Huggies created this weird diaper commercial. I wanted to chuckle really I did but it was oddly disturbing. What do you think?

This past Saturday, we joined the Selfishmom and NYCMama at the Hebrew National Picnic on Randalls Island. We were joined by our cousins. We had a blast! The kids got to ride a mechanical bull, explore the island on their own and ate a couple of hot dogs. We are grateful for the great free fun!

May 22, 2010 has been declared “Take Your Kids to the Park….And Leave Them There” day, by Lenore Skenazy. She seems to think that we should allow our school aged kids to play in playgrounds without our direct supervision. Sadly, it seems so incredibly RADICAL!

I would love to send my eight year old daughter to the playground by herself for an hour and not stress about her! But as an urban mother, I am quite scared that my daughter would not survive by herself and end up traumatized. Can it be done? Will anyone in Brooklyn take this challenge with me? Will any of our children in this beautiful Urban Jungle survive? Can this truly be the end of the dreaded playdate?

Skenazy seems to think so. Her new book, Free Range Kids is all about giving children back their “social” self-esteem. I am going to support this with my daughter on Saturday and welcome EVERY other American parent to release the fear and worry and send your kids outdoors by themselves. There is power in numbers.

Today is World Water Day, but I did not know about it until I read a Re-Tweet on Twitter. Separatly, I received a visually pleasing book called Saved by the Well.  The book is part of the Dream Village project, that uses picture books and a website to help children explore and address global issues. Nothing happens by coincidence and so in celebration of World Water Day I offer a review of A Dream Village Story’s Saved by the Well by Matthew Eisenberg and Suneet Bhatt.

Saved by the Well gently tells the story of a town called Spontania in Mozambique. Spontania grew larger and larger and the one well dried up because of the increased demand for water. Without the well people either walked for miles to get clean water or drank dirty water. The town suffered, until that is, a play pump was built near the towns school.

Told through a combination of photographs and cartoons, the book is well thought out, informative and beautiful. I particularly like the photographs. The story line is easy enough for younger children to grasp but can still spark conversation amongst older readers. My second grader breezed through the book but had questions after. It was a great tool in getting her to think about basic life necessities, to which not everyone has access.

I not only enjoyed the book but am enjoying the website as well. I encourage everyone to check the website out and to support this wonderful start-up by purchasing their products.

Want to know more about Dream Village, contact:

Dream Village
Melissa Corbett
(913) 449-9876
melissa@dream-village.org
• Children’s site: http://www.dream-village.org

You can purchase Dream Village products here.

Disclosure: I did not receive any cash or prizes in exchange for this review. I did receive a copy of the book so that I could review it. The opinion listed above is my own.

Rielle Hunter has spoken. She has granted her first interview to GQ, which she was NOT paid for, about the drama that ensued after her  involvement with John Edwards.

The first thing I notice are the pictures selected to accompany the interview. I am shocked and stupefied? Who poses half naked next her daughter’s Dora and other stuff animals? It seems to me that aside from Rielle’s words, we readers are getting a small glimpse of where this woman’s self-esteem comes from. Is it that she has a smaller/flatter belly than Elizabeth? Is she advertising her services as a baby maker? I am so confused by the message she is sending. Rielle did you mean for me to come away from this article thinking of you as a sexy, flat belly, slut and irresponsible mother? Your daughter (whose face can not really be seen) is in GQ at the ripe old age of 2. I am ashamed for you.

What are the American standards of beauty? As an African American can we ever fit that standard? Can we? Do you want to? What does that mean to you?

American Beauty – Alan Ball 1999

A friend of mine asked these questions on Facebook and I have been thinking about them ever since. As a mother of two little girls who have different fathers and looks, I am always aware that they will be compared. Hopefully the comparison will be, “Hey, you are just a funny, beautiful and intelligent as your sister.” Alas, I live in Brooklyn, and know first handed just how ignorant people can be, so I have to devise a way to prepare my girls (without jading them), to deal with other people’s “stuff.”

The American standard of beauty is ever changing but does not now, nor has it ever included African Americans, who along with other non-white racial groups, are always on the periphery of beauty. I would like for my children to see themselves as included in a diversity of beauty. I am not sure that I want to be the American standard of beauty.  However, I would like to see all version of African diaspora beauty represented in the media, especially, African-American media.

I believe it is my people’s responsibility to promote to and for themselves every version of our beauty possible. Our media (do we have one that hasn’t been co-opted by self-hate) should be pioneers in offering to the world the best of our image. But that doesn’t happen so much of the time. Essence and Ebony do a good job of representing the various skin colors we descendants of the African diaspora come in, but there is always room for improvement. Especially, when it comes to the premier Black television station, Black Entertainment Television. Maybe it has something to do with the name. Maybe they would have been better of calling themselves Diaspora Entertainment Television. As such since the “media” hasn’t consistently taken up the cause of  normalizing “African” beauty, parents are left to fend for themselves in providing a wealth of positive experiences when concerning beauty.

Relaying to my children that we are African American and just as beautiful as any other ethnic/racial group is of the utmost importance.  It means being able to turn on the T.V. and see positive images that resemble them/us. I do not mean the neck gyrating, slick talking, relaxed hair version of black femininity so often touted as “Black Beauty.” I am talking about the natural, feminine, beautiful, intelligent version of blackness that doesn’t have to yell to be noticed, nor does it have to undress to be seen. That is not possible right now today, so we don’t pay to watch cable T.V. I am very careful of what my daughters visually consume because the image is a powerful tool. We watch a lot of reruns on Netflix and we also watch lots of movies. I put extra effort into finding books with African American/Diaspora heroines and I always make sure that they are exposed to the African presence in the arts and sciences. This can be a tough job at times. It underscores the inherent inequities of our society. At the end of the day though, regardless of the inequities, my desire is for my girls to think they are MAINSTREAM even if it isn’t true.

What say you on this topic? How would you answer these questions?

I am very excited to tell you all about this new guide that has been recently unveiled. It is called the Bleuleo Guide and is NYC’s most comprehensive and relevant city guide for parents  — and thought you might find it helpful in navigating the city with kids.

BlueleoGuide features over 6,000 NYC resources in the areas of Afterschool Programs, Things To Do, Birthday Party Venues, Entertainers, Private & Public Schools, Tutors, Special Needs Classes, Pediatricians, Mommy Classes & Groups, Childcare Agencies, Kid-friendly Restaurants, Children’s Stores, Birthday Cake Shops and Charities.   All categories are searchable by neighborhood, and our upcoming iPhone app will show you the resources that are closest to you.

I wish I had an iPhone so I could use the upcoming app, but alas……

When I heard that Carol’s Daughter was going to produce products in connection with the Princess and the Frog movie I blogged about it. When the product became available I bought them immediately for my daughters. Now that we have used the products for more than 30 days I am going to share our experience.

I was super excited to see the Princess and the Frog. The debut of Disney’s first African-American princess had myself and my oldest daughter all a glow with anticipation. When I got the email (yes I subscribe to Carol’s Daughter for updates so should you!) I went and got the new products. Alana really likes the purple flower/rose shaped scrubber that came with the initial offering of the Magical Beauty Collection. She also like the names of each; The Beauty Within, Inner Shine and Sharing Means Caring,  Alana commented that the  names really made her feel like a Princess. She thanked me everyday for about a week for getting her the gift set. We went through it pretty quickly because she wanted to use it always!

The products (bubble bath, shampoo and conditioner) are easy to use, do not cause any teary eyes and really work. I am particularly impressed with the conditioner which leaves everybody’s hair super soft and manageable, which in my house is no easy task. My daughters have very different hair textures, but both need moisture. I typically have to buy different products for each not only because of age but because, what works really well in Asherah’s hair will most probably weigh Alana’s down after a few uses. The Carol’s Daughter conditioner works on both heads and there is no flaky residual for Alana.

Carol’s Daughter has created a great product and given it a really classy look which makes all of our little princesses feel special.