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This picture above will make you laugh.  It made me laugh.  It also made me mad.  I imagined bringing that product home, Emily in a fever pitch of excitement waiting to use it, hubby spending time to get it together and then… huh?  I imagined the disappointment and the inevitable tears.

It makes me so mad that businesses are losing their integrity.  We would never, ever sell a product that we didn’t believe in, and never sell a product under false pretences (as above).  Every time I seal a box (which does happen) I personally imagine the delight on a little girl’s face when she opens it up and sees all those little white boxes and Emily Rose stickers.  I picture her opening up the tissue paper and exclaiming, “it is just what I imagined!”  Do us a favor and let us know if that doesn’t happen in your house.  We are here to make all of our customers happy.

Of course, it is true that there are some people in this world that we couldn’t make happy no matter what we did :-)  But we are confident that we can tackle even those people as long as we stick to our values and hold on to our integrity.

The adventures of Marisol and Sophie…

For more Wordless Wednesday fun visit 5 Minutes for Mom

And the randomly selected winner of our August Contest is… Daryl Treger from Michigan.  Shoot us an email Daryl so we can send you your prize!

It seems as though a huge controversy was stirred by a New York columnist who wrote about the fact that our kids need more independence.  She handed her 9 year old son a metrocard, a subway map, some quarters for pay phones and a $20 bill and told him to make his way to Bloomingdales.  He made it to Bloomingdales safe and unscathed and brimming with sense of independence and accomplishment.  The columnist however was lambasted with criticism after she wrote about it in her paper.  You can read more from Rosa Brooks in the LA times about letting children “Go Outside and Play” here.

It made me think about my own childhood.  My brother and sister and I walked 2 miles to school and back every day, starting when I was about 7 years old.  Unaccompanied by an adult.  We wandered the miles long “Streamside Walk” that rambled through our town - just us kids.  We stayed out playing tag and hide and seek in the streets until it got dark and we were shouted in by our Mum.  These are some of the greatest memories of my childhood, and I am sure most of you have similar ones.

Now I can not agree with putting a 9 year-old on the Subway.  I think that’s a little extreme.  But as Rosa says, the chances of your child getting in a serious car accident are higher that the chances she would get kidnapped.  So why are we all so resistant to letting our kids play outside… alone.  I think the real issue is one that Rosa did not mention in her article… parent peer pressure.  Let’s face it, we all know the maturity level of our own children.  Your child who is 12 may not be as reliable or independent as the neighbours 9 year-old.  But isn’t that up to you as a Parent to decide?  I remember when Emily started 3rd grade and was riding the school bus for the first time, she felt grown-up and independent.  I walked with her the 500 feet across the neighbourhood to the bus stop for the first week and then she asked me if she could walk on her own.  I let her.  Based on the reactions of the other parents at that bus stop you would have thought that Emily was now hang-gliding to the bus stop every morning.  I actually had one parent approach me and question my parenting skills!

I believe that our job as parents is to teach children the skills they will need when they no longer have us to walk beside them to the bus stop.  The first time Emily goes on a business trip I don’t want her to get stuck at the airport having a panic attack out of fear of traveling alone like one of my young colleagues did when I worked in corporate.  Yes of course it is our job to watch over them, make sure they don’t get majorly hurt but it is also our job to teach them independence and confidence.  The world is a scary place, but let’s not make our kids terrified to live in it.

I’d love to hear your opinions on this one.  What is your strategy for raising an indepent American girl?

Title: Dragon’’s of Deltora: Dragon’’s Nest, by Emily Rodda

Storyline: Lief, king of Deltora, has found a piece from an ancient map. It shows the way to the furthest eastern point, Dragon’’s Nest. He, Barda, and Jasmine embark on a quest to Dragon’’s Nest to destroy the legendary Sister of the East. What perils will befall them? Can they defeat one of the Shadowlord’’s greatest weapons yet?

Favorite Character: My favorite character would have to be Lief. He is brave and determined to do the right thing for his people. But he can be headstrong and jump to quick conclusions.

What I Most Liked: My favorite part was when Lief, Barda, and Jasmine find out the truth about the Ruby Dragon and defeat the Sister of the East.

What I Least Liked: My least favorite part is when the companions are tricked by the Capricorn named Rolf, a powerful servant of the Shadowlord.

Why I Would Recommend it to a Friend: It is exciting! There are many unexpected surprises. Some parts are suspenseful and others are thrilling!

by: Callie Ostrowski, age 12

If you have a book review you would like us to publish (and you are between the ages of 5-14) please comment here and we will contact you.

I don’t know about all of you but I am currently on the hunt for Mom/Daughter activities.  This year I have vowed that I will stop working on time during the school week - even it it means I have to work late at night so that Emily and I can do some fun stuff together.  We love to scrapbook, we love to draw, we love to play cards, but I have been hunting for something different.  Activities that will be new and surprising for both of us.

Well I just found this cool set of Hunkin’s Experiments.  All of these experiments are illustrated as cartoons - which is really fun - and what a variety!  There are tons of fun quick food experiments like, how to make orange peel fangs, or how to bake a potato in the sun.  Then there are more complex and interesting experiments like instructions for actually making paper.  I can’t wait to explore all of these with Emily and make a list for our experiment adventures.

For more Wordless Wednesday fun go to 5 Minutes for Mom.

We keep meaning to post spotlights on some of our favorite products for your American Girl, but other fun stuff we find keeps taking up the space

Today I was chatting with my sister Michelle about inventory and ordering and was surprised once again that we didn’t have to re-stock the Vintage Polka Dress from Carpatina for your American Girl.  Honestly, Michelle and I can’t understand why this dress isn’t selling like crazy!  In fact - it is currently on the “Endangered Product” list.  What is the Endangered Product list you say?  Well we only want to offer products that you love so we have several ways of monitoring the Emily Rose “worthiness” of products that we sell.  We monitor using tools like our focus group, customer reviews, telephone feedback and of course sales volume - if it the product does not score high enough… well… it is removed.

Carpatina is one of our favorite vendors.  To me, they just shout “quality”.  This dress is no exception.  It is a gorgeous satin fabric with an adorable polka-dot trim.  The dress has a lovely tulle underskirt that really gives it that “poof”.  It is tailored to your doll’s shape and fits the American Girl doll like a glove.  The rose trim and ribbon at the waist is the perfect finish to this gorgeous doll dress.

We have been talking about this dress now for ages.  We thought maybe it was the photo so we have tried to take others but none looked any better so we gave up.  You’ll just have to trust us on this one… it’s beautiful.

Due to the sales volumes we have only had one customer review on this dress but it was a good one.  Shelby gave it 5 stars!  Here it is:

I think that this dress is soooo cute!  Molly and Kit fight over it because they like how shiny and silky it is.  It looks even more adorable with a pair of Mary Jane shoes and a pink barrette.  I like the little rosette on the middle of the front pleat and how the tulle underskirt makes it poofy.  Sometimes I wish I had one just like it!  Any girl would love this dress for her doll! (And the price on this is just awesome because I bought it with my own money!)

It’s that time again.  We are winding down from summer camp and vacations and trips to the pool.  We are making endless trips to Target and Kohls stocking up on school supplies and school clothes.  I’ll bet your kids are ready to go back.  I’ll bet you are ready for them to go back.

Well as luck would have it, we discoverd a way for you to kill three birds with one stone (you know we would never actually kill any birds - it’s just an expression.)

1.  Quiet the end of summer chants of “I’m bored Mom, what can I do?”

2.  Assist your back-to-school organizing and cleaning efforts.

3.  Give your kids some really cool and original supplies to go back to school with.

On the Daily Danny website we discovered a great step-by-step guide to making cool crayon creations out of your old, stubby crayons.  You know - the ones we throw away all the time because we don’t know what else to do with them.

We loved the idea of using all of your cookie cutters you have sitting in the back of your kitchen drawer to make some really stylish crayon shapes.  Check out Danny’s blog for all of the instructions.  Emily and I are going to try it and will post our pictures here.  We’d love to see the results of your efforts too!

Here are some pictures from Danny’s website… cool huh?

The great thing about our daughter is how much she loves to really play with her American Girl dolls.  She doesn’t just dress them and put them on the shelf, she actually plays with them and gives them adventures all of their own.  So its always great when her friends come over and help to add to the fun.  So why not set up a proper little American Girl doll party?  We came across some party ideas on http://www.plan-an-elegant-tea-party.com/an-american-girls-tea-party.html

Have fun!