Shareagift.com Tour from Shareagift.com on Vimeo.

When it was my wife’s birthday last month, many friends and family called me to ask “What does she want?”  While having “insider” information is helpful, it’s harder to give the answer when you know some things may be out of your friends’ budgets.  For instance, I’m sure an iPad is on many people’s gift list, but starting at $500, it’s out of range for many people just to buy for themselves.  What if you could easily pool your friends together to buy that iPad?

Well, now there’s Shareagift, a new website that helps you organize and invite friends to contribute towards one great gift for a friend rather than get a plethora of smaller gifts purchased just out of obligation to give something.  The best part is that Shareagift makes it easy to collect the money, so as the organizer you’re not fronting the money and then hoping that everyone remembers to pay you back later.

“We are changing the way people buy gifts,” said Shareagift founder Angelli. “In this economic era, everyone is tired of waste. Instead of giving a token gift the recipient may not like, Shareagift allows groups of friends to easily pool their hard-earned money and put it towards that one great gift the person really does want, whether it’s a watch, a trip, a painting, absolutely anything.”

As a free service, give Shareagift a try (a small fee is taken out for using Paypal to handle the collections.) It’s definitely more fun to see your friends get that dream gift they were wishing for rather than another blouse, tie, or token toy for the kids. Shareagift makes it easier to make wishes come true through the power of group gifting.

Are you searching for a photographer to take your family holiday photo?

If so, we’d love to ask you a few quick questions about your experience. Coochicoos is currently building a better way for parents to find great photographers in their area. We don’t think it’s easy, and we’d love to hear about your experiences in finding and hiring a family photographer.

So, could you do us a favor? Share your experiences with us in a brief survey so we can learn how to make the search process better for you and other parents. We appreciate your time, and look forward to reading your stories.

Take our survey here.

image via do11face

Give it to the Aussies to know about the sun, and let them come up with a wonderfully simple solution to a shade tent for your family beach trips.  Called Sombrilla, this tent is easy to set up, easy to get under, and easy to carry.  Order Sombrilla ($150) directly from the makers, Hollie and Harrie, and US delivery is just $30 flat rate from Australia.

So simple, it’s one of those things that leaves you wondering “why didn’t I think of that!”  via Holamama.

Last year, we finally experienced the Fourth of July fireworks show at the Rose Bowl, after living in Southern California for over 30 years.  This show lives up to it’s billing – it’s certainly the biggest and longest show (25 minutes long) we’ve seen in a while.  Friends of ours gave us these tips to help navigate the crowds and traffic that comes with going to Rose Bowl events, which we hope will help your family enjoy the day.

1. Get there around between 3 and 4 o’clock, so you’ll beat the later crowd and avoid the traffic back-up into the parking lot.
2. Bring a picnic, chairs, and blankets, and set up your tailgate party right there on the golf course.  No need to pay the admission ticket price to sit inside the Rose Bowl.
3. Pack up your car before the fireworks show and be first wave of people leaving the area.  You’ll beat the traffic and your kids appreciate getting home sooner after a long day out.

So if your family is thinking of going out the the Rose Bowl for the July 4th fireworks show, then follow these tips and you’ll have a really great all-American holiday.  Have a happy Fourth, wherever you celebrate.

Click here for more information about Amerifest 2011 – 4th of July Celebration at the Rose Bowl.

image via Magnetic Lobster

Are you using YouTube to teach your kids? For the past year, I’ve been using YouTube as my go-to answer source for questions that my three-year-old daughter might ask.  Usually a YouTube session is in store after a reading session.  For example, after reading Very Hungry Caterpillar, there’s an opportunity to explain how caterpillars turn into butterflies.

• Where do chickens come from?
• What’s a rocket?  See a shuttle launch.
• What is a marlin?
• What is a woodpecker?
• What are northern lights?
• What does a rattlesnake sound like?
• How does a snake eat? Warning: this video might make you queasy.
• Where does maple syrup come from? And another.
• How do I ride my Wishbone bike?

Seriously, YouTube is this generation’s Encyclopedia Brittanica.  So, what have you taught your kids using YouTube?

For families, the path to “going green” and becoming more eco-family is usually an on-going process of  baby steps.  Here’s another baby step – organizing and streamlining your dry cleaning by using Green Garmento.  It’s a simple four-step process – first, use it as your drycleaning hamper; then, take it to the store as a duffel; next, ask your cleaner to use it instead of their plastic bags, and then bring it all home as a garment bag.

Voila – we love how Green Garmento ($9.99) helps working moms and dads make their laundry workflow easier and more eco-friendly with just one simple product.

For years, I’ve relied on memory, and then some second-guessing to time big purchases, hoping to catch the right time of year to get the best deal.  Now, after stumbling across Lifehacker’s Best Time to Buy Anything chart, the guesswork will not be so haphazard.  Use this chart to help your family plan their purchases to catch the best sales seasons.

See the whole chart and list details at Lifehacker.

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Tell me that you have a cool new interactive game for kids, and I’ll probably cringe first because I feel there’s too much media, commercial entertainment, and other forms of electronic babysitting in our kids’ world today.  I’m decidely “old school” when it comes to raising our daughter – her days are filled with lots of outdoor play, reading from books, hands-on arts and crafts, cooking, open-ended toys and imaginative play.  TV time is minimized, along with video games, Baby Einstein-type learning tools, character-driven media properties (like Disney and Barbie), and most battery-operated toys and games.

Now, along comes Land of Me, a new interactive computer game conceived and produced by Made in Me, a London-based team of creative and early childhood development experts.  After playing Land of Me with my daughter in small short doses, I’m impressed with the richly layered experience that this interactive game presents.  As a minimal-media dad, I actually feel really good about Land of Me.

Made for 3 to 6 year olds, you will follow three main characters through a visually beautiful world with a memorable musical soundtrack, that engages learning skills from colors, space, storytelling, weather, language, reading, imagination, song and dance.  What’s more, I love the offline activities that can be downloaded, printed, and played with that include finger puppets, masks, and wall art. You see, Land of Me starts off as a computer game, but it extends itself deeply into play options away from the computer which is part of its magic and brilliance.

Best of all, you experience Land of Me at your own pace – there’s no time-clock countdowns or frantic button-mashing activities.  In fact, linger away from the game for a while, and each of the characters will drift and doze off in their own unique ways.  One hitch is the game runs a little slow on my older laptop than on my newer quad-core desktop – so be patient (and close your other open applications), and you and your child will be rewarded.

Experience Land of Me with a free download of the game’s first chapter, titled Shape, Size, and Color, where you’ll be introduced to its characters and their world.  After that, there are five other chapters you can purchase separately or together as one bundle for your PC or Mac.

So download today, and come back and let us know how you liked Land of Me.

Extra: Read an interview with James Huggins of Made in Me at Bloesem Kids.

After reading GQ Magazine’s article today, Warning: Your Cell Phone May Be Hazardous to Your Health, I’m renewing my diligence in limiting how my 3-year old daughter uses our cell phones.  It seems that every month or so, I’ll read an article about cell phone radiation dangers, and each time it frightens me enough to not use my cell phone without a head set.  Sure there’s studies like the National Cancer Institute’s research that concludes cell phone usage is not linked to brain tumors, but when our children are involved, isn’t caution and safety a smarter path?

After all, we make sure our electrical outlets are covered, plastic bags are out of reach, our pools gated, car seats secured, vegetables and fruits are pesticide-free, and bottles are BPA-free, so why shouldn’t we also watch how often are children are using our cell phones.  I don’t think I’m going to wait for the government to finally confirm that cell phones are not safe for us.

For now, my daughter only calls my wife via my cell phone on the car speaker phone or a wired headset.  The phone is never allowed to be held to her head.  And now with the holiday season upon us, having our children call long-distance grandparents and relatives so they can hear them babble or show off their early language skills is going to be a frequent occurrence, shouldn’t we exercise more caution using our cell phones?  Maybe using Skype is a better choice.

Here’s another consideration – I know anecdotally among our friends that iPhone usage by our kids is on the rise.  Our little ones love to use the apps we download to teach them math, help them read or just keep them occupied in the car with silly games.  But is this even a safe activity for our kids?  After all, iPhones are constantly pinging the cell towers to download our text messages, emails, and Facebook and Twitter updates.  Regardless whether they are on a call or not, I wonder if it’s safe to have these things in their hands even to just play games?

So let me ask you – are you watching how your children are using your cell phones?  And what would make you reconsider changing how your kids are using your smart phones and iPhones?

Read GQ’s article here.

image via Flickr’s redisred

Before there was text messaging and Twitter, do you recall that the original short message format was the telegram? A friend of ours recently received a telegram on her birthday wishing her a great day. What an experience to get an old-school telegram in this modern day of email and tweets! Whether for a birth announcement (a picture can be attached) or sending birthday wishes, take a look at Telegram Stop to send your own special message via telegram.