As school gets back in session, I am sure every Mommy-Blogger in the world is going to be blogging about first day of school jitters (for both parent and child) over the next few weeks. Nothing new here- yesterday was Kelly's first day of first grade at a new school.

I could tell she was excited about her first day when she appeared in the kitchen, fully dressed, at 6:51 am. (Keep in mind that school starts at 9:15 am.) By 7:45 am she had her backpack on. One major problem - she hadn't had a bath in more than a day! (We do baths in the mornings.) She was convinced that her rats-nest hair-do was divine, which made this a little tricky. So, after a minor struggle, she relented and 30 minutes later she was clean with nice, shiny straight hair. (see below)

As I mentioned in New School Daze, I was WAY too stressed out about this first day of school, much more than I should have been. On that point, I was right because she seemed to have a good day. Then again, I am not sure I know exactly how her school day went. When asked, all I got was a 20-minute pitch for why she should be allowed to take the bus because it would be so much faster than the 30-minute carpool line. Given her long oration on facts, points, counterpoints, and summations, I am thinking that she might very well become a lawyer.

After getting no response to my questions about the teacher, projects they worked on, rules she learned, etc., I then asked her if she made any friends. On that note, she lit up, declaring that she had met the "best, best, best friend ever". When asked her name, her response was "I dunno". You have to laugh.

So, as I dig further into the mystery of 1st grade, I will keep you posted. Until then, here is a picture of Kelly heading to school without her two front teeth. (Am I wrong for being glad they haven't grown in yet? She looks so cute!)

Anton starts preschool next week. I have at least another week to go with knots in my stomach. More to come...

I am so glad Kelly can't read my blog yet. She doesn't know it is here. If she did, this blog would make her unnecessarily nervous. For now, this is my place to vent.

What is eating at me? The start of a new school! Kelly is about to start at a new elementary school in 1st grade. I went to one school (system) from kindergarten through 9th grade, so I remember 'new kids' but was never one until I switched schools in 10th grade. While I know it is not always a bad thing, I am terribly nervous for her, way more than I should be and way more than I was when she started kindergarten.

Part of my nervousness is that she will be the new girl when everyone else went to school together last year. The other is that she is moving from a Montessori program that she thrived in to a traditional school. Okay, I know she will be fine, but it is going to be a big change in expectations, methodology, and more.

Luckily, Little Ms. Independence is not worried at all, except that she knows she will have homework  a new concept for her. We will visit her classroom today and then she starts on Monday. The best news for my nerves is that her new school is literally in the back yard of our soon-to-be office! (More on that in the coming weeks!)

My little girl is heading off to 1st grade! I can hardly believe it! Pictures will follow soon.

I love a good marketing campaign, so when the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA - you know, Jerry's Kids!) called to ask if they could lock me up to have my friends bail me out of jail, I was all in.

The campaign was both clever and fun. They had a simple process for loading my contacts into their system and inviting people to 'bail me out' from my personalized website .

The MDA group picked me up at my office yesterday, handcuffed me, and brought me to a club downtown for lunch and 'lock up'. Check out my jailbird picture! Don't you feel sorry for me? All of this fun should not distract from the importance of the MDA cause. MDA helps combat 43 neuromuscular diseases, supports local clinics to provide medical services to patients including leg braces and wheelchairs, and helps send MDA children to summer camps. Seventy-seven percent of all the money MDA spends goes directly toward research, health care services, and education. With a focus on children, my aim was to send as many children to summer camp as possible  giving them an accessible experience that will help their confidence and well-being for the rest of their lives.

I am proud to say that my friends and business contacts together donated enough to send three children to summer camp! Thank you EVERYONE!

For more information on Muscular Dystrophy or to help send a fourth child to camp, please visit my site above.

Times are changing! In response to increasing concern about consumer product safety, congress just passed the most sweeping consumer products legislation of years, decades, maybe ever. I have been tracking this legislation for about a year, even flying up to DC to meet with legislators on various topics.

In general, I am THRILLED with the new legislation. Most of the changes will have little effect on the way we do business at Scandinavian Child, because our manufacturers are doing almost everything they require already. For example, it has never failed to amaze me that ASTM testing standards were voluntary. It pains me to see competing products that clearly cannot meet these basic standards. It also makes us less competitive because it costs us more to make products that meet these standards. (You would be amazed what a feat of engineering the Anka High Chair was to develop within the safety standards and without adding a bunch of plastic and complicated mechanisms.)

To summarize a few key points of the legislation*: " Mandatory Third Party Testing of Certain Children's Products " Tracking Labels of Children's Products " Mandatory Toy Safety Standards " Prohibition of Certain Products Containing Specific Phthalates " Lowers the Allowable Lead Content in Products " The Government Accountability Office (GAO) will study the use of formaldehyde in textiles. " The Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) will have a dramatic increase in funding and staffing to inspect ports and overseas factories.

If you want to know more, the Library of Congress has the full legislation here.

*Sources: Intertek Group and JPMA

Sometimes I wonder whether this is a family blog, an industry blog, or a blog wholly dedicated to Swedish traditions. I guess it can be a little of all of these, since they are all so important to our family's life.

Today, the topic is crayfish  yes, crayfish. As much as most Americans think that crayfish are indigenous only to New Orleans, they are completely wrong. There are several foods that Swedes love universally  loose candy, hot dogs (yes, hot dogs), and crayfish festivals in August. (Drinks are limited to vodka "snaps" and coffee.)

When I say crayfish festivals, I mean just that. This is a national past-time. In fact, all major Swedish newspapers run front page articles in August about which varieties are the best each year. And every grocery store in Sweden sells crayfish printed hats (imaging the cone-shaped kids birthday party hats with crayfish printed on them), bibs, song books, and even banners. These are not for children, for grown-ups. It is amazing. They really do wear them. I guess the Snaps makes everything seem 'cool'.

This year, because we were in Sweden in June instead of August, we were able to celebrate twice. My in-laws scored some pre-season crayfish from a benevolent seafood merchant friend of theirs, allowing us an early feast in Sweden. Then, my amazing husband, managed to find a source for live crayfish in Louisiana. Minimum order  20 pounds of live crayfish. You can't just pick up crayfish at the local store in the U.S. because anything you find will be Cajun-spiced. Swedes like a different flavor, soaking their crayfish in a mixture of beer and dill.

The crayfish appeared at Christer's office last week, packed in ice. Christer selected one particularly frisky one and immediately named him Larry (seen here 'pinch' hitting as his staff assistant  but he was a little 'snappy' with the customers). Larry was very popular with our kids, leading Kelly to ask if we were really going to eat Larry. (Vegans of the world, please stop reading here ... ) The answer, of course, was YES. In fact, I told her that Larry would be sad if we did not eat him because his entire purpose in life was to be eaten.

Both kids happily accepted this position and now apply it to everything, including the ice cream that they insisted would be sad if we did not eat it for dessert tonight. Hmmm ... clever kids.

As Kelly turned six, we realized she was ready for an allowance. I don't think there is any perfect time or way to do it, but we are pretty happy with our approach. We wanted to instill a sense of responsibility to 'earn' her allowance and also give her an idea about saving money.

We needed a few things to make the process work: 1) Responsibility Chart - There are many versions of these, mine was bought at a local crafts fair and is made of felt with Velcro buttons to mark her accomplishments. Mine is from Alma's Designs 2) ATM Machine - Several stores carry versions of these; ours is from Target. 3) A 'real' savings account at our local bank.

Here is how it works. Each week we take a look at her chart and talk about what she did and did not accomplish. Based on how she did, we first determine how much of her $6 allowance she will get, e.g., last week we told you that you needed to remember to make your bed and you only did it half the time, so you will only get $5. Then we set some basic priorities for the next week, e.g., please practice your piano at least three times next week or you will get $1 less allowance.

Her allowance is then divided into three buckets. The first $2 goes into her bank savings account, the second $2 goes into her ATM, and the remaining money can be placed in her wallet. The wallet money can be spent (almost) any way she wants on treats, gumballs, etc. She can save up her ATM money and spend it only on larger items that cost at least $5. The bank savings account will accrue until she is 16 (or 18, we haven't decided).

Yes, it is a little complicated but she seems understand it and is really getting into it more and more each month. She understands that she has to do something to earn the money and is slowly comprehending the three categories. So far, to our amazement, she has not tapped into the ATM money. Wonder what fabulous girly things she will decide to buy with all those one dollar bills!

We all want to set good examples for our kids; washing our hands before dinner, using a seat belt at all times, crossing at the crosswalk, etc. But sometimes, we have to use our bad examples to make a point as well. No point in pretending to be perfect, right?

This was the case one morning earlier this week as we enjoyed our family breakfast together. My husband decided to use me as an example of exactly why it is important to use sunscreen. Yes, I forgot! We enjoyed our community pool this weekend and I failed to put on any sunscreen. You would think I was lying flat on my belly during the entire afternoon, because my back looks like Anton's bright red fire engine! Remarkably, my face is fine. (By the way, it's NOT true about getting sunburned only when laying still. I was busy chasing our almost-swimming 3-year old around the pool.)

Back at the breakfast table the following day, Christer decided to teach the kids a lesson. He turned me around and proceeded to demonstrate to them why sunblock is so important. At first, I was horrified that he was using me as a bad example. I mean, for 3 and 6 years, respectively, Anton and Kelly have assumed Mommy and Pappa know everything. Then I realized that maybe it isn't so bad if they realize that even Mommy makes mistakes. (And that skipping on the sunscreen is not a very good idea; ouch!) Besides, Kelly is 6 going on 16... It is only a matter of days before we hit the 'parents know nothing' phase. I might as well get used to it.

HINT: I discovered a clever little item a few years back. It is a wash that makes your clothing more UV protected. It is called SunGuard. It is made by Rit, the dye company. You can find out more on their web site