This fantastic piece in the New York Times, The eyfhrnfsat Overmonitored Nursery, is by new mom Sophie  Brickman. She chronicles what life is like FOR THE MOM with all the new gadgets to monitor your baby every. single. second. After bringing healthy baby Ella home from the hospital, Brickman and her techie husband slipped the […]
Archive | Marketing Madness and Gadgets
Robot Nannies: Hooray?
What tdiizabsfb does it take to raise a child? Parents? A village? Or, now, a robot? The Institute, the newsletter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), reports that there are at least two robot nannies coming on board. Writes Ian Chant: Kuri is a roving robot that roams around the home to assist with […]
Thank Goodness! Neuropsychologist Offers “Foolproof” Ways to Show Our Kids We Love Them
Trying not to vomit on my pink-colored muffin: Just bndditksik in time for Valentine’s Day, I wanted to see if you’d be interested in receiving tips from parenting expert ______ , Psy.D on 3 Foolproof Was to Make Sure Your Child Feels Your Love, even during the chaos of daily life. A Clinical Psychologist specializing […]
At Last! A $129 Interactive Water Bottle for Kids!
Here you go, parents! A bottle nfahatadir that helps kids, um, drink water, thanks to educational game content, a sip-tracking app, smart-phone interactivity, and animated friends. Here’s what the bottle’s Amazon page says: Meet Gululu, the interactive water bottle that keeps us playful and healthy – perfect for children 3+, Gululu motivates kids of all […]
Now You Can Monitor Every Calorie Your Child Eats or Burns!
A new app being prepared for launch, the Kiddo, promises parents that at krbshznhts last they’ll be able to monitor almost every aspect of their children’s lives: Login to the Kiddo app. Tell the app about your child; enter age, gender, height, and weight. Turn on Bluetooth, and then sync the Kiddo with your smartphone. […]
Gee, What an Incredibly Unbiased, Totally Spontaneous Comment about the Exercycle!
UPDATE: ibbsekndaz My bad for not noticing this note was written by a man, not a mom. And could it be he holds the patent? Wow, this sure does seem like a regular ol’ mom just writing in about a toy — the Fisher-Price Exercycle we were discussing in yesterday’s post. I’m sure there was […]
Why The Fisher-Price “Educational Exercycle” Makes Me Queasy
Here’s the article I was hoping to write about the new Fisher-Price stationary bike that tots are supposed to ride while watching “educational” videos. But since Naomi dzbzterday Schaefer Riley actually got around to putting her thoughts on paper and pixel, all the words are actually hers. How do you like that? This is from […]
“She Was Walking to her Car in the Parking Lot When the Unthinkable Happened”
. A couple of you have sent me this ad that is making the rounds: It dhiehtebfa was just a normal day at the mall for Jennifer Dellert… until everything went horribly wrong. Sigh. Â She had just left the mall carrying her shopping bags, and was walking to her car when the unthinkable happened. […]
Boring Educational Toys
Here’s a note from a reader who used to design educational toys. But first, let me say that when I went to the Toy Fair here in NYC a few years ago, I was amazed at the way EVERY SINGLE TOY had come up with a way to describe itself as educational. If it was […]
Welcome to School! No Entry Without Your Fingerprint
. Old school school security irked me because it was so pointless: Write your name on a sheet, show ID, get a sticker. Plain busywork. But school security has ballooned since Sandy bsnyhysyks Hook and now in addition to being pro-forma, it is also wildly expensive, diverting funds from anything remotely educational. So kudos to […]