Los Angeles is teaming with RecycleBank to start a new pilot program that will compensate households for recycling. The goal is to increase Los Angeles’ recycling rate from 65% to over 70% and eventually, if Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has his way, push the city toward zero waste.

The program will weigh and record the recyclable contents of tagged bins each week.  Depending on the weight of the bins, residents can earn points that they can redeem at local businesses like CVS, Bed Bath and Beyond and even restaurants like El Pollo Loco.

RecycleBank already has contracts with more than 50 cities around the U.S., including Philadelphia, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, and Atlanta.

15,000 L.A. area homes will be eligible for the program, including Northridge, Topanga, Sherman Oaks, Hollywood, Lincoln Heights and Cypress Park.  The program kicks off April 5, and each household can earn recycling points up to the equivalent of $400 a year per blue bin.  Residents along various routes will receive mailers in March that explain what they can recyclables are eligible and how to register for the program. The existing blue recycle bins will be given a bar code and ID stickers embedded with microchips with the resident’s account number to track their recycling rewards.

The rewards are based on weight of recyclable material and will be evenly divided among households along an entire route, not by individual participation.

If you live in the LA area, this is the perfect opportunity to teach your children not only about the importance of recycling, but working to earn money for the things they want. Kids can collect bottles and cans from the household and learn what is a recyclable material, and what isn’t.  Set goals for your family to exceed the previous weight’s total and use the points you earn for family activities, like meals out, or make a special trip to participating stores so everyone can pick out toys, books or games with your family’s hard earned points.

Or think bigger: organize a recycling pick up day where families on the same route can band together and pick up recyclable materials around the neighborhood.  The payoff?  A greener, more connected neighborhood and a fun way to earn extra cash.

This week’s giveaway was a 12 oz carton of each BRAT drink flavor.  B.R.A.T. is a milky drink with added electrolytes to aid in re-hydration, calcium and vitamins to help build strength and promote health. The Organic B.R.A.T. Feel Better Drink is lactose, gluten, soy, corn, and casein free, so it is safe for kids will all kinds of diet restrictions.

And the winner is…

Marilyn!

Congrats!  Check your email for further instructions!

Everyone else, check out this week’s new giveaway that started this morning!

Many people have trouble falling asleep, be it a racing mind, stress, or insomnia, but many are scared to take pills to help for fear of grogginess, dependency, or the ever popular sleep driving/eating/walking that many prescription bottles warn of.

Peaceful Sleep is a liquid nutritional formula that contains ingredients such as lavender, chamomile, and passion flower – all of which have been shown to assist in a healthy night’s sleep by relaxing the mind and body, without the fear of side effects.

This calming mixture of herb and plant extracts has been expertly blended to offer you an effective, natural way to fall asleep.*

This week, we are working with Agrolabs to offer two sleepy readers a chance to win Perfect Sleep and get the recommended number of hours your body so desperately needs.

Here are a few ways to enter:

• Leave a comment telling us your biggest sleep trouble
• Follow Kidglue.com on Twitter
• Tweet this giveaway on your own Twitter
• Link back to this giveaway on your blog
• Become a fan of Kidglue.comon Facebook

The more you enter, the more chances you have to win!

Note: Please use a valid e-mail address.  Open to US and Canadian residents only.

The lucky winners will be chosen randomly. Giveaway ends Wednesday, March 24, 2010. The winner will be reached by email, and announced on the blog 3/24/10.

Good luck!

*These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Sleep is a vital part of everyone’s health, no matter your age, but many of us do not get the recommended amount.  Lack of sleep can effect mood, immune function, productivity, and attentiveness.  Experts recommend:

• Adults receive 7-9 hours per night

• Toddlers receive 12-14 hours per night

• School aged children receive 10-12 hours per night

• Teens receive 8.5-9.5 hours per night

Experts also say that equally important as the number of hours of sleep is sticking to a sleep schedule, or routine, to ensure that the quality of sleep is as restful as possible.  Inevitably, springing an hour ahead will throw a wrench in your family’s sleep routine.

If you are worried how Daylight Saving Time will effect your family, or it your family is a pack of walking zombies every morning all year round, here are some ways to make the morning a little easier on everyone.

Stick to your regular schedule. Thankfully, the time change occurs on the weekend, so take advantage.  Let the little one’s sleep in an hour later than normal to make up the difference instead of trying to get them to go to bed an hour early.  It is easier to make up the hour once already asleep, instead of trying to get the kids to go to sleep when they aren’t yet tired.

Get up immediately. Put your alarm clock on the other side of the room, so when it goes off, you have to get up to turn it off.  Experts agree that using the snooze button can leave you more tired than if you got up immediately.  Everyone goes through sleep cycles throughout the night, and to reach the most restful part of sleep takes about an hour.  Waking up again before you have reached it will leave you more tired than if you never went back to sleep at all.  Under the same logic, when you wake up children, make sure they get up- don’t give wake up warnings.  This will ensure they are alert all day long.

Everyone needs a bed time- even you. There’s that sleep schedule again.  Your body is a big fan of routine.  It might take a little getting used to, but getting to bed at the same time every night will let your body know what to expect, and it will begin to shut down automatically.

Turn off the electronics. Blue light, which is given off by the screens of electronics, has been shown to stimulate the brain and interfere with sleep.  Two hours before bed, have the kids turn off the TV and video games to help them unwind.  That goes for your laptop, too.  Engage in relaxing activities, like reading, listening to music or completing crossword puzzles.

Limit caffeine. Hopefully your kids aren’t guzzling coffee before bed, but caffeine can have a longer lasting effect than most realize, which can make falling asleep difficult and deep sleep harder to achieve.  Caffeine has a half life of 3-5 hours (it takes your body that long to eliminate half) but the remaining can last for 8-14 hours.  For adults, coffee and tea should be limited to morning only, and for kids, caffeinated sodas should avoided as much as possible.  Chocolate has less caffeine than most people think, and the link between sugar and hyperactivity is still under debate, but these should be given to children sparingly anyway, because of their lack of nutritional value.

Prepare for the morning. Rushing around is never a good way to start the day.  Make sure the kids have their clothes picked out, homework done, and backpacks packed and ready to go before they go to bed.  Make sure lunches are packed, coffee pot is ready and breakfast is planned and ready to throw together.  The less stress, the better the tone for the day.

By implementing these ideas, and streamlining your entire family’s sleep routine, your mornings will cease to be the stressful chaos you are so used to and set a peaceful, positive tone for everyone’s day.  With less screaming, yelling and pot banging, you may actually have some time to eat breakfast together, and, you know, talk.

I know.  Please put your eyeballs back in your heads.

Yahoo Games released their list of the top 10 good for you games, and some of them may be in your kid’s console right now.

Mind and body are the integral parts to overall health, and these video games take care of both.

To increase brain power, let your kids play:

Bejeweled

The puzzle solving, jewel swapping game has been shown to lower stress levels and improve mood.

Brain Age

The lightning fast game keeps math and problem solving skills sharp, and help your kids brush up on some of the skills they may have lost over the summer.

Typing Maniac

While your kids may know more about computers than you could ever hope to, proper and accurate typing is a valuable, lifelong skill.  No more brb’s and ttyl’s.**  This Facebook game will teach professional keyboard skills to your child.

Scribblenauts

The Nintendo DS game uses puzzles to push your child’s vocabulary skills, and, well, it’s just so gosh darn.

To increase health and fitness, let your kids play:

Wii Fit Plus

The Wii Fit phenomenon gets your kids up and moving, but the Wii Fit Plus offers more games and customizable programs to track progress.

Food Network:  Cook or Be Cooked

One of the biggest issues cited for the obesity epidemic is that no one cooks anymore. This recipe game teaches kids their way around a kitchen and healthy foods without you worrying about them cutting off a finger.

EA Sports Active

Wii Fit gets the spotlight, but EA Sports Active has a resistance band component that makes their workouts hard to beat.  Incidental exercise is one thing, but EA offers intention exercise to help your child build a habit.

Wii Sports Resort

More calorie blasting Wii games.  ‘Nuff said.

Just Dance

The fast paced Wii dance game gets your kids shaking their stuff to the hottest tunes around.

Video games get a bad rap for producing sloven children, but these games you can feel good about buying for your children.

**Be Right Back and Talk To You Later.  Get hip!

The ‘Alice in Wonderland’ prize pack includes:

• one O.P.I. mini nail polish set

• one Alice In Wonderland Nintendo DS™ game

• one Alice In Wonderland soundtrack

• one Alice in Wonderland mini poster

And that lucky winner is….

Amy Willingham!

Congrats!  Check your email for further instructions.

Everyone else, check out the great new giveaway that started this morning on our Free Stuff page!

***THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED***

The B.R.A.T Diet is a diet that has historically been prescribed for people with general stomach issues- in simple terms, an upset tummy. B.R.A.T. is an acronym for Bananas, Rice, Applesauce and Toast; foods that provide nutrients and vitamins while being easy on a sensitive stomach.

B.R.A.T. Diet has updated this classic diet just for kids, turning it into a delicious milky drink, adding electrolytes to aid in re-hydration and calcium and vitamins to help build strength and promote health. The Organic B.R.A.T. Feel Better Drink is Lactose, Gluten, Soy, Corn, and Casein free, so it is safe for kids will all kinds of diet restrictions. Reminiscent of soy milk, this creamy, non dairy drink comes in Original, Vanilla, Cinnamon Toast, and Chocolate Honey flavors.

This week, we are giving one winner a 12 oz carton of each B.R.A.T. Wellness Drink flavor.

Here are a few ways to enter:

• Leave a comment telling us why you want to try B.R.A.T. Drinks
  
• Follow Kidglue.com on Twitter
• Tweet this giveaway on your own Twitter
• Link back to this giveaway on your blog
• Become a fan of Kidglue.comon Facebook

The more you enter, the more chances you have to win!

Note: Please use a valid e-mail address.  Open to US and Canadian residents only.

The lucky winners will be chosen randomly. Giveaway ends Wednesday, March 17, 2010. The winner will be reached by email, and announced on the blog 3/17/10.

Good luck!

IWD has been recognized since the early 1900’s when the oppression and inequality women faced was finally brought to the forefront by women themselves, who became more active and vocal in their call for change and equal rights.

In 1910 the second International Conference of Working Women was held in Copenhagen, where Clara Zetkin, the leader of the ‘Women’s Office’ for the Social Democratic Party in Germany proposed that every year in every country there should be a Women’s Day to both celebrate their achievements and voice for their demands. The conference of over 100 women from 17 countries – representing unions, socialist parties, and working women’s clubs – agreed unanimously and International Women’s Day was born.

Each year, International Women’s Day chooses a theme to draw attention to issues that effect women. In the past, such topics have included ending violence against women and children, financing for gender equality and women in sports.

For International Women’s Day 2010, the focus is on equal “rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all.”  The International Commitee of the Red Cross is calling attention to the hardships of displaced women due to current armed conflicts.  Many women around the world are displaced single parents, left to raise their children in severe poverty. Displaced women face discrimination, social exclusion and sexual violence, and the ICRC is calling for their protection.

But what can you do?  The Interntional Women’s Day Web site encourages you to think globally, but act locally. Take your children to volunteer at a women’s shelter, donate supplies to local schools to ensure our daughters receive a proper education or sit down with your own daughter and make sure she knows that she can do, say and be anything she wants.  Make sure she knows she can stand up for anything she believes in because there are women around the world who are not so fortunate and it is our responsibility as women to make sure that their voice is heard.

Blake says his assistant vice principal, Lindy Matsko, confronted him with a photo taken by the web cam that showed Blake, in his home, holding candy. The school mistook the candy for pills, and Blake says they accused him of selling drugs.

The school district issued 2,300 laptop computers to students from the two high schools in their district to use in their homes. Lower Merion officials have admitted that they activated the web cams, without the knowledge of the students or parents, in an attempt to find 42 laptops that had gone missing.

The school district says they have stopped activating the web cams but too little, too late for many involved. The school district is now under investigation by local authorities and the FBI for possible violations of wiretapping and computer-use laws.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a brief in support of Robbins, alleging that the photo obtained through the web cam constitutes as an illegal search.

Not all parents are upset with the school, claiming that a lawsuit will just end up costing the school districts millions in court costs and legal fees, which will only hurt the students.

District spokesman Doug Young insists that the school district did not violate any policies because they activated the web cams, which were used as a tracking device, to locate the missing computers only. 16 year old Robbins, however, insists that that his laptop was not one of the computers that was reported missing.

Lindy Matsko, the administrator accused of confronting Robbins, says she has never spied on students, nor gave anyone else permission to do so.  Robbins says the school still has yet to explain how they got the photo of him.

It is amazing that schools are finally able to make sure that each of their students has access to a computer, but with each advancement, new problems will arise, and this is a perfect example. The more of the world we are able to have at our finger tips, the easier it is for others to enter our lives. I just don’t think anyone thought it would ever be our children’s schools we had to worry about.

Nestle, owner of the Wonka Chocolate line, is launching a real-life golden ticket contest to promote it’s new candy line, Exceptionals.

Wonka’s Exceptionals is their newest “premium chocolate” treat, which means it will cost more than Charlie paid for his life changing bar, but 5 lucky winners will unwrap those bars and get a shiny, golden ticket.

There is no tour of the Wonka factory, but the five grand prize ticket holders and their three best friends will get to take a trip around the world with $12,500 in spending money.

Thousands of other chocolate-hidden prizes will include movie certificates, airline vouchers, Ticketmaster gift cards, and, of course, free chocolate.

The rules are simple: unwrap your bar, and if you see a ticket that says “Congratulations!” you’ve won.  The directions for claiming your prize are printed on the ticket.

The golden ticket contest is currently underway, and will end on 8/31/10.  Prizes must be claimed by 9/27/10, so get unwrapping!

The only thing that could make this contest any sweeter would be a song by Gene Wilder following by a swim under the chocolate waterfall.

Two people this week will have a chance to try the different flavors of the Michael Season’s line, which is trans fat, and artificial ingredient free.

The BBQ Crisps are the best. I’m just sayin’.

And the winners are….

Eileen Burke

and

deb c

Congrats, winners!  Check your email for further instructions on claiming your prize.

Everyone else, check out another great giveaway that started this morning on the Free Stuff page!

***THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED***

From Walt Disney Pictures and director Tim Burton comes the epic fantasy adventure “Alice In Wonderland,” a magical and imaginative twist on some of the most beloved stories of all time.

Opening March 5, 2010 in theaters, “Alice In Wonderland” comes alive on the big screen in Disney Digital 3D™ and IMAX 3D™.

The film features Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and Mia Wasikowska as 19-year-old Alice, who returns to the whimsical world she first encountered as a young girl. The all-star cast also includes Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Matt Lucas and Crispin Glover, along with the voice talents of Michael Sheen, Stephen Fry, and Alan Rickman. It is rated PG.

To celebrate the release of the movie, we are giving away one “Alice in Wonderland” prize pack, provided by and in junction with Walt Disney Studios, to a lucky reader.

The Alice in Wonderland prize pack includes:

• one O.P.I. mini nail polish set

• one Alice In Wonderland Nintendo DS™ game

• one Alice In Wonderland soundtrack

• one Alice in Wonderland mini poster

Here are a few ways to enter:

• Leave a comment telling us your kid’s favorite Disney movie
  
• Follow Alice in Wonderland on Twitter
• Tweet this giveaway on your own Twitter
• Link back to this giveaway on your blog
• Become a fan of Alice in Wonderland on Facebook

The more you enter, the more chances you have to win!

Note: Please use a valid e-mail address.  Open to US residents only.

The lucky winners will be chosen randomly. Giveaway ends Wednesday, March 10, 2010. The winner will be reached by email, and announced on the blog 3/10/10.

Good luck!

That is, unless you asked her to gain weight.

Guiliana and her husband,  Bill Rancic, winner of “The Apprentice,” have made no secret that they want a child, documenting doctor visits and serious discussion on their new reality TV show, “Giuliana and Bill,” and appearing on talk shows to share their story.  But their struggle to get pregnant may not be as “we’ll do anything it takes” at it seems.

The couple appeared on the “The View” February 25 to discuss their infertility issue and to announce that Giuliana will be starting In Vetro Fertilization because she was unable to conceive naturally.

“We are [infertile]. He got tested; his sperm was great. So there’s no reason [except] it’s all [my] age [35]. We always knew we wanted kids but our careers were really busy and we figured we can hold off for awhile. And we’re realizing it’s not as easy as we thought it was going to be.”

That’s not to say it’s impossible. The rail thin TV personality went on to reveal her doctor’s advice, which she struggled with.

“My diagnosis was I wasn’t ovulating consistently and so my doctor recommended that I gain weight in order to start ovulating consistently. He said five to 10 pounds, which I know isn’t a big deal but I had to bite that bullet because I work out every day of my life. I love feeling good, waking up, working out. I finally did gain five pounds.”

Five pounds, not ten.

IVF carries few risks, although emerging research is claiming mothers are more likely to develop placenta praevia which occurs when the placenta grows in the womb over the cervix, blocking the birth canal.  It is also known for producing multiple babies, depending on how many embryos are implanted (many mother’s opt for a few at a time because the success rate of carrying a baby to term is low) causing Octomom situations, but other than that, it’s just expensive.

Rancic has received quite a bit of criticism for seemingly choosing a slimmer figure over naturally becoming pregnant, saying she is being selfish and superficial for being unwilling to gain 5 more pounds, even if it means she has a better chance of conceiving.  Even Whoopi Goldberg, the host of “The View,” said, “You know what? You want to have a baby, you need to prepare your body for that other person who’s going to be there.”

Many couples struggle with infertility, and it is a heart breaking, emotional roller coaster no one can understand unless they have lived it themselves, but my question is, if gaining 10 pounds how will she react to the weight gain once she actually becomes pregnant?

Apple recently notified developer Chillifresh that its Wobble iBoobs application was being removed from the App Store due to its “overtly sexual” nature.  Chillifresh claims that Apple revealed they are removing over 5,000 apps from their store that violate their new App Store content policy, which was triggered by numerous consumer complaints.

The policy states that apps with the following content will be removed:

• images of women in bikinis
• images of men in bikinis
• images of skin
• silhouettes indicating that the app includes sexual images
• sexual connotations or innuendo
• sexually arousing content

It sounds well and good, but a lot of people are upset, not by the removal of inappropriate apps – like Asian Boobs and upskirt apps – but that the new policy seems to skip over some obvious offenders, and Apple is being called out on their hypocrisy.

While it is just bad business to yank back something consumers have already paid for (shouldn’t they have foreseen this earlier?) the App Store is being choosy about which violators are getting the ax.

Big players like Sports Illustrated and Playboy seem to have made it through the purge unscathed, despite breaking the rules. In fact, Sports Illustrated’s 2010 swimsuit issue was actually a featured app in the App Store.

Phil Schiller, Apple VP of Worldwide Product Marketing gave the New York Times a “the public should know better” answer, stating that these apps made the cut because they’re well-known companies that are known for having sexual content.

The clean up is a nice effort, but if they are going to set clear rules, all apps should follow them, despite how big a brand name it holds.  iPhone apps are either free, or relatively cheap, which makes it easy for children to download racy Playboy pictures to pass around in class.

A for effort, Apple, but D for execution.

The lucky person about to enjoy a little something from the home furnishings superstore on us is….

Katie M!

Congrats!

Check your email for further instructions!

Everyone else, check out the Free Stuff page for another great giveaway that started this morning!

A rare copy of the first ever comic book featuring Superman has been sold for $1 million.

The 1938 edition of Action Comics No. 1, widely known as the Holy Grail of Comic Books, shows Superman lifting a car on the cover.  At the time of printing, the Superman comic cost a mere 10 cents. The private seller sold the comic to a private buyer via ComicConnect.com Monday, February 22nd.

The sale beats the previous comic book sale price record for $317,000, which happened to be for the exact same issue, but in lesser condition.  The record breaking issue was considered an “8.0 grade” or “very fine” out of a possible “10″ which is unheard of for an issue this old.

Stephen Fishler, co-owner of the Web site that facilitated the sale, said the comic sold just minutes after being listed and the seller, who has not released his name, was a “well known individual” in New York with a pedigree collection.

It is believed that there are only about 100 copies of “Action Comics No. 1″ in existence, and only a few have been rated so highly or available for sale.

“The opportunity to buy an un-restored, high-grade ‘Action One’ comes along once every two decades,” Fishler said. “It’s certainly a milestone.”

Especially with a million dollar price tag.

“It is still a little stunning to see ‘a comic book’ and ‘$1 million’ in the same sentence,” Fishler said.

***THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED***

There’s nothing kids love more when they open their lunch boxes than to find a bag of yummy, crunchy chips staring back at them, but you don’t feel quite right about letting them scarf down Cheetos or Doritos everyday.  Now there is a snack that will please kids’ taste buds and parents’ conscience.

Michael Season’s baked snacks are delicious, but also nutritious, offering a unique line of wheat free, gluten free snacks, with no trans fat, MSG, artificial ingredients or flavoring all wrapped up in a single serve, 100 calorie pack (just in case you calorie conscious parents want a guilt-free indulgence.)

Michael Season’s snacks include awesome flavors like BBQ Crisps, Yogurt and Green Onions Potato Chips,  Cheese Puffs and Cheese Curls that taste just as good as they sound.

This week we are giving you a chance to try ‘em all.  Two lucky winners will receive a tote bag full of Michael Season’s baked single serve snacks!

Here are a few ways to enter:

• Leave a comment telling us your kids’ fave lunchbox addition
• Follow Kidglue.com on Twitter
• Tweet this giveaway on your own Twitter
• Link back to this giveaway on your blog
• Become a fan of Kidglue.comon Facebook

The more you enter, the more chances you have to win!

Note: Please use a valid e-mail address.  Open to US and Canadian residents only.

The lucky winners will be chosen randomly. Giveaway ends Wednesday, March 3, 2010. The winner will be reached by email, and announced on the blog 3/3/10.

Good luck!

Serena Williams’ infamous outburst at the US Open last fall, where she threatened to shove a ball down a line judge’s throat and kill her when she disagreed with a call, was a shocking and disturbing display. Just like so many before her, the loss of control and display of human emotion left many shocked and calling for her badge as role model.

For losing her temper and threatening harm, Williams’ was slapped with a record $92,500 fine.  Williams issued a public apology and made many statements asking for forgiveness and acknowledging that her behavior was out of line and not to be copied.  Technically, her PR clean up was complete.  The tirade was all but forgotten and the public had moved on.  Williams, however, was not finished making amends.

Williams has announced through her website her 92K Mission, where she challenged herself to raise $92,000 for schools, the same record breaking amount she was fined.

“This experience has educated me beyond belief,” Williams stated on her Web site,  “so I would also like to take the opportunity to educate women.”

Many will scoff and claim that it’s all disingenuous damage control, especially since it seems everywhere we look, some fallen role model – be it sports star, politician or actor – is apologizing for some indiscretion.  However, while many stop at giving a canned apology, written by their lawyers, to a room of  TV cameras, Williams is using her punishment as a personal challenge to do more.  Her history of charity work, including work with UNICEF, and opening a girls’ school in Matooni, Kenya with another one in Senegal on the horizon, lends credibility to the fact that Williams’ 92K Mission may be more about making things right to herself than trying to c0nvince the public to let her back into our good graces.

Either way, the important thing is there are children that will benefit from Williams’ efforts, and that’s never anything to criticize.

The show is obviously scripted, and it’s insulting to claim otherwise.  Even Liz herself didn’t flat out deny that the show is fake, just that she knows the other kids on the cast and that the back story happened.  Beyond that, she would have to be one brave chick to claim that the footage and scenarios are just candid shots and conversations picked up by a camera guy. The over-the-top, one dimensional characters of the show are laughable, and so far from reality.

The popular clique is at constant odds with Liz, who’s sole mission is to bring them down.  They are the school’s stereotypical blonde, beautiful royalty.  All the boys love them.  They don’t talk to anyone else unless they are spewing insults.

I graduated from high school a handful of years ago, and there was no group like this.  I was considered one of the ‘popular’ kids in high school, but this was because I had a lot of friends.  I was captain of my sports teams but no one called me a jock, I did drama but was not considered a geek and was on the school newspaper and took Advanced Placement classes but was not considered a nerdy brain.  I just had an opportunity to meet a lot of different people and meshed with most of them.

In my school, and from everyone else I have asked, there was no popular group of beautiful people that everyone hated.  It doesn’t make sense.  You can’t be hated by everyone and loved at the same time.  There was, of course, scandals and rumors and conflict but no mortal enemies, or life ruining plots.

This stereotypical portrayal of high school-is-hell isn’t unique to this one show, however.  Most TV shows and movies for kids give an unrealistic, black and white picture of high school that just isn’t real.

In the movie “Mean Girls,” Lindsay Lohan plays the new girl in town who is befriended by some geeks only to be snatched up by the popular clique who is feared and idolized.  She  secretly plots with the geeks to hang out with the popular girls and sabotage their teen royalty through a series of misguided missions.  No matter how stupid the popular kids look, the school loves  them nonetheless.  Pretty diabolical for a bunch of teenagers.  In the end, there are no more cliques.  How nice.

And why does no one ever have any homework?

I am not so naive to think that cliquishness does not happen.  I know it does.  People are friends with people that are similar to them, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t friends with anyone else, or inherently evil or good.  I am also aware that many of these media created high school snap shots are more to show what high school can feel like to certain demographics, as opposed to what it actually is like.  More often than not, the result is insulting to the viewer, and for those who have not yet entered high school, misleading.

I spent the summer before freshman year scared I would be stuffed into my locker.  Turns out, I couldn’t even fit my backpack in there.  The main thing kids need to know about high school is that it doesn’t matter.  It may seem like four endless years of trying to go to the coolest parties and hang out with the coolest kids, but the second you graduate it doesn’t matter.  You won’t remember those people.  Those who were popular in high school may not be successful.  Those who were picked on, or strung out, or skipped class might turn out to be your boss.  Nothing that happened in high school matters.  Get good grades so you can get into a good college, surround yourself with good people with like interests, and relax.

The new Diji-Touch vending machine aims to replace classic vending machines with the metal spiral (that will never let go of my Baby Ruth but has no problem dangling it in front of me) with a touch screen surface modeled after the iPhone and allows customers to choose their snacks with the swipe of a finger.

The touch screen vending machines allow you to see all of your choices and once picked, the choice will enlarge and spin, giving you fun little presentation of the snack you are about to enjoy.  The new model also allows you to find out the nutritional information of each choice and even play games to win free snacks or other prizes.

The vending industry pulls in an impressive $30 billion a year, and rolling out their new, enhanced machines will help them stay competitive in a technology driven market. I just hope the new technology won’t ruined the classic tradition of getting your skinny-armed friend to jimmy out some free sodas to pass around.  Oh, the good old days.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Jonas Brothers, and Taylor Swift also topped the list, but noticeably absent from it altogether are Twilight stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart.

The Kids’ Choice Awards is the only awards show where kids get to vote on their favorite stars, movies, TV shows, music and entertainment.  This year’s show will be hosted by actor Kevin James and will air on Nickelodeon March 27.  Kids can vote for their favorite nominees starting February 25th through the website.

The full list of nominees is as follows:

Favorite TV Show
iCarly
Sonny with a Chance
The Suite Life on Deck
Wizards of Waverly Place

Favorite TV Actor
Cole Sprouse
Dylan Sprouse
Joe Jonas
Nick Jonas

Favorite TV Actress
Miranda Cosgrove
Miley Cyrus
Selena Gomez
Keke Palmer

Favorite Music Group
Black Eyed Peas
Coldplay
Jonas Brothers
Linkin Park

Favorite Female Singer
Beyonce
Miley Cyrus
Lady Gaga
Taylor Swift

Favorite Male Singer
Jay-Z
Sean Kingston
Mario
Ne-Yo

Favorite Song
“I Gotta Feeling,” Black Eyed Peas
“Paparazzi,” Lady Gaga
“Party in the USA,” Miley Cyrus
“You Belong with Me,” Taylor Swift

Favorite Movie
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Favorite Movie Actor
Zac Efron
Taylor Lautner
Shia LeBeouf
Tyler Perry

Favorite Movie Actress
Sandra Bullock
Miley Cyrus
Megan Fox
Zoe Saldana

Favorite Cartoon
The Penguins of Madagascar
Phineas and Ferb
The Simpsons
SpongeBob Squarepants

Favorite Reality Show
American Idol
Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?
Wipeout

Favorite Female Athlete
Danica Patrick
Misty May Treanor
Serena Williams
Venus Williams

Favorite Male Athlete
Kobe Bryant
LeBron James
Ryan Sheckler
Shaun White

Favorite Video Game
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
Mario Kart Wii
Wii Fit
Wii Sports Resort

Favorite Book
“Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series
“Twilight” series
“Vampire Diaries” series
“Where the Sidewalk Ends”

Favorite Animated Movie
A Christmas Carol
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Monsters vs. Aliens
Up

Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie
Jim Carrey, “A Christmas Carol”
Seth Rogen, “Monsters vs Aliens”
Ray Romano, “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinsosaurs”
Reese Witherspoon, “Monsters vs Aliens”

***THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED***

Ikea is the mecca of home decor (and Swedish meatballs): great prices, great style and great choices. Glasses, picture frames, furniture, bedding, wall decor: anything you could want, Ikea has it for a steal.

This week we are giving away a $25 gift card to Ikea, so you can get some awesome home furnishings to spruce up your home.

Here are a few ways to enter:

• Leave a comment telling us what you would use it for
  
• Follow Kidglue.com on Twitter
• Tweet this giveaway on your own Twitter
• Link back to this giveaway on your blog
• Become a fan of Kidglue.com on Facebook

The more you enter, the more chances you have to win!

Note: Please use a valid e-mail address.  Open to US and Canadian residents only.

The lucky winners will be chosen randomly. Giveaway ends Wednesday, February 24, 2010. The winner will be reached by email, and announced on the blog 2/24/10.

Good luck!

The government is trying to shift the childhood obesity conversation away from achieving a particular weight or dress size and toward the benefits of good nutrition and plenty of physical activity.

“This isn’t just about inches and pounds, and it’s not about how our kids look,” Mrs. Obama said. “It’s about how our kids feel, and it’s about how they feel about themselves.”

The campaign, known as Let’s Move, focuses on informing parents of the importance of proper nutrition and exercise for their families, decreasing fat, sugar and processed foods in meals, making nutritious food more accessible to families and increasing the emphasis on physical education.

The administration plans to get the FDA and the American Beverage Association to use better labeling of nutritional information and hopes to work with The American Academy of Pediatrics  to educate their members on better obesity monitoring in children.  Beverage companies including Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc. said they will post calorie counts on the front of their containers by the end of 2012. School cafeteria suppliers including Sodexo Inc. pledged to double the amount of produce they serve in schools and reduce sugar, fat and salt in their meals over the next decade .

The White House also plans to spend $5 million to help fund farmers’ markets and $400 million to bring grocery stores to areas in need.

While government statistics released last month reveal the three-decade rise in child obesity rates is leveling off, the rate is still too high. A third of U.S. children are obese or overweight, putting them at risk for diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep problems and depression.

Michelle Obama has often spoken candidly about why this  issue is so near and dear to her heart, and why the nation should become just as vigilant.  Mrs. Obama revealed in an interview with NPR that she was shocked when she found out there her children were in danger of becoming obese.  To help get her family back on track, they limited TV time and made more nutritious meals for dinner.

“It’s time for us to be really honest with ourselves about how we got here, because the truth is our kids didn’t do this to themselves,” Mrs. Obama said.

The world’s top athletes from over 80 nations will compete in 15 different sporting events from February 12- 28, in the Vancouver area. This year marks the third time Canada will host the Olympics Games, after the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal followed by the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta.

The Olympic games have been around about as long as recorded history itself. According to Olympic.org, the first ancient Olympic Games can be traced back to 776 BC and were dedicated to the Olympian gods. They continued for nearly 12 centuries, until Emperor Theodosius decreed in 393 A.D. that all such “pagan cults” be banned. The Olympics were not held again until the late 19th century.

The Olympics is one of the most exciting and inspiring events the world will ever know. The world simultaneously stops and comes together to watch the triumph of the human spirit, the limits of the human body, and inevitably the drama and controversy of the games.

This year will not disappoint. While the winter games often aren’t as popular as the summer games, the appearance of US favorites like speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno, women’s alpine skier Lindsey Vonn, and snowboarder Hannah Teter will draw huge audiences and support from their die hard fans hoping to see red white and blue on the podium.

A new sport will be introduced to the Winter Games this year too.  Seven sports were proposed to the International Olympic Committee for inclusion, but ski cross was the only one that made the cut. Ski cross includes five skiers in a timed event that must maneuver around natural and artificial obstacles.

You can’t have the Winter Olympics without snow, and the snow fall has been a huge concern for Olympic officials. While officials are putting on a positive face for the public, they are transporting snow from the eastern mountains of British Columbia to Cypress to ensure enough coverage, which could still cause problems.

Either way, snow is not going to get in the way of the world’s toughest and most talented athletes competing side by side in the 2010 Winter Olympics.  Tune in for all the highs, lows, triumphs and tragedies this year has in store.

For the full schedule of events and times, visit www.vancouver2010.com.

Mother of four and site founder Justine Roberts explains:

“The idea behind our campaign is to encourage retailers to sign up to a simple pledge that commits them to selling only products which do not sexualize children. Most of us think that children’s underwear shouldn’t mimic adult lingerie, and that padded bras for pre-teens are not appropriate. We think clothing shouldn’t feature slogans which are likely to be read as sexy, provocative or flirty, and lots of us feel that little girls’ shoes should not have high heels.”

Justine adds that overly sexual clothing will:

“introduce children to the world of adult sexuality, when elsewhere we are rightly encouraging them to resist the pressure to become sexually active at a young age. It tells girls that the most important quality they need is ’sexiness’ and that female sexuality is all about pleasing others, and encourages a culture in which children are viewed as sexually available.”

It seems impossible to discuss this topic without discussing tween Hollywood. Miley Cyrus’s young sister, Noah, has been popping up in the media outlets lately not for any specific reason besides to express shock that her parents let the 9 year old leave the house in the outfits she does.

Tom Narducci, senior consultant National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children agrees that allowing children to dress provocatively can have serious repercussions, saying:

“The NSPCC’s position on this is that by normalizing sexualised clothing, and by normalizing sexualised behavior, it opens up young girls to being exploited. There are documented court cases where the defense of the perpetrator was that the victim was wearing provocative clothing and behaving in a provocative way. They were blaming the child and using that as a defense. The perpetrator was saying ‘I couldn’t help myself’ and using that as some sort of justification for what they were doing.”

The American Psychological Association also points out that early sexualization of children can lead to destructive patterns like eating disorders, low self-esteem,  and depression.

If that’s not enough to scare any parent, I don’t know what will. It’s one thing for children to dress up at home all in good fun, but overtly sexual messages and inappropriate outfits aren’t “cute” or “funny.” It’s dangerous.

Aside from all of that, why are kids in such a rush to grow up, and why are we allowing it? There will be plenty of time for the complicated mess of sex and relationships and the opposite sex when they’re older, but for their safety and well-being, just let little girls be little girls.