Soft & Safe Dino Bowling Set

I have a two year old and four year old that love this baby bowling set by Lakeshore Learning. They love to set up the soft stuffed dinos and knock them down with the balls over and over again. The pins and balls are covered in vinyl so they are easy to wipe clean. In addition to using the dinosaurs as bowling pins, they have become tea party attendants, puppets to entertain the baby and footballs. The set of 6 dinosaur pins and two large balls comes in a zipper tote for easy storage. The set retails for $14.99 at lakeshorelearning.com.

Social Mom Product Review: Dolphin Organics

As the New Year dawned, I considered making all sorts of life changing resolutions. Exercise more, get more sleep, eat more kale. Well, that last one might be a bit of a challenge. So, I took a different approach. Rather than overwhelm my family with goals that might not last through the first week, I decided it was best to start with something simple.

Switching out my daughter's regular shampoo and conditioner and replacing them with the Dolphin Organics Baby Shampoo and Conditioner was an easy first step. These products are organic, natural and endorsed by the Healthy Child Healthy World organization. The big question, would they work as well as my tried and true brands?

The short answer is yes. They are fabulous products! The tear-free shampoo lathers well and rinses cleanly. The conditioner is thick enough to coat the hair without weighing it down. These products are fragrance free but do have a slight scent. These and other baby care products are available online for about $12 each at Dolphin Organics. I recommend them and would purchase the Travel Set or Gift Baskets for baby shower presents.

If you're hoping to start the New Year off on a healthy path, the Dolphin Organics products are an easy way to go. Best wishes!

Submitted by Lisa-Marie, a Tampa Bay Parenting Magazine Social Mom, who is always on the go with a tiny tot in tow.

"Love, Loss and What I Wore" at The Straz until January 15th

“Love, Loss and What I Wore” is a wonderful collection of stories that uses the memories that clothing and accessories trigger to tell stories that any woman can relate to. The all-star cast including Loretta Swit, who played “Hot Lips” Houlihan on M*A*S*H and Sonia Manzano who has played Maria on Sesame Street for over thirty years, stays seated throughout the show.
Although the actors don’t move very much physically, they definitely move the audience with stories about surviving breast cancer, losses of parents and children, relationships that don’t work and relationships that do. The show is not about fashion. It is about how our clothing tells a story about the children we were and the stylish adults we want to be. Some of the scenes had me laughing out loud and others I needed a tissue for. It was a perfect combination of humor and poignancy. One of my favorite scenes – “I hate my purse” really describes how I feel about every purse I have ever owned. I buy a new purse hoping that it will keep me organized and by the second week of owning it I can’t find anything in it so I buy another one and the same thing happens. Finally, I find one that works for me and it falls apart. I need to get a bag! Another favorite scene was shoes, which details the age old dilemma of comfortable shoes vs. sexy heels. I have to admit that I have owned many pairs of Birkenstocks and the less comfortable, more stylish shoes always win in the end.
I strongly recommend this show for all women. I am glad that I brought a girlfriend instead of my husband. I don’t think my husband would have appreciated how traumatic it is to get your first bra or why you can never find something to wear when you have a full closet of clothes. A close girlfriend always understands these things. The Jaeb Theatre at the Straz is a perfect venue for this type of intimate show. Get your tickets soon, the show ends on Sunday January 15th.