Thanks for Nothing, Prevention

Prevention magazine, added a free teaser magazine into my local paper last week.  What a waste of resources!  Supposedly, this insert is designed to trigger a flood of subscriptions to their magazine.  But, despite spending the energy to produce a 30 page 'magazine', the insert isn't a sample of Prevention Magazine at all.  Every article leads you back to some book on "Healing Foods" that they are peddling.  There isn't a single complete article in the piece, not a single real piece of information.

If you want me to see if I'd like to read Prevention magazine, why not include an actual complete article from Prevention?  An insert of six pages, that included one real article, along with the subscription push would do far more to convince me to buy your magazine, as opposed to a thirty page sales pitch for a book.

What a waste.

Thanks, but no Thanks, for KaBooming my park.

We live near the Wirth Court Park, and wanted to express our dismay over it's recent renovation. Not only was this renovation completely unnecessary, but it was executed in a very top-down, non-community oriented manner.

The first we heard about this was in May or June, in an announcement that addressed the matter as settled. There was no community meeting to discuss FIRST!! "DO we need to Renovate the playground at Wirth Court?", to be followed up with a 'design' meeting if there was an out-pouring of support for a revamp. It is clear from visiting them, that there are other neighborhoods that are in far greater need for playground equipment.

Wirth Court Park needed, at best, a few pieces to be upgraded or repaired. Perhaps the donation by KaBoom! could have been spread over several parks and made better parks for many kids in Madison. But a small repair session here and there wouldn't create the big media hype required by KaBoom!, would it?

Sadly, the Wirth Court Revamp has removed all the small, low activity pieces, like the spring-mounted Horse and Turtle, used mostly by very small toddlers at he park. Now there is nothing for them, and therefore no reason for parents with small toddlers to use the park at all.
I am saddened by the process used to revamp Wirth Court Park, and I am unsatisfied in the final result.


Shame on Kaboom! and Shame on the Goodman Community Center.

Pic-a-Nic

Had a heck of a time trying to park at Picnic Point.  No one seems to know how to park there, since there's no lines.   I guess that's why most places have the lines, because people couldn't figure it out without them.  Very frustrating to get out there only to have to come back because of sloppy inconsiderate parkers.

I've scouted out new options, so our next excursion should prove more successful!

Kleenex Hand Towels

I saw an ad for this completely unnecessary product in Parents magazine:

http://www.kleenex.com/handtowels/

I can't believe this product.  Who would introduce such a terrible thing into our already crowded waste stream?  Why would you need this?  If your towels are dirty, WASH THEM.  You don't need to replace them with throw aways.

I sent the following quick rant to Kleenex:

"I cannot even believe the irresponsibilty of this product.  In a world already overburdened with trash, you have the audacity to suggest that people shouldn't even use washable towels in their own homes.  This is a disgusting product.  We need less waste in the world not more.  And how is one's immune system supposed to function if it never meets any germs anyway?  This is a terrible product, a blot on our Earth, and I be holding Kimberly Clark responsible for it. "

Want to do the same?  Go here:  Let them know that this isn't a product the world needs or wants...
http://www.kleenex.com/contactus.aspx

And send a message to Parents magazine telling them you don't appreciate them selling advertising for a product designed to scare parents about a non-problem and pollute the world at the same time.

Address your message to :

Quentin H. Walz 
National Advertising Director
Phone: 866.781.6405
Interactivesales@meredith.com

Or the publisher:

Carey Witmer
Senior VP/ Group Publisher: Parents Magazine
Carey.Witmer@meredith.com

Everything has it's price

Garage sales are the coolest.

Our whole family looks forward to the warm weather when garage sales bloom like dandelions.  They are everywhere in our town, and even our two year old can't help but call them out as we drive by.

We stop at many.  Sometimes, yes, they look so awful from the street that we pass, without stopping.   Sadly, sometimes we are too busy to stop-  urgently heading home to make dinner, or to pick someone up.

But we stop often.
And we find great deals.

One thing we love is that we can stop and spend two dollars and get and whole bagful of stuff.  Our youngest has collected many Hotwheels and dinosaurs, and today-  two Star Wars vehicles for a quarter each.  He loves that he gets to hand over the money and receive the change at most sales.  Each sale is an adventure, even if there is sometimes nothing worth buying.

Our nine year old love haggling.  She looks forward to negotiating a 'good' price for the stuffed animals, dolls or SCORE-- a $20 guitar!!  She can't haggle at Target.  There is much more sport in garage-saling.

Sure, we sometimes end up with stuff we don't necessarily need, but it's a fun way to spend an afternoon together.

Look for garage sales in Craigslist or in your local newspapers.  We also have great luck just driving around our neighborhood and looking for signs, but that might not work for everyone.

Have fun!

Hip-hop, don't stop!!

We recently had the pleasure of attending a free hip-hop concert at the Overature Center in Madison, WI.  Here's what happens when people really put thought into what makes a concert scene work for kids and parents:  It was Awesome!!

This free concert was set in a carpeted rotunda area, safe for kids to crawl around in.  There was food, coffee and clearly marked bathrooms.  The organizers of the concert gave a great intro explaining where everything was located, so all the kids would feel comfortable.   The concert, featuring music by Milwaukee hip hop artists, The Figureheads, was fun, empowering for kids, and at a very comfortable volume.

This is how it is done.  We look forward to many future concerts here.  We will also be eagerly awaiting future chances to get our groove on with the Figureheads!

Red Roof Out

Sometimes we end up staying in hotels we are not very familiar with, especially because we travel with our dog, and this limits our options.

We recently stayed in a Red Roof Inn, and found ourselves perplexed by their fee structure.  They are an expensive hotel for us, a step in cost above the La Quintas we frequent.  But, we were left with few options in the Albany area, so we went in knowing we'd be paying a bit more.

Maybe we expected to get a bit more too.


We were disappointed.  In addition to giving us a room that was poorly cleaned, when we left they tacked on a charge for having a safe in our room, even though we never used the safe.  It's little hthings like this which push us over.  We don't mind paying more for quality.  We mind paying more for less.


If we land in the Albany area again, we'll seek different accommodations.