Shopping Alert: 5 Hot Holiday Toys

What toys are kids asking Santa for this year in Prince George's County and Maryland?

  Topping off the toys' list the week before Christmas, this year's best sellers at Toys"R"Us include the Time For Your Checkup Doll and the 1980s comeback, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, according to Adrienne O'Hara, Toys"R"Us spokeswoman.  The items that are selling best in Prince George's County and Maryland are also the ones selling best nationwide at the toys store, according to O'Hara, who described them below: HOLIDAY TOY BEST SELLERS #1 - Disney Doc McStuffins Time For Your Check Up Doll Doc McStuffins is a Disney Junior show that features a girl with stuffed animals and dolls that she nurses back to health. Time For Your Checkup Doll is one of the most popular in the series. She comes dressed in a lab coat and sings songs and …

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Lunch Lessons: New Calorie Limits Add Healthier Items, Higher Costs to School Cafeterias

Montgomery and Prince George’s county schools serve more fruits and vegetables, but students may not be eating them.

Every day at lunch, children across Prince George’s and Montgomery counties may be facing what conventional wisdom says is one of their worst nightmares. No, it’s not monsters hiding under their beds or behind their closet doors. It’s not zombies chasing after them, either. It’s fruits and vegetables. After Congress passed a nationwide law limiting the amount of calories schools are allowed to serve at lunch, schools in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties are adhering to the rules and serving up more healthy options for students. “Before this year, each student had to select three out of five items,” said Marla Caplon, Director of the Division of Food and Nutrition Services at Montgomery County public schools. “This year, the student …

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What To Do With the Kids During Winter Break in Montgomery County

The county Department of Recreation offers half and full-day programs.

  Aside from summer break, winter break may be the most highly-anticipated event for kids during the school year. But for many parents it is also one of the most stressful. Finding care for children can be challenging. In Montgomery County, the Department of Recreation is offering a few different programs. Coach Doug Club Holiday Parents can select from the 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. half day program, or the full day program, which runs until 3:30 p.m. Located at Cabin John Middle School, the program is designed for children age 3 to 13, runs Dec. 26-28 and allows children to select from sports like soccer, basketball and kickball, or from non-competitive games and activities. Cost: Full day—$113 for Montgomery County residents, $128 for non-…

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Update: Clash Accuser Recants Allegations of Sexual Impropriety

Although Kevin Clash, of Dundalk, took a leave of absence after accusations of sexual impropriety, the accuser recanted his statement, according to The New York Times.

Update, Nov. 13: The man who accused the Elmo puppeteer of allegedly having sex with him as a teen has now recanted his statement. According to The New York Times' Brian Stelter, the 23-year-old accuser stated that he had sexual relations with Kevin Clash, a Baltimore native, when he was only 16. Although Clash denied the claims, he took a leave of absence from his job with Sesame Street earlier this week. Yet, the man recanted his statement today through his Harrisburg, PA attorney's office, Stelter reports, saying it was a "adult consensual relationship." Clash said in his own statement, he is “relieved that this painful allegation has been put to rest.” At this time, it is not known when Clash will return to work. Original Post, Nov. 12…

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Top Tips for a Safe Halloween

Keep your children, pets and house safe this October 31st.

Oct. 31 is the one day a year on which kids (and many adults) let loose and have fun – dressing up as their favorite sports and music personality, movie star or the more traditional zombies, vampires, ghouls and ghosts. The Montgomery County and Prince George’s Police Forces and Fire Departments as well as the ASPCA have issued a number of tips for keeping children, adults and even pets safe this Halloween. For trick-or-treaters: For Halloween party-goers: For pets:

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Dangerous Consequences to Leaving Children, Pets in Hot Cars

Even leaving a child or pet alone in a hot car for a few minutes can result in serious injury or death.

We’ve all climbed into our cars on extremely hot days when temperatures hit the triple digits and complained that it feels like being in an oven.  What many don't realize is that temperatures in cars can reach almost 200 degrees on hot days, meaning they are actually hot enough to cook certain foods, Christine Delise, a public affairs spokeswoman for AAA Mid-Atlantic, says. Delise says it’s important to get the word out that cars can become very dangerous in the heat and remind people that they should never leave a child or a pet unattended in a vehicle.  “It’s enough of a safety concern that many safety advocates and officials have put together campaigns and are working on getting the word out,” she said. Heat stroke, which can result …

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Special Needs Hockey Program Hosts Saturday Fundraiser

Saturday at 5 p.m., join the Montgomery County Cheetahs at the Rockville Ice Arena to raise funds for their hockey program, allowing youth with developmental challenges to play more on the ice.

  Saturday at 5 p.m., skate your heart out for the Montgomery County Cheetahs Special Hockey Team at the Rockville Ice Arena, at their first major fundraiser. Funds will go to the team equipment and more ice time. The Cheetah program, serving children as young as 5 and adults up to age 21, has used volunteer power and individual giving to support itself since 2006 when it was created. But in order to increase the amount of time players can compete and practice on the ice, the program would have to double its budget, needing to expand its donor base. The fundraiser is the service project of two 13-year-old boys, Nate Berger and Ben Gold. With the guidance of their mothers, they pulled together the fundraiser for the hockey program for …

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GoTo Mom

GoTo Mom: For the Love of Yoga Stickers

A lust for stickers has been the motivation to do yoga in 90 degree heat for 30 days, and that burning desire is something the kids can really understand.

There hasn’t been a day over the past 28 days that I haven’t thought about stickers. And it’s not because of my kids, either. Having signed up for a so-called 30 day challenge at the local Bikram yoga studio where people pay for the privilege of stretching and bending for 90 minutes in 90 degree heat, I am proud to say I am almost at the end of the sweaty road. Not that I actually get anything out of it, mind you. I don’t think the studio will even give out photocopied certificates, let alone any tangible prize. Instead, for every day I’ve showed up, I’ve been given a little smiley face sticker to put against my name, which has really buoyed me over the past month. I now fully understand how my kids feel when they get a sticker on their …

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