Are you involved with your child’s online life? Highlights Magazine and Glubble want to know. That’s why they’re inviting parents to participate in a short poll at Highlights.com.

If you’re like most parents, you want your child to ask permission before they get a snack or ride their bike to a friend’s house. So why shouldn’t they ask permission before visiting any site on the Internet? With Glubble, kids have to ask your permission to visit sites on the Internet.

What’s Glubble?

Glubble is geared to families with children under 12. Think of it like “Internet training wheels.” Glubble offers a safe online place for families where parents can be involved with their children’s Internet usage. By doing this, Glubble hopes parents can teach kids the how to use the the Internet in a positive and safe way.

Also, children are going online at a younger age. My five-year-old is constantly coming to me with requests to go to www dot something or rather and watching Sesame Street videos on YouTube with her dad. With Glubble, parents are able to choose web content for their kids the same way they choose books, television shows, clothes and movies. Glubble makes it easier for parents by packaging over 2500 kid-friendly websites like Discovery Kids or Sesame Street into “glubbles.” Parents can add to this list by easily adding sites they like.

Finally, you can see what Google search terms your children are using. What they’re allowed to search on can be filtered based on parent created lists as well. It’s also a way to find out what they’re researching for school. Think of it as a conversation starter, “So tell me more about your Greek mythology paper. Who’s this Zeus guy anyway?”

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Enter my Quaker Oatmeal Living Proof contest for one of two chances to win a one month supply of Quaker’s heart healthy breakfast products.

Using oatmeal in your diet is a great way to teach your kids about healthy eating. Not only is oatmeal good to eat, it’s fun to cook with! Quaker Oats has a terrific recipe site. There’s also a section devoted to kids in the kitchen.

Best of all, there’s nothing like a warm bowl of oatmeal to start the school day off right, so why not enter my contest to win a big box of Quaker Oatmeal breakfast goodies to share with your family?

Your Quaker Oatmeal Living Proof Kit includes:

• Two tubes of Old Fashioned Quaker Oats
• Two boxes of Quaker Oatmeal To Go Bars
• Two boxes of Quaker Oatmeal Squares
• Two boxes of Quaker Instant Oatmeal

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I just posted a review of Manhattan Toy’s new Groovy Girls RSVP doll line and website on my other blog, A Mama’s Rant at Join the party with Groovy Girls RSVP. They’re great dolls and a positive alternative to Barbie or Bratz dolls. Check it out!

More Groovy Girl activities

Besides playing with the dolls, there are lots of groovy things to do:

• Your child can read from a whole line of Groovy Girl books.
• There’s a terrific Groovy Girl website with all sorts of online fun especially if your doll has Groovy Girl RSVP codes.
• Since having your child online all the time isn’t practical – mom needs the computer, too! – you should look into the Groovy Girl offline activities, too. There are downloadable scrapbooking pages, coloring pages and journal pages to print out.
• Parents can sign up for an email newsletter with money saving deals and the latest news on Groovy Girl dolls and accessories.
• There’s even a recipe for Groovy Girls Sugar Cookies (downloadable PDF).
• She can keep a journal in her Groovy Girls Lock & Key Diary.
• There’s also Groovy Girls Secret Keeper Treasure Box & Stationery Set and a Groovy Girls Sticker Tote to play with.

Way too much Groovy Girl fun.

Earlier this month, I reviewed the educational children’s DVD series Global Wonders at Global Wonders: teaching kids about world culture. The first four DVDs are being released on Amazon, and through Target and Toys “R” Us TODAY!

Global Wonders is offering a discount coupon for $2 off your purchase of any Global Wonders DVD. Click here to download a coupon.

When you’re on the Global Wonders website, don’t forget to register on to receive updates and promotional offers on a future library of titles covering cultures from around the world, too.

I’m one of the 15 food and diet/health blogger invited to the Quaker Oatmeal Living Proof Weekend November 7 to 9. (You can learn more about it at This Mama Cooks! On a Diet, my food and diet blog.)

I’m very excited about it, especially the blogger cook off. To prepare, I’ve been checking out Quaker Oatmeal’s recipe website where I found a terrific meatloaf recipe . Ironically, my daughter Lucie seems to have outgrown her egg allergy. (If your child has egg allergies, check out these recipes for eggless meatloaf.)

My family loved this dish and my kids made a point to tell me it was an A++ with them.

(And if you’re wondering about the Burt and Ernie book, you can read about it at Don’t Forget the Oatmeal!)

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