Whilst surfing the web last week I came across this headline from the Los Angeles Times blog: “Five tips to keep your kids safe this summer”. I am always keen to read parenting tips that offer good advice so I read on. The tips were from the Toy Industry Association and as I read them I got more and more offended at what seemed like “teaching us to suck eggs” advice. ‘Supervise your children’, ‘put sun cream on them’ … oh please. So after a little rant to myself and with Child Safety Week approaching on the 22-28 June 2009, I decided to try and write some less insulting tips with a few of my own experiences thrown into the mix.

Here’s some fun reading we picked up from wandering the web …

Internet savvy kids can be dangerous to your wallet if you do not log out of websites as some unlucky parents found out when their 3 year old bought a $20,000 digger. –Stuff.co.nz

We all have children with messy rooms, right? But calling the police on them is taking things a bit too far! –Strollerderby

Imagine the scene. Your Ben 10 fan asks “Please can I have a Ben 10 Omnitrix watch …

* for my birthday?”
* because I’ve been good?”
* because Johny’s got one?” (Delete as necessary.)

You are feeling generous so you reply “OK as long as you …

* tidy your room.”
* do your homework.”
* behave at Grandma’s this weekend.” (You get the idea!)

That night you have a few minutes to go online and order the agreed on present but there are at least four different versions. Aagh, which one should you choose? Presumably your Ben 10 fan had one in mind but you want to get the best, most appropriate one right? So here are your choices …

Congratulations to Paul who is the lucky winner of our Ben 10 Swampfire giveaway! We bet his son will have hours of fun with his new action figure creating many action packed scenes.Thanks to everyone who participated in the contest. Keep reading Son Time Now for more fabulous giveaways. Get FREE updates via Email or RSS.

Here’s some fun reading we picked up from wandering the web …

It’s a shame we all don’t have unlimited budgets for decorating our childrens bedrooms! Check out how the celebrities do it in style. I especially like the Tigger one where the celebrity couple had the Pooh cartoonist come in to draw the mural. –Lilsugar

Following the success of the now discontinued Action Man figures, toymakers the Character Group, recently made a bid for a share of the action figure market by launching its new HM Armed Forces range. This new military range is taking the Amazon Action Figure Bestsellers list by storm with 4 entries in the top 10 at the time of writing. So what are they all about and are they worth buying?

Imagine your kid’s beaming smile when they see their newly transformed, cartoon themed kids bedroom decor. Are you getting that warm glow? … Screech, your glow turns icy as you picture days and weeks of upheaval and mess and disruption while you perform this miraculous make-over. So what if you could find a blueprint that promises you only 10 hours of work to achieve your kids bedroom decor dream? Well here it is.

Here’s some fun reading we picked up from wandering the web this week …

Man Delivers Baby With YouTube’s Help – You should probably file this under Don’t Try This At Home, but sometimes one has no choice. Pressed for time, a British man delivered his wife’s baby with the help of instructions uploaded to YouTube. –Webpronews

My son has now nearly collected all of these very popular Ben10 Alien Action Figures and cannot put them down. Now you too can help your Ben 10 fan start or add to his own collection. We have one Swampfire Action Figure to giveaway to one lucky winner on Son Time Now this week! To enter, leave a comment on this post telling us which Ben 10 alien is your child’s favourite and why.