From the category archives:

Toys+Products

Movie Ratings – Half the Story, or More Like 5%?

Last year I purchased a kids’ movie (rated PG for “momentary language”) based on a book that I read and loved as a child, and have read over and over with my daughter especially.  I figured the movie was based on such a fantastic book that it was a pretty sure bet, and in general [...]

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Specifying Gifts: Party Invite Faux Pas, or Conscious Parent Protocol?

Anastasia (faithful reader, commentor and Red Pill Parent) brought up a really interesting point after reading my It’s Time to Fall Out of Love With Cheap post.  She writes: It’s difficult to control children’s possessions when well-meaning family and friends give gifts that you wouldn’t buy for your children (i.e., cheap plastic). Not only cheap [...]

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It’s Time to Fall Out of Love With Cheap

Lately every time I sit down to post I feel like Tippi Hedren in The Birds, frantically swatting away at all the competing topics flying around my head.  But today, there is a very large, very insistent bird on my shoulder with its talons dug in, that’s been pecking away at my cranium like a [...]

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Outraged? Yes! Cadmium in Children’s Products China’s Latest Export (USA TODAY)

Since the CPSC lead paint toy recall, I have had my doubts about all children’s products that are made in China. Here’s new reason that we should remain skeptical at the least and simply avoid all Chinese-manufactured products that our children play with and wear at best. Perhaps this could be somewhat of a boon [...]

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I Am An iPhone Addict (please help!)

My wife and I are trying. She has her own fashion business and I work from home. As much as I hate to admit it, my iPhone is usually on the floor next to me while playing with our daughter. I check it at red lights while driving. It’s on the table at restaurants and [...]

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Branded Kids and the Diabolical Depot

I’ve been reading a lot about advertising’s effect on kids and the general over-prominence of big corporate brands in our culture lately, as I’ve cruised through Packaging Girlhood and Consuming Kids (Red Pill Parent bibles, by the way: and Packaging Boyhood, by the same authors, was just published in October).  But I had an opportunity [...]

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