
Week 14

Just a mom from Tacoma, life, product reviews, parenting, motherhood.
Recent research shows that 78% of moms feel that the majority of dolls, games, shows and websites targeted at little girls are too sexy or inappropriate for their daughters. The majority of moms surveyed are also turned off by apparel and accessories that imitate adult clothing and popular culture, with 79% stating that they wouldn't buy such items for their kids. According to the survey*, 93% of moms wish there were more positive role models and play options for young girls today.
Precious Moments®, the gift company known for their inspirational figurines and products, is launching a new product line and an interactive virtual world website for girls 4-8 years old. This new concept is called the Precious Girls Club and is a virtual world that inspires, enriches and encourages that all too brief moment in a girl's life journey: being a precious little girl. The Precious Girls Club will feature wholesome age-appropriate characters. The website, http://www.preciousgirlsclub.com/, will launch on September 1st. Screenshots of the virtual world are included with this packet. Images of associated charms and charm bracelets are available upon request.
The virtual world website will offer games, quests, and virtual charms that reward good behavior in the virtual world, as well as in the external world. Parents will be able to go online and reward their girls with an online helpful charm, for example, when they have helped with household chores. These charms will unlock extra points online, thus providing a fun reward to reinforce positive offline behavior. The site will also provide tools to help girls form their own Precious Girls Clubs in the offline world. To visit the Precious Girls Club site, go to http://www.preciousgirlsclub.com/ beginning September 1.
There is also a chapter book series that goes along with the Precious Girls Club featuring the wholesome, age-appropriate characters in a variety of scenarios. A sample of the book is included in this packet. The book will be available in select gift & specialty stores beginning September 1.
Precious Moments has also created a website designed to connect mothers of like-minded beliefs and morals. The website is live now at http://www.preciousmoms.com/ and features celebration planning tools, inspirational messages and advice from real world like-minded moms. Visitors to the site will be able to download invitations and recipes, send blessings to their loved ones and interact with mothers across the globe. Many well-known "mom bloggers" have teamed up with Precious Moments® to help mothers chronicle the precious moments in their own lives. These contributors are the authorities on subjects from expanding children's dietary horizons to keeping a positive outlook while juggling work and family. *According to research conducted by BSM Media, a marketing firm in Ft. Lauderdale that specializes in marketing to moms, in May 2008.
I am giving away 5 Precious Girls Club Paks. Each pak includes a book and a scratch card.Raising kids today comes with a unique set of challenges. As parents, we try to instill important values and messages in our children -- often, a counterbalance to what they see and hear when we're not around. This is especially challenging when we try to define qualities such as personal responsibility, but when you see it, you know it.
Liberty Mutual has stepped up to this challenge by creating The Responsibility Project - a resource that can help parents talk with their kids about personal responsibility in a meaningful way. You may remember Liberty Mutual's recent commercials based on the concept of "pay-it-forward" - someone who sees another person participating in an act of kindness and is inspired to do the same for a stranger. Liberty Mutual received an overwhelming reaction from viewers moved by this simple idea, and in response created an entire website devoted to the idea of defining and discussing this elusive but important quality. The site includes resources such as short films, discussion guides, and a blog to help families teach and talk about personal responsibility.
Some of my favorite short films:
The Lighthouse: In this animated short, a community comes together to help an elderly lighthouse keeper when he accidentally shatters the beacon as a ship approaches land. This film is appropriate for kids as young as age 4.
The New Boy: A tough move to a new country gets a little easier when boys who start out as enemies come together over a shared moment of laughter. Elementary-aged kids will especially appreciate this short film.
You can also check out the Mom Central website for more information http://www.momcentral.com/