Playing video games is a great way to pass the time. Verizon expanded its free gaming options yesterday for customers through the More at Home…On Us program! Since March, gaming has increased as much as 75% on Verizon networks.
More at Home on Us is a program offering customers access to premium TV channels and new learning tools at no additional cost. Now, they are offering customers more entertaining ways to virtually connect and redeem offers to receive the following:
Pokémon GO: Since it recently updated its format to support players who can’t venture outside, players get a Premium Battle Pass, 65 PokéBalls and 2 Incense to aid in catching Pokémon and connect with other players from the comfort of home.
Roblox: On the global platform where millions gather daily, players get 500 Robux to upgrade their avatar or access special in-game abilities while they explore immersive, user-generated 3D worlds with their friends.
Sago Mini World: Parents can offer younger children access to hundreds of activities designed to help preschoolers develop creativity and other skills through guided play. Verizon customers can sign-up to get access to 35+ fun apps on the platform for 60 days on us.
Customers who sign-up for Verizon 5G Home service can separately get Google Stadia Premiere Edition, as available, including a Stadia Controller, a Google Chromecast Ultra and 3 months of Stadia Pro on Us. More details at verizon.com/5g/home.
In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Disney is releasing non-medical, reusable cloth faces masks to keep kids and parents safe. Of course, they wouldn’t be Disney without a little magic!
The character-themed masks will feature fan faves from Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars lines. Edward Park, senior vice president, Disney store and shopDisney states, “Our hope is that Disney’s cloth face masks featuring some of our most beloved characters will provide comfort to the families, fans and communities that are so important to us.”
In addition to offering the new masks for sale, Disney will also be donating one million cloth masks to families in vulnerable and underserved communities. The masks will be distributed in partnership with Atlanta-based humanitarian aid organization, MedShare.
Finally, Disney plans to donate all profits of mask sales in the U.S. to MedShare, up to $1 million. The donations will occur from until Sept. 30, 2020.
The masks will come in small, medium and large sizes, with plenty of patterns to choose from! Additionally, they are in alignment with the FDA’s recommendations on non-surgical, non-industrial grade face masks.
All Disney cloth face masks are available for pre-order now in packs of four on shopDisney.com in the U.S., and are estimated to ship in June.
*Editor’s Note: According to the CDC, children under age 2, or anyone who has trouble breathing, is unconscious, incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance should not use a cloth face covering.
Mike Tyson famously said, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Clearly, he was talking about parenthood. Well, maybe not when he said it . . . but it applies nonetheless. Trust me.
If you are reading this, then, in all likelihood, you are a parent or expecting to be one at some point in the future and have already had your plan crumble to pieces, or you are delusional and think that you can defy the odds and that your plan will be the one that doesn’t fail. Can’t you hear the sound of naivety when the soon-to-be-dad (or mom) says, “When I have a kid” or “my child will never . . . ”?
I had a plan. Well, I didn’t. Not at first. I’ll explain . . . On a sunny Sunday afternoon, while shopping for a brand-new Jeep, my girlfriend at the time (now my wife, Lacey) turned to me and said, “We need to go home.”
We had been at the dealership for less than an hour when Lace said this. Meanwhile, I had mentally prepared myself to be there for at least the next three hours, negotiating with the salesman while he went back to talk to his boss every fifteen minutes as I threatened to walk out. I explained to her that we couldn’t leave, not just yet, and that this (buying a new car) is a process, which may take a while.
She graciously waited for me to finish my rant on the car buying experience then explained to me that she hadn’t gotten her “monthly visit,” felt ill, and needed to get a pregnancy test. Needless to say, we left the Jeep dealership . . . immediately.
We didn’t need to ask, “How did this happen?” We both knew the night the puck slipped past the goalie (that’s a whole separate column, which involves my Down Syndrome brother, Adam, calling me a “p*ssy” for not drinking).
So, after leaving the dealership, we stopped at Rite Aid and grabbed a pregnancy test. Five minutes later, she was peeing on a stick and, three minutes after that, we were questioning whether we saw a blue line or not. Not ten minutes had passed before I was driving to CVS to get another pregnancy test because the one we had bought at Rite Aid had not given us a clear enough answer (sidebar: There was definitely a blue line there; we just couldn’t face reality) and I was far too embarrassed to go back into the same Rite Aid and get another, different pregnancy test.
I made it home, she peed, and our fate was sealed; the word “PREGNANT” on the stick was not at all ambiguous this time. We were having a baby.
And so, the planning began. Our son was going to be the heir apparent to Tom Brady, starting quarterback for the New England Patriots, when he retires in 2035. No, better, he was going to be President of the United States—probably the youngest one ever after he graduated from Harvard Law School at the age of 18.
Being an avid Jordan enthusiast, I bought him five pairs of baby Jordans that evening while enjoying some wine to celebrate. Lacey, on the other hand, stared at me steely-eyed while she researched doctors, begrudging that she would be unable to enjoy wine and other stuff she loved for the next nine-plus months.
We met with our doctor a few weeks later and he delivered the first blow: “You’re having a girl.” I was speechless. While the thought of having a little girl had crossed my mind, it was not part of the plan . . . Ugh, the plan . . . My plan . . . was ruined.
Now, instead of playing one-on-one in the driveway while talking about his numerous girlfriends with the triumphant son I had envisioned, I would be sitting with my back against my daughter’s bedroom door pleading with her to open it because “boys are dumb” and “Jake is an a**hole” while secretly being stressed to the max about Jake trying to make my daughter a notch in his belt. Even more, I wasn’t prepared for the all the pink, princess dresses, and having my daughter not speak to me for her teenage years, which I was told comes with having a girl.
When I voiced my concerns about not knowing about how to raise a daughter (not that I had any experience raising a boy or any child for that matter), I was walked off the proverbial ledge by our doctor (he had two daughters of his own) and Lacey. They both emphasized that I would figure it out and everything would be just fine. They were much more helpful than my own father who told me, “Maybe she’ll be a lesbian like your sister and there will be nothing to worry about.” That was comforting.
Even after my initial plan went down in a first round K.O., I didn’t stop planning. In the months that followed, Lacey and I planned and plotted . . . every . . . single . . . detail . . .
We decided on our daughter’s name: “Harper Autumn;” we planned the design of her bedroom: All owl everything; and we planned for the night Harper would be born: April 29, 2014. Not living near either of our families, both our families had to book flights to LA around the time Harper was due; we coordinated and planned this, too.
Well, April 29 came and went and all we had to show for it was an all owl everything bedroom for a baby who would later be named “Harper Autumn.” Harper was late. Eight days late, to be exact. And, Lacey had to be induced, which was not part of our plan.
No biggie—a few more jabs to the jaw . . . Then, the left hook.
On May 7, we went to Cedars Sinai Hospital for Lacey to be induced. We were told that Lacey would be given Pitocin, which would induce labor, and that we would have our daughter by noon. Perfect. Well, Lacey took the Pitocin, received an epidural, and was a champ . . . about the whole thirteen-hour process. Yup, thirteen hours.
Sidebar: Women are seriously amazing. No way would I have been able to lie there thirteen hours being poked and prodded all day by a plethora of nurses and doctors.
My part in the labor was relatively easy: I lay down on the couch in the room, did some light studying for school, and later watched the NBA Playoffs (which may or may not have remained on in the background while I filmed the birth of our daughter). I also provided all the emotional support Lacey needed and made numerous cafeteria runs whenever prompted to do so.
Then, the moment came. At 8:11PM Harper arrived. It was amazing. I couldn’t remember a single part of any plan we had made. She was perfect: I no longer cared that my first child wasn’t a boy; I didn’t care that she was eight days late; and I no longer cared about anything that didn’t matter . . . As cliché as it sounds, I just wanted her to be healthy. I counted her fingers and toes: ten of each. We were all set. Life was good.
Where’s this left hook you ask?
After we each got to hold our daughter, do skin-to-skin, and snap some photos, the nurses took Harper to bathe her and run some tests. They encouraged us to get some rest, which Lacey needed more than I did, clearly. I figured I would quickly go home and check on our dogs (we lived less than a mile away from the hospital) while Lacey got some sleep.
About twenty minutes later I got a panicked phone call from Lace: “They haven’t brought her back!” I tried to calm her down and told her everything was fine and that I was headed back. When I got to the hospital about ten minutes later, I was met by Lacey in the hallway, pulling her IV. Mind you, this woman had given birth less than two hours ago and had ZERO business being out of bed.
“SHE’S NOT BACK YET!” she exclaimed as she saw me. “No one is telling me anything.” I tried not to panic.
We were then brought to the Nursery, where Harper was. But she wasn’t like all the other newborns in there. Harper had tubes everywhere and an astronaut-like helmet on pumping oxygen for her to breathe. Yep, this kid was not breathing right. That was not part of the plan.
We were informed that Harper would have to be admitted to the NICU (Newborn Intensive Care Unit) and that only one of us would be allowed to be with her up there overnight. I lost that battle to my wife. This was the left hook.
My parents lost a child (full-term stillbirth) when I was four years old, and I couldn’t shake that thought. Were we going to lose Harper? Would we try to have another child? How would this affect our relationship? None of this was part of the plan.
For the next twenty-three hours, we were surrounded by other families that had their plans interrupted. No one ever says, “Yeah, when we have our first child we plan on spending hours or days in the NICU not making eye contact with the other parents in there because we secretly hope our situation is not as bad as theirs and don’t want to get too familiar.”
I’m not going to lie, that left hook made our knees buckle. We were dazed . . . but we never fell. Instead, we took photos and comforted one another. We said we would figure this all out and get through it. And we did.
Twenty hours after being admitted to the NICU, Harper began breathing regularly. It turned out that being eight days late had made her lazy; she expected Lacey to do everything for her on the outside, too. Too bad that’s not how it works, kiddo. Yeah, my kid was an a**hole (I can call her that; she’s my kid). After all, she is her father’s daughter.
They released her from the NICU a few hours later. We spent twenty-three hours in total in the NICU, scared every minute that we were going to lose our daughter or that she would have brain damage from not breathing and that we would have to get her special help . . . none of which was ever part of the plan or ever actually happened.
Harper is three years old now, and the punches haven’t stopped being thrown, but we’re getting better about dodging them. That’s parenthood: Dodging punches.
Am I saying, “Don’t plan anything”? No, that’s idiotic. However, as a parent you need to be flexible because, well, stuff it going to happen.
Your daughter may hug you as you leave for work and get toothpaste on your suit; your kid may poo up his or her back and all over your brand-new carpet; and you may find yourself getting used to the taste of pee that erupts out of your son’s diaper every time you change him because he gets excited when YOU change him. This is parenthood.
Everyone experiences similar things and anyone who says otherwise is a liar. “Everything went as planned,” said no one, ever, when discussing having and raising kids. So, if your plan gets altered, don’t worry: It happens to us all. Rolling with the punches builds character and makes for a really good story every now and then.
But, remember this . . . if you’re going to make a plan, don’t forget to keep a mouth-guard handy. See, I told you Mike Tyson was talking about parenthood.
Your Friend and My Favorite,
Stephen
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I know summer is months away and here I am telling you to start planning for summer camp. But making plans now can mean the difference between a successful camp experience at the camp that best suits your child and a frantic summer spent calling around for last-minute camp opportunities. Here are six reasons you should plan early for summer camp:
1. Save Money. Camp is different than many travel-related products in that the best deals come early. It is very unlikely that you will see prices for a reputable summer camp drop as the season approaches. There are two main reasons for this. First, generally, demand exceeds availability at the best camps. Second, camps consider their customers long term partners since many families return year after year and even over multiple generations. Therefore, it is seen as short-sighted to discount spaces at the last minute at the risk of alienating those who paid full price and signed up early. The best discounts are usually early-bird specials and the deadlines depend on the registration cycle for each camp. A well-established overnight camp will usually start taking applications in the fall so early bird deadlines may be as early as December or January. A local day camp may not open registration until spring so May 1st may be their early deadline. You will need to do some research but the majority of camps offer discounts for early registration. Other common savings include sibling and multiple session discounts.
2. Financial Aid requires forward planning. If you want financial aid to help with the costs of camp, those deadlines can sometimes be months ahead of the summer season. Again, the reason is largely to do with demand. If a camp is filling all their sessions by February, they can’t keep open a range of spots for applicants who need financial aid. The financial aid deadline will largely be in line with, and often even earlier than the early registration deadline. Many camps will require proof of income so make sure you allow time to get these documents together before the deadline. Remember, some camps have affordability as their primary mission and in these cases, deadlines are often more flexible and later in the season. You can do a simple Google search for free and low-cost summer camps to find these flexible options.
3. Your camper needs time to get used to the idea of camp. The end of the school year is stressful for children and parents. Don’t add the stress of figuring out summer camp plans to that already busy time. Make your decision now and let your camper enjoy the long build-up to camp. Most camps are active with social media, videos, emails, and newsletters and use these channels to build excitement among campers. Let your camper be a part of the excitement as it builds.
4. Time to find a friend. A lot of families decide they really want their child to go to camp with a friend. Although camp directors will generally downplay the importance of this, it makes things easier for a lot of first-time campers. Other families use camp as a way to connect cousins or distant friends who don’t see each other often. As hard as it is to coordinate one family’s summer plans, it is exponentially harder with multiple families. So get some camp dates on the calendar now before everyone’s summer is full.
5. Time to buy the stuff you need. A one-week day camp will have a very basic list of things to bring each day but a multi-week overnight camp might have a long list of specialist clothing and equipment that is needed. Most of the needed items can be sourced quite cheaply if you have enough time. Booking camp early will also give you the time to go through the ritual of naming all of your child’s belongings so that at least some of it will come home at the end of the session.
6. You can plan around the camp dates. If you are sending all of your kids to camp at the same time, especially an overnight camp, you suddenly have time on the calendar to arrange things for yourself. Maybe that’s a vacation without the kids. Interestingly, the most common decision by suddenly and temporarily childless parents is a working staycation. Many parents with kids at camp used to travel abroad but now the trend seems to be saving precious vacation time for family trips but using the kids being away to have adult time. You might still work but have time in the evenings for late dinners, movies, walks, binge-watching TV, etc. And, if the kids are at overnight camp, the weekends are gloriously free of kid’s sports, birthday parties, and kids in general. All of this makes you a much more patient parent for the rest of the summer. It’s a real win-win situation.
I am a summer camp director and youth development professional. I have 3 kids all now over the age of 18. Oh the lessons I learned! I enjoy writing, walking, travelling, and binge watching on Netflix. I truly believe that Summer Camp is an important learning opportunity for all children.
Forgot the rolls or cranberry sauce? Before you hop in the car for a last-minute Thanksgiving ingredient, check out our list of all the stores that are open and closed this holiday. We’ve found 17 stores that are here to save the day, as well as six that are closed on the big day.
The refugee crisis in Syria is getting some much needed educational aid from the place that welcomes all children, Sesame Street.
“Less than two percent of all humanitarian aid funding goes on education, even though half of the world’s refugees are kids,” David Miliband, head of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) told CBS News. Sesame Workshop, the company behind one of the longest-running educational series for kids, has partnered with the IRC to help.
Thanks to a $100 million dollar grant from the MacArthur Foundation Sesame Workshop is producing a new Sesame Street series in Arabic made just for children in refugee camps. The show will revolve around a muppet named Basma, who befriends Jad, a muppet who has just moved into her neighborhood. While Jad is never labeled as a refugee explicitly, there are hints like the fact that he has left behind all of his belongings.
Besides the traditional preschool curriculum that Sesame Street is built on, the series, which is titled Ahlan Simsim, meaning Welcome Sesame, will also focus on teaching kids how to deal with difficult feelings, like anger and frustration, that arise out of their situation. “We want every episode to identify an emotion, but then give really concrete actions so that children can learn what to do,” explained Scott Cameron, a veteran Sesame Street producer who is running this new show.
The series will air in 20 countries in the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf starting in February.
Amazon has your holiday shopping covered. The mega-retailer recently announced fast, convenient and easy ways to buy and ship everything on your family’s wish list.
With the holidays coming soon Amazon has expanded its Prime Free Same-Day Delivery service for millions of items delivered in 46 major metropolitan areas. Along with Same-Day service, Prime members can also enjoy free One-Day Delivery on more than 10 million items.
Maria Renz, Vice President, Global Delivery Experience, Amazon, said in a press release, “We know the holidays can be a busy time, especially with 2019 being one of the shortest shopping seasons. Our goal is to make the season as easy as possible for customers and deliver smiles at every turn, whether it’s shopping the largest selection available for free shipping, or getting holiday essentials delivered the very same day and more.”
Along with expanded Same-Day and One-Day Delivery, Amazon also offers shoppers the chance to choose their place of delivery option. Select from self-service Hub Lockers, in-store staffed pickup spots in participating Rite Aid, GNC, Stage and Health Mart store locations or at-home delivery.
If you don’t want a steady parade of Amazon boxes landing on your doorstep day after day, opt for Amazon Day. This allows Prime members to pick one day to receive all their orders.
Calling all emoji enthusiasts, users and over-users––it’s that time of year again! World Emoji Day has come and gone—and in it’s wake Apple recently previewed a super-sized selection of what’s to come.
So what can you expect from your iOS device’s emoji options this fall? According to Apple the new emojis will, “Bring even more diversity to the keyboard, alongside fun and exciting additions to popular categories of food, animals, activities and smiley faces.”
With 59 new emojis set to hit iPhones, iPads and iEverythings for the fall 13.0 update, it looks like Apple is seriously focusing on inclusion. The often-used Holding Hands emoji will get an update, allowing users to select from 75 combinations of skin tones and genders.
The new emojis will also include accessibility-themed additions, such as a prosthetic arm, prosthetic leg, a new guide dog, wheelchairs and an ear with a hearing aid.
Other emojis to look forward to this fall include an all-new yawning smiley face, a one-piece swimsuit, waffles, falafel, butter and garlic. And if you’re all about animals, Apple will unveil a new sloth, flamingo, skunk and orangutan.
Who has time to stay home and wait for their packages? Not you! And now, with Amazon’s new Counter service, you don’t have to.
The Internet giant recently announced the addition of Counter, a network of staffed pickup points for packages in partner stores. With more than 100 Counter locations already up and running across the country (and thousands to come soon), you can now get your goods delivered by Amazon at your local participating Rite Aid store.
photo: Courtesy of Business Wire
Patrick Supanc, Worldwide Director of Amazon Hub, said in a press release, “With Counter, we’ve leveraged our growing logistics network and invested in new, easy to use technology to give customers yet another delivery option rooted in flexibility and control. We are excited to partner with national businesses like Rite Aid, and local businesses in the future, to create an outstanding experience for our shared customers.”
So how do you use Counter? Just shop Amazon as you normally would. Select one of the Counter pickup points at checkout and wait for an email. The email will come with a barcode to use for pickup, the address of the participating Counter store and the store’s hours. You’ll have 14 days from the time you get the email to pickup your order.
