Someone Else’s Kids

Do you remember the way people used to buy faux wood shutters and other kinds of shutters years ago? The first step was to pull out the tape measure and get all the appropriate measurements. Then you had to take a trip to a local department or hardware store and hope they had something you liked in their inventory. If you wanted something special, you needed to order out of a catalog and then wait for it to be delivered to the store. The store would call you and then you had to go there again to pick up your order.

Times have changed in the wood shutter and window treatment industry as well as in so many others. You can now easily find and order faux wood shutters right from your computer.

A visit to JustBlinds.com will give you all the information and choices you need to make your windows look the way you want them to look.blinds, fake wood shutters, faux wood shutters, justblinds.com, shutters, wiid shutters

I hope readers will indulge for a moment (or an entry) to mention a website I helped launch a couple months ago that is devoted to custom postage. It features the work of photographer TDSwhite.

There is a link on the right that goes straight to the weddings stamp page. The site has now added some brand new pages devoted to fall wedding stamps and autumn wedding stamps.

If you are a bride or groom planning a fall wedding or perhaps you know someone who is, please send them to the site so they will be aware of the options in wedding postage that can really make their wedding invitations unique and memorable.

When you are watching television and the advertising starts, do you ever wonder who makes infomercials / commercials on TV? I certainly have and today I found an answer.

One infomercial production company is Hawthorne Direct. I was glad to see that they had videos explaining the compnay right on the website’s front page. I know it seems obvious, but many company websites fail to use and promote their own company’s products or services. Happily, Hawthorne gets things rolling right away with the invitation to view the videos on the site and learn the things they share with their clients which have been learned from 21 years in the direct response television advertising industry.

If you have a product or service that you need to market and always wondered if you could create a successful infomercial, check out the link on the front page of HawthorneDirect.com labeled “submit a product.” It will take you to an 11 point quiz to help you determine if infomercials are right for your business.

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I just came across a site that I want to share with readers.

The site is about parenting humor and it’s called Motherwise. I became aware of the site when I read a press release about a book the author, Mary Fagan, wrote called Minder’s Keepers which tells “40 humorous, light and heartwarming stories featured inside are real-life stories written from the experiences of real parents and grandparents.”

Since we have been talking so much over the past few entries about travelers being annoyed by kids’ behavior, I thought it would be a good idea to bring some balance back to the discussion by reminding everyone how funny the situations can be. (That reminds me of my own blog entry, Serenity Prayer For Parents.)

Do check out the site and renew your parenting spirit.

I saw the title of this writing opportunity and knew I had to take it. The title of “Who Doesn’t Love Rotisserie Chicken?” really jumped out at me because I, and all my friends, have been fans of rotisserie chickens ever since they were first introduced in our local grocery stores and shopping clubs.

Those perfectly cooked and conveniently packaged chickens from the fresh food sections have been the basis for many of our quick and nutritious dinners. Adding rice and vegetables, all of which can be prepared practically effortlessly in the microwave rounds out the meals. Alternately, we sometimes make pasta to accompany the meat.

If you are a fan of rotisserie chicken, then I have interesting news for you. The industry now offers more than just electric and gas rotisseries for commercial needs. RotisolUSA.com also offers residential rotisserie ovens! The website mentions other foods that you can prepare in them as well such as turkey, ribs, and fish.

Visit the website and see for yourself and you may be picturing one in your own kitchen so you could experience that great rotisserie taste without even having to go outside of the house.

This is the final entry in the series regarding a travel article in which the author dismissed kids bad behavior on airplanes and instead shifted the focus to the inappropriate behavior of fellow adult passengers.

The bad behavior of adults in planes is also a worthy topic, but should not be used a smokescreen to push the children’s bad behavior (aka the bad parenting) under the carpet.
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The material below was written by my friend and former Internet radio talk show co-host, Liz Conrad. She read the same article that started all the discussion in these blog entries and wrote a response which she sent off to the original author as well as to some local media outlets. I’m happy to give her guest blogging space here on Someone Else’s Kids to disseminate her opinions even farther.

Liz says:

Adults often talk about “kids today” being a certain way. It’s time someone pointed a finger at the bad parenting these kids are getting. I like to call it “parenting by the seat of one’s pants” meaning that few parents ever get out of a chair to control a child–they prefer to yell across the room or ignore the situation. Has “Super Nanny” taught them nothing??? I thought to send this to my favorite local radio personalities to broaden its scope. Just as an aside, why hasn’t the world embraced the concept of a “NO children section” for a restaurant?

Thank you for inviting responses to your article about families on airplanes. Like you, I love the laughter of children and the babbling stories they tell themselves. I also firmly believe that God made children so cute because after an hour of all this endearing chatter, they are more annoying than fingernails on a chalkboard. You may find this unbelievable, but your children are NOT as cute to strangers as they are to you. When I am mid-flight preparing my notes for a business meeting, I need to concentrate. A child’s endless tirade is distracting.

How thoughtful of you to suggest that airlines incur higher costs by supplying parents with items to entertain the child. I was recently the only childless adult at a function and watched 10 kids running wild, screaming out of boredom. I left the party and trotted down to a local store to purchase bubbles, balls, and art supplies. The parents were so grateful when I returned with the items for their children; I was thrilled when the brats finally shut up and retreated out of the way of grown-up conversation. I can’t help but wonder why no parent thought it was her/his responsibility to entertain her/his child.

More than one parent has told me that they use selective listening to guard against their children’s endless babbling, demands, and tantrums. They have instructed me to employ this tactic and ignore the child as well. I shared this with a friend and she responded, “Have you noticed that the more a parent ignores her child, the more the child annoys us?” My message to parents is that we all appreciate the richness a child brings to our world, however, I ask parents to think from an adult perspective about respect and understanding for the needs of others. Your child’s right to act out ends where my arm rest begins.

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I want to thank Liz for sending me the material above.

The other entries in this series are:

Travel With Kids

Travel With Children

Travel Headaches

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No matter how young you are, if you’re also a parent, then you sometimes feel old! The natural energy that kids display put the most energetic adults to shame. How about when you look in the mirror at the end of the day? Do you notice bags under your eyes or a few wrinkles in your face where you hoped no wrinkles would ever be?

You have two choices. You can live with them and “age gracefully” or you can take charge of the situation and fight wrinkles with a wrinkle reduction wrinkle cream.

You don’t have to feel funny about being too young to buy those anti –wrinkle products either because you can buy them right online from sites like ShiraUSA.com. They sell natural skin care products including acne and wrinkle reducing creams and lotions. The website features an easy way for you to locate the best products for you. You can use a drop down box to search by condition and type of skin or use a different drop down box to search by product line. You can also register for classes at their NJ location or find a local spa or salon using a zip code searchaging, aging gracefully, Shira, ShiraUSA.com, skincare, wrinkle cream, wrinkle solutions, wrinkles

This is the third entry in a series responding to an article about putting up (or not putting up with, as the case may be) other people’s children on airplane flights.

The first two entries can be found at:
Travel With Kids
Travel With Children

Today’s entry reacts to the part of the story dealing with the suggestion that airlines do more to entertain children on flights including: “giving them play packs, Game Boys, sugarless gum, and water bottles.”

On the surface, that sounds reasonable, doesn’t it? However, think about it a little more and notice what has happened here, as always happens with people who can’t control their own children. The author shifted the responsibility of taking care of her kids to the airline, and by extension to society. Why should an airline be responsible for providing toys? Parents can bring their own darn toys! There is no reason for the airline to incur the cost of providing and maintaining a fleet of toys. Of course, by airline, I mean all the other passengers since their tickets would cost more in order to pay for the toys. (The author would probably lead a protest march if an airline took her suggestion and then charged a fee for the children’s entertainment pack. Like parenting skills, she thinks that it’s somebody else’s responsibility.)

In the next and final entry in the series, titled Bad Parenting, I’ll share a reader’s reaction to all this.

travel headaches