Today’s product review is a joint article, crafted by my twelve year old daughter (Sam) and me.

Michele: When my husband and I decided to purchase iPod Nanos as Christmas gifts, I thought our children would like them.  As a fan of music, I thought it would be a great way for them to listen to a wide variety of songs.

Sam: When I got my iPod Nano, I was very excited.  With Nanos coming in such a wide variety of colors, all of the kids in the family were pleased with the colors they got.  (Mine is pink.)  Once I received it, I started planning all of the songs I would buy. . .and anything else.

Michele: As I don’t have any tv shows or movies on my iPod, it didn’t occur to me that the kids would want to add them to theirs.  No, I don’t live in the dark ages, I just tend to think of my iPod as a music delivery system.  So, when I realized that the kids would want video on theirs, I was concerned that they would spend too much time becoming glassy-eyed watching shows.

Sam: I did get tv shows and movies, but I only keep a few on it at a time.  For one, it can hold only so many.  Also, I didn’t want it to be only movies and tv shows.

Michele: Of course, when they first got their iPods, they seemed to want to watch shows and movies more than listen to music, but as the novelty wore off, I realized my concerns were unfounded.  Most of the time the kids prefer to listen to music on their iPods.

Sam: Personally, I believe that Nanos (or any type of iPod besides an iTouch) are good for tweens.  The thing I don’t like about the iTouch is it has Internet access, and when most kids get it, they fill it up with games.  They spend all of their time gaming on it.  However, with other iPods, there is a more limited memory, so kids can’t fill it up and be gaming on it 24/7.

The best thing about the Nano is that on long car rides or the bus ride to school you aren’t completely bored.  You can listen to music or watch a tv show.  On the bus, depending on who’s on your bus, your kids won’t be influenced by bad language because they’re listening to their iPods.

Michele: For our kids, purchasing Nanos was a good choice.  They provide lots of entertainment.  Quite often I will find the kids daydreaming while listening to music on their iPods.  Also, as it can be hard to find just the right gift for tweens, a gift card for iTunes makes a one size fits all gift.

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As a mom, I’m amidst the fabulous tween and teen years for three of my children.  Long gone are the days of birthday parties with a theme, in which I created games and crafts that matched the desired theme.  No more pin the crown on the princess or hunt for the plastic reptiles in the yard.

There are some distinct advantages to the passing of such parties.  I no longer have to spend countless hours creating these crafts and games, shopping for the materials, and finding just the right party favors.  There is a lot less hands-on time required during the parties also.

However, as my now 12 year old daughter and I began planning her birthday party, I realized that a lack of crafts and games equals a lot of free time for this group.  Don’t get me wrong, they’re all good kids, but with them arriving at 4:00 and staying until the next morning at 11:00, having nothing scheduled seemed to be not that great of a plan.   After mulling different options, we decided on bowling and pizza.

Having hosted this party, I have a few pointers for other parents:

• Plan some event or activity for the party.
• Be a participant, albeit a quiet one.  Hanging out with the girls while they bowled and ate pizza, I was able to learn a lot about them.
• Give them a little space. For example, once they are settled in bed, don’t try to set a “go to sleep” time.
• But give them rules.  As long as the girls were quiet and in their room, they could stay awake as late as they wanted.
• Have set drop-off and pick-up times, so the party doesn’t become a lengthier event than you planned.
• Involve the birthday child in decisions, such as the activity, the menu, the schedule.
• Make the party a lesson in budgeting.  Just because your child gets to help choose the activity doesn’t mean that he/she gets whatever is requested.  Explain how much you are willing to spend, and have him/her work with you to make it happen.

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One of the challenges that we, the parents, must face at some point in our journey is the PTO meeting. I’m not a big proponent of homeschooling, but I give it some thought twice a year at the Parent Teacher Organization meetings. As a helpful service to those who have yet to venture into the realm of the PTO, here are some tricks and tools to help you survive relatively unscathed.

#1 – Decide how involved you want to be. Most of us have jobs. Many have more than one child to keep track of. You may have commitments at your church or civic organization. There are only a handful of parents who are going to make PTO their main thing. If you’re one of them, go for it. If not, back off and let the diehards run the show.

#2 – Pick your battles. Some things are worth fighting for, some aren’t. If the PTO elite want to do a rainbows and unicorns float in the local parade, remember rule #1. If you aren’t willing or able to step up and be one of the chief architects, then sit back and go with the flow.

#3 – Do your homework before the meeting. The PTO meetings are not meant for discussion. This is where the PTO brain trust lets you in on their plans for the future of the school and offers you a chance to get on board with specific projects. Don’t think that this is the time or place to ask a lot of detailed questions or to try to change the collective mind of the board.

#4 – Remember that this is all about the children. Your preferences don’t matter. Your ego doesn’t matter. You had your chance to have your say back at point #1. It isn’t too late, if you want to go all in and join the board, do so right after the meeting. At any point in time, there is some overcommitted parent who wants nothing more than to give you some of their responsibilities.

So that’s it. The PTO meetings aren’t fun, but they’re only a couple of times a year. You can do it.

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I am on record saying how dumb I think it is to spend money on frivolous items that truly are not needed.  I even used the wipes warmer as an example of this.  I have to be honest, though.  This warmer is pretty good.

For less than $30, the Prince Lionheart warmer is a high quality addition to any nursery.  Its purpose is self-explanatory.  Why do you want your wipes warmed?  Some books and experts suggest that cold wipes for those midnight diaper changes wake your baby up more.  From personal experience, this is not the case.

The next reason is for comfort and convenience.  A nice warm wipe on the bum would be much more refreshing than a cold one.  So for this reason, I am willing to sign off on the purchase.

One great thing about this warmer is that the heating pad also helps to keep the wipes moist.  The Pampers container allows the wipes to dry out after some time.  The warming pad is soaked before going into the warmer and the moisture transfers to the wipes.

A final bonus is the night-lite feature.  The Lionheart logo gives off a soft blue light to illuminate the nursery.  Diaper changes become much easier when you can see without turning on a light.  No one wants to wake their baby up even more and create a longer process to get the little one back to sleep.  This light is just enough to see and deliver the warm tooshie wipe.

Even though, this warmer is not something that you need and you easily could get by without it, it is a good buy.  Those in the market for a quality warmer will love this particular one.

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The Firefly cellular phone is a neat concept for parents of children who want a cellphone but may not be ready for one.  The Firefly is a simple to use cell phone designed for maximum parental control.

My nine year old son has absolutely no reason to own a cellphone.  He doesn’t go anywhere without us.  But he begged and pleaded for six months, and we finally relented and got him a Virefly for his birthday this year.

I have a password for his phone that he does not know, which can be used to program numbers into the phone.  He can dial only those pre-programmed numbers.  The phone has two large buttons on the front, one pre-programmed to call mom and the other to call me.  Then there are a handful of other numbers (my office, grandma and grandpa, etc.) that he can choose from a menu.  Without the passcode he cannot dial any other numbers.

There are a variety of plans to choose from, all of which are relatively inexpensive.  We chose $10 a month for 25 minutes, which should be more than enough.  The service has been reliable and clear everywhere we’ve used the phone.

The phone itself comes in two varieties: glowPhone and flyPhone.  GlowPhone has all the functions that a kid could need (but not all the functions that a kid could want), including customizable ring tones and games.  We went for this low option, on the promise that if he could show us that he could go a year without breaking or losing his phone we could discuss an upgrade.

The flyPhone is a full multi-media phone with a camera and a color screen.  This is a full function phone with enough features to make many adults jealous.  Grown-up features and functionality come with a grown-up price tag, and the flyPhone clocks in at $99.

A Firefly phone is a good tool for kids wanting a taste of adulthood and responsibility before they’re really ready.  One note from personal experience: the Firefly cannot survive a trip through the washer and dryer.

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