I recently came across another item that falls along the lines of “why didn’t I think of that?”. The mom who came up with the Parking Pal, in my opinion, is a genius.  The Parking Pal is a circular magnet with a child size hand print in the center.  When you put it on your car/van/vehicle, you child puts they hand on their, and it keeps them safe while you load or unload your vehicle.  Being that I don’t have a driveway and we park on the street a lot with the minivan, I love that this keeps Madison safe.  I’ll be honest, when we first used it, I was completely surprised by something.  Madison knew what I wanted her to do without telling her.  She knew that I wanted her to stand there with her hand on the magnet while I was loading the car.  I love that this is intuitive enough that she just knew what was expected.  This has also been a hit with other moms.  They all wanted to know where I got this from, and all thought it was a great idea.  Now, the Parking Pal does come in several designs to pick from — everything from soccer balls, to fish, to flowers.  There is definitely something for your kids that you can get on there.  The Parking Pal will run you about $7.99.  However, $8 is well worth insuring my daughter’s safety.

Until recently, I had never heard of the Cole Family Christmas.  However, this is a story that has been passed down from generation to generation.  Hazel Kendle, 88, told the story to her granddaughter who got it down on paper for all of us to enjoy.  More than 20 family members have had their hand in making this book come alive to us new to the story.

Hazel was one of the nine Cole children in the story.  The tale is based on what really happened that Christmas when they were allowed to pick what they wanted from Santa from the Sears catalog.  Since the Cole family were poor, this was an event that did not happen often.  Unfortunately, a blizzard hit, and they ended up with a snowy Christmas surprise instead.

The back story of this book alone made me want to read this book myself.  It truly shows the importance of getting your family history down on paper, so others can enjoy the stories you know and love.  This book is for 10 - 12 years old.  However, we have been reading it to our kids (who are 4 and 1).  The chapters are short enough that we can read one a night and still keep their interest.  Now, I read it in one sitting and loved it.  My kids like the illustrations too.

This book is about the true spirit of Christmas and is a must read for everyone.

Image via Wikipedia

This was my favorite newspaper.  I think we have been subscribing to it since we have moved here.  However, about a week ago, they changed their format.  Now, I have went through several format changes with them already.  However, this one, I cannot stand.  I cannot stand it to the point that I will be leaving them and getting a subscription to another area newspaper.  (The advantage of living in Chicago is that we have quite a few to pick from).

This  makes me sad.  However, the changes that have been made this time around I just cannot stand.  The majority of their articles completely blend with the ads for things like fat burners and real estate.  As a blogger, we got a lot of slack for not disclosing what is paid and what isn’t.  However, it doesn’t look the print media has to have the same standard.  The majority of the articles have huge pictures and less content.  I know it is not just my eyes playing tricks on me either.  It actually takes me quite a bit less time to read the paper everyday.  A lot of the articles also look like blog posts with the amount of stuff on the page.  If I wanted to look at something that looked like a blog, I would read my news online.  I personally love having a print paper in my hand.  I like the style and how informative a paper is.  If I want a synopsis, I go to the internet.  If I want to read full articles, I look for my local paper.

As soon as I find my credit card, I will be canceling my Chicago Tribune subscription and signing up for the Chicago Sun Times.  Hopefully, their paper will be less tabloidy and more news.