Archives for November, 2007

Noodad Labs Product Review: The Kaboost

Posted on 11 09, 2007 under Doodads by Noodad | Comments

kaboost_kids_sMy son is a little over 2 1/2 years old. But he wants to act like a 5 year old. This is because his older sister is 5 and well, he just relates to her more than his 7 month old younger brother. This greatly accelerates his willingness to do things for himself and most of the time that is good.

But when it comes to sitting at the dinner table, it is become quite a headache. See, he knows he isn’t a baby like his younger brother so he doesn’t want to sit in a highchair (nor do we want him to) but he associates a booster seat as basically the same thing. This mostly due to the fact that he is seat belted in his booster seat.

For months, my wife and I struggled with the fact that he wanted to sit in one of our dining room chairs just like his sister. And for months it meant that even though his sister was tall enough to sit with her butt on her chair, he went through meals on his knees.

Thankfully, a brilliant entrepreneur named Amir Levin, decided to do something about it. Levin had the ability to access the situation completely differently. Instead of changing the booster, modify the chair it used to be strapped into. The result is the Kaboost , a plastic booster that you strap the dining room chair into rather than the other way around.

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How I Scam Almost Every Piece of Halloween Candy from My Kids

Posted on 11 02, 2007 under The Manual by Noodad | Comments

secuestro_on_lineHalloween is over and your kids are loading up on candy. But the last thing you want is for your kid to eat all of it. This is some serious dental work at stake, not to mention the prolonged hyperactivity that typically accompanies serious candy eating the week following October 31st. There is a very simple way to deplete their booty and that is called: stealing.

But for those who don’t like the idea of robbing your kids (and those people clearly see parenting through rose-colored glasses) there are other ways to limit their stash. Make it about their health.

My kids are crafty little devils. Not literally: they were actually crafty Elina from Fairytopia, Buzz Lightyear, and Yoda. But the oldest two are old enough to know candy rules and it is not a good thing to let mom and dad take it away. This helps us in negotiating techniques for a good couple of weeks: “Finish your broccoli and you can have a piece of Halloween candy.” But if you don’t downsize the bucket early on, it will take a long, long time to get rid of it.
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