Hasta La Gadget!

The importance of pretend play and make believe should not be lost on parents. It is such an integral and healthy part of growing up. When kids imagine, they begin to think about who and what they will be one day and exercise creative muscles. Playtime becomes a mini brainstorming session with their friends (or often times, just with themselves or their imaginary friends).

Pretend play inspires creativity by encouraging kids to play out their wildest and most far-fetched ideas. Let’s face it: When we were kids, could we ever imagine how connected the world would be today — we were intrigued with push button phones! By inciting imagination and creativity, these early play patterns could help your child become the next Bill Gates, Picasso, or Marie Curie.

But pretend play also lays a sturdy foundation for kids to learn how to approach real-life situations and to practice real-life skills — whether they become a nurturing mommy, or a nurturing mommy who is also the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

This holiday season, the tech-driven toy industry is balanced out with a variety of toys that encourage kids to create wonderful stories, pretend to be someone new, or practice what they’d like to be what they grow up. Here are some great new items on the shelves to get your kids’ imaginations started:

ELF MAGIC

What It Is: Kids can dress, cuddle, play, and imagine with their 10-inch Elf Magic Elves, which are perfect for this time of year. Each morning, they can discover their elves magical, nighttime adventures. There are also play sets, pocket elves, and elf pets to help spread Christmas cheer.

Why I Love It: The simplicity of the Elf Magic products allow kids to create the entire world around them. Kids and parents alike will love the new family traditions created by this adorable toy.

FOLKMANIS HAND PUPPETS

What It Is: Folkmanis encourages play and discover through engaging specialty puppets. By providing cute and cuddly friends, Folkmanis inspires imaginations and open-ended play patterns.

Why I Love It: What better pretend play is there than a puppet show? These adorable and cuddly puppets will delight kids as they can create their own stories with new furry friends. Puppets are also a great way to play and imagine with friends.

BEATRIX GIRLS- LONDON TOUR

What It Is: These four fabulous pop stars are the epitome of girl power. The London Tour version of the band features London-mod inspired outfits, instruments, and original music.

Why I Love It: With one-of-a-kind personalities, these dolls have 10 times the amount of hair as typical fashion dolls, providing endless hair play opportunities. Girls can also live out their dreams of becoming rock stars with the original music.

PLAY ‘N’ FOLD ART STUDIO

What It Is: Grow’n Up Ltd. brings Crayola creativity to playrooms with this 2-in-1 easel that easily coverts from an easel to a desk. It features a traditional chalkboard, a clip for drawing and painting, and art supplies storage.

Why I Love It: When kids are being artistic, they are able to create literally anything they can imagine, and this art studio provides a place for kids to create anything from their wildest dreams.

DOC MCSTUFFINS GET BETTER TALKING MOBILE

What It Is: Kids can fix all the toys in the neighborhood just like Doc McStuffins. With flashing lights and sounds and tons of tools, this toy gives kids everything they need to provide on-the-go care.

Why I Love It: This toy gives kids a chance to put themselves in the role of Doc. It gives them everything they need to explore the world of being a doctor, while still connecting them to one of their favorite characters.

MUSIC BOX RECORD PLAYER

What It Is: The Bridge Direct reimagined classic Fisher-Price toys for today’s kids to role-play and imagine. Originally introduced in 1971, this record player comes complete with five “play-able” records for a total of 10 songs.

Why I Love It: Since this was a favorite for many parents, they can relive their childhood memories while making new ones with their kids. The record player also features a carrying handle and a place for record storage to take tunes on the go.

LET’S IMAGINE ELMO

What It Is: Hasbro once again brings Sesame Street favorite Elmo to life with plenty of pretend play value. Let’s Imagine Elmo comes with three hats that each trigger different games kids can play with a counting cowboy, playful prince, or singing sea captain.

Why I Love It: Elmo is a classic for kids of all ages. This Elmo is packed with play value encouraging kids to imagine and play with a familiar friend while learning basic preschool skills.

Nothing stimulates creativity and imagination quite like imaginative play, so while techy gadgets may be what top kids’ lists, a well-balanced toy box will help them flourish.

I hate traveling on holidays. Living on the East Coast with all my family in the Midwest, the traveling has always been the worst part of any holiday. To make matters worse, I belong to a clan clustered within a few miles of each other, who are fairly casual about dropping in on one another. I suspect they can’t really appreciate the cost and effort of putting in an appearance when you’re coming from a thousand miles away. Point being: no one is going to kill the fatted calf for me, and after the horrors of holiday travel I expect nothing less. Instead, after endless delays and disappointments, battling hordes to rival anything in the Lord of the Rings trilogy at three airports over 12 hours, I’m usually greeted with some variation of “Oh, hey, you made it.”

So even though Thanksgiving is, hands down, my favorite holiday — family, feast, football: who could ask for anything more? Seriously, football butts! Plus I don’t have to show up bearing gifts — for 27 nieces and nephews! — for the last several years I’ve opted against spending it “back home” in Indiana. And so I’m stuck sorting through Friendsgiving options, when the truth is Friendsgiving can only ever be but a wan, lifeless allusion to that annual extended-family pageant that brings together quite literally every kind of crazy at one table in an orgy of Fox News-fueled inanity that would rend the nation asunder were it not for the steady drip of Tryptophan at the table.

In Boston, where I live now, Friendsgiving is not something folks do in addition to Thanksgiving, but something they do in place of it. Usually foreign students, holed-up PhDs and transplants gather for what is a decidedly decorous affair, with gluten-free and vegan options attendees pretend are palatable, and food-allergy friendly and international dishes that would be considered acts of terrorism on a traditional Thanksgiving table. But no one seems to mind, because it’s Friendsgiving. No one even comments on the non-traditional — dare I say subversive? — fare. There’s an anodyne all-inclusive non-prayer, and painstakingly polite small talk.

Which misses the mark by a mile. Traditional Thanksgiving is anything but Friendsgiving. It is, in fact, one of the only times Americans allow themselves to break bread, literally, with the enemy. This is the true meaning of Thanksgiving, after all. I mean, the first Thanksgiving was basically:

“Thank you for not letting us die.”

“Sure, thanks for not killing us.”

“Yet.”

“Lol. Pass the yams!”

Thanksgiving brings families together in that same spirit. It’s a yearly affirmation that despite our disagreements, we haven’t killed each other. Yet. Which is truly something to be thankful for. Plus: yams. Friendsgiving is an obvious FAIL when seen in this light, as it tends to bring together people who have chosen one another, probably because they share some of their foundational assumptions about life, the universe and everything, even though they may have annoying food allergies.

It’s precisely the absence of any threat to life and limb that makes Friendsgiving such a FAIL. Because without the ever-looming possibility of anaphylactic shock or your old Drunkle Ed trolling you from across the table, it’s just a dinner party, with yams. Friendsgiving: you can be thankful for your friends, obviously, and for the locally sourced, fair-trade, gluten-free artisanal bread you’re about to break with them. But Thanksgiving: you may waddle away from the table sure that the Republic is doomed, but we haven’t killed each other yet. You may have been THIS CLOSE to strangling Drunkle Ed, but you didn’t. And that’s something to really be thankful for. Friends come and go, but remember: there’s no “unfamily” button on Facebook.

So, I don’t know. I might forego the whole affair this year, snuggle on the sofa in my flannels, with that new translation of The Brothers Grimm, eating bonbons and drinking Negroamaro, and thinking how truly grateful I am I don’t need that unfriend function on Facebook, and how equally thankful I am from a safe distance that there is no unfamily button.

In 2005, Andrea Constand, the former director of operations for the Temple University women’s basketball team, filed a lawsuit against comedian and actor Bill Cosby, alleging that he had drugged and molested her. Thirteen women, 12 of whom remained anonymous, agreed to be witnesses in Constand’s case, which was settled out of court in November 2006 for an undisclosed amount.

In the years following, the allegations went largely unremarked and Cosby maintained his reputation as America’s favorite family man. Then in October of this year, something changed. Comedian Hannibal Burress called out Cosby for being an alleged rapist during a comedy set, and the clip went viral. Cosby declined to respond to the allegations during an interview with NPR’s Scott Simon, and days later, on Nov. 16, Hollywood Elsewhere published former actress Joan Tarshis’ claims that Cosby had drugged and raped her in 1969.

Since then, more and more women have come forward with similar allegations against Cosby.

For his part, Cosby has either vehemently denied the accusations or refused to respond. On Nov. 22, Cosby explained his silence to Florida Today, saying, “I know people are tired of me not saying anything, but a guy doesn’t have to answer to innuendos … People should fact check. People shouldn’t have to go through that and shouldn’t answer to innuendos.”

In a statement sent to The Huffington Post on Nov. 21, Cosby’s attorney Martin D. Singer wrote:

The new, never-before-heard claims from women who have come forward in the past two weeks with unsubstantiated, fantastical stories about things they say occurred 30, 40, or even 50 years ago have escalated far past the point of absurdity.
These brand new claims about alleged decades-old events are becoming increasingly ridiculous, and it is completely illogical that so many people would have said nothing, done nothing, and made no reports to law enforcement or asserted civil claims if they thought they had been assaulted over a span of so many years.

Lawsuits are filed against people in the public eye every day. There has never been a shortage of lawyers willing to represent people with claims against rich, powerful men, so it makes no sense that not one of these new women who just came forward for the first time now ever asserted a legal claim back at the time they allege they had been sexually assaulted.

This situation is an unprecedented example of the media’s breakneck rush to run stories without any corroboration or adherence to traditional journalistic standards. Over and over again, we have refuted these new unsubstantiated stories with documentary evidence, only to have a new uncorroborated story crop up out of the woodwork. When will it end?

It is long past time for this media vilification of Mr. Cosby to stop.

In an interview with HuffPost Women, Therese Serignese, a Florida nurse, said Cosby drugged and raped her 38 years ago, and explained what finally prompted her to share her story.

“I’m still angry about what he did, and I’m angry that he pretends he didn’t do these things,” she said. “And he owes every one of us a sincere apology. I don’t want to carry this after he dies without him apologizing. This is a man that everybody said, ‘What a great guy this is!’ ‘This is Mr. Family Man!’ — and I knew he wasn’t. I know he’s a rapist… I just wanted someone to hear me.”

Below is a list of women who have come forward with allegations about Cosby, dated to the time that the allegations were made public. As more claims emerge, this timeline will be updated.

In most metropolitan areas, getting groceries is as easy as going online. Peapod, Instacart, Amazon Fresh and Fresh Direct are among a growing number of companies looking to make food shopping faster and easier. While for most of their current customers, the service they provide is a convenience, for the 30 million people living in areas with limited access to healthy food options, these services could be game changing.

Getting smarter about getting food to those in need would have tremendous impact on the 49 million people in the U.S. suffering from food insecurity. Many of these people are also counted among the nearly 47 million renters paying more than 30 percent of their income for housing. And research has shown that when people are affordably housed, they spend an average of $133 more on food every month.

For families who are housing and food insecure, taking advantage of grocery delivery services isn’t easy. They might not have reliable internet access at home or at work. Or, because of irregular work hours, they can’t be at home to accept deliveries. Lower-income people might not meet membership or minimum purchase requirements, or encounter technical challenges to using SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps) or other EBT-based payment systems.

But there are ways to overcome those barriers, and low-income housing providers can play an important role. They can ensure and encourage computer access in common areas. Resident service coordinators or other staff can facilitate grocery delivery to the site, accepting deliveries on behalf of residents during business hours.

Residents could authorize building staff to let delivery personnel into their apartments or give building staff permission to put groceries in their apartments themselves. In larger developments, an alternative could be to set aside some space for lockers to hold groceries until residents return home. Changes to SNAP/EBT payment rules would also provide the opportunity to bring these programs to scale.

Moreover, housing providers don’t have to do this alone. Rather, they can serve as a crucial conduit for providing low-income families with access to healthy foods and fostering healthy eating by tapping into existing programs and best practices in place to address the nutritional needs of low-income communities. Among the programs they can facilitate and leverage (in addition to grocery delivery) are:

• Expand on-site access to healthy foods by partnering with local food assistance programs (such as food banks and food pantries).
• Serve as a resource for more economical collective/bulk purchasing.
• Craft and coordinate educational efforts in partnership with schools, public health organizations and other entities that also provide nutritional information.
• Utilize resident services and common space to reinforce messages from other institutions to fill key gaps in outreach and promote a culture of healthy eating in everyday life.
• Connect families to healthy foods by encouraging mixed-use development, expanding transit, and adopting housing-based solutions.

Community developers and affordable housing providers can play a pivotal role in providing access to both nutritious food and the information necessary to guide healthy dietary decisions. Facilitating grocery delivery is a simple step that can be the basis for shrinking food deserts and demonstrates how affordable housing is the stable platform upon which healthy lives can be built.

Andrew Jakabovics is senior director, Policy Development and Research at Enterprise Community Partners. Find Andrew, Enterprise Community Partners and the Enterprise Policy team on Twitter.

We have a tradition in our home, before the evening meal, if someone is feeling particular thankful for someone or something, he or she may initiate what my son has dubbed “gratefulness.” Maybe it is for seeing faraway friends, making through a difficult day, or being together as a family. Lately, my gratefulness has included an unlikely duo.

I remember the day Stampylongnose or Stampy Cat or just plain Stampy came into our lives. His laughter was some of the first I had heard in our home in what felt like forever. Even more miraculous, his joy was so infectious that soon my sweet sick boy was laughing along too, not simply a chuckle but a squealing belly laugh, emanating from the same place that was the source of so much pain.

For more than a year, my son struggled with chronic stomach pain that radiated out from around his belly button and that no MRI, CT scan, sonogram, x-ray, colonoscopy, endoscopy, fluoroscope, or CBC could diagnose.

One afternoon, during our endless visits to specialists, I helped him change into his examination gown. It had been weeks since our last doctor’s visit and what I saw was devastating. Every rib, the outline of his spinal column, and the sharpness of his shoulder blades were clearly defined. His once robust frame had become frail and skeletal.

My son was eventually diagnosed with Functional Abdominal Pain, which has no cure and varying courses of treatment that can include medication, behavior therapy, changes to diet, reduction of stress, and exercise. He learned to identify triggers that coincide with the onset of symptoms, that the pain, caused by an “altered sensitivity to nerve impulses in the gut and brain” was not simply in his head, and that he was not alone.

Eric Chiou and Samuel Nurko reported in their study that 13 to 38 percent of children and adolescents experience abdominal pain weekly with up to 24 percent of children reporting symptoms persisting longer than 8 weeks.

As weeks stretched into months, his pain, which always hovered around an 8 on scale of 1 to 10, began to take its toll on my child’s body and spirit. My bright, thoughtful, silly boy had become quiet, frustrated, and disinterested in almost everything, almost.

Minecraft, a computer game of 3-D Lego-like bricks was the one thing that continued to hold his attention. Losing himself in a world of pixels, creating landscapes and machines, exploring, or conquering zombies allowed him to disassociate, however briefly, with the body that was betraying him.

To become more proficient in the building and navigating of worlds, he conducted research. We supervised his YouTube searches for Minecraft walkthroughs and instructional videos that distracted him from the pain, while at the same time inspired and elevated his level of play. Through his searches, my son stumbled upon something and someone remarkable.

Stampy and his band of merry friends in the UK, including family favorite iBallistic Squid, aka Squidoodily, adventure to the moon, eat loads of cake, scream, and laugh a lot, while riding roller coasters, fleeing “googlies” or “skellingtons,” and having a riotous time in Stampy’s Lovely World of Minecraft.

Stampy, Joseph Garrett (23), and Squid, David Spencer (22), frequent virtual guests in our home, are simultaneously rowdy and well behaved. These young men, with their videos and good humor, made my son excited for the next day and the next adventure or virtual battle.

Eventually, we began to untangle a host of medical issues, pulling at each thread carefully, all the while logging on and tuning in for more Stampy, more Squid, more laughter.

Much has changed over the last two years. My son’s health continues to improve and the painful episodes have grown farther apart, though their ferocity remains. He is no longer the emaciated little boy who carried the weight of so much suffering. He is tall, strong, and funny, though his humor now has a distinctive edge to it, but how could it not after everything he endured?

As for Stampy and Squid, however, they continue to be regular fixtures in our lives. They did what doctors alone could not. They gave a boy who needed a temporary escape into a lovely world an adventure worth waking up for and place to heal. For that, I am truly grateful.