Ok, we are not sure if we like this idea or not. The thought of sitting a baby in front of a TV just scares the crap out of us. Yet, we all know whether it’s Teletubbies, Baby Einstein, or the latest on PBS…your baby as well as ours will likely be watching some TV. We just hope, that parents truly get it…you use the programs to interact with your child and not to baby sit your child.

The new, round-the-clock channel is called BabyFirstTV. For $9.99 a month, it will be available initially by satellite through DirecTV and later through cable TV providers as well.

TV offerings already abound for older toddlers, and a lucrative ? though controversial ? market has developed for baby-oriented videos, attracting the Walt Disney Co. and the makers of Sesame Street, among others. But until now there had been no ongoing TV programming aimed at infants.

“This is the first channel dedicated to babies and their parents ? transforming TV from its original purpose into a way for them to interact,” said Sharon Rechter, BabyFirstTV’s executive vice president for business development and marketing.

“The fact of life is that babies are already watching TV,” she said. “That’s why having BabyFirstTV is so important ? what we want to offer is completely safe, commercial-free and appropriate content.” KDKA.com.

With my wife still away on travel for work, my two-and-a-half year old son and I continue to turn our house into the bachelor pad we’ve always wanted. For our Friday movie night we decided to turn it up a notch. Pow! While the wife likes the cute and cuddly shows and fuzzy cute cats..we’re men and we sometimes need to watch shows that only men watch. So what did we watch? A movie about dogs. Not cute cuddly dogs either! No we watch on DVD a story about a BIG RED DOG!

Yep, that right. We watched Clifford’s Really Big Movie. Why is Clifford a real man’s dog? Well while he may like his family, and he may like his friends…there is only one thing that he really needs to make him happy. As long as he has a nice big bowl of Tummy Yummies he’s perfectly happy. Ahhh…finally a movie the boy and I can really get into!

Ok, my son and I have been busy being guys with the wife and mom away for work. However, that has meant I’ve been busy as Dad putting in overtime as a temporary single parent. I hate to say this, but I may not be able to talk about our time together until the Mom returns. I gotta cook, clean, cut the lawn, watch children shows on TV, do the laundry, teach the boy to play ball, praise, discipline, etc.

I’m one tired Dad. I had not realized just how much a Mom and Dad in the same house play tag team…one spending time with the child and the other getting chores done. My hats off to those genuine single parents that can pull it off!

Karen, my wife, has left me and my two-and-a-half year old son. Are you surprised? Well, before the rumors start-up and Karen’s good reputation goes south…she’s coming back in two weeks. Karen had to do some traveling for work and didn’t have too much of a choice in the matter. Thanks to the cell phone world we live in she has been able to call us each day. All this is require of me is putting Logan on the speaker phone so he is able to brief is Momma on each day’s activities.

Logan and I are spending the time without a woman in the house to make it a man’s world. You can be assured this manly point of view we have adopted for our home will also be noticed here at Like that Idea. For the next two weeks you can expect to see the ideas that only a Dad and son can dream up to be presented here. For now, though Logan and I will have to go. You see, we have been busy doing yard work. We have had a gorgeous weekend here in Sioux Falls, SD and the days have been full of activity that it it finally time for us to rest. Logan is already out on the deck and ready for me to bring out the six pack of fruit juice I promised. By the time we’re done with our drinking, it should become one very wild Sunday evening here at our little bachelor pad.

Oh, and one last thing. Please make sure nobody mentions to Karen about the dirty dishes in the sink. We don’t consider it so much of a guy thing to leave dirty dishes in the sink. No, not at all. Instead, we equate the dirty dishes in the sink as our little science project! Ha, at least Logan and I find humor in that. Ok, everyone have a good work week!

When I first considered placing advertisements on my site I found a blog, called Subnixus, that catered toward how best to market your site on the Internet. I have enjoyed visiting Subnixus the past several months and I’ve honestly learned a lot. I recommend the place for someone trying to figure how they can make money by placing advertisement on their own site. However on a recent visit I was disappointed to read an article titled, Why College is a Scam. Maybe I’m showing my age, but I continue to be disturbed with so many young adults not understanding the true values of education. I am even more disturbed with the lack of students seeking an education in science, math, computer science, and engineering . From time to time, I have seen the following facts from a study on the state of engineering degrees in the United States posted in newspapers and magazine articles:

Last year alone, more than 600,000 engineers graduated from higher education institutions in China. In India, this number was 350,000. In the United States there were roughly 70,000 and the number of engineering degrees awarded in the United States is down 20 percent from the peak year of 1985.

American society as a whole seems to have less value for education, especially in the sciences and math, than when I was growing up. Maybe I’m more sensitive to these numbers since I am a scientist at heart…but isn’t anyone else disturbed by this trend? While I feel there should have been something done to help reverse this downward spiral sooner, I’m glad at least that it is finally getting some some well deserved attention by the Bush administration.

Getting back to the article posted on Subnixus, the following is my open letter to the author:

My primary field is in the sciences for which there is no other way to get that education without going through at least a four-year degree program. Recently, I went the opposite direction going for a Master’s Degree in Administration with the focus on Information Systems. Yes, there were times I was sitting in the classroom and thinking, is this really worth it? How could I not consider whether the degree was worth the price I was paying. A price that was not only paid in money for tuition but also my time. During those years I missed so many Sunday football games and evenings with the family. Quite frankly, when I was pursuing a higher education I felt I was living the life of a monk with little connection to the “real world”.

Did I feel at times the university was just taking my money with the only reward at the end being a piece of paper? Yes, I did. Did my employer give me a penny more after receiving my piece of paper? No they didn’t. Was it tempting to call it quits? Yes it was. Do I regret that I spent my time in college and completing my degree? No, I don’t have a single regret and here is why. If there is only one thing that is important in life to assure success it is to “follow though” and finish what you started. Completing what you set out to do is what separates the winners and the losers.

And no, I’m not implying the author of the article is a loser. He seems to me to be very intelligent and as I’ve said, I learned a lot from his writings. I am however saying that I have deep respect for the roommate that he writes about. A roommate that despite having someone tell her that “she has been brainwashed” is still sticking it out and working on her degree. I too had roommates that dropped out and were living the good life while I pursued my studies. I know what she is going through. It’s not easy to eat Ramen Noodles when your roommate is eating steak.

One of my former roommates thought I was crazy when the first job I accepted after getting my degree. The job paid less than what he when he worked at the local video store. Fast forward twenty years to the present and I promise you he does not carry the same attitude. It is a struggle to realize you didn’t finish what you started when you had the time, energy, and youth to do it. Regardless of the money he may or may not be making now, he regrets not following through and finishing his degree. As a good friend of his, I too regret he didn’t finish what he started.

Respecfully,

Bryan from Like that Idea

Being my first pregnancy, I wanted to do all I could for my baby, to include reading to him and playing music while he was in my womb. I read in one of my pregnancy magazines about Babyplus and was intrigued! I conducted further research and, although a bit skeptical, felt that if it did what it said it would do, it was well worth $150.00. Now, convincing my husband of that was a totally different story!!!! He was very skeptical and felt I was being ?taken? but eventually agreed to a mutual decision to purchase the system.

It is a device that you wear on a belt around your waist. It puts out a ?thump, thump? sound which changes each week. It is recommended that you start just after 4 months (since that is when the baby?s hearing is developed). The theory behind it is that your baby is developing millions of brain cells and, if not utilized, many of them will die. The first week, it sounds very similar to your heart beat but, as you advance each week, the rhythm varies in different tempos; this utilizes those brain cells as the baby is processing the different rhythms he or she is hearing. I wore it for 1 hour at a time, morning and evening. My husband did not like the sound and worried that it was too loud for the baby. I got used to it pretty quickly though, especially since it was supposed to benefit my baby.

After it was all said and done, I had a very healthy boy via natural delivery (no drugs) and his apgar score was 10! He nursed readily and was calm as well as very aware of his surroundings. Initially, he woke up about every 3 hours. At 6 weeks, he would sleep one 5 hour stretch and at 10 weeks, slept one 8 hour stretch. Now, I never knew if that 8 hour period would start at 6 pm or at 11pm so I remained flexible! At 5 months, he would sleep 12 hours and he just turned 2 in September and still sleeps 11 ? 13 hours every night; waking up between 8-9 each morning (which I’ve heard is absolutely not the norm)!

He is very curious and learns very quickly. The things that he picks up on is amazing! We traveled quite a bit with him during his first few years and everywhere we go (even now), people comment on what a good boy he is and how happy he is. As he is starting the terrible two?s, it has not been bad. His temper tantrums are short lived (a minute at the most) and very infrequent (maybe 2 times a week at most), he listens to us and rarely defies what he knows our wishes are. He is so good natured that when he is sick and even has a fever, I rarely know that he is sick by his behavior (i.e., he doesn?t cry and get fussy). I can?t think of a single time in his life that he has cried for more than 2-3 minutes except when we were going through the struggle of teaching him to go to sleep in his bed (at naptime) without one of us there. That struggle only lasted 3 days as well; then he would lie down and go right to sleep without a fuss. I just can?t believe that his behavior and good temperament are totally coincidental or strictly based on good parenting!

All in all, I am convinced that this product works well! It is the BEST money I have ever spent and I recommend it to all my friends who become pregnant. Even just for the hours of sleep I?ve gotten when I know other parents who have one year olds who aren?t on a schedule, it was well worth it! I would not even THINK of having another baby without using the Babyplus!

I would be very interested in hearing from others who have used this product during their pregnancy. Feel free to use the comments box or link below to share your thoughts on Babyplus! Also below, is a link to Amazon where you can purchase the Babyplus!