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My Stressed Teens

December 6, 2013 by nancyjrab


Being a teen is stressful.  There’s all that homework.  All that uncertainty about your social status.  At least  teens are sure of one thing: their parents know NOTHING, nothing at all.

Well,  CNN came to my apartment to talk to my family about stress.  I guess because, well, we’re stressed.  Between running a company and running a household, I’m pretty much a lunatic, and my kids have basketball, and dance, and NYC High School test prep and homework, and my husband – the job, aging parents, riding the subway every day, a dog who seems to throw up at least once a month…and always on the white carpet. We’re like the poster family for stress.

But when reporter Kelly Wallace started talking to my kids, and the cameras started to roll, they didn’t seem stressed at all.  My son and daughter were poised, and articulate, and lovely.  Maybe the cameras should be rolling around here more often.  Check them out, on CNN Parents. Teens: Generation Stressed

Posted in Family | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments »

KidzVuz Holiday House Party

December 2, 2013 by nancyjrab


So last week was our totally insane, incredibly fabulous (if I do say so myself) KidzVuz Holiday House Party.  What’s that?  It’s 150 kids, 100 top mom bloggers together with some majorly fun brands together for an afternoon of playing, testing, trying, learning..even tasting!

This year, KidzVuz title sponsor was Homewood Suites by Hilton.   And we threw a seriously big bash where kids and Mom Bloggers got to try out products from Nintendo, Samsung, Dermalogica, Clear Start, audible.com, Hasbro, Spinmaster, DownTown Bookworks, BatteryPop, and Green Mustache. (And more, too — read on!)

Take a look at how it went!

KidzVuz Holiday Party: Spinmaster

Zoomer Dog from Spinmaster - is one of the hottest toys of the year.  And from the look on this girl’s face, it’s easy to see why. We gave everyone a chance to try it out, and even gave one away in our raffle to benefit our non profit partner, The Lamp.  Kawaii Crush had all the girls oohing and ahhing!  So cute, so much fun to play and imagine.Flutterbye Fairy:  a fairy that really flies!  Need we say more?  And Tenkai Knights are great for building…and battling, both online and off.

In the Nintendo game lounge, kids checked out the latest WiiU, Wii Fit, 3DS and 2DS games and consoles. Mario never looked so good.  And we love Wii games because they get kids playing together, and and get them out of their seats and moving around! Who says video gaming is a solo activity?  Nintendo brings gaming to the whole family!

Hasbro brought another of this year’s hottest toys, Furby Boom.  Cute-ness!  They also had Nerf Rebelle - because it’s about time girls had a Nerf of their own! And Twister Rave.  Party in a box!!!

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 kids is a kids tablet even a grown up can love!  That is, if the kids can tear themselves away from it long enough for the parents to have a chance!  With any easy to understand interface, a kid-proof design, and parental controls that let you do everything from set access to set playing time, and with a price of about $200….this tablet is amazing.

And how awesome are these SuperHero cookies?  They’re from the  Official DC SuperHero Cookbook from our sponsor Downtown Bookworks.  Can you say too awesome to eat?  Hard to do with your mouth full of cookies, right?  Downtown Bookworks has tons of beautifully designed books for curious kids, crafty kids..all kinds of kids!

Downstairs, our friends at iScream provided a candy bar (yum!) and sand candy art, but it was really all about their amazing pillows, bags, clothes and accessories.  Tween girls go crazy for them! Plus, BatteryPop showed off it’s new app and site that gives kids a great selection of videos picked just for them. (No worries about inappropriate content here!)

But it wasn’t just about the kids!  Oh no!  Homewood Suites by Hilton provided a lodge where moms could kick back and hear about all the great things Homewood Suites has to offer – -like their free grocery delivery service – right to your room!  Their great “pick your room before you arrive” feature, and the fact that the all-suite hotel has lots more sweet perks – like free hot breakfast daily, a putting green or pool in every property, free WiFi, and so much more.

Dermalogica was there mapping moms’ faces (not as strange as it sounds) and giving personalized skin care advice.  And Clear Start was there, too.  Teaching kids how to keep their skin, well, clear, as they hit those teenaged years.

In the audible.com Mom Lounge, moms learned all about the super cool features of the audible app — like how it lets you take your whole library with you on your mobile device.  How the kindle Whisper App lets you read your book, then stop, start listening to it, then reading it again, picking up where the audiobook left off.  And as if that weren’t cool enough,  the folks from audible were kind enough to bring along this guy — with wine and prosecco!  Talk about a party!

Our non-profit partner, The Lamp, was there teaching kids media literacy – which is what they do for under-served kids in NYC all the time. Our generous guests donated $900 to the organization.  (We love our bloggers!)  And The Broadway League was there telling everyone about Kids Night Out on Broadway. Buy an adult ticket, and a kid ticket is free!  While the ESRB taught moms and kids how to know which videos games are right (and safe and appropriate) for them.

We had dance music, too!  And since we’re KidzVuz, we had a kid DJ!  DJ Kai from FuziPop.  Plus kids making on-site reviews, and prizes!!!

All that playing and learning, and relaxing made everybody hungry!  Good thing we had snacks and drinks from Fairway Market, Stonefire Naan, Chloe’s Fruit, Green Mustache Smoothies, and Zico coconut water.

And of course, every kid left with an awesome KV Holiday Gift bag!

Does it sound crazy?  Well, it was, in the best possible way!!

Thanks to all of our sponsors and all of our guests for making this year’s KidzVuz Holiday House Party the best one yet!

And serious thanks to Amy Jacobs from Chandelier Events for pulling it all together and to Josh Strauss of Josh Strauss studios for all of the amazing photos.

Posted in Social Media | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Throwback Thursday: Grandma and Pop’s 50th Anniversary

November 7, 2013 by nancyjrab


1974 - I think.

1973 – I think.

My Grandparents celebrated their 50th Wedding anniversary and the Pecoho country club – long long gone.  My parents had moved that same day, while I stayed with my aunt.  But they don’t look exhausted at all.

Posted in Family | 2 Comments »

What I Learned at #SheStreams 2013

November 4, 2013 by nancyjrab


In the better late than never category comes this post, about what I learned at BSM Media’s She Streams conference in NYC.  The conference, now in it’s fourth (I’m pretty sure) year, is all about getting beyond the written word in the social media space, and about empowering women bloggers to take their blog up to the next  level: video, audio, podcasting, and more.

Here’s what I learned:

1. You can hear two COMPLETELY different keynote speakers, with two COMPLETELY different messages and points of view, and learn a lot from both of them.

Tory Johnson, TV Personality, entrepreneur, and author of the new book The Shift, spoke mostly about monetization.  “Are you making money,’ she asked, “Or just moving it around?”  She talked about not being afraid to ask for what you’re worth, about making sure you make five calls by five PM every day – talking to five people (not just trying to.)  She was all energy, all “go for it,” all “You can do it!”

On the other end of the spectrum was Brad Montague, creator of the truly fantastic web series Kid President, which features his brother in law, nine year old Robby – aka Kid President.  Brad didn’t mention money once.  He talked about using the internet to be a force of good.  About using your social media influence to do something important — and not just play Candy Crush.  He’s sent Kid President to the White House! (The real one) And he’s making a real difference.

He was  self deprecating, low key, and absolutely inspiring in a completely different way from Tory Johnson.  And I think everyone in that room fell in love with him just a little bit.  If you don’t already know Kid President, you really should.  Check him out here – and share share share!

2. The best swag from an event is a great make up job.

When Maria Bailey, founder of the conference, asked for a volunteer to get a make-up makeover, I shot my hand in the air right quick.  And boy, was I glad I did.  Professional make-up artist Elizabeth Fried told us the cardinal rules of make up for camera: NO GLITTER.  Everything matte.  Use primer. Mascara your bottom lashes first, with waterproof mascara, so you don’t get mascara from your top lashes all over your face while you’re putting the bottom mascara on!  But the bottom line of her advice was: Even if you are shooting a video for your personal blog in your living room, you should look professional and look your best.

And as for what she did for me?  I never looked better.

4. Get the right equipment.

Amy Oztan, of Selfish Mom and Adam Cohen from Dada Rocks talked about the incredible array of tools available to make your video, audio, and pictures better.  But rather than listing them here,  I’ll send you over to Amy’s list of essentials.  it’s pretty awesome.

5.  And this, from Maria Bailey, the best advice for bloggers — though really it could be modified for anyone in any business – I’ve heard in a long time:  Stop worrying that people doing sponsored blog posts, or becoming blog ambassadors for no money are decreasing the value of your work.  Instead, think about how to make your work more valuable.

Words for live by.

 

Posted in Social Media | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Banana Bread for Breast Cancer: #BakeItHappen

October 23, 2013 by nancyjrab


Last week, I got an email from a company that  I’m sure was well intentioned.  But boy, was it ill-conceived.  For every pair of pink headphones sold during the month of October, it said, they would donate a portion of the proceeds to Breast Cancer research. Here was the pitch: “We here at (company) love boobies and we know you do too! Show your underlying support for all the joy “the ladies” bring the world” by buying our product.  In the even more offensive video on their website, they try to be funny as they say they “really really love boobies” while staring exaggeratedly at a female employee’s breasts, but then only make things worse in the “serious” part of the video when they say they “If breasts go extinct, the world would be a very sad place.”  So are they saving breasts? Are they worried about “the joy the ladies brings the world”  or are they worried about the nearly 40,000 women who DIE each year from breast cancer?

Yup.  40,000 women die each year from breast cancer. It’s easy to forget that, amidst the pinkwashed cocktails, lipstick, sneakers, you name it, that come out in force during October – breast cancer awareness month.  Can you think of another kind of cancer that has a slogan?  Another cancer that could inspire a post called “71 Catchy Breast Cancer Slogans“? that lauds these slogans, including ones like “For Guys, every month is Breast Awareness Month,”  and “Save Second Base”?

So I was happy when my friend Shari, from the food blog My Judy the Foodie, asked me to be a part of her Bake it Happen campaign against breast cancer. Shari’s mother, Judy, died of breast cancer.  And Shari’s blog was started in her honor.   What did I have to do?  Bake Judy’s Banana Bread and share it with someone to spread awareness – and to raise money.  And for every picture of Judy’s Banana bread tagged #BakeitHappen, a donation is made to breast cancer research. Continue Reading »

Posted in cooking | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Facebook and Teens: The Silver Lining behind the Hysteria

October 21, 2013 by nancyjrab


Facebook logo Español: Logotipo de Facebook Fr...

Facebook logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So last week, Facebook announced that it’s changed its rules about how it handles the accounts of 13-17 year olds.  Instead of only allowing those account-holders to share their posts and information with just their own friends, and friends of friends (as it has always been)  they will now be able to share with everyone (as twitter, instagram, etc already allow.)

The response has been pretty hysterical, with headlines like “Facebook  Teens Exposed to the Entire World.” in the UK.  And “Facebook loosens privacy restrictions for minors amid cyber bullying concerns” (is there a correlation? I don’t think so) on the ever hysterical Fox News.

As the co-founder of KidzVuz, a website for kids 7-13 that is COPPA compliant, and super serious about kids’ privacy, I’m going to surprise you:  I think the loosening of the restrictions will end up being a good thing.

But notice I’m saying it will END UP being a good thing.  In and of itself, exposing kids’ private information to the world at large is not so good.  (Though the default setting will still be to share with only friends and friends of friends; you’ll have to actively opt-in for public sharing)  Kids this age don’t have the best filter when it come to what and what not to share.  They’re teenagers, after all.  And yet I still maintain that ultimately, Facebook has done us all a favor.

Look, it’s not Facebook’s fault that the law is ridiculous.  It’s not Facebook’s fault that the FTC has decided that 13 year olds are able to agree to Terms of Use.  That they no longer need to be protected from behavioral tracking.  That they are allowed to post videos of themselves for the world to see.

I mean,  who decided 13 was the age when a kid becomes an adult?  Is everyone at the FTC an Orthodox Jew?  Are they down there in Washington thinking “Well, they’ve had their Bar Mitzvahs! They’re adults!”

The truth is, kids need to be protected well past the age of 13.  Cyberbullies. Online predators. Themselves.

My hope is that Facebook’s acknowledging that the law allows them to allow kids to put themselves at risk will wake people up.  And right now, when teens are leaving Facebook in droves for newer, hipper online climes, that acknowledgement will do less harm than it might have.  Maybe when a giant like Facebook takes full legal advantage of a ridiculous law, people will notice, and do something to change the law so that it protects kids better and longer than it does right now.

Maybe the next time I go to a Bar Mitzvah, I pray for that.

 

Posted in Digital Parenting | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Throwback Thursday

October 17, 2013 by nancyjrab


That’s me on the bottom.  The little head.  When you’re the third child, there ain’t a whole lotta pictures gettin’ took!

rabinowitz 1967

Posted in Aging, Family | Leave a Comment »

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