The New Parents Guide Blog

My wife and I took our daughters to one of their favorite places this weekend…the beach. Neither my wife or I are big beach lovers, but watching the girls have so much fun makes it all worth while.  My daughters love everything that come with it; playing in the sand making sand castles, throwing sand balls at each other, jumping over the waves and getting to stay in a hotel. We did things a little different this trip. Instead of spending two days at the regular ocean beach, the first day was spent at Moody Gardens Palm Beach.  This is a great place for small children.  It has clean white sand, a big pool which is no deeper than around 3 ft (the entire pool is shallow), and a big water play area with all types of things that spray and drop water. My daughters are 4 and 6 years old so this is the perfect set up for them. It’s also perfect for my wife and I. White sand, clean water, enclosed secure area and a place to rinse off before we left.  For someone that doesn’t like the beach, especially Galveston, having clean sand and clean water is a nice change. For those not familiar with Galveston I thought I share a little info. The city as a whole is nice… nice restaurants, hotels, people and things to do. The problem is Galveston beach sits on the Gulf of Mexico, which has dirty water and sand. But, since we live about and hour and a half away from Galveston, it’s the beach we get to frequent.  Our second day was spent at the regular ocean beach.  Although not my favorite place to play; getting to spend time with my daughters and watching them have so much fun is worth being uncomfortable for a while.  For those with small children considering a trip to Galveston, I suggest you check out Moody Gardens and Palm Beach. Moody Gardens also has other activities including an IMAX theater, aquarium, rainforest & discovery pyramids and more. If you have older children, there is also a Schlitterbahn water park next door to Moody Gardens.

(8 votes, average: 3.25 out of 5)

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When I first saw the Bugaboo Frog baby stroller online when it was introduced, I was really skeptical that it was worth over $700 bucks. But when I was at the Zoo with my daughter last week I had a chance to look at one first hand.  I could tell right away when I saw it close up that it was one very well built stroller that’s worth the price. All the parts are high quality; it has big 12” wheels which come in handy over rough terrain and a comfortable seat.  I asked the mother who owed it, how she likes it and right away I knew she was a big fan. She mentioned how easy it is to push around, easy to fold and doesn’t take a bunch of room in her SUV. She also showed me how the handle swivels from front to back so you can either have the big wheels in front for rough terrain or the small wheels in front for smooth streets when shopping, etc.  The Frog comes with both a seat and bassinet. The stroller I saw at the Zoo had the seat attached, but I could tell by the materials that the bassinet is probably just as nice. One thing I’ve learned over the years is a good stroller is well worth the money. This is one piece of equipment that you’ll use for years and put a whole lot of miles on. So for any new parents looking for their first stroller I would recommend you take a look at the Bugaboo Frog for your everyday type stroller. The Frog comes with everything you’ll need including chassis with wheels, frame with carry handle, seat fabric, bassinet fabric – including mattress and apron, an underseat bag, a sun canopy, a rain cover, mosquito net, instructional video and a maintenance kit.

(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)

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The New Parents Guide would like to welcome our new author and blogger Dr. Tara Kompare, Pharm.D (aka MedMom & The Medicine Mom). Dr. Kompare is a part-time pharmacist and full-time mother, wife, and dog owner. Over at her site TheMedicineMom.com she writes a very helpful and informative monthly column along with an entertaining section called the Funny Farm where you can get a good laugh. We look forward to reading her helpful and entertaining blogs.

Just the other day, I was in the middle of a lovely dream when my four-year-old suddently burst into my bedroom:

“Mommy, mommy!” she exclaimed at the top of her lungs. “There’s a fly in the house!”

Now, just so you know, Leah, my very bright four-year-old, was already told in advance not to wake me up unless there was an emergency. And, my definition of an emergency consists of:

-Fires

-Blood of any sort

-Someone rapping at the door

-Strangers peering through the window

-Flooding

-Choking

A pretty comprehensive list I think. Now, nowhere on that list does it state, “winged creature.” Especially a fly for goodness sake! I mean, I could have understood if it was a wasp or hornet, or even a dragonfly (they’re pretty scary looking). But a harmless freaking fly! This was no reason to wake a napping mom.

So, what did I do? I got up, hobbled downstairs and handed her the fly swatter.

“Here you go honey,” I said. “Now pretend you’re the world’s greatest fly squasher and go get that dastardly fly.”

At that very moment, Leah’s eyes lit up like firecrackers. She had her game face on and I could sense her excitement–the thrill of the challenge, the fun of the chase. I saw in her a piece of myself. “Finally,” I thought. “She inherited one of my good traits!”

Now if I could only get an uninterrupted nap, life would be grand. As for the fly, may he rest in peace.

Blog by The Medicine Mom who you can contact at www.themedicinemom.com.

One of the frequent questions we get at The New Parents Guide, is “How do I install a child safety gate on my stairs that have round posts and balusters?” Thankfully there are several products on the market just for this type of problem. The first thing I want to mention is the proper type of gate that should be used for staircases. There are two types of gates; hardware mounted and pressure mounted. Hardware mounted safety gates are actually anchored into the wall or staircase moldings with hardware. Pressure mounted child gates are basically squeezed into an opening by using outward pressure from the gate to the wall. At the bottom of the staircase you can use either hardware mounted gates or pressure mounted gates. But at the top of the stairs you should always use a hardware mounted gate. Pressure mounted gates are not fool-proof. With enough pressure or force you can pop the gate right out of the opening. This is not something you want happening at the top of the stairs.

If you’re installing a pressure mounted gate at the bottom of your stairs and you have round posts you can use one of the products pictured above. The Stairway gate installation kit from Kidco clamps onto the post and then has a straight board on one side so the gate can be attached. The EZ-Fit Safety Gate Adapter from boutkids uses straps to attach a board to a post, which the gate can then be attached to. If you have balusters take a look at the KidCo Gate ‘Y’ Spindle (pictured on left). This ‘Y’ Spindle replaces the round pressure mounting tab so the gate can be pressed into the baluster. The last item is the basic gate installation kit which can be used for areas that don’t have a flat surface such as near the handrail of the stairs. With the proper gate installation your child can be safe from the dangers of the stairs.

(27 votes, average: 3.48 out of 5)

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If you’re ever passing through Brenham Texas be sure to stop by the Blue Bell creamery and take a tour.  Don’t expect a lengthy detailed tour, but you do get a short video presentation about the history of Blue Bell along with getting to see 2 of the 4 processing rooms.  I took my 3 and 6 year old daughters and they were both much more interested than I thought they were going to be.  Naturally their favorite part is the free ice cream at the end of the tour, but they also were really fascinated watching the processing room.  I shared in their fascination.  The speed and volume at which Blue Bell is putting out ice cream is really amazing.  The machines were spinning around the half gallon containers, filling them up, putting the lids on and spinning the container back around to one of the employees who would then put four half gallon containers into a box.  The box would then go down a conveyor where it would be blast frozen at something like 100 below zero.  In the other processing room they were making smaller pint size containers along with ice cream sandwiches.  The ice cream sandwich machine put out 120 per minute… amazing speed.  Blue Bell ice cream is only sold in 17 states (Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas), so if you live up north you’re out of luck.  But if you’re passing through be sure to give Blue Bell ice cream a try; you’ll find out what any of us who live in one of these 17 states already knows…It’s the best ice cream there is.  BTW, the pic is my two girls standing next to the cow and girl statue, which is Blue Bell’s logo.

(3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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