Special Deals Just for You!

I've got a $25 Kohl's gift card up for grabs, and it could be YOURS!

Just leave me a comment, any comment, here at Ruth Dynamite Reviews. It's as easy as that. A short, simple "Hey pick me!" comment.

I'll randomly pick a winner by December 18th - just in time to get the gift card in the mail to YOU! GOOD LUCK!

Here's what the good people at Kohl's have to say about their "25 Deals of Christmas":

This season, Kohl’s and Kohls.com is unveiling its ‘25 Deals of Christmas’ initiative, a new program designed to further help customers get more for their money during a difficult economy. New this year, the ‘25 Deals of Christmas’ program will offer incredible values on very desirable gifts like toys, appliances, electronics and jewelry during the 25 consecutive days leading up to Christmas. The savings on the day’s featured item will be offered for that day only, while supplies last, in store and online at Kohls.com.

We have a lucky winner! Congratulations to Jamie D.! Please email me with your contact info so I can send you your Kohl's gift card and you can start shopping!

Thank you to everyone else who played along...and happy holidays!

Sleep is for the Weak: Mommybloggers Tell it Straight

[Is it ironic that I reviewed Sleep is for the Weak at 4 AM on a work day?]

When I was pregnant with my first child nearly ten years ago, way back before I knew how to spell blog-os-phere, my very favorite book was The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy by Vicki Iovine. Unlike all the other books about pregnancy and childbirth I had accumulated, this book was packed with no-holds-barred straight talk about the stuff you don't find in most other books.

Vicki wasn't a gynecologist or obstetrician; she was simply a woman who had been-there-done-that many times over and had a few choice words for her female reader compadres about conception, pregnancy, and childbirth's seedy (and perhaps flabby) underbelly.

Nowadays, no-holds-barred straight talk about anything and everything abounds in this global coffee house we call the internet, and if you ask me, no one does it better than Mommybloggers.

This diverse and plentiful sorority of women and a few men let it all hang out in the most wonderful of ways. Their words inspire as they provoke, enlighten as they entertain, soothe as they commiserate.

And it is this collective voice of experience that we crave in our time of need...like when baby won't sleep and toddler won't poop and bullies bully and spouses spar and a million other parenting dramas unfold.

Sleep is for the Weak is a glimpse into the world of mommybloggers, featuring previously published blog posts from some popular voices on the momosphere. I especially enjoyed:

• Karen's essay about finally "Becoming Mama" to her adopted daughter
• Rita Arens' piece, "Nicole Richie has Nothing on Me" in which she talks frankly about raising a daughter with a healthy body image despite struggles with her own
• Jennifer Satterwhite's reflections on a mother's love in "You Can Never Out-Love Your Mom"
• Amy Corbett Storch's post, "Here, I Wrote Down Some Long-Winded Pontification on Mommyhood for You" about parenthood as a life-changing event
• Alice Bradley's creative and hilarious toddler imaginings in "I Just Have to Figure Out How He Printed This"
• Kelli Oliver George's fantasy answers to common questions pregnant women must endure in"Since When is Cynical a Bad Thing"
• Liz Gumbinner's reflections on doctor smack talk in "Aren't Doctors Supposed to Make You Feel Better?"
• Risa Green's words about patience and perspective in "Happy Freakin' New Year"
• Joanna Polyn's requisite and hilarious poop post, "The Dinner Party"

And so many more, and in particular Izzy's "The Things They Never Told Me." In my opinion, Izzy's voice is that of Vicki Iovine from The Girlfriends' Guide...but better. She's not a doctor, but to me, her words and shared experience are just the remedy for people - especially moms to be and brand new moms - in search of honesty and truth.

Mommybloggers may not sleep much, but make no mistake: their collective voice is loud and powerful. (Remember, Sleep is for the Weak!) I celebrate this first collection as a nod to the immense talent - both raw and refined - that makes up the momosphere, and look forward to seeing these and many other resonant voices featured in subsequent mommyblogger collections.

For more feedback about this book and to read other interesting book and product reviews, please visit my friends at the Parent Blogger Network.

Talking to Kids about Sex

The sex is unavoidable.

It's there, on your street corner. It's the billboard, the condom wrapper, the outfit that just walked by. It's the ad on the side of the bus, the lyrics bellowing from a passing car. It's in your living room, screaming at you from television and computer screens, teasing you from magazine and book covers, daring you to look. See. Desire. Act.

It's the images bombarding your kids from every direction, day and night, whether you like it or not. It's the curvaceous female vixen in the video game, the padded bras on hangars in the girls' clothing department, the teen themes delivered by adult actors for tween audiences...on the Disney channel.

How and when do you initiate the conversation about sex with your kids? How soon is too soon? When is it too late? And where does one begin?

Enter Sharon Maxwell, Ph.D. and her straight-shooting, practical and practicable how-to book entitled The Talk: What Your Kids Need to Hear from YOU About Sex.

This is not a book about sperm and eggs and fallopian tubes - the scientific explanation of human sexuality that has dominated sex ed curricula for decades.

Instead, this book charges at the pink elephant in the room - sexual desire and the power of sexy - and teaches parents how to engage in meaningful, responsible, empowering sex talk with their kids. Fearless Dr. Maxwell holds our quaking hands as she offers up eleven principles of ethical sexual conduct to get us thinking in the right direction:

1. Your body, and the decision about how to use it, belongs only to you...
2. How you choose to use your body and how you choose not to use your body become part of who you are...
3. Any kind of sexual behavior that involves another person is an expression of intimacy...

[from Maxwell, The Talk, Appendix 4]

She hones our focus on the hypersexualized culture in which we live, and gives us the tools to talk to our kids about the stuff that really matters, including:

• the power of sexual energy and desire - and why self-control is important
  
• sex and the internet - what parents and kids need to know about surfing and sex talk online
  
• the way sex is used as a commodity in our culture
  
• the value of intimacy and personal responsibility
  
• your own personal code of ethics, without being preachy
  

It's all good, people, and not a moment too soon. Are you ready to talk to your kids about sex?

The Talk is available for purchase online at Penguin Group and other retailers. I received no compensation (except for a copy of the book) for writing this review.

In a Blue Room: A Lullaby for the Senses

[Image courtesy of Harcourt Children's Books]

In Jim Averbeck's gem of a children's book, In a Blue Room, young Alice is "wide-awake past bedtime" and bouncing in her room, unable to sleep until her room is blue.

"I can only sleep in a blue room," says Alice. "Blue is my favorite."

But Mama brings fresh lilacs and lilywhites into Alice's bedroom, and soon enough "Alice twirls around, plops down, and breathes deep."

The reader does too, breathing in Averbeck's words and illustrator Tricia Tusa's evocative images like a sweet, fragrant, calming breeze.

Masterful Mama brings many things into Alice's room - none of which are blue, to Alice's dismay, but all of which prove to be an irresistible feast for the senses: hot orange tea that cools in a brown cup; a silky-soft, warm and cozy quilt of red and green; the soft chime of yellow bells on black strings.

Click! goes the light as Alice fades, and like magic, her room and everything in it - flowers, tea, quilt, bells - are blanketed in beautiful, soothing, pale blue moonlight. The perfect goodnight.

I have read this special book to both of my children (ages 7 & 9) - never at bedtime, mind you - and they were immediately transfixed. Was it the image of a girl bouncing wildly on her bed? The idea of a child being wide-awake past bedtime? The fact that this "blue room" was actually yellow?

Yes - probably to all of those things. They were hooked from page one and absorbed every carefully chosen word and accompanying whimsical illustration on every page.

They were intrigued, perhaps also by the notion that darkness doesn't have to be scary. Rather, it can be magical and transformative...blue, not black.

And blue? Well what could be more soothing? And just in time for bed.

For more reviews or to buy your very own copy of this newly published children's book, click here.

Great Family Movie: Kit Kittredge, An American Girl

I cried throughout the G-rated movie, Kit Kittredge, An American Girl. This was a good thing.

It's just that for the first time in I don't know how long, I could sit through an entire movie targeting the tween set (ages 8-12, approximately) and not cringe, wince, or moan. Not even once.

And for the first time in, oh, forever, I could sit alongside my nine-year-old daughter and not only delight in her company, but feel good about the messages she was receiving from images on a screen - messages about compassion, pride, tenacity, and perseverance.

For that I have to thank the film's director and producers, who include Patricia Rozema, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Lisa Gillan, Ellen Brothers, Marisa Yeres, and Julia Roberts (yes - that Julia Roberts), and, of course, the savvy advertising agency that gave me and my daughter the opportunity to pre-screen the movie.

Rest assured, we'll be seeing it again.

Kit Kittredge, An American Girl is the first feature film based on the American Girl series of dolls and books, a phenomenon as frighteningly popular as it is refreshing and pure. In this age of suggestive Dollz, virtual worlds, dubious Disneyfied role models, and contradictory messages about sex, violence, success, and power bombarding kids from every angle, the whole American Girl concept is a breath of fresh air.

As is the movie, which stars the lovely young talent Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine, Nim's Island) in the lead role as Kit Kittredge, and a bevy of supporting stars to round out the cast, the likes of which include Joan Cusack (love her!), Chris O'Donnell, Julia Ormond, Stanley Tucci, and Jane Krakowski - as well as Will Smith's adorable daughter and Max Thieriot, a teen heart throb on the rise.

Set in Cincinnati, Ohio at the dawn of the Great Depression, the story of Kit Kittredge paints a picture of a time in American history that seems eerily familiar today - a time in which unemployment and financial woes stressed families to the breaking point, a time when no family was immune to the real threats of hunger and homelessness.

Through Kit's eyes we experience the Depression as it rolls over her community like a terrible wave, wrenching families apart and bringing new ones together. Desperate times, as well as the desperate measures of the times, are presented in a sweet and age-appropriate way, but never sugar-coated. Even the most stoic of moviegoers will grow misty-eyed as the lively plot unfolds and the engaging characters navigate their survival in an uncertain world.

If you ask me, a movie like Kit Kittredge, An American Girl is exactly what all of us need right about now - and especially all of us American girls, boys, women, and men.

For a detailed synopsis of the movie, I would encourage you to check out Roger Ebert's review, and certainly, if you're looking for some wholesome, heartwarming, and educational family entertainment this summer, go see this movie.

You'll be pleasantly surprised by the experience, as I was, and might even find yourself reaching for a tissue.

Opting In: On Women, Work, Motherhood, and Choice

About a month ago, I was thrilled to see that author/feminist Amy Richards would be visiting an excellent nearby independent book store to discuss her latest book, Opting In: Having a Child without Losing Yourself. Unfortunately, I could not make the event but I had every intention of running out to buy the book as soon as I could. Books about women and work/life balance and motherhood and choices are especially appealing when you're living the issues.

I am living the issues.

So of course I was beyond thrilled when Amy Richards herself sent me a copy of her book (THANK YOU, AMY!), and since then I've been reading and digesting and nodding my head vigorously and shaking my fists in the air and, most of all, feeling incredibly grateful to Amy Richards for her remarkable work.

I wish I had this book in high school.

But then again, back when I was in high school in the eighties, professional, educated women weren't "opting out" of the workforce in droves* and willingly abandoning their careers to become financially dependent caregivers to their children. This "opt out" trend (or "revolution" as writer Lisa Belkin curiously termed it) was featured a few years ago in a New York Times Magazine cover story, prompting women like me to get all huffy and authors like Leslie Bennetts (The Feminine Mistake: Are We Giving Up Too Much) to write a book cautioning women about the risks of financial dependence and espousing the non-financial benefits of work.

Back when I was in high school, I never doubted that I could do and be anything I wanted. Then, of course, I spent a year as a West Point cadet - which, incidentally, I wrote about here with regard to "feminism" - and, suffice it to say, I finally realized I was a woman, and as such, would have to think very carefully about the choices I made from that point forward.

That's not to say I abandoned the "do anything/be anything" philosophy that was instilled in me as a child. I maintained the belief that I could pursue everything I ever wanted and more - education, career, spouse, kids, happily ever after - simply by choosing the path that was right for me.

I chose, and before long I had the education, career, spouse, and all the makings of happily ever after. I spent a few blissful months at home after my daughter was born, and then went back to a full-time job outside the home. Just as I planned.

What didn't figure into my plan was giving birth to a second child with a potentially devastating medical condition. If you're so inclined, you can read all the high drama I recounted in a trilogy of soggy blog posts, from the shocking Part 1 to the agonizing Part 2 to the happiest of endings (beginnings?) in Part 3. This unexpected course of events spurred by my son's birth radically changed all my "plans" and, as it turns out, the course of my life and career. THANK GOD.

Right now, despite the chaos and hardships that come with "opting in" to multiple jobs both inside and outside the home while trying to be an active parent, a wife, an enthusiastic tennis hack and a generally "balanced" person, I know my choices were right for me.

I also know that I am judged by my choices - as all women are. And sadly, our harshest critics are often other women.

In Opting In: Having a Child without Losing Yourself, Amy Richards does not judge; rather, she explains, reflects, reports, and analyzes. She disarms and engages her readers by laying it all on the table - work, the wheres/whens/hows of procreation, the undeniable influence of our mothers, the hows of "giving birth" and parenting, and division of labor at home. Through the context of history, feminist theory, sociological research, and personal experience, she gives us a lens with which to view ourselves and our most personal of choices.

To me, Amy Richards is like the smartest, most self-aware girlfriend you know - the one whose counsel you seek when it really matters. She never tells you what to do; she simply helps you understand a situation so that you can decide all by yourself what it is that you need to do.

And that is the resounding message of this book: Do what's right for you. Trust your instincts.

Amen, Amy. Amen.

I will be reading and re-reading this book for a long time to come. I urge you to do the same.

Here are a few excerpts I highlighted in my dog-eared, ink-stained book:

I want parents to be inspired to own motherhood and parenting in their own unique way without valuing someone else's experience over their own.

Sadly, working and not working are perceived not as two distinct choices, but rather as a competition about who has made the better choice.

Our priority should be making it possible for women to make choices that don't feel so limiting about if and when to have babies.

Each woman wants different things; thus the feminist goal should be figuring out what you want.

Glibly ridiculing another woman can be anti-woman, but examining the reasons why women feel the need to diminish one another is entirely feminist.

Staying balanced is a great example to give your children; to be consumed with your children at the expense of your own identity ends up punishing both you and them in the end.

The real "trend" isn't women choosing careers or babies, but, as I hope Opting In proves, actual women who feel confident and energized to define for themselves who they want to be.

*supposedly, according to Belkin's article

Plant the Seed with the Hydro Greenhouse

Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?

With silver bells and cockle shells,
And a Hydro Greenhouse, of course!

The clever folks over at Discovery Channel Toys seem to have a knack for designing educational toys that are appealing to kids and their parents. The Hydro Greenhouse 2, a "table-top hydroponic mini greenhouse," is a perfect example.

Designed for children ages 8 and up, this 10" x 10" light-weight plastic "toy" serves as a self-contained mini-greenhouse incubator for plants of your choice.

It couldn't be easier. You simply assemble the plastic components, add water mixed with growing medium and nutrient mix (included), sprinkle in a few seeds (not included), and wait. With a little magic from Mother Nature and careful placement inside your home near a sunny window, your seeds will sprout, grow, and blossom right before your very eyes. Add a little nutrient mix and water every two weeks or so, and your plants will be very happy all season long.

With the exception of slicing open the cardboard box in which our Hydro Greenhouse arrived, my nine-year old daughter managed this entire process by herself. She read the directions, measured the water and mixes, and planted the seeds. She readied a spot near a sunny window and positioned her garden-to-be.

And every day since - from seedling to stem to real live plant - she has stood before her mini-greenhouse and marveled at the miracle of nature.

That's my kind of toy.

Read more reviews about this product and many others by my friends at Parent Bloggers.