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Just in time for the swimming season, my friend Kim sent a link to a shocking story. This video discusses an important danger that can occur after your child swims or bathes. Dry Drowning can occur an hour or more after swimming or bathing and results from damage to the lungs from inhaled water.

You must look out for warning signs of Dry Drowning after water play, including:

1. Difficulty breathing
2. Extreme fatigue
3. Change in behavior or motor functions

Please watch the video for more information about a little boy who died from this condition and advice from an NYU physician on how to spot this situation in your own children.

Okay, so I was helping to pack emergency kits at the kids’ elementary school the other day and got a little overwhelmed by the possibility of an earthquake or fire here in Southern California, so I’ve got emergencies on the brain.

I started scouring my house to assemble a good emergency kit, but kept wondering if I really had what I needed. Then I came across this awesome site: The Hip Homemaker and found a great write up on what to keep in your kit.

Who would have thought of all of these things on their own? I’m lucky to find my keys on my key ring every morning, so making this kit was a real eye opener. Now I can’t imagine scrambling through my kitchen, garage, tool box, junk drawer and closets in an emergency.

Given the devastating emergencies that have hit close to home and around the world in recent years, don’t you think it might be wise to give yourself and your family this gift today?

Yours in Peace of Mind,
Mamigami

My brother-in-law and sister-in-law sent me this frightening video about fire safety and the effectiveness of smoke alarms. Please watch it and I think you’ll agree - you need to have a home fire safety drill as soon as possible. Work with your children to help them:

1. Recognize a fire alarm
2. Know what action they should take
3. Know the best routes to get safely out of your house
4. Know how to check and react if their room door is blocked by fire
5. Know how to stop, drop and roll if their clothes or hair catch on fire
6. Know where they should assemble to meet up with other family members and who they can go to for help in the neighborhood

Ever get to the shopping cart check out stage and wonder about the promotional codes they ask for? I always feel a little cheated if I don’t have one. I checked around recently to see how I could get into the saving code action. Here are some great sites to check out during your next big purchase check out:

Current Codes

Coupon Cabin

Best Online Coupons

Here’s to saving a little extra this month!

This is a cool visual effect site that will amuse the kids (and mom) for a few minutes.

You can drag and drop shapes, draw lines or bring animated objects into a “doppler” radar style screen. When the radar swings around, the images it passes are transmitted to a customized kaleidoscope.

Impressive, fun and great for teaching spatial relationships.

Enjoy a little fun!

This is a great video filmed by moms about how to start volunteering with your family.

Check out The Volunteer Family for more opportunities in your community.

Raising Charitable Children- Mom Matters #3

Jewno: Purim Party, The Shushan Channel at 92YTribeca

My adorable sister, Anya Garrett, had the spotlight recently, when she starred in this hilarious parody of the film Juno. She plays Jewno, a jewish girl who hooks up with a young main fresh from his Bar Mitzvah. If you are Jewish, or even if you grew up in New York, you’ll laugh out loud. She tells me she’ll never eat lox again. I think you’ll understand why.

Have a blast.

Check out my Technorati Profile.

If you are anything like the rest of us, you are starting to feel the pinch at the pump, and in a bunch of other areas of your life. It’s now considered chic to be seen as a saver. For years, it was the best kept secret of the super wealthy to be thrifty with money, and now regular folks are forsaking a latte for the sake of protecting or building a nest egg. Budget conscious websites and companies are cropping up everywhere to meet this growing interest. So, you don’t have to be in the Robin Leach league to tuck away a few coins. Here are some great options:

For the past 4 years, I’ve been dutifully doing my holiday and birthday shopping online with UPromise merchants and have amassed thousands of dollars for my darling sons’ college funds. It is, dare I say, even fun to challenge myself to see if I can find what I need at a UPromise merchant. They have a great selection of participating stores with great sales and prices, as well as frequent bonus savings and free shipping offers, so I stay a loyal shopper.

Red Plum

You’ve probably seen their logo in your mailbox on the weekly shopping circulars, but have you checked out the new Red Plum website? It’s chock full of tips, savings, contests, coupons and videos to help you save money with great brands. I’m sure you’ll be impressed when you try their virtual coupon clipping tools. Just save coupons as you browse and print them all out neatly at the end. No more scissors and paper cuts! Yeah!

Cool Savings

Another great site for finding deals is Cool Savings. Simply register for free and find a ton of offers, coupons, samples and contests in many budget-friendly categories.

What’s your best tip for saving money? Please let me know!

Thanks,
Mamigami

I love companies whose mission is to promote global awareness, and I like it even more when they pledge to support worthy charities. In that vein, I was excited to find Tea Collection - a company with adorable globally inspired fashions for children 0-8 years old (perfect for my brood of three under 8). I was lucky enough to score this coupon to share with you. Hurry! Until May 21th, they are pledging 20% of their sales to the Global Fund For Children.