BusyBeeMama.com

Every Monday, I will do a digest of articles, news, and resources that may be of interest to my readers.

• Continuing the theme of self-improvement from last week, I recommend two great collections of articles on this subject:
  • Engineer Your Own Happiness: Carnival of Positivity hosted by My Lemonade Stand, featuring my article How to Go from Overwhelmed to Productive;
  • Living by Design Carnival, featuring my article How to Write a Personal Mission Statement.
• For some inspiring family-related articles, visit Godly Family Carnival hosted over at Veggie Tales Review, which this week also features one of my articles.
• Similar to the book Baby Bargains that I recently reviewed on this website, here are a few more helpful tips on the best baby products.  While it is often difficult to know what you actually need and what you should look for when buying baby-related products, this article gives some good advice that any prospective parent will find helpful.
• While I don’t typically comment on the current events on this website, the recent recall of children’s toys by Mattel has left me very concerned as an expectant mother.  With the news just coming out that Mattel is now set to announce a second recall tomorrow, I know that I will be paying careful attention to the country of origin for any baby items that we buy or receive as gifts.  And as the lawsuits start to come in, I’m sure that manufacturers will now be paying more careful attention to where and how their items are produced.
• Speaking of dubious baby products, I’m sure you’ve all heard of those baby videos that are supposed to help early childhood development.  Well, according to this article, these videos may actually hurt your child’s development:

For every hour a day that babies 8 to 16 months old were shown such popular series as “Brainy Baby” or “Baby Einstein,” they knew six to eight fewer words than other children, the study found.”

This only confirms my long-held suspicion about these videos - that they are simply a way to keep infants occupied and distracted; after all, nothing can take place of parents’ interaction with their child, not only from educational but from bonding perspective as well.