It used to be that proud parents merely tucked a photo of their child in their wallet and brought it out when appropriate. Nowadays people are literally wearing the likeness or names of their kids everywhere on the body and on items that they own.

It’s almost like an image or portrait of your kid is becoming the new cool “logo”.  Instead of boasting Nike or Guess somewhere as a status symbol you have your baby’s name or picture. 

One of the newest fads is to make a cameo of your kid’s profile and then have the likeness of the cameo printed in black on a white shirt. You can also get this likeness printed on mugs and dishes or send it out on stationary.  This service is available at 9Stork. 

Yet another way to advertise that you have had a kid and are darn proud of it is to order up a specially made laptop sticker from Schtickers. This way every time you prop open the lid of your laptop others can see an oversized photograph of your kid. 

Yet another trend is to not wear a watch on your wrist. Instead you wear a wristband type strap that showcases an oval frame. Inside this frame is a likeness of your loved one.  Men can also get oversized buckle belts that look like picture frames into which you can put a picture of a child as well. 

Yet another big trend is to put your favorite baby picture on a big bag or purse. You can also get this done on a diaper bag. One company that does this is called Nappy Be A Bag.  Keep in mind that this is quite expensive and costs over $700 to achieve. However a picture of your child on a purse would probably be the ultimate Mother’s Day Gift for Grandma. 

Yet another curio for the busy working mom or dad that wants to keep their kid’s face around are paperclips with tiny frames on the end into which you can slide pint sized portraits.  

Speaking of purses you might also want to  check out something called Scribble Couture. This is a white clutch bag that has a surface on it that is similar to one of those erasable refrigerator message boards. Your child can use semi-permanent markers to draw pictures on your purse and you can carry it proudly like a one of a kind design.  With tax this innovative item will set you back about two hundred bucks. 

If you can’t wait to get home from the airport to see your kid you can also order up luggage tags that contain a photograph instead of the usual I.D. information. An outfit called SmugMug takes orders for these online. I

I’m not sure if I like this idea because I never liked wearing jeans with logos in the first place. However I guess if you really want the world to know you are a proud mum this is the way to do it!

I’m a little bit disgusted. I went to a baby shower today but it seems like the friend who threw the shower did it more for her then she did for the mother. The mother to be really likes Victorian things, is a vegetarian and is a bit shy.  So she was a bit aghast when she walked in to find herself confronted by clotheslines hanging with hand me down clothes, big meat lasagna and women playing “who has the poopy diaper.”  However the woman who threw the shower has more this sense of humor.   They also served chocolate cake when I know that the mom-to-be’s favorite flavor is lemon. 

My point here is that he intention of a baby shower is to throw the expectant one a party she will love! The intention literally shower the mother with blessings, gifts and the good will of her best friends. It is not a religious rite, although as late as the forties and fifties, baby showers were thrown in conjunction with a baptism or a christening. 

If you are asked to throw a baby shower for a good friend don’t tell yourself that all that matters is that you are motivated by your heart. You also need to make some kind of attempt to please her.   Sit down and take the time to figure out what makes her tick, what her taste is and what her favorite colors are. Try to make her as happy as she can be on that special day.

Consciously ask yourself a few questions about the mother. Who is she? What does she like? Is she religious? Is she a feminist? Is she a busy multi-tasker?  Is she struggling financially? Is she sentimental, practical, business-like, shy, formal, friendly?  Is she a stylish individual or is she happiest kicking around in a sweatshirt? Does she drink or is she a member of MADD? Any dietary restrictions?  Does she hate pink?  Can you see her child wearing a black leather jacket instead of the usual furry little pom poms? 

These are the type of things you have to ask yourself before throwing the shower. For instance if she hates arts and crafts don’t even think of making a plaster model of her swelling belly –she is going to hate you for that and store the thing in the garage. Sit down and make a list of your friend’s likes and dislikes. This will help inspire you to manifest an event that is uniquely personal to her. 

Rites of passage are deeply personal so it is very important that you don’t string a diaper clothesline across the living room of a stylish status conscious friend or serve lots of cake to a mother with gestational diabetes. Do a little research and make use of available resources.  The biggest mistake that most people make when they throw a party for another person is making the theme more personal to them, than the mother. Those Barbie dishes and towels that you adore collecting, might not suit the mother-to-be who may throw them up on eBay or give the away the first chance she gets!

Before choosing a name for your baby, there are several things that you need to consider and by the way you can take your time. Don’t feel you have to name your baby right away especially if he or she arrives early. This is a matter that does deserve some careful thought. 

The first thing you need to consider is the baby’s ancestry. Usually it is nice to give your baby a first or a middle name that refers somehow to a relative in your family tree or at the very least a name that relates to a respected figure in that culture. This goes back to an ancient belief that maintains that the guardian spirit of the person the baby is named after will always watch over the child.  

Before you give your child a name, be sure to look up it’s meaning to make sure that it does not have unflattering connotations. For instance, the name Luxton, might sound very elegant and mean “elegance” in English, but if your child is Jewish, the name will translate to mean “limp noodle.”  

 Another example? The name Kali might sound cute and pretty for a little girl, but in India it is the name of a Goddess of Death.  Before naming your baby you should also do the “call it out loud test.”

Realize that during the first decade and a half of the child’s life that you will be calling  (and maybe even yelling) this name out frequently.  This is where choosing a name with a good casual short form is a good idea. The best names are those that also grant the child a versatile shorter name. For instance the name Delilah could allow a child to be called Lilly, Lilah, Dee and Del. 

Yet another thing is to consider if other children will make fun of your name. Remember Gaylord Focker in “Meet the Parents.” You want to avoid a scenario like that for your child.  I once had a friend named Dorcas who was the daughter of an admiral. This had great significance for her father because the name meant “Sea Goddess.” However she was cursed by the nickname Dorcas her entire life. Is the name really difficult to spell? 

You can save your child a lot of grief later in life if you avoid names that don’t sound like they are spelt or that can be spelt several different ways.  A classic example is Sharmain or Sharmaine or Charmain or Charmaign or Charmaine.) These can get misspelled on government and insurance forms. 

You should also not give your child a name that might be shared by too many other people in the world. For instance if your last name is Smith try for a more exotic name for your child than Susan, Tom, or John. This could also cause them problems with government forms and identity theft later in life as these names are really all too common. Now that you know the ground rules when it comes to naming your child, you are ready to choose a name. The rest of the course is really just a matter of your good taste!

If you want to get your kid to eat something healthy and something that he or she might even perceive as being candy then try giving them pomegranate pips. These are the shiny juicy seeds of the pomegranate fruit and some kids really love them. If your kids don’t like them then it is probably because of the sometimes sour or nutty taste that the pip’s hard center might have. However for the most part you should be able fool your kid into thinking that a pomegranate is some kind of candy partly because it is so shiny and red.

A word to the wise – it is probably best to shell your own seeds out of freshly bought fruit no matter how time consuming you find this to be as the prepackaged pips that you can sometimes get taste really sour and fermented.  I wish I had a tip for saving you time when it comes to shelling pomegranates but it is one of those complicated fruits that is labor intensive no matter what you do. One good thing about a pomegranate is that peeling and shelling one can actually be a great activity for an older child, especially a fatter one that needs to learn how to not eat mindlessly in front of the television.  Getting pomegranates out of their shell does take some effort and concentration that encourages the overweight child to focus on the food and be more mindful of what is being consumed. 

Why should you feed your kid pomegranates in the first place? They have a ton of Vitamin C and anthocyns that can help protect your child’s vision. Anthocyns, which give the pomegranate its blue red color can also help prevent your child from free radicals in the form of pollution, too much sunshine, carcinogens (from that barbecued hamburger) and tobacco smoke. They are also very good for a child’s gums. 

If you can’t get your child to eat the pips of a pomegranate then try giving them the juice. Most kids love the juice and you can get all kinds of generic brands of it now that is made from pure fruit without having to invest in that expensive POM stuff. You can also try sneaking into other foods. Pomegranate juice is a great addition to a salad dressing that is made with vinegar, oil, red wine and shallots.  You can also make pomegranate jelly using ordinary gelatin or you can add the juice or pips to strawberry or grape jello. Almost no kid can resist this especially if you have a little shot of whipped cream on the top. 

Pomegranate syrup, the stuff that bars use in cocktails, actually tastes really nice on pancakes so that may be one way of sneaking those anthocyns into your child’s diet.  A good combo is pancakes heaped with bananas that is then drooled with a mixture of pomegranate and maple syrup that has been slightly warmed on the stove before serving.