Eating Disorders: A Mother and Daughter Tell a Story of Healing
Feb. 10 at 7 p.m., Temple Isaiah, Lafayette
Talk by Sheila and Lisa Himmel, the authors of the memoir “Hungry: A Mother and Daughter Fight Anorexia,” talk about Lisa’s process of recovery from anorexia and bulimia. Book signing and refreshments from 7 to 7:30 p.m., book talk at 7:30 p.m. This event is sponsored by P’tach Libeynu (Open Our Hearts), the mental health outreach program of a coalition of Jewish synagogues and agencies in Central Contra Costa County. $5 suggested donation. RSVP: dimakieve@sbcglobal.net .

Childhood Matters: Happiness
Feb. 14 from 7 to 8 a.m. on 98.1 KISS-FM and streamed live on Childhoodmatters.org.
Nurse Rona’s book club continues with a discussion with Dr. Christine Carter, author of “Raising Happiness: Ten Simple Steps for More Joyful Kids and Happier Parents.”
Read the rest of this entry »

You know the fun Google logos that adorn the search engine page every now and then? For the last couple of years, Google has challenged kids, kindergartners through high school seniors, to try their hands at doodling a Google too. (That’s Grace Moon, the 2008 contest winner, in the photo.) Now, they’re launching their third Doodle 4 Google competition and the prizes are pretty fantastic: a $15,000 college scholarship for the national winner, laptops, trips to New York and technology awards for 8 lucky schools.

The theme is “If I Could Do Anything, I Would …” Contest entries come in via classrooms. Teachers need to register their classrooms by March 17, and submissions are due by March 31. Then check back on May 27, because the glorious winning doodle – chosen by a team of judges that includes Eric Carle (yes, that Eric Carle) and artists from Pixar and Sesame Street Workshop – graces the Google home page.

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. It’s a chance to express how we feel, not just to our spouses and loved ones, but to our friends too. That’s why the idea of storebought Valentines never thrilled me much. Well, OK – when you’ve got four kids under 10 and four classrooms worth of Valentines to churn out, storebought TinkerBell cards start looking really, really good.  But when you take the time to make your own cards, you’re not just saying hey, Happy Pink Cards & Chocolate Day, you’re also giving someone a piece of yourself. It’s not just the doilies and construction paper, it’s the thought and effort and love behind it all. Plus, Valentine-making is the sweetest family craft activity around.

So here’s a Fab Five roundup of adorable, handmade valentine ideas to get us started:

1. Hershey’s candy bar wrappers: Family Fun Magazine suggests making your own custom-made Hershey’s style logo to wrap around those candy bar valentines. The site has downloadable Heart-ey’s chocolate wrappers, but you can also make your own at home. (A friend used a similar idea to make baby announcements a few years back — filling in the baby’s weight, height and other stats in what’s normally the nutritional analysis box. Too cute for words.)

2. Swedish Hearts: We’ve always had a soft spot for these woven heart baskets, especially when they’re made from red and white, or red and pink paper. The instructions are here, but basically, you cut two, identical, long rectangles. Fold each in half and round off the ends. Now, cut two long slits in each, from the fold up, but not all the way through the end. Weave the two pieces of paper together. The first one takes forever, as you figure it out, but then they’re a breeze. And they’re the perfect little holder for a Peppermint Patty or similar treat.
Read the rest of this entry »

So, we’re just back from Disneyland with the scoop on what’s new, what’s under construction and what’s still to come…

A great big chunk of Walt Disney’s park is under construction at the moment – more than usual, even for the depths of winter. Among the areas that are shut down: the entire Rivers of America waterfront area in Frontierland, including the riverboat and sailing ship Columbia and Tom Sawyer Island. All the water has been drained, and walls erected to screen off the area.
Read the rest of this entry »

Not to be an all-recall, all-the-time kinda gal, but here’s what’s been recalled this week:

The FDA just announced a recall on some varieties of HAPPYTOT and HAPPYBABY Pouch Meals, due to a packaging defect that could cause bacterial contamination. You’re looking for pouches with plastic caps and an expiration date between Nov. 2010 and January 2011. Follow the link for specifics.

CPSC just pulled the plug on 174,000 Papyrus children’s cards ($7, pictured) with little wooden bracelets. Super cute, but unfortunately, the beads on the bracelets have excessive amounts of lead.

And they also recalled 252,000 Tiny Tink and Friends Children’s Toy Jewelry Sets, because the connectors that hold the charms contain lead. The recalled jewely includes two varieties of Tinker Bell’s Lil’ Tinker Bracelet, Rosetta’s
Rosebud Key Chain and Silvermist’s Water Lily Necklace. And if you’re a Tinker Bell aficionado, you’ll know that Tink, Rosebud and Silvermist are all Disney fairies. Again, follow the links for pics and instructions on what to do next.

PINBALL ART: If you’ve got pinball-loving teens, you’ll want to check out the opening of the “Pinball Art” exhibit at Alameda’s Pacific Pinball Museum — and yes, that’s the new wing of the Lucky Ju Ju Pinball parlor — on Feb. 5 from 2 p.m. to midnight. Enjoy finger food, punch (and a no-host bar for the grown-ups) and unlimited free play on the antique pinball machines, which date back to the 1930s. Tickets are $15 for adults, $7.50 for kids.

LIONS AND TIGERS: And dancers, oh my! San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum celebrates the Year of the Tiger with lion dances and art workshops Feb. 7. The lion dancing begins at noon, but the arts and crafts, storytelling — featuring Bay Area author Oliver Chin and the latest book in his Chinese Zodiac series — and fun run all afternoon. And it’s all free, thanks to the Target First Free Sunday series.
Read the rest of this entry »

Children’s Friendships
Feb. 4 at 7 p.m.Seven Hills School, Walnut Creek
Annie Fox moderates a talk on how to help youngsters develop and keep good friendships and relationships. Tickets $15, teachers free. Info at http://shslecture.wordpress.com/.

Get on the Road to College
Feb. 6 at 1 and 2:30 p.m., Dejean Middle School, Richmond
The Gooden Family Scholarship Fund and the West Contra Costa Unified School District are sponsoring the fifth annual “Get on the Road to College” event, which pairs high school juniors (and their parents) with a professional college adviser for a private session. Free. Reservations required: 510-526-1985.
Read the rest of this entry »

Remember the worries about children’s jewelry carrying toxic loads of cadmium? Well, federal watchdogs and FAF Inc. just recalled 55,000 “Princess & the Frog” necklaces (photo, left) sold at Walmart stores, because of high levels of the potent carcinogen. If your child has one of these, take it away immediately. If you’re not sure if what you’ve got is one of these, follow this link to see model numbers and UPC coding. Take the jewelry back to any Walmart for a full refund or free replacement.

It’s episode number 4,624 in the “Toy Helicopters Erupt Into Flames” saga – or it feels that way anyway. RadioShack and the Consumer Product Safety people just recalled 6,000 Danbar Knight Hawk Toy Helicopters, after a store demo model caught fire while it was charging. Ahem. Some 971,000 toy helicopters were recalled in 2008 after they burrrrst into flames too. I think there’s a message here …

In other recall news, some 9,600 baby Santa suits were recalled because the buttons pop off and pose a choking hazard. And 15,000 Blip horsie toys have lead in their paint.

Very cool! Dublin High students just snagged fifth place in the “Got Milk?” video contest with an animated short, “Love in Milquarious,” that earned their school art program a $2,500 cash prize. The Dublin video crew included seniors James Genzale, Matt Pecota and Drake Schullerts, and junior Angela Tran.

Want to take a peek? Here ’tis! Read the rest of this entry »