#YolandaPH: How can your kids help

Us parents will always have the tendency to shelter our children from the ills of the world. That's natural. But at some point, you will have to allow them to realize that life is not all unicorns and rainbows. You will have to open their eyes (in a PG kind of way) to real issues that happen around them. Specially those where they can actually make a difference.

We showed photos of the Yolanda disaster that befell Tacloban, Philippines to our boys. And told them that they can help the little kids who have lost their homes. And their toys. They were more than willing. These are simple ways, but they do go a long way --for the kids in Tacloban and for your kids as well.

1. Your kids can help by deciding for themselves which of their old toys they're willing to donate.

2. Your kids can do the sorting. One box for baby toys, another box for older kids' toys, and so on.

3. They can personalize, like the photo above. This is just a touch that my boys wanted to do and I think it adds a ton of heart to the effort.

4. If your kids are big enough, they can join their school's donation repacking drive for Yolanda victims. This usually happens in school after classes or over the weekend.

These may look like little things, but they're huge for your children. That sense of responsibility and compassion to help others in need is just bigger than anything else.  Plus, you've made a bunch of other children smile.

The Freebie Toy War

There's a monthly food war in this household.  And more often than not... the toys win.

My boys buy McDonald's Happy Meals and Jollibee Kid's Meals because of the toys.  The meals that come with them ARE the freebies.

I think McDonald's knows this and embraces it.  It has brilliant toys.  Sturdy, long-lasting ones.  And it almost always ties up with the coolest movie of the moment in all authentic quality.

Jollibee does that, too.  But there would be times when it would stray.  During those instances, the kids' meal would come with some lame washing machine toy, a pathetic Jollibee mascot toy that not all kids find adorable, or some movie toy that somehow looks fake.

Oh and don't get me started on toughness.  Kids' toys in general should be built to withstand wear and tear and tantrums galore.  Jollibee's toys don't meet that challenge quite as much as McDonald's.

What the toy does is a big plus.  Both fast food joints meet head to head on this, but I'm taking Jollibee's side here.  I like it that usually the Happy Meal would have movie toys that, at a push of a button, would say popular lines from the movie.  The Kid's Meal toys' strength is on usability.  They would have TV show toys that double as sharpeners, stampers, pencils, sticker dispensers.  And being the queen of value-for-money, that's way awesome to me.

Now what about the food?  McDonald's wins that fight, too.  My boys find its fries just a bit crunchier and juicier, and the spaghetti, meatier and tastier.
So whenever Jollibee comes out with a better toy, we go out and buy some Jollibee Kid's Meal (and when I say 'some', I mean until we get to collect all the toys available for that particular monthly theme --and they're a lot!), and then swing by McDonald's to get Happy Meals for dinner.  That's paying double!
And that is when the queen of value-for-money... fails.

This is why I'm happier when McDonald's Happy Meal wins the war.  Thank goodness it usually does.

Styrofoamagination

STOP!  Think twice before you throw away that gift box styrofoam!  To your child's vast imagination, it's essentially ...another toy!!!

In fact, in my house, styrofoam, shrink wrap, bubble wrap, and cardboard casings are considered goldmines.  More often than not, my boys focus on these protective shells more than the actual toy they came with.

Just look at how Kenji made three awesome new toys out of these simple, almost discardable styro sleeves.

With a little paint and inspiration, the styros have become the secret headquarters for his Lego guys.

One easy flip of the two pieces exposes the hub's swanky interiors.

Another flip (and more paint and inventiveness) gives Teddy and Rodney a ride on the Styro Express.

More flipping (and more paint-and-brain-squeezeing) takes Super Mario and the gang to the Foam Theater for a blockbuster movie night.

All that, and all Kenji needed were these 2 styrofoam casings that almost met the trashcan.
*Mother's face, meet mother's palm

Kids are born resourceful recyclers --and us parents have absolutely no right to curb their bold display of creativity.  Do as I do --hoard, amass, stockpile.  Then, wait and watch.  You'd be surprised.

It's... ALIIIVE!!!!

Am I the only one who's slightly creeped out by Hasbro's brilliant Christmas gift idea: the Baby Alive Doll series?

I'm not one to slink away from disturbing play things.  I do have the Jane-in-the-Box bride of Chuckie doll after all.  But Baby Alive is different.  It's the kind that comes off as something innocent ... and then, when you least expect it... it shocks you to pants-peeing heights!  It's kinda like Damien of The Omen.  Evil lurking beneath those angelic eyes.

Overdrama aside, Hasbro says that the Baby Alive dolls are meant to teach young girls how to be responsible and caring with absolute realism.  True.  I get that.  Nothing teaches quite like an actual experience.  But if I'm ever left alone in a room with these dollies, I swear, I will get a heart attack!

Baby Alive Baby All Gone is deemed the crowd favorite.  She comes with baby food which your child will have to mix with water and then feed the 'baby' with.  And a sippy cup which your child will really have to fill with water and have the 'baby' drink from.  Now don't forget to keep the 'baby' in a diaper --because she WILL pee and poo after.  Really!  And you don't want the mess, do you?

Baby Alive Better Now Baby is the perfect Let's Play Doctor companion.  Because the 'baby' really gets sick.  Your child will have to take her temperature, and listen to her heart with a stethoscope.  Uh-huh, the doll really HAS a heartbeat --EGAD!  Now, your child can give the 'baby' her medicine.  Don't forget the diaper though.  This doll pushes out everything she takes in.

Baby Alive Bouncing Babbles is by far the freakiest of the bunch.  This 'baby' will bounce on her legs while your child holds her hands.  And, with the technological ingenuity of actual mouth movement, she will --and by God, she will-- move her lips as she coos and calls your child 'Mama'.  THIS is the true-to-life Chuckie doll!  All it needs is a knife and it will bounce all the way to your bedside!

Baby Alive is a novel idea in doll love.  Seriously.  And I'm not holding back my two-thumbs up because of that work of genius.  I'm pretty sure daughters everywhere will want one Baby Alive this Christmas and Hasbro will make a killing in sales.
But if it were up to me, I would've taken this doll on an elaborate 2-and-half-month launch --crossing Halloween and Christmas!