Survey: Uncle and Aunts Give Worst Christmas Gifts

It is always exciting to think of the possibilities that are hidden inside the neatly wrapped gifts kept under the tree, but when the gifts are from uncles or aunts, most of us dread the prospect of opening the present rather than enjoying it.

According to a survey carried out by veterinary charity PDSA, 23 percent of those questioned said that the worst Christmas present they have ever received has been from uncles or aunts. The dreadful present list includes obligatory gifts like socks, talcum powder and ill-fitting jumpers. Coming a close second are office colleagues with 19 percent saying they detest what they receive from their work mates. More interestingly, only 4 percent of women say they do not like the gifts received from their husbands although 34 percent agree to re-gifting what they have received on Christmas.

PDSA however has a strategic plan set for this year to turn your gift nightmare into a true goodwill message this season by launching an appeal on Boxing Day to take unwanted gifts, which will be sold in its UK-wide charity shops to raise funds for sick and injured pets.

According to Andrew Holl, Director of Business Services for PDSA, the gesture will at least help make some lovable cats and dogs happy if not the original recipient of the gift

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“Bad Christmas gifts are an all too common occurrence at Christmas, despite the best intentions of the present giver.

“However, rather than leaving the unwanted gifts gathering dust in the loft, or worse simply thrown away, we’d encourage the public to donate the presents to their local PDSA store allowing dogs, cats and other pets our vets care for to benefit from their human counterparts’ gift misfortunes. – Atula, staff writer

<a href="http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/parenting/Aunts+Uncles+Buy+Worst+

Polly Pocket Mega Mall

Reviewed by Meagan

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A perfect gift for any little girl, ideally in the age range of 3 – 6, The Polly Pocket Mega Mall causes screams of excitement. It offers so many different things for kids to play which we found kept our girls, 3 and 5, occupied for many hours.

Polly can shop and try on clothes, play guitar, stop to eat, take care of her pets (included with mall) and of course ride the elevator up and down the 3 levels of the mall. Mall puts together quite easily, and once together all the little pieces fit inside and mall folds up nicely for easy mess free storage.

Available at most toy stores for $49.99

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Pediped Launches Their Christmas Make-A-Wish Campaign With A SALE!

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For Christmas this year, Pediped Footwear, the trendy kids shoe company, is making a very rare offer on its Web site. Starting this Wednesday Dec. 17 to December 31, pediped™ will reduce the price of select shoe styles and then donate 50 percent of the sales from these shoes to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

“We believe in the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the good work it does with children,” said Angela Edgeworth, pediped president. “We are blessed with healthy children and feel compelled to make a difference in these children’s lives. We initially pledged $50,000, but thanks to the generosity of our consumers, we are confident we can double that. We’ve reduced the price of our shoes, something we never do, as a way to give back to our consumers while benefiting this worthy charity. We hope everyone shares in the spirit of giving this season. Goodness knows people need it now more than ever. We should be thankful every day for what we have.”

Pediped partnered with the Make-A-Wish Foundation this year for the first time, and the collaboration has far surpassed expectations, Edgeworth said. So far, pediped has raised more than $87,000, enough to grant the wishes of 12 children with life-threatening medical conditions. pediped Footwear scheduled four fundraising events this year, two with donation matching and two from which it donated 50 percent of the total sales from select shoes.

Learn more about this fundraiser at pediped.com.

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Crazy Christmas Tradition: Family Matching Pajamas

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If you had asked me 5 years ago what I thought of Family Matching Christmas Pajamas, I would have laughed at the sheer tackiness of it.

Now that I have a son and I see his excitement about Christmas, the whole idea is kind of cute. The funny part – I’m not alone!

Family Matching Christmas Pajamas has become so popular that they are now one of the biggest sellers at Christmas. Some companies are even getting the dog and cat in on the whole thing…

Here are some cute one I found:

They were found at:

• Nikkiknits
• snugasabug.com
• footstepsclothing.com
• pajamagram.com
• thecompanystore.com

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Rudolph and Santa Cause Controversy in Murrayville

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Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was almost grounded at Murrayville, North Carolina Elementary School this week after a parent complained about the Christmas song’s inclusion in her daughter’s upcoming kindergarten concert.

The objecting parent was upset about the words “Christmas” and “Santa” in the song, feeling that they carried religious overtones.

That prompted the song to be pulled from the upcoming holiday concert, which in turn upset more parents.

The county school administrators and lawyers determined the song was just, well, a secular song about a make-believe reindeer so it has been re-included in the upcoming play that will be performed next Tuesday.

“They’ve determined that it signifies just a day in time, Dec. 25, not the promotion of a religious symbol,” said Ed Higgins, chairman of the county Board of Education. “So Rudolph is back in.”School officials also found the use of “Santa” to be okay because he’s considered a nonreligious figure.

The kindergarten chorus’ holiday concert for the school’s PTA will now include Rudolph along with the songs “Winter Wonderland,” a snowman rap and “Jingle Bells.”

“They have clearly decided that any other religion or custom is not important,” the objecting parent said after learning about the reversal on “Rudolph.” She asked that her name not be published, to shield her daughter’s identity.

The mother, who is Jewish, said she was trying to have a Hanukkah song added to the musical lineup but had not received a return phone call about it from school officials by mid-afternoon Friday.

Murrayville Principal Julie Duclos said the school decided to pull the song after the parent complained

“to make sure that we were actually paying attention to everybody’s interest, that we were not choosing somebody’s interest over another.”

“If we had enough time in the PTA program to sing a song for every single interest and value system, then we could do it,” she said. “But when you can’t do that, you go to universal values that are agreed on by every faith, every denomination. We wouldn’t want to leave anybody out.”

It’s sad that it takes just one person to change a tradition that has been happening in schools for decades…

SOURCE

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Product Review: Smart-e-bear

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My son is fairly technologically advanced counting an ipod, blackberry and my personal laptop as his favorite toys. Knowing this, I knew that Smart-e-bear would be a good fit for him.

This multi-functional, interactive bear is a great friend that keeps kids learning.

For the last 2 weeks, this adorable bear has been accompanying us on roadtrips and keeping my guy company around the house.

Here is what we found:

Getting started:

This interactive toys is offered in 3 styles – a bear, dog or cat. We chose the dog. When he arrived I was pleasantly surprised by the soft cuddly nature of our fancy new friend. Normally you have to sacrifice cuddleablilty for features – but not in this case. In fact, my son spent quite a long time cuddling him before he realized all of the cool stuff he could do.

Out of the box this bear comes ready to go, all you need to do is turn him on. The box/computer unit in the back also comes with a volume adjustment button, which I LOVE because I always find toys play too loud.

Features:

On power up the cute voice introduces itself and immediately asks to play.

This bear plays music, tells stories and plays games. While Smart-e-bear comes pre-loaded with a few options from each category, their full service website is setup to allow parents to customize what games, music and stories go on the bear.

This awesome feature ensures that playtime is always fresh and exciting as new media and software downloads keep smart-e-bear growing and learning with your child.

Installing the software is as easy a few clicks. Smart-e-bear is even compatible with Mac computers, which impressed me because nothing is compatible for Mac’s.

Parents looking to see if they like the system can download the software and look around, but you can only listen to fun music, stories, and games if you have a smart-e-bear or one of his friends.

Once loaded, smart-e-bear asks toddlers to make choices based on them touching his paws and feet.

My son loves the pre-loaded version of Simon says. Before we got Smart-e-bear he hadn’t heard of the game, now he is a pro! He is also very fond of head and shoulders, knees and toes because in the middle the bear sings the song in Japanese. Too funny!

Having the ability to change what is on this bear makes it a god send for traveling. This gives parents the ability to make it a new toy whenever they want, which is not something that is found very often.

We highly recommend this toy as a choice that your child won’t grow old of easily.

For more information please visit the official site

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Do You Send Personalized Christmas Cards?

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Ever since our son arrived two years ago we have sent personalized Christmas cards.

I guess it’s a fun way to make the card unique and also send a current photo of him at the same time.

As the cards came rolling in this year I noticed that a lot of our friends with young kids are doing the same thing.

One of my favorite things to do after the holiday season is to check out David Patrick Columbia’s New York Social Diary’s roundup of cards that have been sent to him over this holiday season.

Some are sent to them by collegues, others by celebrities and many from New York’s Social “Upper Crust”.

I love the matching sweaters, dresses and even matching kilts(not joking).

Check them out..

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Baby Jesus Gets GPS

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Due to a high amount of thefts, many churches, organizations and families are getting creative in their ways to keep their nativity scenes intact.

In Bal Harbour Florida the Baby Jesus will be equipped with a GPS device after a previous baby statue went missing, even though it had been bolted down.

Mary and Joseph will also be fitted with GPS devices and a four-foot high a plexiglass screen has also been installed in front of the display according to Dina Cellini, who oversees the whole scene.

“I don’t anticipate this will ever happen again,” Cellini said, “but we may need to rely on technology to save our savior.”

SOURCE

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Need A Pregnancy Pick Me Up? Eat An Apple!

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If you are feeling a little low during your pregnancy enjoy an apple! They are sweet, yummy and loaded with health benefits.

Here are some of those benefits:

• The SEATON study, conducted at the University of Aberdeen, UK, found that the children of mothers who ate the most apples were less likely to ever have wheezed or have doctor-confirmed asthma at the age of 5 years.
• Apples have powerful antioxidants called flavonoids, which can help prevent against cancer.
• Apples and apple juice are two important foods contributing the mineral boron to the diet, which may promote bone health.
• Apples contain natural fruit sugars, mostly in the form of fructose.
• Because of apples’ high fiber content, the fruit’s natural sugars are slowly released into the blood stream, helping maintain steady blood sugar levels.

SOURCE, SOURCE

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Top 10 Christmas Favourite Movies

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It is officially Christmas movie season and I am loving the classics this year. I watched Rudolph the other night in awe of how old it was. I love the way the characters waddle from spot to spot. The amazing part is that even though some of these movies are well over 30 years old, they are more popular as the ones that were created recently.

I listed my personal top 10 below in no particular order. Is your favorite on the list?

1. Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)
2. A Christmas Story (1983)
3. Frosty the Snowman (1969)
4. ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas (1974 show)
5. “Polar Express” (2004)
6. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000 movie)
7. “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” (1970)
8. “Home Alone 2” (1992)
9. “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” (1989)
10. “Elf” (2003)

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