Should Mom Bloggers be Held Liable for Their Reviews?

chitchatmom — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 16:31:51 +0000

According to a news article from ABCNews.com mom bloggers could potentially be held liable for their product reviews.

If you’re a mom blogger… or a mom who just loves to read other mom’s blogs and get advice on which products to buy and which to avoid, then you definitely need to read this article.

I first saw the article via a mom I follow on twitter @momwrites. Read the entire article, Parenting Blogs May Be Held Liable for Product Reviews. The gist of it is, many bloggers accept free product in exchange for producing a review for the company/brand that provided the product at no cost. The fed believes that this may be an unfair advertising practice if readers (visitors) are not told that the blogger accepted the product for free… thus providing advertising in trade for the product. It’s my belief that it is the blogger’s responsibility to make it clear that she (or he) did receive the product for free and to be absolutely honest (for good or bad) with their review.

So what do you think? Should mom bloggers tell you when they accept free product in exchange for a written review on their site and should they be held liable for what they write?

My Peg Perego Infant Car Seat Has Arrived

chitchatmom — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:58:10 +0000

I anxiously returned home yesterday from my real job to find that the infant car seat I had ordered from HappyMothers.com on Monday had been delivered! The best part? I didn’t pay for it to arrive in four days. Nope. I got free shipping and they turned around my order that fast. Between HappyMothers.com and Babies “R” Us I am having one heck of a good retail week. Maybe in our troubled economy retailers have decided that they better sprinkle on some extra nice customer service to keep people (mamas especially) happy.

So of course I don’t yet have the baby to put in the car seat and test it out (being as I’m only 22 weeks preggers this week), but as far as I can tell it is well made, sturdy and practically impossible to get off the car seat base. Okay, the might not be entirely true… but I have yet to figure out how to remove the carrier portion from the base. But I’ve got four more months, so I’m not too worried about it. I’ll figure it out.

I ordered the matching stroller from Strollers.com as HappyMothers.com was out of it when I made the decision on Monday to go with this particular carseat and stroller combo. The stroller is set to arrive next week… so I’ll get you an update on that when it arrives. For now, here are the details on the Peg Perego Infant Car Seat in case you’re wondering…

Peg Perego Primo Viaggio Infant Car Seat

Peg Perego Infant Car Seat – Primo Viaggio SIP 30/30(2009)
Color: Mocha (I wanted something gender neutral)
Price: $274.99 (this price included the tax and FREE shipping)

As a bonus, I also received a Cheeky Monkey 6 Jar Pac for free because I used a promo code. The promo code (that I found online at CouponRide.com) said that I would receive a free Save My Seat cover if I typed in: SAVEMYSEAT at checkout in the promo code box. Well I got the Cheeky Monkey 6 Jar Pac instead… so maybe they had just run out of the seat covers. No biggie. I’ll take free goodies for the baby any day. The Cheeky Monkey 6 Jar Pac retails for $19.99 on the site, so not a bad “freebie” if you ask me. If you want to try out the promo code… be my guest. However, it does say that it ends on April 20, 2009.

My What Lovely Cankles You’re Wearing

chitchatmom — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:13:03 +0000

“Hello boobs. Goodbye ankles.”

My cankles this morning

I was prepared for my breasts to increase in size during my pregnancy. In fact, I was excited for it. I’ve always been in the “small chested” category, so getting boobs (even if it’s only temporary) was sort of a bonus to baby making. Unfortunately no one warned me that at the same time my boobs would be showing up, my ankles would be disappearing. I looked down at my feet the other day to find that my once cute feet looked slightly swollen. Okay, not really a big deal. But then I happened to glance a couple of inches up and noticed that there no longer seemed to be a clear definition from where my calves ended and my feet began. Where or where have my ankles gone? Now to be clear, I’m really not complaining. I am absolutely delighted to be preggers. I have many girlfriends that are struggling right now with infertility and miscarriages and so I considered myself very blessed to be 22 weeks pregnant and in great health. I just didn’t know (‘cuz no one ever shared) that I’d be losing my ankles again in the process. It makes me think that next winter while everyone else is wearing their Uggs to stay warm… I might just be sporting crop pants and sandals so that I can once again show off my feminine ankles.

My feet on the beach last Fall looking much more feminine

Great Experience Shopping at Babies R Us

chitchatmom — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:14:01 +0000

I want to share with all you mommies out there what a great experience I recently had at Babies R Us. As I mentioned in a previous post, shopping for baby stuff can be absolutely overwhelming, especially for a first time mom like myself. There are so many products, so many reviews to sort through and a laundry lists of different places to shop. I admit that I love boutique shopping… but just can’t afford the prices, especially in this economy. So naturally, I’m going to end up doing some “big box” shopping for baby gear. I also decided that I would register at both Babies R Us and Target so that friends and family would be able to either shop in store or online without too much hassle.

So here’s where my great Babies R Us experience comes into play. When I went in to the store to add items to my registry that were not available online they noticed that the changing table that was on my registry, that I had already purchased about one month earlier had gone on sale… and they gave me a store credit for the difference! I walked out with a $27 Babies R Us gift card (which will likely go to a necessary purchase like a changing table pad) and a huge smile. Now that’s customer service. I hadn’t noticed that the changing table was on sale and even if I had I might not have thought to ask if a price adjustment was possible. Nope… they just did it. I have to say I am impressed. It’s great to see that there are companies out there that treat their customers right. Well Babies R Us… you have definitely made a loyal customer out of this mama!

Are You a “Wired” Mom?

chitchatmom — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:39:37 +0000

When I read this article on MomLogic.com (one of my fave mom sites on the web) I had to laugh… ‘cuz my first born is still in utero and yep, already I am definitely a “wired” mom. I don’t go anywhere without my cell phone (a Palm Treo… until my contract is up in June when I will promptly be getting an iPhone) which has email and internet capability. I spend almost all day online, although it is part of my job so it’s not like I’m web surfing just for fun. I can hardly watch the evening news (local or national) without saying “read that”, “saw that”, “old news”. The last time my hubby and I took a vacation I insisted on a Caribbean cruise knowing that at least for several days my phone would be out-of-range and I would truly be unavailable to colleagues and friends.

So the MomLogic article did get me to thinking, am I going overboard with the “wired” thing? In truth I’d love to be able to one day quit my “real” job and stay at home to raise my family and work solely as a mom blogger/momtreprenuer. So it would seem that for me becoming “un-wired” really isn’t an option. How about you? Are you a “wired” mom? Have you taken it too far?

Be sure to check out the entire article, Moms Are Wired and It’s Not from the Coffee online at MomLogic.com

“Baby Bargains” is the Best Baby Book I’ve Read So Far

chitchatmom — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 15:15:05 +0000

Now nearing the end of my fifth month of pregnancy, I’ve already managed to read quite a few books about pregnancy and infants. However, being a newcomer to the “mommyhood” I didn’t know that there was a book out there I was missing out on.

A girlfriend of mine recently recommended the book Baby Bargains after I complained about the overwhelming selection of strollers and my confusion in which one to buy. She immediately suggested that I purchase Baby Bargains before buying anything else for baby… what incredible advice. I bought the book last Thursday and by Sunday night had finished it! It wasn’t cheap, about $18 at Barnes & Noble, but it is definitely going to help me save more than $18 in the coming months (and years) The book helps moms (and dads) make decisions on all sorts of baby related items like strollers, high chairs and play yards.

The authors, Denise and Alan Fields give their opinions on which products are good, better, best and where to spend your hard earned cash and where to save your pennies. In addition to their own personal opinions the Fields have done a ton of research and take into consideration the mountains of feedback they get from other parents. Now in it’s 8th edition, I would absolutely recommend this book to any first time parents navigating the overwhelming and deeply stocked shelves of stores like Babies R Us and Target.

Gotta have the book? I bought it in store at Barnes and Noble… but you can save 35% if you buy it online.

Baby Bargains – 8th Edition
Barnes & Noble
Online Price $11.66

Bonus… there is also a website with bonus material that isn’t included in the book. Check it out at BabyBargains.com.

Congrats to Sarah Michelle Gellar

chitchatmom — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 13:23:37 +0000

Actress Sarah Michelle Gellar and hubby (of six years) Freddie Prince Jr. are preggers with their first baby! Sarah is due this coming fall. Read all about it on People.com! Now let’s all cross our fingers and hope they choose a great name for their child… something that isn’t a fruit, a city or type of automobile. No offense meant to any of you mamas that chose to go that route. Every parent is entitled to give their child the name they choose. I’m just not sure how many kids would choose to be Apple, Bronx or Mercedes.

I Finally Bought a Boppy Maternity Pillow

chitchatmom — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 13:15:46 +0000

So I’ve been complaining (a lot) lately about how tough it is for me to sleep on my side, so I figured I ought to try and do something about it. I finally broke down and spent the fifty bucks to buy a maternity pillow. While it hasn’t solved all of my problems, it has in fact made sleeping a little easier. I was sure I would have to order one off a website like Amazon and then one evening I happened to be browsing the baby section at Target when I noticed that they actually had a “Boppy” maternity pillow in stock. I bought it, took it home, washed the slip cover and set to work at trying to sleep with it. Like I said before, it did make it better. Not perfect, but better.

Probably my biggest complaint about the particular pillow I bought was that I found the slip cover to be pretty rough. It was promoted as soft pima cotton on the packaging… soft maybe if you’re a porcupine. It was not soft at all. I’ve now washed it several times with fabric softener and while it improves a little with each wash, I still have to put one of my own pillow cases over the top part that is by my head in order to not sand off my face at night.

If your local Target doesn’t carry the Boppy maternity pillow in store you can also order it online at Target.com for $49.99. It’s called the Boppy Total Body Pillow.

Treatment for Peanut Allergies

chitchatmom — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 15:11:46 +0000

More than 2 million U.S. children suffer from food allergies and have from mild to severe reactions when they come in contact with foods they are allergic to. Peanuts have long been one of the culprits in terms of food allergies and cause about half of the deaths every year in the U.S. that are related to food allergies. Well it looks like there is some good news for kids and parents who have to worry about peanut allergies. In two to three years it may be possible for a treatment to be developed that could help those people suffering from peanut allergies. What a relief that would be for moms that have little ones with the allergy! Want to know more? Read the article in New York Times.

Happy St. Patty’s Day!

chitchatmom — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 15:04:43 +0000

Hope you all have a very lovely St. Patty’s Day. Yahoo has put together a microsite all about St. Patrick and is separating the fact from fiction about the Catholic saint. I found it interesting. Here’s the link: http://twurl.nl/o4ve43