More Mattel toy recalls.

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Hot on the heels of one of the Chinese executives in charge of the lead paint debacle killing himself, Mattel has announced even more toy recalls. This time it's not just for lead paint, but also for some magnetized toys. According to the Wall Street Journal, Mattel could be seriously damaged over this, and I for one am glad.

Check out the video message from Mattel's CEO Robert Eckert on their "Voluntary Safety Recall Facts" page (by the way, "Voluntary"? I hate these euphemisms. Some marketing d-bag must have decided "Mandatory" sounded too negative). It's a video of a guy doing everything he can to save his (and his company's) ass. Oh, and he's got kids himself, which is supposed to make me feel like he really knows what it's like when you have to explain to a two year old why he can't play with the favorite toy he got for his birthday last month.

As a parent of four children myself, I know that absolutely nothing is more important than the safety and well being of children.

(Well, that is not if you count cutting corners in China to help the profit margin of the company I run. But besides that nothing is more important. Seriously.)

See the video for yourself here. "Voluntary Safety Recall Facts: because your children are our children too" (Thank god that's not true.) [Mattel.com]

Mattel CEO Announces He's A Dad! Also, That They're Recalling 10 Million More Unsafe Toys [daddytypes.com]

Mattel Does Damage Control After New Recall [WSJ]

Fisher Price lead paint recall.

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Poison_chef_doraFisher Price, like pretty much every other company, manufactures their stuff in China. This time however someone decides a little lead in the paint might be a good idea. It's a wonder this stuff doesn't happen more often.

But you know what I'm even more pissed about? Information about the recall ISN'T ON THE TOP PAGE OF FISHER-PRICE.COM. Don't you think inadvertently poisoning kids might be reason enough to put information about the recall in the easiest place you can think of online?

Check out this web page to see if you've got any stuff you've got to send back. I've got a few things actually (sorry Chef Dora, your days are numbered).

Here's the link again for official info about the recall.

At Toy Stores, Recall Casts Doubt On Trusted Friends [Washington Post]

A good stay-at-home dad rant.

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As a fellow at-home Dad, this little piece of commentary particularly hit home with me. Especially this part:

At even the most liberal-minded playgroups I attend with my one-year-old son, the arrival of the only male adult is cause for raised eyebrows and dubious and doubtful glances. Even worse, though, is when I get a pat on the back and a "good for you!" as though I were an elementary school child who's just done something particularly clever.

Of course, this is exactly the sort of treatment that women have gotten in the workplace for decades. That patronizing pat on the back is really a kick in the teeth, make no mistake.

Bingo.

Read or listen to "Commentary: Stay-at-home Dads" by Matthew Broyles [publicbroadcasting.net]

Happy Birthday to my youngest.

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I can't believe it's been a year, but my youngest is now a year old, and doing amazingly well. I took her to the doctor's today and she's 105% in height and weight (coming in only about 12 pounds lighter than her (almost) 3 year old sister). She's got eight teeth, she's cruising and pulling up on anything she can get her hands on, and she's pretty much mastered "mama" and "dada."

I just looked back at the post I did for Madame's 12th month developments two years ago, and her sister is doing everything she was, if even a little earlier. I imagine it's because she's got an older sister to follow around so the bar is set higher. Anyway, it's been an incredible and busy (as evidenced by my lack of posts) year, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Oh, and happy birthday to my Mom, the modern day grandma, too.

My new favorite gift for a boy.

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Superhero_kitI've got two girls, so when it comes to finding gifts appropriate for boys I'm not always the best. But I found this little gem the other day when shopping for a birthday party Madame was attending, and I've used it twice so far this summer.

It's the Super Hero Starter Kit from the "Klutz" people (the same people who taught me to juggle when I was 13 actually). It's simple and fun. It comes with a cape, masks that you can punch out of the book, emblems you can put on your chest and all sorts of suggestions about what kind of superhero you can be. And like the princess dresses my daughter is so fond of these days, it encourages creative play. Which is better than a Dora video any day.

Get the Super Hero Starter Kit for $14.99 from Amazon.com

How 'bout that? The new TWIB is terrible.

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I'm going to use this Major League Baseball All-Star break to complain about something that's been bothering me for a while.

When I was a kid and very much into baseball, I used to love watching This Week In Baseball. Before ESPN, before Baseball Tonight, before "Web Gems," it was kind of a highlight show that showed all the great plays and bloopers of the previous week. Hosted by Mel Allen, it was also a Saturday morning kid's show with youth-focused segments like famous players showing baseball fundamentals (like Ozzie Smith showing you how to stop a ground ball for instance). And best of all it was a show that your mom and dad might like watching with you too. Oh, and it had a classic theme song.

So now that my oldest is rooting for Big Papi right along side me, I figured I could introduce her to TWIB and maybe it could be something that we would enjoy on Saturday mornings. Unfortunately the show isn't even close to what it used to be.

The newest iteration feels like you're watching some kind of lame 30 minute infomercial. They rely heavily on "film look" video and the segments themselves often feel like some third-rate episode of MTV Cribs. A lot of my problem with the show is due to the unbelievably bad voice over work of the current host "Buzz Brainard," who, although he's a fine voice-over guy, has all the narrative excitement of a guy reading a billboard. He even sounds condescending at some points, as if he's talking down to the kids. I'm not saying anyone could replace Mel Allen, but can't MLB Productions find someone with some baseball credibility who can also convey some of the excitement of the game?

You be the judge. Check out the latest TWIB segments at MLB.com (and be sure to click on the "Classic TWIB Theme" link at the top of the page).

Yo Gabba Gabba! So yummy! So yummy!

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YogabbagabbaHas anyone else noticed on Noggin the promo for this new show coming out in August, Yo Gabba Gabba? It's a crazy song with this nutty furry green monster who is eating and singing. And it (mostly) goes like this:

THERE'S A PARTY IN MY TUMMY!
So Yummy! So Yummy!
THERE'S A PARTY IN MY TUMMY!
So yummy! So yummy!

The song is like LCD Soundsystem meets Newcleus, meets The Electric Company, and let me tell you it's freaking infectious. The tag line is "Yo Gabba Gabba! Life Lessons with a Beat." BIz Markie is even going to be a guest host on one of the episodes. THE BIZ for chrissakes!

It's premiering on August 20th, and I for one (oh yeah, and my girls) will be watching.

Check out the "Trailer" for the Yo Gabba Gabba! season at their old web site.

First-born get the brains.

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Don't tell my younger sister (because I'm going to the second I post this), but according to a new study, the first-born in a family has, on average, a 2.3 point  higher IQ than their younger sibling. 2.3 points supposedly amounts to a 30% increase in the chances of getting into an Ivy League university.

Do they do these studies just for people like me to blog about?

To the First-Born Go the Smarts [HealthDay.com via NPR]

Happy Father's Day. Now what's it worth?

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Happy Father's Day. A friend of mine who works over at Salary.com sent this study they did recently about Stay At Home Dads. Apparently I'm worth $128,755 per year which, honestly I think is a bargain. I just wish we were actually saving $128K a year.

Oh, and we're worth $10K less than Stay at Home Moms supposedly. Maybe it's because my wife does the laundry in the family.

Stay-at-Home Dad's Salary $128,755 - Nearly $10,000 Less Than Stay-at-Home Mom's [PR Newswire]

Or check out your own dad-worth (stay at home or not) at http://dad.salary.com.

Send old toys to Iraq.

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IraqukidsKeeping a handle on reducing the clutter of toys was tough enough with one kid, but with two it's twice as hard. And now that my smallest is outgrowing some toys, I've got to find something to do with them. I could try to garage-sell them, but the other day on Parent Hacks I found a better solution: donate them to kids in Iraq.

A member of the Army Corps of Engineers is over there giving away stuffed toys to children who have literally nothing, With all the devastation, I can't think of a better thing to do with some of the stuffed animals we have that are no longer played with.

Check out the post about it at Parent Hacks, and mail your stuffed animals, toys and school supplies (now through November 2007) to:

Edmay Mayers
USACE - GRS
APO AE 09331

UPDATE (OCTOBER 2008): Edmay is no longer serving in this capacity. The new person/address to send the items to is:

Tonya Myrick - TOYS
USACE-GRS
Building 511
APO AE 09331

Unfortunately you'll now have to fill out a customs form, which will require a trip to the Post Office, but this address should work for the forseeable future. -mdd

Good deal on Diapers

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Pampers_cruisersI found a good deal on diapers the other day that I thought I'd share. Now through February 28th you can get $25 off a purchase of $100 or more on any Pampers products (Pampers, Luvs or Kandoo soap). Just enter in the code PAMPERS2 when you're checking out (on the right hand side of the final "Place your order" page.

It's not like you weren't going to buy them anyway. And hey, $25 is $25.

Click this link to check out the deal or Shop for Pampers at the Modern Day Dad Store (just don't forget to enter the code.

[via Parenthacks]

Best baby monitor.

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BabymonitorWIth the second baby there are a lot of things we are re-using, but some things we had to double-up on, like a new monitor. Creature of habit that I am, at first I wanted one just like the old one, because it seemed to work pretty well at long distances and it operated in the 900 MHz band (between the cordless phones and WiFi the 2.4 GHz band was getting pretty crowded). But the old one wasn't available any more, so I had to settle on the new model, and I'm really glad I did.

There are a couple of enhancements to it, first and foremost being the fact that the receivers are rechargeable. With all the AAAs I was feeding into the old one, this new feature is great. Plus, it's got an LED screen telling how much battery life is left, the signal strength and what channel you're on. It will even beep at you if it isn't receiving any signal at all, or if the battery is dying.

It doesn't rumble like the old one did, but I'll gladly trade that in for a battery that recharges. It's not like I've got a lawn to mow while the baby is sleeping.

Get the Fisher Price "Private Connection" Monitor with Dual Receivers (one for upstairs, one for down) for $38.72 from Amazon via the Modern Day Dad Store.

Wheeled board update.

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Wheeled_board_1

[UPDATE: Looking for info on the Bugaboo Wheeled Board? Check out the updated post on all wheeled boards for strollers:

The Best Wheeled Boards for Bugaboo and Other Strollers | ModernDayDad.com]


Now that my six month old is almost out of "the bucket" and in a normal car seat, I figured I should give an update as to how Madame (my two year old) is doing with the Bugaboo Wheeled Board. At first I wasn't too sure it would be that useful, but I'm happy to report that it's working great. As she's fully in her two-year-old "I do myself" phase, it can be hard wrangling her sometimes, but that wheeled board has come in really handy. Mostly we use it for moments when we know that they'll be a long walk ahead of us, like from the car to the mall or to the doctor's office or the park. It's hard keeping her standing on it in a store or somewhere else there is a lot of distraction, but if she was sitting in a stroller I don't think it would be much easier.

 

As for safety, it's really not too bad - she stands up and holds on to the arms of the stroller and stays steady without a problem. And her sister really loves looking at her face to face when she's in it. The best part from my perspective is it doesn't take up any extra width (like a double-wide stroller would) and keeps the whole operation pretty compact. Which, when you're navigating a crowded mall or sidewalk, is pretty great.

Get the Bugaboo Wheeled Board for $79.95 from Amazon at the new Modern Day Dad Store.

Best toy of Christmas 2006

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FisherpricecameraChristmas has come and gone, and my girls got a lot of great stuff from Santa. But in the interest of blogging, I have to say the best thing this year was the Fisher Price Kid-Tough Digital Camera she got from her Madrina.

You can pretty much guess what it does, but what it does it does well. Even though she's only two and a half years old, after we loaded the batteries Madame instantly started running around the house with it, taking pictures and then looking at them on the little screen. It holds 30 pictures in internal memory (but you can add an SD memory card) and at 640x480 the image quality is pretty good. I even made a flickr page for her to share them - all of these pictures of things from her perspective.

They're sold out in a lot of places (including Amazon at the moment), but if you're child is at all interested in cameras, this is the gift for them.

[Note: Now you can get the camera for $99.95 from Amazon at the Modern Day Dad Store.]

When the kids play metal, we all win.

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http://gauchosalta.blogspot.com/ Gauchos de Acero Nos dimos este lujo de hacer este tema de Iron Maiden aún con las limitaciones del cambio de voz del inglés y los 15 vatios del Squier en la voz pero nos gusta y lo disfrutamos tanto a este tema al igual que el de Sepultur.

Check out this video of "The Gauchos" performing Iron Maiden's "The Trooper" on YouTube. Freaking YouTube - you've ruled me again (almost as much as their little brother or sister who pretends to rock the lead vocals).

[Link courtesy of PR Nelson]

New holiday card ideas.

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Peace_cardFor those of you who've read this blog before, you know I'm a pretty big fan of the greeting card ideas over at 2peas1pod, and I noticed today they have some new holiday card ideas ("Peace" pictured). There are lots of other design ideas too, and not just for the holidays. In addition to the great birth announcements, there are some really cool foreign adoption announcements which I'd never seen before.

Anyway, if you still haven't dealt with your card list (like me), this might be something you'll want to check out.