I loved Robeez soft-soled shoes for when Mikko was a baby and pre-walking toddler and as he was first beginning to walk. They fit like slippers and are billed as the next best thing to being barefoot, since they protect babies' feet while allowing them to feel the ground as they get a sense of how to walk.
I appreciate that they have styles for up to 4-year-olds now, too, with a mix of the suede-soled shoes Robeez is known for and newer flexible but rubber-soled shoes that work well for true toddlers and older walkers in muddier and wetter climes (like, um, Seattle in winter!).
I want to mention that there was a controversy over formula samples that were put into bags at a Robeez/Stride Rite event (Stride Rite bought Robeez, which used to be an independent company). I'm not entirely satisfied with Stride Rite's response to the mistake, but I hope they learned from it and are moving forward with a little more wisdom about the WHO Code and what marketing formula does to affect breastfeeding rates. If anyone knows otherwise about recent issues with Stride Rite, please let me know. I'd like to recommend Robeez shoes because I really enjoyed them and look forward to having my next baby wear them. But I don't want to plug any company that works against infant health.
Flat cards are what I used for my son's thank-you cards. If you like, you can pre-print a simple thank-you message, with some easy fill-in-the-blank action, and then after Christmas or a birthday, it's easy to jot in the gift and the giver and send it off. And they're sooo cute!
If you leave them blank, flat cards make really chic stationery. I know I feel a little upscale when I send a flat card in an envelope, since it's a little more unique than the more expected folded card.
Amy Adele has designs for children and adults, so check them all out, and you can even request custom coloring or design work.
Until October 21, you can also take 15% off any regular-priced order with the code hobomama — hooray!
Besides flat cards, you can buy personalized t-shirts and onesies, notecards, invitations, calling cards, labels, and more! I think getting custom stationery would make a lovely personalized Christmas present for a child, so I plan to buy some for my niece. Remember, too, that all stationery products are printed in high quality on 100% post-consumer recycled paper, so it's a green choice for your family.
Two years ago, Sam and I put together our finest Christmas present yet: a hardcover, full-color photo book showcasing Mikko's first year. Let me tell you, it was a hit among the grandparent set.
This offer is good for only a limited time, so get those holiday presents done quickly. Use code FALLBK from now through October 25, 2010.
Here's the fine print:
This offer is for new customers only.
The cost of one 20-page Large Classic, Classic Leather, or Classic Custom photo book (up to $39.99) will be deducted from the order total. If the book contains more than 20 pages, the customer will be charged for the additional pages.
Taxes and shipping charges are additional.
You can do some serious poetry in 20 pages worth $39.99, and paying for just the shipping and taxes is worth it for a gift that will bring smiles for a lifetime. You can use Picaboo's new BookGenie software to make the selection and layout painless.
Have fun, and enjoy the looks on your family's faces when they open your fabulous present!
I was so excited when the two moms behind Prima Princessa contacted me to review their preschool ballet DVD — I was able to tell them my three-year-old son already loved it! We had checked it out from the library, and he had just been asking me to watch "Pima Pincessa" again when they wrote.
Watching my review copy of Prima Princessa over again (and again) reminded me of what Mikko and I love about it.
Prima Princessa is a DVD series that introduces ballet to toddlers and young children. It works perfectly for the preschool set. All other children's ballet DVDs I've seen have been in the instructional category and are a straight class format. I think class-like DVDs can be good for older students (elementary age on up) but are usually too advanced for younger kids. (There are a couple out there for pre-ballet age, if you look.) You can also sometimes find DVDs that are a filming of a stage production or that follow ballet students through their days, but all of those can be awfully dry for the littlest viewers.
What Prima Princessa offers is, in my experience, completely unique. It's a combination of simple ballet instruction with a stage production that's narrated and explained by a flying ballerina fairy (P.P. herself). It's engaging for young kids, not least because it features young kids in the cutaway scenes.
Basically, there are four types of scenes you'll see in the DVD:
Little kids (around 3-5 years old) dancing (twirling, jumping, running) on the grass in tutus.
Slightly older students, but still children, in ballet class (maybe in the 10-12 age range) at the American School of Ballet, demonstrating ballet techniques such as pirouettes and pas de chat.
Assorted clips that relate to the movement, such as a spinning toy for pirouette turns and a leaping tiger for demonstrating jumps.
An abridged performance of a professional ballet, in this case Swan Lake by the Paris Opera Ballet.
Guess who picked out his own ballet dress to match the girls on the DVD and then excitedly told the checkout person, "I'm doing ballet!" The black tights were my attempt to get him "boy" ballet clothes. I had to give in to the euphoria of a flowy pink dress, though.
Mikko was fascinated by each segment in turn, and they're interspersed throughout the DVD, so he was interested in each part:
What's nice about showing little kids dancing is that your own little kid can relate. The friendly Prima Princessa fairy tells your young ballerina/ballerino to put on a tutu and dance, and the dancing is completely free-form, in typical little-kid style. The girls in the DVD look like they're really having a fun time.
I liked that the student demonstrations from the American School of Ballet were so well done. The students demonstrating the moves were obviously very well trained (sooo much better dancers than I am even though I'm, like, three times as old), and I appreciated that there were several boy dancers who were featured, so I could show Mikko what a boy dancer looks like and what Mikko might wear if he takes ballet classes. I also loved that these demonstrations gave a vocabulary term, which, being ballet, is in French, and then explained it in English and showed it in action. It makes for a good introduction to ballet terms
Arabesque!
kids will hear if they continue on in ballet class.
I thought the little clips of toys and animals were the most random part, but Mikko loves them. Clearly the producers knew what they were doing! He loves to point out what each thing is. "Look, Mama, ladybug! … That a frog!"
I absolutely appreciate the comprehensive excerpts from each act of a professional ballet production. Since Mikko is too young to take to an actual show yet (you trust me on this, yes?), I love that he can see what ballet is actually for. He gets the idea that dance tells a story, and the voiceover explains the story clearly. In fact, I wish I had a voiceover like that when I went to the ballet! I thought this part might be the least interesting to Mikko, but he really enjoyed it. He asked questions about the characters and pointed out what they were doing.
Here's another huge plus for Prima Princessa. The DVD costs $6.99. That's it! The company was founded by two mothers of young children, Stephanie Troeller and Mary Kate Mellow, and they wanted to make sure it was accessible to a variety of income levels. I'll point out, too, that you might be able to find it at your library, as I was, but it's definitely a fun one to have on hand if you can swing it.
I'm not sure what ballet move this is, but it's fun.
Prima Princessa is a series, which is great, so they've just come out with Prima Princessa Presents: The Nutcracker, and I believe The Sleeping Beauty is in the works.
I also love that it gets Mikko (and me) moving. Witness his joy here:
So that's what I love about Prima Princessa.
Here are a couple small quibbles.
It's geared almost exclusively toward girls. I get that. I do. Girls like ballet and tutus and pink and fairies, yes. But I have a boy, and I was hoping he'd be inspired to try out a ballet class like his mama's. Fortunately, he's too young still to see all these little girls
hopping around in tutus and feel like he doesn't relate. I think he knows that there are differences between boys and girls, but he doesn't yet separate himself so much into his own "team" that it's an issue. That said, I'd love to see more little boys leaping and twirling as well, and … I think they heard me in advance. Because the preview of The Nutcracker shows … yup, a whole blush of boys fighting each other with play swords (well, of course). All the promotional language, too, makes it clear this DVD is intended for your little girl. You can check out just the opening lines and images in the video on the main page to see what I mean. Again, fine and expected; it just makes me feel a little left out, for Mikko's sake.
As I mentioned, they actually seem to have alleviated this a little in the second DVD in the series. I also mentioned, and I really did like this, that some of the student dancers are boys, and very skilled at that. In the professional production, of course, there are plenty of men dancers. So there are still people I can point out to Mikko as examples for what he might become. (Um, not really; he is my child after all, so I'm not sensing professional dance career in his future, but still.)
I also appreciated that the children included an apparent mix of ethnicities. That said, the professional production read as pretty uniformly white (not meaning to slight anyone in the
Jeté!
company who isn't; you can see what I mean at this list of the dancers). I can't fault the Paris Opera Ballet for being what it is, or the producers for being able to make arrangements with perhaps only certain ballets, but I thought it might be nice to show that professional dancers can be both male and female and also of any color. I just point it out in case it's a concern for you and your kids. Again, I think the Prima Princessa crew heard my plea before I made it, because The Nutcracker features the Royal Birmingham Ballet, which from their company list seems to have a little more diversity.
So those are my two small concerns, which I believe Prima Princessa heard in advance and has been working on. Other than that, I think the DVD is top notch and worth adding to your children's DVD collection if you have any budding ballet stars among your family. The production values are excellent, with no indication that this is an amateur attempt. The sound is good, the editing, the narration, the cute little kids in their costumes, the filming locations — it's all high quality and worth every penny of the $6.99 asking price and beyond.
BUY IT!
Did I mention the DVDs are priced at only $6.99? I know, right?
For your own chance to win a DVD of Prima Princessa Presents: Swan Lake, enter in the comments below! Contest is open to U.S. and Canada.
(As an aside, the DVD is Region 1, which is for U.S. and Canadian DVD players. I am the one shipping it, and I will ship it worldwide. I am saying it's open to U.S. & Canada, since Region 1 DVDs will play only in U.S. and Canadian players, or potentially in region-free players. If you live elsewhere, you assume all risk of having the DVD not play for you. In other words, you're free to enter the contest if you're sure sure sure a Region 1 DVD will play in your machine, but I can't replace it or help you out if you win and it doesn't. Ok?)
MAIN ENTRY:Visit PrimaPrincessa.com and tell me who will dance to this DVD if you win!
Leave an email address in at least one of your comments if it's not clearly visible on your profile or linked web page so I can contact you if you win. (You can write it like this to foil spambots: mail (at) hobomama (dot) com or similar.)
BONUS ENTRIES, to increase your chance of winning (leave a separate comment for each so I can count them all):
Tweet about this giveaway (up to 5 times total, at least 24 hours apart). You can use the retweet button at the top of the post or tweet this text: Enter to #win a delightful children's ballet DVD in a #giveaway from Prima Princessa and @Hobo_Mama! http://bit.ly/cw8Bnp {11.10, US/Can}
Enter another of my current giveaways (1 extra entry per giveaway — check back for more).
Put my Hobo Mama button on your website or add www.HoboMama.com to your text blogroll for 2 extra entries each. The HTML code is in the sidebar. Leave your site URL in the comment.
RULES:
Contest open to United States and Canadian mailing addresses (but see my comment about Region 1 DVDs above).
Leave each entry as a separate comment so I can count them all.
For actions like following and subscribing, if you already follow or subscribe, just let me know in your comment.
For tasks that garner you multiple entries, you can copy and paste the comment with a #1, #2, etc.
You don't have to do any of the bonus entries, but you do have to complete the first mandatory one.
I will pick the winner through Random.org after the contest closes and send an email notification. Leave an email address in your comment if it's not clearly visible on your profile or linked web page so I can contact you if you win. If I can't reach a winner or don't hear back within a couple days, I'll draw a new name.
Any questions, let me know: mail {at} HoboMama.com
Disclosure: Prima Princessa sent me a free DVD for review.
Amazon links are affiliate links.
I try to seek out only products I think you would find
relevant and useful to your life as a natural parent.
If I don't like a product, I won't be recommending it to you.
That's how I roll. See my full disclosure policy here.
For no very good reason, I would like to review the The Couch-to-5K® Running Plan at Cool Running. It's something I'm doing (I'm about halfway through), and it's free, and they don't know I exist, so I'm receiving no compensation or product in exchange for blogging about it. I just think it's the bomb.
Because, see, I am not a runner. I was the person in gym class who befuddled the gym teacher by scoring lower than the chart offered on the speed tests. We were in sixth grade, and the chart started at what the producers thought the slowest fourth-grader could run. I was off the charts, but not in the good way. And I had been trying my hardest. I was also the person in gym class who would wheeze my way through any laps we were forced to run, and classmates would come up to me in concern, offering asthma inhalers and noting my red face, apparently worried I might stroke out then and there.
True story: When Sam and I were just beginning to get to know and like each other, we attended a baseball game together. It was chilly, so Sam proposed running around the stadium to get warm. I agreed without thinking very hard, because I was trying to impress him. Yeah, I didn't make it very far. Later on, he told me he'd had no idea why he'd suggested running since he, too, hates to run. Silly boy.
Other true story: I seriously considered joining the Army for the scholarships. Running was the thing that stopped me in my tracks. (Literally.) Good thing, I guess, since now I'm a pacifist…
Anyway! So, I think I've established: I am not a runner. I suck big time at running.
I saw some of my bloggy friends tweeting about Couch-to-5K and thought, My, how ambitious. Not for me. And went about my merry way.
But then I was seized by a fitness bug (those and cleaning bugs are ones I try always to give into, since they last only so long) and I started looking for local classes I could take to inspire me to continue working out. One was 5 Weeks to a 5K, and it ended with an actual 5K race that you had to raise money for. Well, I was nervous about signing up, because I figured I'd be doing it as only a challenge: Ha ha, Teacher, I dare you to get me running a 5K in 5 weeks!
But the class didn't start for a few weeks, and in the meantime I kept second guessing the wisdom of a 5-week running regimen, in the company of others around whom I might look foolish. And running an actual 5K? Well, I just kind of wanted to learn to run (and anytime I say "run" in this post, you can substitute "jog in a shuffling manner"). I didn't actually want to race.
So I looked at that Couch-to-5K plan I'd heard tell about, and I realized, Hey, it was nine weeks long. That was four extra weeks! Surely I could at least begin with the Couch-to-5K plan to get a head start and then switch over to the class if I needed the extra accountability.
So I'm halfway through Week 5 of the 9-week plan, and I love it! I seriously feel great. Dare I say it? I feel like … no, seriously, little old me … a runner.
A 5K distance is about 3 miles, or about 30 minutes. I'm assuming this is if you run faster than a waddling tortoise. I am measuring my runs by time, not distance (it's your choice), so I imagine I will be running far less than a 5K by the end, but that's OK by me.
Says the program:
"In fact, the beginners' program we outline here is less of a running regimen than a walking and jogging program. The idea is to transform you from couch potato to runner, getting you running three miles (or 5K) on a regular basis in just two months."
Each run takes about half an hour total. It begins with a warm-up walk, and then does a mix of walking and jogging (at first), gradually increasing the length of the jogs and decreasing the length of the walks, until by the end you're jogging straight for longer distances (or times).
As an example, here's the first day's plan:
"Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes."
Note that it requires math to figure out how many repetitions to do (I know now it's 8), and laugh with me that I did the math wrong and did only half the time I was supposed to!
Now laugh at me that I almost had a coronary completing half the first day's run. I was simultaneously annoyed and justified. See, I wasn't a runner after all! I nearly heaved out a lung running a measly 60 seconds four times, with walking in between!
I almost gave up right there, especially when my math mistake occurred to me on the cool-down walk. (I wasn't doing another half right then, no way!)
But I went online and Googled "Couch to 5K too hard" (no, seriously), and I got my blessed answer, which I will pass on to you as wisdom from on high:
GO SLOWLY.
No, really. Very, very slowly. Go as slowly as you have to to be able to carry on a conversation during the run (= shuffling jog) portions of the training. Make it look like a running step, but go even more slowly than your walking, if you want.
Just do it where no one can see, because you'll feel like a doofus. Trust me. There are a lot of runners along the beach path near my house, as I discovered when trying to avoid them all. I'd never noticed them before! I started running after dark or on back roads after that — once, I took Mikko in the stroller (not a jogging stroller; what need had I of such pretension?) and he kept asking me the whole time, "Where we going, Mama?" very concerned and a little put out that I had obviously lost my way to be cycling aimlessly through quiet residential streets where no one could point and laugh at the woman moving at the speed of a slug with gout.
But here's the thing. As I've continued along the training regimen, I've gotten faster, and I can breathe more easily even so. When I looked ahead at the weeks to come (hint: Don't do this), I kept getting scared, e.g., "Oh, noes! In two weeks they expect me to run EIGHT minutes at a time! I can't!!! Aaaa!!!" But by that stage — I was ready.
So, as I said, I'm only halfway through at this point, but I'm feeling good. I think (hope) I can keep it up till the end, and then we'll see where that leads me. I had some qualms when I discovered I was pregnant after only a couple weeks on the plan, but I don't think an every-other-day, half-hour, moderate (ok, slow) jog is against the rules for pregnancy fitness. And I really do want to go into the next trimesters as fit as possible, considering how much back and hip pain I had last time — I anticipate having to slow way down on my jogging, walking, and ballet, and probably do just swimming toward the end. So it's nice to take advantage of the fresh air and beach views for now.
Running turns out to be very Zen. I can focus on anything but the running itself and just enjoy myself. My favorite place to run is a concrete stretch right by the waves, where I can hear and see their joyful, peaceful, constant crashing. If not too many people are around, I just run in (long) circles right there.
My one product recommendation, but it's a freebie, is, if you have a smart phone, to download the free C25K Lite app. It times your runs for you, chiming a little bell when it's time to switch from warm-up to jog to walk to cool-down. No messing up the math! I really like that I don't have to be glued to a timer or stopwatch or keep a mental tally of how many repetitions I've done. There's a Pro version for only $1.99 that can run in the background if you want to play music while you run. The Lite version must be in the foreground, or it pauses, so no checking email while you walk. (Ask me how I figured this out…) I really like the software, and for just a 9-week program didn't see the need to upgrade to Pro; then again, I don't listen to music when I run. I don't know if this is dorky, but I also get a thrill from seeing the green bar activate next to that day's plan when I've finished a run. I was considering printing out the training plan just to mark some old-school black Xes on each completed day, but this is just as good, and eco-friendly to boot!
So, here are my tips, in conclusion:
If you are not a runner, jog slowly. Then even more slowly.
Get some decent running shoes.
Stretch during and/or after. (My calves in particular get really tight, a ballet-related complaint as well.)
Feel free to take a day off or repeat a week if you need to, and leave at least one day of rest in between each running day. There's no prize for finishing early.
Get the C25K app for your phone so it will track your running for you.
So there you are! Couch-to-5K, from a non-runner's perspective who's catching on to the runner's high (which I used to make so much fun of for being the result of hyperventilation!).
Disclosure: No links are affiliate links.
I know — what in the world?
And I received no compensation for this review.
I'll do better next time.
See my full disclosure policy here.
Teaching to mastery: How we naturally learn
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*My 9-year-old learns art techniques & origami by practicing them over and
over and over.*
[image: Hobo Mama wants you to know she's a professional blog...
Family Breakfast
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It’s no secret that our household loves to cook and eat. We love food, we
love communing around food, and I (particularly) love reading about food.
Food m...
I loved Robeez soft-soled shoes for when Mikko was a baby and pre-walking toddler and as he was first beginning to walk. They fit like slippers and are billed as the next best thing to being barefoot, since they protect babies' feet while allowing them to feel the ground as they get a sense of how to walk.
Flat cards are what I used for 
upscale when I send a flat card in an envelope, since it's a little more unique than the more expected folded card.
of simple ballet instruction with a stage production that's narrated and explained by a flying ballerina fairy (P.P. herself). It's engaging for young kids, not least because it features young kids in the cutaway scenes.
, and I believe The Sleeping Beauty is in the works.
Did I mention the DVDs are priced at only $6.99? I know, right?
, on sale for $11.66 on Amazon.
(As an aside, the DVD is Region 1, which is for U.S. and Canadian DVD players. I am the one shipping it, and I will ship it worldwide. I am saying it's open to U.S. & Canada, since Region 1 DVDs will play only in U.S. and Canadian players, or potentially in region-free players. If you live elsewhere, you assume all risk of having the DVD not play for you. In other words, you're free to enter the contest if you're sure sure sure a Region 1 DVD will play in your machine, but I can't replace it or help you out if you win and it doesn't. Ok?)
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