Toddlers And Christmas Trees: Helping Them Get Along?

Random elegant Christmas tree photo.
Image from here.

Last year on the weekend after Thanksgiving, we went and picked out our first real live Christmas tree, with the hopes of making it a family tradition at the start of the holiday season each year. Thanksgiving weekend is here now ? but unlike last time around, when Lillian was a sleepy helpless little infant with pretty much zero interest in Christmas trees, we now have an inquisitive and increasingly mobile one-year-old on our hands. Which naturally leads one to wonder ? might this combination be a recipe for disaster? Is a Christmas tree even a good idea this year?

To shed some light on this question, I thought I?d search around the internet for any tips, advice, and strategies people may have found useful for ensuring the healthy coexistence of their babies or toddlers and Christmas trees. There?s quite a lot out there, and much of the advice seems to go something like this:

• Get a smaller tree and put it up on a shelf or table
• Block the tree off using furniture or a child gate
• Keep the tree in another room closed off from the baby / toddler

But these kinds of tips, while being probably the most fool-proof, don?t seem to be quite what we?re looking for ? ideally we would like to have a standard-size Christmas tree in the living room by the fireplace like we did last year, and having to block it off with gates or furniture seems like it would dampen the atmosphere and eat up a lot of the remaining space in the already modestly-sized room.

Upon searching further, I came upon this article which has a number of discussion replies on this subject ? some a bit off-the-wall, like this little gem:

?My husband made my daughter terrified to touch the tree! She thought it would eat her. He would stick his hand in the tree and then scream like it was hurting him! It worked, she never touched it!?

I?ll admit, I laughed out loud when I first read that ? but as amusing as the strategy sounds, I think I?d be worried about giving our child some kind of long-lasting irrational fear of Christmas trees.

For some more serious and possibly helpful suggestions, the AAP has an article here with holiday safety tips, some tree-related. And there?s a good article on WikiHow about cat-proofing your Christmas tree which has a lot of tips that could just as easily apply to babies and toddlers.

One more interesting suggestion comes from this post by a blogger with three kids under age three, and it seems like a really simple and clever idea:

?My favorite and best trick of all is to line the whole bottom of your tree with jingle bells!!! On every branch around the bottom of my tree I have put small silver bells that jingle every time someone touches the tree. They are baby safe and when the tree moves or someone is touching it I hear it immediately!?

So after going through all of these tips and ideas, here is our current plan for this year?s Christmas tree:

• Weigh down the stand to reduce the risk of the tree tipping over
• Use only non-breakable ornaments, and nothing small enough to be a choking hazard
• Securely fasten ornaments to branches using strings or ribbons instead of hooks
• Select a fresh tree, keep it watered, and sweep / vacuum regularly to minimize stray needles
• Try the jingle bell trick to create a built-in baby alarm

These measures seem like they should be pretty effective for preventing most of the problems that could potentially arise ? and worst case scenario, we can always have the backup plan of moving the tree down to the basement, or getting rid of it entirely, if things don?t seem to be working out.

What do you think? Have you ever had a Christmas tree with a mobile baby or young toddler in the house? How did things turn out? I?d love to hear any stories or advice on this matter!

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Source: http://freestylehomelife.com/2012/11/toddlers-and-christmas-trees/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=toddlers-and-christmas-trees

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Use Tim Ferriss' Four-Step Process to Master New Skills

If you read Lifehacker you're probably familiar with Tim Ferriss, the best-selling author and human guinea pig who will do just about anything to make life more efficient and acheive his goals. In his new book The Four Hour Chef Ferriss shares with corporate weblog Business Insider his key to learning skills as diverse as body hacking, business development, and amassing languages with his four step system: Deconstruct, Selection, Sequencing, and Stakes.

Let's say Tim wants to learn a martial art. He would first deconstruct the art down into the minimum learnable units, the building blocks that make up the overall discipline he wishes to learn. Next he will utilize the 80/20 rule to select which blocks make up the 20% of subject matter that will take him 80% of the way to competency. He must then sequence in which order to learn those blocks and finally setup stakes to create consequences, make sure he follows the program, and tests his growing facility. Perhaps in this case it would be entering a martial arts tournament.

Ferriss also points out that it is important to track your data so you can figure out points of failure and measure your progress. This broad overview of skill acquisition can apply to nearly any subject.

The 4-Step Process for Mastering Any Skill | Business Insider

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/ZlEJIa0wGcM/use-tim-ferriss-four+step-process-to-master-new-skills

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Hypothesis (Unqualified Offerings)

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Accepting What? : Accepting Abundance - Tadcarney99's blog

Catholic Free Press

I admit that I wince a little at the title ?Accepting Abundance? because there is no doubt it has connotations of New Age promises of riches and prosperity, self-help advice for anyone willing to fall for it. But to me that phrase literally explains my path to conversion and the changes in my heart that led to changes in my mind.

In desiring to leave behind a terribly sinful past, I had difficulty accepting that I could be forgiven. I realized, though, that to refuse that mercy would be to refuse grace, to refuse Christ altogether, and I could not do that. So I prayed that I would humbly accept the abundances of life that I knew God wants us all to have.

As I accepted forgiveness, it changed my outlook on life. I began to see the world more objectively, as a gift, full of the beauty and goodness my heart longed for. I stopped pining for my relationships to be an unattainable ideal to make me happy, and instead accepted them for what they are, and I learned to embrace them, imperfections and all.

As I learned more about the Church, I discovered treasures to aid me in forming a conscience and pursuing goals in life. Each day I had that feeling you have when you are at the end of complex jig-saw puzzle, one little piece snaps into place and suddenly you see how to snap other pieces into place too, and soon you can see the bigger picture with clarity, and you can?t help but accept it because the vividness of the magnificent never-ending truth is right there before you.

As I accepted life, I accepted that abundance of being ?open to life? too. I accepted the gift of children, one right after another, and I soon learned that this meant accepting death too. Three miscarriages almost caused me to fear pregnancy enough to avoid it completely, but then I saw beyond that too. If we cling to the promises in the Creed, we know that life is everlasting. Slowly, though still not yet, the sadness is replaced with a deep and abiding joy. Regardless of the empty ache in my arms and heart, there are more children to love because they still exist.

In gratitude, each day is a day to ask God to use my life for His glory, and the more I do that, the more I realize that, as silly as it might sound, I am living that title ? accepting abundance ? in ways I never imagined. Happy Thanksgiving.

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Category: Catholic Free Press, Personal

Source: http://www.acceptingabundance.com/accepting-what/

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Source: http://tadcarney99.typepad.com/blog/2012/11/accepting-what-accepting-abundance.html

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Sharp unveils bright, 90-inch LCD for uncannily life-sized signage

It would be a shame if Sharp kept that giant 90-inch AQUOS TV confined to living rooms, wouldn't it? The company is inclined enough to agree that it's building an industrial version, the PN-R903, for digital signs. Its 1080p resolution and local-dimming LEDs are as familiar as a well-worn pair of shoes, but that 6-foot, 8-inch width lets Sharp claim a record for public spaces: the R903 is supposedly the first LCD sign with its technology that can display average humans at real size when tilted to a portrait view, making it an ideal fit for fashion or most anything where one-for-one scale matters. The 700cd/m2 brightness helps by keeping the picture visible in harsher lighting. If you're not quite ready for the uncanny valley, you'll be glad to know that the R903 won't ship until January 28th, when it goes on sale with open pricing. Those who'd still prefer something less imposing can buy a 60-inch PN-R603 at the same time or wait for the 70-inch PN-R703 to grace storefronts on February 25th.

Filed under: Displays, HD

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Via: Impress Watch (translated)

Source: Sharp (1), (2), (3)

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/MI4Seu3Tclg/

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Drained wetlands give off same amount of greenhouse gases as industry

ScienceDaily (Nov. 23, 2012) ? Drained wetlands in Sweden account for the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions as Swedish industry. This is shown by a summary of research from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

Forests and agricultural fields on drained previous wetlands make up between five and ten percent of Sweden's surface area. When these wetlands are drained, they become a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions.

"We note that drained wetlands which have been forested or used for agricultural purposes are a significant potential source of greenhouse gases of a magnitude that is at least comparable with the industrial sector's greenhouse gas emissions in Sweden."

Emissions from these drained wetlands can be reduced, but that involves rewetting the land -- resulting in a negative impact on forestry production. According to the researchers, compromises may be necessary.

"As long as wetlands remain wet, only methane is given off," says ?sa Kasimir Klemedtsson from the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Gothenburg. "However, for more than a hundred years land has been drained for agriculture and forestry, producing large quantities both carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide."

Together with researcher ?rjan Berglund from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Dr Kasimir Klemedtsson was commissioned by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency during the summer and autumn of 2012 to compile information about greenhouse gases from drained wetlands.

New rules were introduced at last year's Durban Climate Change Conference with the second Kyoto Protocol phase. These rules include the possibility of reporting wetland drainage or rewetting of drained wetlands. Sweden now faces the choice of whether to include these ahead of the second Kyoto Protocol phase.

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Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/4mh71SixfEk/121123092742.htm

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Breast Augmentation ? Preparing for the Operation and the Results ...

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The breast augmentation procedure makes thousands of women happy every year. It is a growing way for women to enhance their figures.

Source:Breast Augmentation ? Preparing for the Operation and the Results

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Plastic Surgery Secrets Plus, 2e

Plastic Surgery Secrets-the first Secrets Series? title in the PLUS format-offers an easy-to-read, information-at-your-fingertips approach to plastic and reconstructive surgery and hand surgery. Jeffrey Weinzweig has joined forces with world-renowned plastic surgeons Joseph McCarthy, Julia Terzis, Joseph Upton, Fernando Ortiz-Monasterio, and Luis Vasconez, and others to bring you the expert perspective you need to grasp the nuances of this specialty. This new edition features an additional color that highlights tables, legends, key terms, section and chapter titles, and web references. All this, along with the popular question-and answer approach and list of the "Top 100 Plastic Surgery Secrets," make it a perfect concise board review tool and a handy clinical reference.

• Maintains the popular and trusted Secrets Series? format, using questions and short answers for effective and enjoyable learning.
• Provides the most current overview and authoritative coverage of all topics thanks to contributions from an impressive list of over 300 experts in the field of plastic surgery and multiple related specialties.

• Introduces the new PLUS format, with an expanded size and layout and full color for easier review, more information, and more visual elements for an overall enhanced experience.
• Presents enhanced tables, legends, key terms, and section and chapter titles through the use of an additional color that makes finding information quick and easy.
• Contains new full color images and illustrations to provide more detail and offer a clearer picture of what is seen in practice.

Cosmetic Surgery For DummiesCosmetic surgery is one of today?s hottest topics. From daytime talk shows and popular magazines to conversations at the salon, it seems that almost everyone has had it, is thinking about it, or knows someone who is getting it. Statistics show more and more women?and men?are having cosmetic surgery. And with all the options now available, it?s important to be fully informed before you make any decisions about having a procedure.

Now, Cosmetic Surgery For Dummies is here to guide you through today?s top procedures, candidly addressing both the benefits and the risks. R. Merrel Olesen, MD, the medical director of the La Jolla Cosmetic Surgery Centre, and Marie B.V. Olesen, a nationally known cosmetic surgery consultant, give you the tools you need to:

• Decide if surgery is right for you
• Find a qualified surgeon
• Set realistic expectations
• Evaluate the costs
• Enhance your recovery and results

This plain-English guide shows you how to take advantage of all the advances in cosmetic surgery while avoiding the pitfalls that could compromise your safety or the quality of your result. From implants to liposuction to Botox, you?ll understand the right questions to ask your doctor, how to prepare for surgery (both physically and financially), and the best ways to influence the healing process. You?ll also:

• Discover the latest surgery techniques and medications
• Understand the different surgeon specializations
• Sort through the various non-surgical facial treatments
• Evaluate your post-op care options
• Cope with complications
• Deal with family, friends, and coworkers before and after surgery

Complete with lists of questions to ask before surgery and top Web sites for cosmetic surgery information, Cosmetic Surgery For Dummies is a practical, friendly guide that will help you say hello to a new you!

Tags: cosmetic surgery

Source: http://www.jackiesbazaar.com/womensinterests/cosmetic-surgery/breast-augmentation-preparing-for-the-operation-and-the-results

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