Saturday 5/31 in Arlington and Brookline and June 18 in Needham

Whether or not you have taken the Infant Signing Workshop, you could also register for Sign and Sing to learn more signs in a fun, interactive play class with your baby. Shorter five week summer series begins soon.

Researchers have found that attending daycare or even playgroups can decrease the risk of a child developing the most common type of childhood leukemia by a very dramatic 30%. As the BBC reports:

…it is also thought that contracting some childhood infections - which are often readily spread in environments such as playgroups where children are in close contact with each other - may prime the immune system against leukemia.

So remember that the next time you’re madly and desperately trying to work from home while taking care of a sick baby who’s on his fourth ear infection of the season and you’ve used all your sick days, are behind on your projects, are worried about ear tubes, and are thinking that you might as well have been issued a vat of amoxicillin last November to last you through April.

Meanwhile, authors from the Work and Family Institute find that very few children in day care wish that they could have more time with their parents; rather, when asked what they would change about their parents’ work, children wished that their parents were less stressed out and tired. Score! for the quality-not-quantity camp!

I’ve been both a working mom and a stay-at-home mom. And from personal experience, I can confirm the no-brainer that indeed, working or not, parenting young children can be exhausting and stressful. But oh, the unparalleled joys.

Use Your Words
What are some of the benefits of daycare your family has experienced?

In an earlier article decrying the ugliness of the Lawn Pox, Slate’s Tom Vanderbilt complains that these colorful plastic eyesores, with their somewhat short lifespans, they are simply so much fodder for the landfill. Perhaps he’s never heard of Freecycle, a very cool way of getting rid of good stuff you no longer want or need. Whether it’s old furniture, a fax machine, weights — you name it — there’s someone in your community who could put it to good use. And that, my friends, is how we came to own a delightful, colorful, and plastic, sand and water table.

We have books that celebrate the love between a mom and her baby, the bond of a grandmother and grandchild, the contributions and support of dads, and even a book that posits the age-old question: Is your Mama a Llama?

Stop by and browse, and stock up, because books always do make the best gifts.

Room to Grow is dedicated to enriching the lives of babies born into poverty, providing one-on-one parenting support and essential baby items throughout their critical first three years of development. You may recognize Room to Grow as valued Isis partners; we serve as a collection center for new and gently used baby items.

Get all gussied up and let someone else cook at this gala evening of fashion, jewels, and fun, hosted by Persona Jewelry and Lola, with cuisine from Clink, Max Ultimate Food, the Port Tavern & Grille, 51 Lincoln, Petit Robert Bistro, and Sixty2 on Wharf. It’s a great way to celebrate Mother’s Day and an organization that gives mothers — and their kids — truly meaningful support.

Vendors
From 10am-3pm, we’re featuring the pregnancy glow enhancing Basq skin care line, and hosting the good people from Baby Legs, Momma’s Jewels (three-ring sterling silver necklace, pictured), Petunia Pickle Bottom, Scandinavian Child, and See Kai Run. They can answer your burning questions such as: What are the cleaning recommendations for my Petunia Pickle Bottom bag? Why are baby legs even more chubby and delicious when clad in leg warmers? Is sterling silver safe for my baby to teethe and play? How is the Svan eco-friendly and eco-safe? Just who is Kai, anyway?

Sidewalk Sale
As an added incentive, we’re moving all of our sale merchandise over to Brookline and throwing a sidewalk sale, with products from Robeez, Crocs, See Kai Run, Woobee, Earth Angel*Baby Mama, Baby’s Own, assorted books, and more, all at amazing discounts! Members can take an extra 60% off of select markdowns, and non-members can take 50% off. Even our sale strollers and carseats will make the trip, though the above additional discounts will not apply.

As with any other day at an Isis center, it’s guaranteed to be fun and informative, so make sure to stop by!

Rockabye Baby! transforms hits from rockers both classic and contemporary into instrumental lullabies that satisfy both babies with the fussies and parents with ears. Banish the painful and somewhat insulting cheesiness of much of children’s music, and instead enjoy soothing sounds of the glockenspiel, vibraphone, mellotron and more with lullaby versions of hits by everyone from the Rolling Stones to Metallica. I’ll spare you the painful puns of “sweet as brown sugar” and “help your baby get satisfaction.” But remember, when you take your little one from classical rock-a-byes to classic rock anthems: no lighters!

Rockabye Baby’s renditions of The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Coldplay, and U2 are available now at all three Isis Maternity locations.

Find out more as parents test-drive lullaby renditions of Tool, Nine Inch Nails, Bob Marley, AC/DC and U2 on Boston.com.

Use Your Words
What other albums or artists would make good fodder for lullabies?

But the majority of women in developing countries worldwide don’t have the benefit of such luxuries, or even the most basic medical, prenatal, or infant care. In fact, every year over 10 million mothers and children die, most from preventable causes. And that’s why Infante Sano (Spanish for Healthy Infant), a nonprofit organization affiliated with Boston’s Children’s Hospital, has developed a program to improve the health and well being of mothers and infants in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Isis Maternity is proud to be teaming up with Infante Sano to give you a wonderful alternative gift for your mother on Mother’s Day. Instead of giving flowers and chocolate consider giving the gift of life. For only $25 you can sponsor a clean, safe birth for a woman and her child, and we’ll send your mom a card telling her that for mother’s day her child helped save a life. Make your mother proud and help another woman give her child a healthy start to life. To sponsor a birth for mother’s day, go to infantesano.org/donate.php

Massage for the Childbearing Year:
A Couples Workshop
Sat. 5/3 at 1:30 PM in Arlington

Join us for this relaxing and beneficial hands-on massage workshop. Partners will learn simple massage techniques to confidently and effectively relieve stress and tension that mom may experience during all stages of the childbearing year: pregnancy, labor, and postpartum.

Partners, you won’t be forgotten! The emphasis of this workshop is on bonding and the shared experience, so we will also cover reciprocated massage. Bring your partner/friend/support person for a relaxing, stress reducing afternoon. Please wear comfortable clothing and bring pillows.

To register go to http://www.isismaternity.com/classes/type/specialevents or call 781-429-1500.

I turn the bags inside out, wash them with dish soap, then dry them on my Skip Hop Splash bottle drying rack. The rack is a little whimsical and ever-useful revolving slice of design genius that has helped to abolish the clutter of bottle and sippy cup drying. And now it’s part of our small part to conserve natural resources. As Earth Day reminds us, it’s not a bad idea.

Get your Skip Hop Splash bottle drying rack at any of the three Isis Maternity centers.

Use Your Words
What are some of your tricks to reduce, reuse, or recycle?