Strollerderby : new zealand

Toddler Buys Herself a Earthmover on Online Auction

SunnyChanel — Fri, 22 May 2009 04:21:00 GMT

Kids, they like the big machinery. When they see a construction team with their tractors, diggers and big trucks they become mesmerized with an awestruck wonder. At home, they are generally content with a set of Tonka’s trucks. But not this toddler. Nope, this 3-year-old girl snuck onto the internet and bought herself a real, genuine earth-moving digger.

This New Zealand toddler bought the $12,300 piece of equipment while her mom took a nap. Her mom had the site TradeMe up on her computer where went to purchase some toys. When her mom went to get some shut eye, the little girl went and did a few simple clicks and next thing she knew, she was the winning bid.

The girls mother said that, “the first I knew about it was when I came down and opened up the computer…I saw an e-mail from TradeMe saying I had won an auction and another e-mail from the seller saying something like 'I think you'll love this digger,'" she told her local paper.
At first she assumed it was one of the toys that she bid on. But then she said that ,"It wasn't until I went back and reread the e-mails that I saw $20,000 -- and got the shock of my life."

She called the auction site and told them immediately what happened. Lucky for her the issue was resolved and the toddler won’t be driving a real live construction vehicle anytime soon. Hopefully she’ll just stick with the Tonkas.

If your kid could jump on eBay and buy anything they wanted, what would they buy?

Source

Woman Gives Birth on Airplane, Abandons Baby in Airport

Kate Tuttle — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:02:00 GMT

A sad and strange story out of New Zealand: authorities there are reporting that a pregnant Samoan woman boarded a flight from Apia to Auckland last week and gave birth while on-board the plane. While early rumors suggested that the infant had been found in the airplane lavatory, it's now reported that the newborn was fond in a trash can in the airport in New Zealand's largest city. The baby and mother are both now reported healthy, in the hospital.

How was a heavily pregnant woman allowed to board a plane, in violation of both airline and national regulations? And was the woman, reportedly a member of a group of immigrant workers who regularly arrive from Samoa for seasonal agricultural work, so in need of mone that she couldn't afford to stay home and give birth? Was she seeking the New Zealand citizenship most Samoans are denied (even though the law changed in 2006 and no longer grants citizenship by birth alone)?

We'll probably never know. But let's hope the mother and child are able to recover from this bizarre beginning to their life together.

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Move Over, Booties! Here Come Knitted Boobies

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California Daycare Closed; Worker Was Mocking Kids' Genitals

New Zealand Girl Treated Successfully With Cord Blood

Brett Singer — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 13:30:00 GMT

While I've considered the medicial possibilities of umbilical cord blood, I never thought much about it. We banked our kids' cord blood and of course hope that we'll never have to use it.

This story about a little girl from New Zealand illustrates a possible treatment. It sounds like cord blood may have given her a chance at life.

Maia Friedlander is 4 years old. Her twin sister Ariel, "hit all her developmental milestones about six months early." But Maia "did not learn to crawl till she was three." Maia "struggled to talk, walk properly or even chew her food without choking," and was in therapy for six hours each day.

But after a "two-hour infusion of her own cord blood", Maia is now in kindergarten and appears to be on the mend. Her parents say, "she's like a different child" after the treatment, which took place at Duke University in North Carolina.

Obviously, as parents, we hope that we never have to use a procedure such as this. But it's encouraging to hear about successful treatments like this one. As far as I'm concerned, anything that helps a little girl to have a better life is a good thing.

Source: Stuff.co.nz

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Pregnant Binge Drinker Faces No Criminal Charges

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 21:45:00 GMT

If there’s anything sadder than domestic violence, it’s domestic violence involving a pregnant woman and an insane quantity of booze. Last week, New Zealand police, responding to a 4 a.m. domestic violence complaint, found a heavily intoxicated woman whose partner had hit her over the head with a bottle. She was nine months pregnant, and had been drinking with her partner for eight hours straight.

The man was imprisoned on assault charges, but police were uncertain about how to deal with the mother-to-be. They considered bringing charges against her for endangering her child by binge drinking, but ultimately decided to refer the case to Child, Youth, and Family—largely because maternal substance abuse is not explicitly outlawed. In some rare cases, pregnant drinkers have been charged with attempted fetal homicide, but New Zealand, like the United States, does not criminalize the simple act of drinking while pregnant.

This recent case has New Zealand police hoping to change that. Detectives involved in the case have called for legislation banning maternal substance abuse, believing that's the best way to stop addicted mothers-to-be from endangering their fetuses. But others feel that throwing pregnant women in jail is not the answer. Furthermore, legislating pregnant women's behavior could be a slippery slope. While many pregnant women feel comfortable having a daily drink, others would never consider consuming even a drop of wine.

What do you think? Should drinking while pregnant be against the law?

Photo: The Daily Mail

Healthy Eating Leads Children to Porn

Cole Gamble — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:30:00 GMT

We try to do the best for our best for our kids. Make them brush their teeth, look both ways before crossing the street. But are we trying too hard to protect our kids? Could these well intentioned acts actually have a negative effect? Perhaps, as some parents are learning encouraging their children to eat healthy is leading the kids to pornography. To be specific, it leads them to, and I quote, “Hot Gay Bareback” porn…

A mother in New Zealand was shocked to find the kid-friendly healthy eating website address her daughter got from a package of mandarins actually lead her to a site with a big purple cartoon monster offering the 8-year-old links to multiple porn sites. Instead of going to Munch Island, where she could play interactive puzzles and learn about the benefits of eating fruit, the woman’s child was treated to hard core gay porn.

Turns out the regular site had been hacked by some fun loving computer gremlins. Well, kids have got to learn sometime, right?

Woman Dangles Baby Outside Moving Car

Jen Chaney — Tue, 20 May 2008 12:02:00 GMT

Generally speaking, despite what some of the commenters on my recent Suri Cruise post might say, I try to be non-judgmental about other people's parenting choices. But I can't be impartial about this woman in New Zealand, who dangled her one-year-old baby outside the window of a moving car for no apparent reason. I mean, that's just stone-cold, straight-up stupid.

Evidently the 21-year-old mom, whose name has been withheld, was on vacation with friends. They were driving along a gravel road at about 30 km per hour, or about 18.6 miles per hour. Since safety clearly was paramount, one of the friends was lying on top of the car, holding down an inflatable bed. At some point, the mom thought it would be fun to hold the infant under the arms and dangle the babe's feet near the road, which she did for about ten seconds. A witness -- who undoubtedly thought, "Wow, this makes Michael Jackson's baby-dangling episode look remarkably rational and smartly executed" -- called the cops.

The mom's only defense: "I just didn't think." Well, at least she's honest.

She is due to be sentenced next week and a judge promised she won't get off easily. I have to believe this young mother isn't malicious but is just acting her age -- which, again, is 21 -- and didn't consider the consequences of her behavior. Fortunately her child survived and will have an awesome story to hold over his/her mother's head for decades to come.

Image: Crazy '80s Girl

Happy Birthday kids. Have some carrots.

Brett Singer — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:00:00 GMT

Despite what Adrienne pointed out about chubby kids having fewer cavities, a school principal in New Zealand isn't taking any chances.

Megan Bowden of the Oteha Valley primary school has issued a decree: no more cake. With a large number of kids having birthdays in September and October, every day was a birthday cake day, and that's just too damn much cake! The New Zealand Ministry of Education (ooo, sounds ominous, doesn't it?) has been trying to reduce the amount of sugary snacks being served at school, but they also issued a statement that, "schools did not need to monitor food brought in from outside." So they're probably cool with the cake.

As much as the principal's policy seems draconian, I have to admit that a part of me agrees with her. I'm far from a health nut, and Kelly is right when she tears into the London lunatic who criticized a heavyset beauty queen. But it does sometimes feel like kids are given a tremendous amount of junky food during the school day. I know of two elementary schools that have "sundaes on Friday" once a month at lunch, and I've seen lunch menus that offer waffles and bacon, with chocolate éclairs for dessert. According to the article, parents began to think that bringing a cake for the child's birthday was a school rule. Then there's the issue of allergies, which means checking the cake for nuts or another offending substance, and whoever brings in the cake might be expected to provide an alternative for any child who can't partake of the treat. Maybe it's not completely unreasonable to say hey, have your cake at home.

Kiwi Parents Pull Off Super Victory Against Government

Patti — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 18:59:00 GMT

Pat and Sheena Wheaton have at least one quality that will make them great parents: consistency. When they were shot down by the New Zealand naming registrar, they persevered, because only one name was going to suit Baby Boy Wheaton, and that name was 4Real. Two months of sticking-to-their-guns later, the Wheatons have finally reached a compromise. For legal intents and purposes, the child's name will be Superman Wheaton.

Somewhere, Nicolas Cage is kicking himself for not going big.

New Zealand's government reserves the right to disallow names for various reasons. Usually this power is invoked when a name could be construed as offensive, but in the Wheaton case, it was a numbers game: alpha characters only, please. The Wheatons plan to refer to the child by the name they originally chose for him when they saw their ultrasound and realized their pregnancy was for real.

See? At least they're consistent. That's something.

New Zealanders Fight to Name Baby "4Real." For Real.

Patti — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 16:15:00 GMT

New Zealand parents Pat and Sheena Wheaton chose a name for their baby that symbolized their feelings about becoming parents, a name whose meaning would be instantly understood by outsiders. A name that the New Zealand government is disallowing, because it happens to start with a number instead of a letter.

Little 4Real Wheaton may not go down on the books as such, due to a Kiwi regulation that allows unusual names to be open to government scrutiny and approval. Names like Satan and Adolph Hitler have been vetoed by the registry of births on grounds that they are offensive, and numerical names appear to simply be non-starters.

But don't worry about Baby Boy Wheaton. If the state denies his parents the use of their chosen name, he'll just have to settle for being Real.

Kinda makes Metallica sound like Emily, doesn't it?

Schoolgirl Scientists Uncover Pharma Company's False Claims

Patti — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 19:14:00 GMT

Let's hear it for fourteen-year-old New Zealand girls Jenny Suo and Anna Devathasan, whose innocent 2004 science fair project led to huge fines being levied against pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline. The girls tested the vitamin C content of several brands of juice, and most of them turned out to contain more of the nutrient than the packaging indicated. But GlaxoSmithKline's Ribena, which is marketed as containing four times the vitamin C of orange juice, had no detectable level of the vitamin. The girls tested it several times and still came up with nothing.

New Zealand's Commerce Commission launched an investigation which culminated in a smackdown for the world's second largest drug company, which is responsible for paying fines of $156,000 USD for having made false claims regarding its product.

Jenny and Anna appeared in court for part of the trial, but were too busy at school to attend the sentencing portion. They're enjoying their celebrity, though: "It's incredible to think you can have this sort of impact as a consumer and as a kid." It's inspirational, too.