Before the NBA (and many other major American sports leagues) could cancel the season because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, Blue Ivy Carter and her dad Jay Z got to sit court side at an Los Angeles Lakers versus the Los Angeles Clippers this week.
The stylish tot showed up to the Staples Center in a custom personalized denim jacket, a grey cropped ruffle sleeve short sleeve shirt, with black leggings and a chic pair of on trend lug-sole combat boots with a sock-style upper. She wore her hair in individual braids that were curled at the very ends
After the game, she was shy about starstruck over seeing All-Star LeBron James and seemed hesitant to ask him something.
“If you want it, you gotta tell him,” Jay-Z can be heard telling his daughter in a videotaped encounter of the 8-year old asking for an autographed baskedtabll. “You almost got it out. Yeah, just do it.”
She eventually made her request and James responded: “You want a ball from me?… By the time you get out of school on Monday, you’ll have it.”
Blue, who was born on Jan. 7, 2012, is the first child of Beyoncé and husband Jay-Z. The couple also share twins Rumi and Sir, who are 2.
Now that the coronavirus has hit pandemic level, a lot of families who may have planned Spring Break trips are seriously considering canceling their plans.
If you are in that group of people, you should consider first reviewing your travel insurance policy though most of them exclude pandemics and epidemics. Fortunately, a lot of airlines, rail lines and other travel-related companies are being accommodating and allowing customers to postpone their trips. Some are permitting credit to be used on a future trip.
When a trip is canceled, and as school systems and workplaces start turning to telework, families will be spending a lot more time together.
Load up on the board games or get spring cleaning done early. Stay busy and don’t let cabin fever set in.
You can make the time home educational as well, if your child or children’s school do not have a system set up for online or distance learning. Invest in a globe and go Globe Trotting from home.
Spin the globe and close your eyes and stop it on one spot. Then head to Google and find out information about that place. Imagine what it would be like if you land on a spot in South America.
It is currently summertime in the lower regions of that continent, and holiday travel can involve beautiful idyllic beaches, with winter swimming and snorkeling. 1. Rio de Janeiro with Pantanal Adventure
If you Google this location, you’ll note that there are tours that explore the city of Rio de Janeiro as well as the famed Copacabana Beach, the world’s tropical wetlands await at Pantanal. Some tours offer family trekking adventure, where you could see marsh deer, giant otters, jaguars, anacondas, toucans and a plethora of wildlife.
If you were to ever travel to this locale, and didn’t want to take too much cash with you, you could transfer money to Brazil from the US to arrange for a special tour or excursion. You might find that there are things do that were not originally planned.
2. The Galapagos Islands
Another popular destination in South America is the Galapagos Islands. Activities in this location include snorkeling off the shores of these islands, which are filled with abundant flora and fauna. Travelers can head to Isla Lobos to watch the sea lions eat their meals. Kicker Rock is the place to swim with turtles. They can spot tropical fish and perhaps even some sharks at what is left of an underwater volcano.
Another plus of this destination is a volcano that is situated on land, Sierra Negra Volcano. Going higher, you’ll the landscape change from green to the look of the moon. It has a caldera that is seven miles wide, one of the largest in the world.
3. Patagonia
Visitors can hang out with the penguins at the bottom of South America. It begins in the plains of Argentina, passes through Chile and reaches to the edge of the world. Hike around Magdalena Island to see Magellanic penguins; your family will enjoy these birds in tuxedos, while getting some outdoor exercise.
4. Cusco in Peru
This ancient city is fun to explore with kids; it has an historic center that is blocked off to traffic.
Machu Picchu is the big attraction here. Visitors can take a bus up to the citadel and then take the bus back to town. Buy your Machu Picchu tickets in advance. Your kids can roam around, and you can enjoy the views while taking pictures and selfies.
Traveling to South America during the holidays provides a change of pace for families that spend abundant time in front of the computer, on their phones and in front of television. Being outdoors in nature as well as discovering new countries and cultures offers a refreshing break, especially during the stress and craziness of holiday shopping and gatherings.
Whether immersed in exotic wildlife, watching for toucans or enjoying a relaxing day snorkeling on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro, your kids would learn about travel in South America
Queen & Slim star Jodie Turner-Smith confirmed to her Instagram Stories audience on Sunday that she and husband Joshua Jackson are expecting a baby girl!
Although the British actress had previously let the second of the baby slip last month during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Turner-Smith was more deliberate this time around when she posted a short video of her baby “dancing” in her belly.
“Favourite moments with baby,” she captioned the first video, then adding, “Can you see her dancing in there? Every time I try to record she stops.”
Eventually, you can actually see her little girl doing some aerobics in there and you her belly moving.
So sweet! The video had expired but it was adorable.
Shutting out the news and anxiety created over the coronavirua epidemic is hare to do considering the near-constant news coverage and social media chatter around infection rates, death tolls, travel restrictions, stock market swings, and ominous predictions on how dire the pandemic may get.
We shouldn’t let it consume our waking lives, says author Joseph McCormack.
“We’ve moved beyond information and are now generating a swell of noise,” says McCormack, author of the new bookNOISE: Living and Leading When Nobody Can Focus. “The messaging around the coronavirus is amplified to deafening levels. People are consuming hysteria, and it’s not doing us any favors.”
“Noise” is McCormack’s name for the dizzying onslaught of information from work emails, app notifications, the 24/7 news cycle, social media updates, and other forms of screen time that leaves us unable to focus, listen, or do deep work.
He says most of us consume it all mindlessly, and it keeps us in a constant state of distraction. And while noise is never good for us, noise based on such a fear-inducing topic has even worse consequences.
“Events like the coronavirus show us how vital it is to own our mental bandwidth and manage our attention,” says McCormack. “We need to know what’s going on and to react appropriately, but coronavirus coverage is not the only thing that matters.
Overconsumption of bad news will affect you. It will feed anxiety and fear. It will eat up your thinking space. It will keep you from living your life.”
How can we cope with coronavirus hysteria and neutralize the noise swirling around it? McCormack offers five tips:
1. Understand how overconsumption of bad news affects you. When something becomes the only thing, it becomes everything, says McCormack. The temptation to sit in front of the TV and consume all day long is huge. You hear all sorts of things that aren’t relevant, timely, or accurate.
You start believing the world is coming to an end. And when all your waking hours are spent anxious, nervous, and anticipating the worst, you start to miss all the other stuff in your life.
“Plus, when you consume too much noise, you start to vibrate at the lower energy frequency associated with fear,” says McCormack. “Others around you might ‘catch’ your low vibrations. You pass fear on like a virus.
This is how panics can start.”
2. Don’t confuse predictions with certainty. You’ve probably heard the adage that FEAR stands for False Evidence Appearing Real. That’s important to remember at times like these, notes McCormack. People tend to make dire predictions with such certainty that you start to believe them, but really, they simply do not know. Remember all the past flus and viruses that were supposed to decimate humanity—but didn’t.
“There are lots of people out there who personify the saying ‘Often wrong, but never in doubt,'” notes McCormack. “And the fact that there are no repercussions when people make erroneous claims and predictions only emboldens them to get louder and more insistent.”
3. Temper your consumption. Thanks to the 24/7 news cycle, you’re likely to see the same story reported 17 times and said 17 slightly different ways. It’s not healthy to dedicate all your bandwidth to one fear-producing story. But if you’re tempted to blame the media, don’t. It’s their job. It’s your job to manage your consumption: to decide when to watch, what to watch, and when to turn off the TV, shut down the computer, and walk away.
“Create filters for what’s information and what’s useless noise and live by them,” advises McCormack. “It’s not all useful.”
4. Focus on the facts, not wild speculations or possible domino effects. Find one good source you trust and stay abreast of the situation. Pay attention to what you can control: regular handwashing, reasonably stocking up on bottled water and other supplies, postponing flights to coronavirus “hot spots,” and so forth. If you can’t impact it, don’t focus on it.
“Just don’t give your attention to ‘domino effect’ fears like worldwide pandemics or economic collapse,” advises McCormack. “There’s nothing you can do about what ‘might’ happen and it only spreads fear.”
5. When others are talking, change the subject. Don’t pile on. Be the voice of calm and reason. If they won’t drop the subject, have a few reassuring talking points in reserve to help put things in perspective and defuse fear.
The CDC website is a good source for this. For example: “The risk of getting the coronavirus in the U.S. is currently low,” and “There are simple things you can do to help keep yourself and others healthy.”
Above all, know we need to be at our best in challenging times. That means it’s crucial not to allow ourselves to get caught up in fear or—worse—to spread that fear to others.
“Noise drowns out clarity, and clarity is critical during times of crisis,” says McCormack. “When we lose clarity, we start doing impulsive things and making bad decisions. It’s bad for our mental and emotional health, and it’s bad for our relationships. We need to spread facts, not fear. Rather than adding to the noise, we need to be part of the solution.”
“Events like the coronavirus show us how vital it is to own our mental bandwidth and manage our attention,” says McCormack. “We need to know what’s going on and to react appropriately, but coronavirus coverage is not the only thing that matters. Overconsumption of bad news will affect you. It will feed anxiety and fear. It will eat up your thinking space. It will keep you from living your life.”
How can we cope with coronavirus hysteria and neutralize the noise swirling around it? McCormack offers five tips:
1. Understand how overconsumption of bad news affects you. When something becomes the only thing, it becomes everything, says McCormack. The temptation to sit in front of the TV and consume all day long is huge. You hear all sorts of things that aren’t relevant, timely, or accurate. You start believing the world is coming to an end. And when all your waking hours are spent anxious, nervous, and anticipating the worst, you start to miss all the other stuff in your life.
“Plus, when you consume too much noise, you start to vibrate at the lower energy frequency associated with fear,” says McCormack. “Others around you might ‘catch’ your low vibrations. You pass fear on like a virus. This is how panics can start.”
2. Don’t confuse predictions with certainty. You’ve probably heard the adage that FEAR stands for False Evidence Appearing Real. That’s important to remember at times like these, notes McCormack. People tend to make dire predictions with such certainty that you start to believe them, but really, they simply do not know. Remember all the past flus and viruses that were supposed to decimate humanity—but didn’t.
“There are lots of people out there who personify the saying ‘Often wrong, but never in doubt,'” notes McCormack. “And the fact that there are no repercussions when people make erroneous claims and predictions only emboldens them to get louder and more insistent.”
3. Temper your consumption. Thanks to the 24/7 news cycle, you’re likely to see the same story reported 17 times and said 17 slightly different ways. It’s not healthy to dedicate all your bandwidth to one fear-producing story. But if you’re tempted to blame the media, don’t. It’s their job. It’s your job to manage your consumption: to decide when to watch, what to watch, and when to turn off the TV, shut down the computer, and walk away.
“Create filters for what’s information and what’s useless noise and live by them,” advises McCormack. “It’s not all useful.”
4. Focus on the facts, not wild speculations or possible domino effects. Find one good source you trust and stay abreast of the situation. Pay attention to what you can control: regular handwashing, reasonably stocking up on bottled water and other supplies, postponing flights to coronavirus “hot spots,” and so forth. If you can’t impact it, don’t focus on it.
“Just don’t give your attention to ‘domino effect’ fears like worldwide pandemics or economic collapse,” advises McCormack. “There’s nothing you can do about what ‘might’ happen and it only spreads fear.”
5. When others are talking, change the subject. Don’t pile on. Be the voice of calm and reason. If they won’t drop the subject, have a few reassuring talking points in reserve to help put things in perspective and defuse fear. The CDC website is a good source for this. For example: “The risk of getting the coronavirus in the U.S. is currently low,” and “There are simple things you can do to help keep yourself and others healthy.”
Above all, know we need to be at our best in challenging times. That means it’s crucial not to allow ourselves to get caught up in fear or—worse—to spread that fear to others.
“Noise drowns out clarity, and clarity is critical during times of crisis,” says McCormack. “When we lose clarity, we start doing impulsive things and making bad decisions. It’s bad for our mental and emotional health, and it’s bad for our relationships. We need to spread facts, not fear. Rather than adding to the noise, we need to be part of the solution.”
It looks like the lovely Malika Haqqwas treated to another baby shower over the weekend.
No confirmation but, perhaps it was a smaller, more intimate one with her very close family and perhaps the family of dad of baby, rapper O.T. Genasis’ family.
The actress and TV personality posted a photo of herself in a sash with inflated balloons spelling out “baby boy” above her
She captioned an Instagram slide show post that she also shared to her Twitter account, “I couldn’t be happier.”
The photos featured the reality TV star sitting in front of a fireplace in a strapless baby blue bump-hugging dress while wearing one of those “mom-to-be” sashes that baby shower hosts make the guest of honor wear. (Smile)
Haqq used the occasion to confirm that that OT was the dad as he was present at the event, as well.
Meanwhile, Haqq has been sharing lovely photos of herself in neutral clothing while promoting her fashion partner, online boutique Pretty Little Things.
Nothing frees up your time like being told you have to stay on bed rest for the remainder of your pregnancy, and if you don’t have enough distractions you can quickly find yourself bored out of your mind.
Of course you can play your favorite games like Words with Friends or Wheel of Fortune, but after a while even those will lose their luster, and you’ll need something else to occupy your hours.
Here are 6 iPhone applications that will help take up some time and answer any questions you may have regarding concerns about the baby that may pop into your head while you are lying in bed. There’s an app for everything from saving for college to listening to the baby’s heartbeat:
1. CQapital is a hybrid automatic saving app that allows you to save based on goals. You can decide what triggers a deposit, and Qapital will do the work of getting that money into a savings account.
You can also save with group goals – get together with friends and family and set goals together.
This application allows you to do the calculations to determine how much per month you will need to save in order to pay for your child’s college tuition. If you start early then you will have the advantage of compounding interest and you won’t have to put as much away each month versus starting when your child is 10.
is a hybrid automatic saving app that allows you to save based on goals. You can decide what triggers a deposit, and Qapital will do the work of getting that money into a savings account.
You can also save with group goals – get together with friends and family and set goals together.
2. Soundhound Ever been bored and start humming a song and wish you knew what the song was? With this application you can hum a few bars and it will use its vast library of over a million tunes to identify the song. Want to come up with a bunch of lullabies for your baby? This application can help with that.
3. iPregnancyWant to know what’s going on inside your body at this very moment? iPregnancy tells you how big the baby should be, what’s going on physically with the baby, keeps track of appointments and has a great baby name function to help you figure out what you are going to name your little peanut when the time comes.
4. GroceryList You may be on bed rest, but the rest of the family still needs to eat. Don’t feel like you have to rely on your partner to handle everything with this application. Now you can look up recipes, create a grocery list, sort the items on the list by aisle in the store, and then text everything to someone else to run to the store for you. If your family runs out of anything they can scan the barcode using this application and it will automatically be added to the list.
5. My Baby’s Beat With this application you can actually use the microphone on your iPhone to hear your baby’s heart beat and your own. You can record the heart beat and e-mail it to
6. After Baby is born: BabyTimerThis application allows you to keep track of the number of wet and dirty diapers your baby has each day. It also keeps track of feedings so that you can report all of this information back to your pediatrician.
In “you don’t say?” news, a recently published study found that mothers who quit smoking in their first trimester after getting pregnant risk having a low birth baby or one with a small brain.
The research findings of the University of Eastern Finland was published in the BMJ Open late last month.
The effect of tobacco which contains thousands of chemicals which can permeate the placenta can be seen during pregnancy and after teh baby is born.
The study looked at 1.4 million mother-child pairs in Finland, analysing the effect of maternal smoking on newborns’ body size and body proportions when the mother had smoked only during the 1st trimester as opposed to continued smoking.
Other well-known toxic chemicals in tobacco smoke include carbon monoxide, which can interfere with the unborn child’s oxygen supply.
“Smoking during pregnancy is relatively common. In this study, 84.5% were non-smokers and 3.5% quit smoking during the 1st trimester, but 12% continued to smoke after the 1st trimester,” said Researcher Isabell Rumrich.
The study showed that maternal smoking is associated with a stronger reduction in body length and head circumference than in birth weight, leading to changed body proportions, a press statement stated.
The effects on body proportions of having quit smoking during the 1st trimester or having continued smoking after the 1st trimester were similar, stressing the importance of early pregnancy as a sensitive exposure window.
“The most important finding of our study is that although quitting smoking in the 1st trimester reduces the risk of low birth weight, brain size and body length in relation to body weight seem not to catch up.This stresses the importance of quitting smoking already before pregnancy, since even smoking only during early pregnancy can have devastating effects on the long term health of the unborn child,” Rumrich notes.
Fans are giving Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta star Adi “Bambi” Benson heat for still breastfeeding her 2-year old old son Breland, who she welcomed in September 2018 with her husband and LHHA co-star Lil Scrappy.
“Yes, I’m still nursing a 17-month-old and it’s not fun,” Benson, who takes her son to Gymboree for play, told her Instagram fans, according to BCK Online.
While some applauded the fact that the active mom is continuing to pass on her antibodies to her son by nursing him for an extended time, others not only disparaged the idea but dismissed it as something “black mothers” do not do!
One fan quipped in response to the post, “Girl, stop that [stuff]/ You ain’t white,” adding, “It’s time BAM, for real.”
Another wrote, “Tell him, ‘That’s your brother/sister’s milk.’ You from the hood. You know that [stuff] looks crazy. Quit playing.”
Benson responded to the scrutiny by writing, “Ignorance of this magnitude is unbelievable.”
One of the reason Black woman stop breastfeeding their babies at an earlier date compared to any other race of women in America is because of cultural stigmatization and rejection of the practice, fueled partly by a general unawareness of the benefits of breastfeeding.
The Centers for Disease Control reports that African Americans are less likely to breastfeed their children. “Black infants consistently had the lowest rates of breastfeeding initiation and duration across all study years,” the CDC statistics note.
The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studiesreports that Blacks stop breastfeeding sooner than other races, setting up their children for higher incidences of illnesses and diseases that non-breastfed children succumb to at a higher rate than those who were nursed.
The report also links higher rates of infant mortality and low birth weight to lack of breastfeeding.
There is a taboo about it among the black community, perhaps, and those who nurse for too long are not encouraged or supported and are sometimes egged on to stop breastfeeding after a few weeks or months. Although to be fair, shorter breastfeeding times are also linked to working wage-earning mothers who have little to no maternity leave who all have to report to work earlier.
Also, moms who have shorter maternity leave and/or work in settings where they do not have a private place to pump and store their milk for their babies, also stop earlier.
Kim Durdin-James, national president of the African-American Breastfeeding Alliance (AABA), summed it up well in saying, “In the best of times, breastfeeding is the optimal feeding choice for young children because it provides babies with all vital nutrients for growth and development, but in times of disaster, breastfeeding can mean the difference between life and death.”
A few years ago, I spotted the Celine 16 structured bag while flipping through a fashion magazine and decided THIS was the perfect “it” bag for me.
I love the simple clean lines, and the elegant curvature to the front and back and solid exquisite hardware. It’s made of satinated calfskin and as a part time vegan, believe me when I say I feel guilty about this. It has a removable shoulder strap and a twist lock closure and a padlockbon a leather key cover.
Lady Gaga made an appearance in Paris, France with it while wearing a classic pencil skirt length dress in a bold orange with the perfect pair of black leather pumps and accented with a sexy pair of Ray Ban aviator shades!
I immediately added it to my want list. Back then, it was on auction sites and running about $5,000 but as it is not a Birkin and has not appreciated. Instead the price has come down to a modest $3,200. Not bad if you want to look like the HBIC.
I am trying to navigate away from black and so I think I’m going to go with the 16 inch version in a burnt orange for $3,700….one of these days!
If you got it, GET IT! Tag me at @Bellyitch when you do!
You might have heard that having a dependent doesn’t do you much good anymore, at least from 2018 through 2025, thanks to tax legislation passed by congress in December 2017.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that became effective in 2018 does indeed eliminate the personal exemption that used to be available for each of your dependents.
And if you and your baby’s other parent aren’t married and living together, your dependent might help qualify you as head of household, an advantageous filing status.
Your baby will qualify as your dependent more or less by default under the remaining IRS rules for qualifying child dependents.
A dependent must be your son or daughter, brother or sister, or a descendant of one of these individuals. You’ve got this one covered if you’ve just given birth.
The child must be younger than age 19 on the last day of the tax year, or age 24 if a full-time student. Your baby obviously qualifies here, too.
Finally, the child cannot have provided more than half their own financial support for the year. This should not be an issue unless and until child labor laws radically change.
So, yes, having a dependent is still a good thing at tax time, and yes, your newborn will qualify you if you meet these rules…even if your baby is born at the 11th hour of the year.
