We try to expose Eva to many different events. Last weekend we took her to see a free kids concert given by Ellis Paul. This week we went to the Newport Folk Festival and saw Jimmy Buffett perform. Eva likes music very much, she even taps to the beat once in a while. She loves dancing with Momma and Dada too.
Taking a child to a large outdoor event like this can be a challenge, especially with one so young. Here are a few pros for taking your child to the event.
1.) They are exposed to some place different.
2.) They can people watch.
3.) They learn to be flexible, changing up the routine is a good thing.
4.) You get some cute as hell photos.
5.) You get out of the house.
Some cons for taking the child with you.
1.) You can’t always stay as long.
2.) Diaper changes don’t happen unless your favorite song is playing.
3.) You can’t plan for everything.
4.) They could be perfectly fine on the drive over but scream during the whole event.
5.) You can’t party like you used to.
I had a hard time coming up with cons because for the most part they are more selfish reasons than anything. They cons don’t really apply to us anyway as Eva is a really relaxed kid. I did learn a few things when we went however.
1.) Make sure that there are enough things to keep your kid occupied. Don’t count on the music to keep them entertained the whole time.
2.) Double check your diaper supplies (there is nothing like walking a mile back to the car for 1 diaper)
3.) This is a given but… Watch them constantly, Eva tried to eat the grass.
4.) Don’t forget the camera.
I truly believe that because we take Eva with us all over she’s going to be a pretty adaptable kid. There is a need for structure but it shouldn’t be totally inflexible either. Changing things up from time to time is a good thing.
I picked up a Paddington Bear for Eva while I was in London. A friend of mine has a 1 1/2 foot tall garden gnome named Norm that he brings with him on every trip. He takes photos of Norm in various places. I thought I’d do the same with Paddington, at least on this trip. So I’ve got a tag on Flickr called Paddington Adventures. I will post all Paddington photos with that Tag. Here is a sampling of those images.
Contest Entries are no longer being accepted. Winners will be announced soon. Thank you everyone for participating.
During the Month of August I am holding a contest in conjunction with Baby Sherpa at http://www.babysherpa.com/. We will be giving some lucky bloggers some great Baby Sherpa gear including a Baby Sherpa Diaper Backpack, a Short Haul Diaper Backpack and a DayLite Diaper Bag.
I discovered the Baby Sherpa Diaper Backpack while reading one of my favorite Web comics Dog Eat Doug. Brian mentioned the website so I followed the link and learned more about the product. I wrote to Baby Sherpa and told them about Read To Me, Dad and how I’d love to work with them on a contest and I’d love a Baby Sherpa Diaper Backpack to review. They sent me one and I love using it. I have taken it with us on trips with Eva and I can see that it is going to stand up against time and the elements as it is a really rugged backpack. And for an active kid like Eva, rugged is what we are going to need.
I initially wanted to do a contest to give away just the Baby Sherpa Diaper Backpack but Heather from Baby Sherpa insisted on a first, second and third prize. That is very generous. So instead of one prize there will be three. A Baby Sherpa Diaper Backpack for first place, A Short Haul Diaper Backpack for second place and a Daylite Diaper Bag for third place. The winner will get their choice of color and the prize will be shipped to their location.
So how do you win?
I will be using the random.org to pick the three winners.
Required: For One (1) contest entry - Leave a comment on this post.
Optional: For Two (2) contest entries - Subscribe to this blog. Shoot me a screen capture of your feed reader for confirmation.
Optional: For Three (3) contest entries - Stumble this post and do all the different social networking submissions, each one is worth 3 entries.
Optional: For Ten (10) contest entries - write a post about your current diaper bag and how a Baby Sherpa Diaper Backpack would make your life easier. Have you gone through diaper bag after diaper bag only to be dissatisfied with the lack of space for all things that you need? Do you find yourself carrying multiple bags to make sure that you have everything you need with you when you go out on adventures with your kids. Tell us about your diaper bag woes. Take pictures, make videos, sing songs be creative. Include a link to the Baby Sherpa homepage at http://www.babysherpa.com/ using keyword Baby Sherpa. Include a link to the Baby Sherpa Diaper Backpack product page with keyword Baby Sherpa Diaper Backpack. Extra entries for real creative posts.
Important details
Submissions accepted till August 15, 2008.
Winners will be selected and notified by August 20, 2008
The video was from the first time I wanted to run this contest. I like the work I did on the video but disregard the “rules” and the dates.
Animal cruelty is a terrible thing. Your young ones might come to you with some tough questions about animal cruelty. They might have seen an occurrence of cruelty or they may have seen something about it on TV. For example when the Michael Vick dog fighting information came out I’m sure that more than one kid had some questions.
Luckily parents have a great online resource in the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.) In addition to many ideas on how to help your local community help animals there is also a place just for kids called AnimalLand. This site, run by the ASPCA has places where you can go to have questions answered, also there are resources for when you children ask why people abuse animals.
And so you don’t start thinking that the site is all about negative things it certainly is not. There are cartoons with pet tips, activities, information about animal careers and many other things. This will be a nice site to explore with your children especially if they are looking to get a pet. Pet care and responsibility is, in my opinion one of those important things that a child should learn early one so they learn to respect and love animals.
** Photo is of BooBoo & Bo, a brother and sister who survived a trip in the wheel well of a truck. While they are not abused they do need help. You can find out more about them at The BenSpark.
