BlogCadre - parenting

Parents granted permission to name son 'Lego'

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:00:16 -0500

A couple in Sweden have been given permission to name their son 'Lego'.

Couples in Sweden have previously run into trouble with officials over the names Ikea, Veranda, Metallica and the use of Elvis for a girl.

But the Swedish Administrative Court of Appeals has now overruled an earlier decision to stop a couple naming their child after the brightly coloured plastic building blocks.

In Swedish law, offensive, unsuitable or inappropriate names are all forbidden, as well as names that could embarrass the people they are given to.

Link [via]

Previously:
Couple wanting to name new son "4real", Chicago Bears fan changes name to Peyton Manning, Swedish couple naming newborn "Metallica"

Kristina Chew profiled in Working Mother magazine

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:42:50 -0500

Our BlogCadre pal, Kristina Chew, has been profiled in an article about special needs mothers in the May issue of Working Mother magazine. Here's a snippet from the article:

Moms who have children with special needs often neglect themselves during their consuming quest to help their kids. Here, they share ways they’ve discovered to take care of themselves, too.

Kristina Chew teaches with her cell phone on. More than once over the years it’s flashed in the middle of a lecture with the number of her son’s school, prompting her to pack her things and rush to her car to pick up Charlie, now 10, who was diagnosed with autism at age 2.

Charlie’s bad days have weighed heavily on Kristina, a classics professor in Jersey City, NJ. She would often leave her office early to drop off a prescription or rush to school because Charlie was banging his head on the floor in frustration. Still, she considers herself fortunate: “I’ve been lucky. Because I’m a professor, I have a flexible schedule and have been able to get home in time to pick him up from school. But it can still be very stressful to make it all work.”

Link to full article (Thanks, Kristina!)

Baby Brand Space

Fri, 27 Jul 2007 09:57:23 -0500

If you have children between the ages of 0-3 and are traveling through Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, you will want to stop by their new Schiphol Babycare Lounge by Nutricia. Traveling with kids can be stressful so this free baby brand space offers family privacy, a changing area, baby baths, microwaves and tips on baby nutrition and traveling with children. The space is free and is open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. [via meshly]

This is such a fabulous idea and I can't believe somebody didn't come up with this sooner.

Related:
Brand space for babies in Turkey

Babies near death as parents are gaming

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 00:17:58 -0500

You would hope such a story just isn't true, but regrettably, it is...

Michael and Iana Straw have pled guilty to child neglect after letting their 22-month and 11-month old children starve to near death. Even though the couple had food in their home, they were so obsessed with browsing the internet and gaming that they neglected to feed their children. Michael had even inherited $50,000, but spent it all on computer equipment and a large plasma TV.

The children were taken away by social workers and taken to the hospital. They are now in foster care in stable condition.

[Link]

Chainsaw Massacre Wakeup, Worst parents ever!

Sat, 16 Dec 2006 13:57:17 -0600

A couple kids watched one of the Chainsaw Massacre movies one night and their parents found them sleeping, cuddled up in a single bed the next morning.

The dad puts a creepy mask on and has his chainsaw in-hand. The parents agree, "Let's wake the boys up by scaring the crap out of them." Watch the video.

I've decided these are the worst parents ever, but one hell of a funny video.