My three-year-old has something incredibly strange going on with his ears. They work perfectly if someone opens the cookie jar in the kitchen, even from three rooms away. But ask him to put away his shoes or pack up his Lego and bang! – deaf as a post. Of course, there's nothing really wrong with his hearing, but just wait until he’s old enough to discover his dad’s iPod, his PS2 or some other din-producing gadget.
That’s where these nifty children’s headphones from Ultimate Ear come in. The Loud Enough headphones are designed to protect little eardrums from the ravages of loud music and loud video games. They’ll even plug in to your portable dvd player. Your kids can listen as much as they like without turning that annoying selective deafness into the real thing. It's all thanks to the in-built noise protection device that limits any sound source to less than half of its maximum volume. Clever? We think so. They are PVC free and even come with a set of extra small ear buds to fit pint-sized ears.
Loud Enough headphones are marketed as suitable for kids aged six and up. They are going to be available in Australia next week at Try & Byte for $59.95, you can pre-order then now so you don't miss out.
I already love my iPhone but if you haven't already ordered one here is just one more reason for us mums to join the iPhone community: they have a breastfeeding application! What haven't they designed for this phone?
With a simple start/stop interface, the application records which side you fed on and for how long, giving you full logging of all your feeds. You can group your feeds by day and get totals to show your doctor or lactation consultant if necessary.
My husband has an old uncle who gives us a calendar for Christmas every year. We’ve had yachts. We’ve had Matisse paintings. We’ve had waterfalls of the world. We’ve had old Aussie pubs. What we’ve never, ever had is anything as way-out cool as this bubble wrap calendar.
The 2009 calendar gives you a super-sized bubble to pop every day for an entire year. That’s 365 bubbles for the popping so it’s no surprise that the calendar comes in at a rather large 44cm by 122cm. If you’re anything like me, that will mean absolutely nothing. So I’ll put it this way. It’s poster-sized.
Once you find a wall space big enough for it, the only trick will be to stop the kids – and any bubble-wrap addicted adults - from popping all the bubbles at once.
The US-made calendars are available online with a paper backing for $US29.95 or in a heavy-duty plastic backing for $US49.95. Bubble Calendars will ship to almost everywhere including Australia.
Remember the funky LED Bathroom Tap Light we found last year that turns the water flow in your bath or sink blue or red according to temperature? Well, we’ve just discovered the tap light’s even groovier big brother.
The LED Shower Light connects to any standard shower head and changes from blue to red when the water in your shower heats up. Great for those early days at home with a newborn when you’re in zombie-mode. But also a great gimmick for getting reluctant toddlers or preschoolers to take a shower. Importantly, the blue-to-red change happens at a child-friendly 32 degrees.
You can get one from ThinkGeek for US$39.99 plus delivery to Australia. Want one but don’t have a standard shower head in your bathroom? Don’t panic. A hand-held shower version with four colours is also on its way.
Fancy a window to the cosmos in your very own bathroom? Project the
wonderment of the universe onto your walls and bathtub with this
Homestar Spa Planetarium from Sega Toys, a Saturn-esque globe
that's watertight
and perfectly shaped for floating beside you in the bath.
If space isn't your thing, then lie back and appreciate the rose petal
and deep sea settings.
Mini projectors such as the
Homestar Pure Mini Planetarium
in
various incarnations
have been thrilling people
in their lounge rooms for years, and now the product range has expanded
so you can have the night's sky in every room in the
house. My kids would undoubtedly be transfixed by these neat machines,
and it would certainly be great for calming down those
overtired kids at bathtime. Mine tend to ramp up in the bath just when
they should be winding down, so I'll be watching keenly for
the release of the planetariums. They'll be launched later
this month at the Tokyo Toy Show. The word is that it'll cost around
7000 yen, or around AUD$70.
