Product from Carol's Daughter “A Magical Beauty Collection.” Carol's Daughter and Disney have created a collection of genuinely natural hair and bath treats that gently condition, detangle and soothe. These magical products were inspired by Disney's newest princess, Tiana. (Associated Press)

Holly Price Alford is over the moon about Disney’s first black princess. Her 8-year-old daughter is, too, but not because the princess is black.

“She understands that this is a princess who is African American,” said Alford, who is black and lives in Meadowbrook, Va. “But do I think it’s a big deal to her? No.”

Princess Tiana debuts in The Princess and the Frog in New York and Los Angeles today and nationwide Dec. 11, and grown-ups have certainly been buzzing. But for many little black girls growing up with Malia and Sasha Obama in the White House, the historic nature of Tiana’s debut in Disney’s mostly white princess lineup doesn’t quite seem to register.

NWI Parent Blog—Photographer and writer mom of two, Beth always brings a new twist to the suburban mundane.

On Monday I had lunch with friends and dinner with another set of friends and at the end of the day I wish I could have laid in bed and thought about how lucky I am to have such wonderful people in my life, but instead I laid in bed nearly moaning because my stomach hurt so terribly.

Yes, I realize that was the longest sentence in the history of ever but it’s not my fault.

Anyway, it didn’t take too long until the stomach pain turn into vomiting all night long.

Continue reading Beth’s latest post here on her “Laptops to Countertops” blog.

Have your hearty winter meals in a single, easy-to-prepare dish

Winter evenings are back—filled with hungry kids, tired parents and homework, just to name three. Backyard grilling days are over—replaced with holiday shopping at crowded malls—and it’s back to the kitchen stove, where the range and the oven await.

Here are three delicious dinners to help you through, all of which have less than 10 minutes prep time. Apart from the slow-cooker pot roast, the other two dinners are of the family skillet variety—one pot, fast dinner and easy clean-up. As cooking maven Ina Garten likes to say, “What’s not to love?”

Slow Cooker Hearty Pot Roast

(6 servings)

You can prep the potatoes and carrots the night before if you wish, covering them with cold water and refrigerating.

Check out our “New Arrivals” online newsletter, coming to NWI inboxes every Wednesday morning. There’s a lot going on between issues of NWI Parent, and we don’t want you to miss a thing! We’ll keep you informed on the latest parenting news and trends, family-friendly events, local destinations and resources, great products, and engaging blogs from Northwest Indiana parents. Subscribe today and stay connected. See this week’s newsletter here.

THIS WEEK’S FEATURED EVENT

Nov 26: State Street Thanksgiving Day Parade
CHICAGO | More than 400,000 visitors are expected to line the route for this annual televised event, which features marching bands, equestrian units, floats, performance groups, celebrities, and everyone’s favorite Thanksgiving parade staple: enormous helium balloons. Find out more here.

ALSO THIS WEEK

• Ongoing: Holly Days in downtown Valparaiso

• Ongoing: Santa Claus in Crown Point in the Lower Level Courthouse Shops of Old Courthouse in Crown Point

• Ongoing: Snow Much Fun at the Chicago Children’s Museum in Chicago

• Through Nov 29: Kids Activities and Stories at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Visitor Center

• Through Dec 6: Dooby Dooby Moo at Lifeline Theatre in Chicago

• Through Dec 6: Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka at the Chicago Street Theatre in Valparaiso

• Through Dec 20: The Christmas Schooner at the Center for the Visual and Performing Arts in Munster

• Through Jan 3: Christmas around the World and Holidays of Light at the Museum of Science and Industry of Chicago

• Through Jan 10: A Christmas Story Comes Home at the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority in Hammond

• Through Mar 14: Free Ice Skating at Millennium Park in Chicago

• Nov 25-29: Orak Shrine Circus at Hammond Civic Center in Hammond

• Nov 27: 4th Friday Arts/Crown Point Polar Express in historic downtown Crown Point

• Opens Nov 27: The ice skating rink opens at Deep River Waterpark in Crown Point

• Nov 27-Dec 18: Caroling at Cloud Gate at Millennium Park in Chicago

• Nov 27-Dec 27: The Snow Queen at Victory Gardens Biograph Theater in Chicago

• Nov 30-Dec 14: The Story of the Little Mermaid at the Center for the Visual and Performing Arts in Munster

About this time each year, I, along with many others, take time to reflect on all the blessings in my life and remember all that I have to be thankful for.

Not only is it about being grateful for what you have, but seeing that silver lining even on a cloudy day and recognizing that even tough situations can bring some good.

In looking around at my life and my surroundings, I see so many things to be appreciated. Here are a few thoughts:

The Centers for Disease Control reports that an estimated 16 percent of children ages 6 to 19 are overweight as determined by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of 1999-2002. That’s a 45 percent increase from the 1988-94 survey.

Clearly, the alarming reality of booming childhood obesity rates is well publicized, but even those not up on all the news reports can see the epidemic at shopping malls, playgrounds and schools.

Despite a high level of awareness, the challenge of helping kids make the necessary lifestyle changes to fight the battle of the bulge remains an ominous task. Educated parents can exercise much control in the toddler, preschool and early elementary years, but perhaps most challenging and at risk are those with a greater level of independence.

With pots boiling, ovens baking and skillets sizzling, Thanksgiving can be a hazardous day in the kitchen.

So much so, in fact, that the National Fire Protection Association says that with so many more people cooking on Thanksgiving than on a typical day, Americans are twice as likely to have a home fire on the holiday than any other day of the year.

“We want the dinner to come off well,” says John Drengenberg, the consumer safety director at the Northbrook-based Underwriters Laboratories, a product safety testing organization. “We want to dazzle friends and relatives, but you have to think about safety. A fire in your kitchen doesn’t dazzle anybody.”

NWI Parent Blog—Rick Kaempfer’s business card says author/writer/blogger, but his real job is “stay-at-home-dad.”

My mother never swears…at least not intentionally.

She has a great excuse when she slips, too. She grew up in Germany, and she was never formally schooled in English. Her English is pretty good considering, but every now and then she’ll use a phrase completely incorrectly, or she’ll slip into half-German, half-English, and inadvertently say something hilarious, obscene, or both.

In our family, we call this “pulling a Hildegard.”

Continue reading Rick’s latest post here on his “Father Knows Nothing” blog.

NWI Parent Blog—Stephanie is a stay-at-home mom to three boys and a baby girl, but don’t let that fool you. She’ll keep you in style and in-the-know with reviews on the latest products and services you’ll use, with a little bit of life thrown in.

It has been weeks maybe MONTHS since everyone in our house was healthy. It’s one cold after flu after pink eye after bronchitis after the other. It seems ALL we’ve been eating is soup. Which is ok with me because I LOVE SOUP.

Like, I think about it and I think, I love soup! Could it be the perfect food?

When I’m up for it, I love to make a huge pot of copycat Olive Garden minestrone. I make this all the time. And mine is better than Olive Garden’s. But I haven’t really felt like chopping up all those veggies and stuff lately so we’ve been eating mostly canned.

Continue reading Stephanie’s latest post here on her “Close to Home” blog.