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Keep Your School Lunch Fresh and Stylish with a Yubo Lunchbox

Yubo lunchboxesWe just got our hands on one of this season's coolest back-to-school accessories—the Yubo lunchbox. Some would argue that a good lunchbox is a necessity for the well-equipped student, and the Yubo should make any kid or parent happy.

What makes it different from your garden variety lunchbox? Several things, actually. Yubo can be personalized with interchangeable faceplates in a wide variety of designs. Cute dinosaurs, flowers, and fairy princesses will make younger children happy, while older grade-school kids will like the cool shark, surfer girl, and skater designs. To make your Yubo truly unique, you can add your child's name to selected designs, and even upload a photo or your child's artwork to make a custom faceplate.

Yubo lunchboxes are made of BPA-free, anti-microbial, and recyclable plastic. The whole thing is dishwasher safe, so if your Yubo gets grubby the way kids' lunchboxes do, just pop off the faceplates, snap off the rubber handle, take off the lids, and put the whole thing in the dishwasher. Yubo is truly a well thought-out and designed product.

Oh No! Is It the End of the Line for the Triceratops?

Child on ride-on triceratops When I was growing up, my favorite dinosaur was the Triceratops. You could have your big, macho, hyperaggressive T-rex and your slow, plodding brontosaurus. The triceratops, I like to think, was the thinking kid's dino, a creature that, although a gentle herbivore at heart, was capable of opening a sizeable can of whup-ass on an unwary predator, courtesy of its three wicked-looking horns. Note that the cool ride-on dinosaur pictured (which can be yours—or your child's, rather—for about $300 and change ) is a triceratops, not any other less worthy species.

So you can understand why I and legions of other sophisticated dinosaur lovers are heartbroken at the news that some smarty-pants scientists have decided that triceratops isn't triceratops at all, but rather a juvenile form of torosaurus, a similar looking dinosaur that also sports three horns and a frill at the back of the neck. How can this be? Have we all been living a lie? It's important stuff like this that keeps me up at night.

Kids Rule the San Francisco Zoo with Free Admission in August

Giraffe at the SF ZooLooking for something fun to do during these last few weeks of summer vacation? Why not visit the San Francisco Zoo, especially since all children ages4–14 are admitted free during the month of August?

This offer is good from August 1–31, 2010, all children must be accompanied by a paying adult, and each paying adult can bring up to four children into the zoo for free (so you can take a whole carload of kids if you want).

Music Review: Growing Veggie Soup

Growing Veggie SoupThis summer we made time to plant a vegetable garden in the backyard. It's something the children immediately wanted to help with, perhaps due to the eternal mystique of playing in the dirt, and we were happy to accomodate them. We haven't seen any veggies yet—we got a bit of a late start since we moved at the end of June—but the tomatoes, radishes, sunflowers, herbs, etc. are growing like crazy, even with the cool weather we've been having.

To Sleep, Perchance to… Sleep! The Challenge of Insomnia for Women

sleeping mom and babyAre you a mom who has trouble getting enough sleep? You're not alone! In this guest article, Dr. Lisa Brent offers some facts about insomnia and what you can do to combat it and get the rest you need and deserve.

“Sleep when the baby sleeps” is advice many mothers receive when they bring a new baby home. This is a really great idea, but it is not always so easy to do. For many women, sleep does not come easily, even when they are completely exhausted by the daily (and nightly) demands of motherhood.

Meet the Zoo Keepers at the San Francisco Zoo

The San Francisco Zoo is honoring and celebrating its zookeepers during the National Zookeeper Week from July 19-25. During this week, visitors will have the chance to meet the zookeepers in person, during special meet-and-greets at various exhibit locations throughout the zoo. Keepers will be on hand to answer questions and tell their favorite stories about the animals they care for each and every day.

The zoo is encouraging visitors to show their appreciation by bringing in a hand-made or purchased thank you card that will be placed on a giant display board at the zoo’s front entrance. A discount will be given to individuals who present a card (one per person) – $2 off adult admission and $1 off child admission. The zoo hours are 10 am–5 pm.The San Francisco Zoo is located at 1 Zoo Road in San Francisco. For more info, go to www.sfzoo.org.

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for… Frozen Yogurt!

Frozen yogurt isn't just a substitute for the ostensively less-healthy ice-cream—it's a food with its own sort of subculture, centered around slathering your bowl of yogurt with numerous toppings and add-ons, from fruit to cereal to chocolate to nuts to candy to… almost anything . We've been to the recently opened Twisters frozen yogurt shop in Novato a few times, and have found that it satisfies the frozen yogurt (and topping) craving.

Twisters opened up this spring in the San Marin Plaza shopping center, at 109 San Marin Drive in Novato. It always seems to be busy, most likely due to a prime location at the confluence of a busy high school, elementary school, and swim/tennis club. At Twisters, it's all about self-serve. You grab a bowl, available in numerous sizes, and fill it with your non-fat yogurt of choice. Then take your bowl over to their huge variety of toppings and pile on the chocolate sauce, gummi bears, Froot Loops, jimmies, peanuts, and what-have-you.

The catch is, you pay by weight. Weigh in your concoction at the cash register and pay 47¢ per ounce for your yogurt and toppings.

Enjoy Museums for Free at Target Arts & Wonder Weekend

This weekend, Target (you know, that place where you buy diapers and bathroom cleaner and toys and the occasional dress or shirt) presents Arts & Wonder, a free family event with free general admission to six of San Francisco's leading museums and free art activities and performances.

This weekend-long marathon of free family fun kicks off Friday, July 16, 2010 from 5–8:45 pm at the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park, where you can turn Target's canine mascot Bullseye into a work of Andy Warhol-inspired "Pup" art and watch a ballet performance celebrating the work of Impressionist painter Edgar Degas. General admission and activities and performances are free, but if you want to see the Birth of Impressionism exhibition (highly recommended!) you'll have to get a special timed ticket—$15 for adults, $10 for children 6–17, and free for kids 5 and under.

Chef Daddy Grills Food Your Kids Will Eat

I've found that one of the ways to get my kids to eat so-called "yucky" food (or rather potentially "yucky" food, since usually they've never actually tried it) is to involve them somehow in the preparation of it. Since it's summer, we tend to cook outside on the grill quite a bit, so combine participation with the spectacle of charring food over an open flame and you have pretty much an irresistable combination.

Let me first note that safety is first and foremost when cooking on the grill with kids around. Anything that gets hot enough to put a nice sear on the outside of a steak can similarly do so on someone's hand or arm, so the first rule of helping Daddy cook dinner on the grill is "stay away from the grill". The second rule is—wait for it—"stay away from the grill". Sensing a pattern here? Kids are not allowed outside unattended when the grill's hot, and trips outside to see what's going on are on a strictly escorted basis and confined to a safe zone on the deck overlooking the barbecue area.

Pertussis: When a Cough is NOT Just a Cough

Sick childWith the recent surge in whooping cough cases, we asked local pediatrician and frequent Marin Mommies contributor Dr. Steven Martel to answer some questions our readers had about this potentially serious illness.

The re-emergence of pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, has garnered much media attention due to the recent epidemic.

Pertussis is a highly contagious, vaccine preventable disease caused by a particular bacterium. The disease spreads via respiratory droplets which result from sneezing or coughing onto surfaces. The disease usually begins with symptoms that are similar to the common cold, particularly runny nose and fever. Over the course of 7–10 days the affected person develops a spasmodic, difficult to control cough which can make it hard to breathe. The infection’s characteristic “whoop” cough is responsible for its common name. However, the “whooping” sound is uncommon in infants. The cough usually lasts for about 6 weeks.

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