 5 children barfing their brains out (the 4th getting up to nurse and the 5th had a viscious hacking cold that made it impossible to sleep), but I heard about this latest Fleecing of America and wanted to scream.

Ok, breath.  That was a really bad run-on sentence.  Its all good.  Am I really that concerned about Disney's margins?

Phew.  I'm back.

It started last week after reading about the Carter's 2007 tagless clothing recall.  And I get that one. I'm a huge organic, chemical free, non-additive, no-fragrance-using parent.  Our soaps, shampoos, dishwasher detergent, laundry soap, lotions, deodorants (I think you're getting it here) are fragrance-free and as pure as possible.  I use the EWG's website Skin Deep for purchasing decisions.  Fragrance=one of the things killing us.  

Allegedly, the tags from 2007 contained a harmful chemical giving children rashes and such. Definitely not okay.  And Carter's is stepping up and giving all parents a full refund on any clothing they purchased for their children during that time period.  Yay Carter's.

However, when I hear about parents scouring used clothing stores and thrift shops, finding these items, and mailing them to Carter's for a full refund, I get annoyed.  I ran into an old friend last week who told me about a neighbor who is currently making her living by, what I consider to be, scamming Carter's.  (my opinion)

She laid eyes on the neighbor's latest "paycheck" for $600 and said, "Hmmmmm."

I'm leaving this.........at that.

So, we're on to Baby Einstein.

Apparently, they are in the midst of a PR nightmare where they are trying to save face with interest groups who do not consider these videos to be "educational" as touted by Disney. 

Really?? 

Parents are now furious because their babies aren't reading and writing by 6 months.

(Fine.  That's not part of the story at all.  It just sounded climactic.)

Here is a comment from the interest group that fought against the videos:

The refund offer is a wonderful victory for families and anyone who cares about children. Recent research shows that screen time is not educational for babies. Now parents who purchased Baby Einstein DVDs, mistakenly believing the videos would make their babies smarter, can recoup their money.

Seriously??  And when did research show that 'screen time' WAS educational for babies?

I own several Baby Einstein DVD's and they are occasionally viewed in our home.

By our children.

And I even consider them to be somewhat educational.  

(the crowd gasps in horror)

What I don't do, is use television to parent my children.  And I don't need Disney (or any interest group) to parent me.  Thankyouverymuch.

The summary of this post:  It is impossible to idiot proof people.

Happy Turkey Day

Ron playing in the neighborhood Turkey Bowl game today.  He's not a bit competitive.  Nope.

And.......Sleep!

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

I miss the good 'ole days.

I am officially putting Lincoln on some sort of resemblance-of-a-schedule.  It was fun, while it lasted, to allow him to sleep wherever and whenever his little heart desired.  I told Ron this has all been "research" for the Sleeping 12 hours in 12 weeks book I may write someday.  If Only I Had Time.

He came up with an alternate title:  Maintaining Your Parental Sanity.

If Only I Had Time

If Only I Had Time....I would tell you the story of how my girls are able to navigate the library better than I ever could.  I would take credit but in all honestly, it is sheer neglect.  

Read: I'm chasing after the rest of GLLAM.

If Only I Had Time.....I would tell you about Madeline jumping up in bed with me and saying, "Mom, I gotta tell you something..." and sharing that some boy has a crush on her.  

(Ok, not only do I not have time, I already shed a tear over this once!)

If Only I Had Time....You would read about how Lincoln has me completely whipped and has yet to see his crib.  Oh, my bad, he did take one nap in there last week.  Despite getting weekly emails from mommies all over the country, I have managed to break EVERY one of my rules with this little guy.  And I'm lovin' every minute.

(Oops, was that plagiarism?  Pretty sure that was a McDonalds tag line at one time.  Or maybe a song by Loverboy.  I forget.)

If Only I Had Time....I would make you laugh by telling you about the girl's Biography/History Fair and how Madeline wore huuuge sunglasses and stumbled about introducing herself as Helen Keller to everyone that approached her booth.

If Only I Had Time....I would share with you how I told my husband I had scheduled a vasectomy for him.  It was via Google calendar.  And I got a call about 14 seconds later.

But I don't.  Have time that is.  These are all the stories I would share if I were tending to my blog.  Which I'm not.  So instead, I'll share a couple fun photos with you.  I snapped these after coming home from helping my brother and SIL move into their new house.  Ron had offered to take the day off and basically do My Job.  

Is that a jogging stroller?  In the kitchen??

(please click on this picture to blow it up and give yourself a better view)

A new way of taking out the trash?

If Only I Had Time.....