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Lots of interesting studies to read about this week!

First, I learned that happy people watch less TV (via the Abundance Blog at Marelisa Online).

Then, I learned via Eco Child’s Play that a significant link has been demonstrated between media exposure and childhood obesity; tobacco, alcohol, and drug use; low academic achievement; and sexual behavior. (Full report here.)

Studies show that children who play, and especially play outside, laugh more; up to 20 times more!

Studies also show that happiness is contagious, traveling through three degrees of separation and lasting up to a year!

So, no excuses! Science has spoken!

Everybody turn off your TV. Grab those kids. Go outside; play, laugh.

It will make you happier, which will make your spouse happier, which will make your kids happier! Isn’t that what we all want during the holidays, a house full of happy people?

A reminder: If you shop, shop local.

Remember, now more than ever, you vote with your dollar! Who do you support? Who deserves to be left standing when we find ourselves on the other side of this financial mess?

Not freaking Walmart, that’s for sure.

Check out this great list of Best Christmas Gifts for a Blogger.

Only thing missing, I think, is an awesome desk chair that doesn’t make your butt go numb. Maybe this one:

Fellow bloggers, what other bloggy gifts are on your wish list?

Finally, a bit of beautiful inspiration, via the Huffington Post:

I am away this weekend so I have scheduled some gift idea posts; next week I’ll be offering up homemade and handmade projects.

Have a great Saturday and Sunday and go outside!

Continuing on with our December daily decoration, and daily Christmas books:

Yesterday the snow globes came out.

You would think that Frosty himself had come to life in my foyer; Cassidy could not have been more excited.

And today I was pleased as punch to bring out- ta-da! – fabric napkins embroidered with the names and portraits of Santa’s reindeer. I found these at Goodwill for a dollar!

I especially like how Blitzen- I don’t think you can see the detail, sorry about the photo, it’s dark in here today- is drinking a martini, signifying that he is blitzed.

Yesterday’s book was I Spy Little Christmas ,

a nice, easy seek-and-find board book with pretty photos of vintagey Christmases.

Cassidy has definitely outgrown the level of difficulty on this one so I will be passing it on.

Today’s book is the much more challenging I Spy Christmas: A Book of Picture Riddles:

The Where’s Waldo of Christmas titles, this is the sort of book where one family member will open it up to glance through it, get stuck trying to find one of the items, ask another family member to help, and next thing you know there’s five people in each other’s laps trying to find the golden goose or whatever.

It will take us easily until Christmas to satisfactorily finish this book.

It also serves as an excellent time-consuming diversion if you are waiting in line at the post office!

Yay, I am caught up. How sad is it that I was already behind on the 4th of December?

Some Christmas presents you can feel good about!

The BOGO flashlight

“Two billion people living in the developing world rely on kerosene lanterns, candles, and single-use battery flashlights for light at night. Not only are these options expensive, dangerous, and harmful to the environment, they also
negatively impact health, education, and security…. Our lights provide an opportunity for children to read at night and to extend school hours. This is especially important in developing countries where most children spend all day tending crops, taking care of livestock, or working in cottage industries. Kerosene is increasingly expensive, especially given the recent rise in the price of petrochemicals, so many families cannot afford it. Flashlights are even more expensive, and candles do not provide adequate lighting to read. As a result, many children will never learn to read and will be trapped in a life of poverty. Our lights give them a chance at a better life, thus education is one of the strongest pillars in our vision to light the world. “

We own one of these flashlights, and after a year of nightly use and frequent abuse (dropped off top bunk, left in rainy window, etc) it still works great. The light is super bright and good for reading by.

When you purchase a light, you donate one to a cause which you are able to choose for yourself.

One Laptop per Child (Give a Laptop, Get a Laptop)

The One Laptop Per Child Organization

“Founded in 2005 by MIT professor Nicholas Negroponte, One Laptop Per Child has a simple mission: to create educational opportunities for the world’s poorest children by providing each and every one with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop with content and software designed for collaborative, creative, self-empowered learning.

By giving a laptop, you are helping bring education to children in some of the world’s most remote areas.

You are connecting them to each other. To us. To hope. And to a better future.”

I wish we had some spare cash around for this. It looks really rugged and able to withstand hardcore use; and the older kids are now needing to share a computer for schoolwork. Plus, it’s energy efficient; AND, of course, the price covers the donation of a laptop so that another child gains an education.

TOMS shoes

Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS shoes, donates a pair of shoes to a child in need for each pair purchased. He has set a goal of 30,000 shoes by Christmas to be given in Ethiopia, to help combat Podoconiosis, a preventable soil-transmitting disease.

Watch the video, and pass it on: