Mixed Bag Of Rant

Month: January 2010

Home / Month: January 2010

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Sweet Bliss

By Joanne January 27, 2010

As you know, I am a proud parent. I brag, I boast and of course I think my kid is the smartest 16 month old on the planet. But, last night he spoke words that melted me and my husband’s hearts: mommy and daddy. No more babbling mama and dada… he actually knows who we are! Small victory maybe, but I loved it. And I love being a mom.

In other news…

More on the mom-to-be who thinks that her daughter is going to be a perfect angel:

She claims that she will be able to take her daughter to any store at any time at any age and she will not cry or throw tantrums. LOL!!!!!

I have no idea where kids get their personalities from- they seem to be who they are from the minute they are born. My husband and I are fairly patient people. We never get too worked up around Jack. Even with us staying even-tempered the kid still throws temper tantrums like I have never seen. I figure that he learned to act that way from kids in daycare- because there is no way he learned it from us! We still struggle with how to handle it, but the only thing that ever seems to work is to ignore it. He will look up from banging his fists on the floor to see if we are watching. It is hilarious! Anyway, my point is, that her kid WILL throw tantrums. She WILL scream. She will NOT be a perfect angel no matter how much you talk yourself into believing that! I just hope she isn’t disappointed when she finds out how it REALLY is when you’re with the baby 24/7.

I also wanted to note that I am proud of myself- I have been to the gym 2 whole days in a row this week and staying on plan with food (I am now a WeightWatchers e-Tools member. Again). I know it doesn’t sound like much, but it is a huge victory for me. I’m on progesterone medication that makes me sick, I’m tired from work and parenting and it is hard for me to muster the motivation to go. I do have additional motivation now- the gym I go to has video treadmills- I can watch my soaps while I work out- right on the treadmill! Awesome. Love it.

Rant Complete.

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Mead Johnson, Maker of Enfamil, Loses Multi-Million Dollar False Advertising Case Against Store-Bran

By Joanne January 27, 2010

This is a sponsored guest post written by a Press Release on behalf of PBM Products. Post powered by Sponzai.

GORDONSVILLE, VA., December  2 , 2009—PBM Products, LLC, a leading infant formula company that supplies store-brand infant formulas to Walmart, Sam’s Club, Target, Kroger, Walgreens, and other retailers, has received a favorable jury verdict and a $13.5 million damages award in its false advertising lawsuit against Mead Johnson & Co., the operating subsidiary of   Mead Johnson Nutrition Company (NYSE: MJN) (“Mead Johnson”), the makers of the national-brand Enfamil® LIPIL® Infant Formula.  Mead Johnson is 83 percent-owned by Bristol-Myers Squibb.
PBM’s lawsuit claimed that Mead Johnson engaged in false and misleading campaigns against PBM’s competing store-brand of infant formulas, suggesting they do not provide the same nutrition as Mead Johnson’s brands.  PBM’s store-brand infant formulas cost up to 50 percent less than Enfamil® LIPIL®.  The $13.5 million in damages awarded by the jury in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia is one of the largest damages awards ever for a false advertising case.
“This decision by a jury of the people confirms that Mead Johnson’s ads have been false in suggesting that there is a nutritional difference between our store-brand formula products and their products, when in fact the only major difference is price,” said PBM CEO Paul B. Manning.  “Despite Mead Johnson’s scare tactics, parents are assured that PBM’s formula products are as high quality and nutritious as Mead Johnson’s.”
U.S. District Court Judge James R. Spencer issued his written rulings yesterday following the November 10th jury verdict. Judge Spencer’s written rulings permanently enjoined Mead Johnson from making any false statements concerning PBM’s infant formula, including the claims Mead Johnson previously made in Enfamil advertising that “It may be tempting to try a less expensive store brand, but only Enfamil LIPIL is clinically proven to improve brain and eye development,” and “there are plenty of other ways to save on baby expenses without cutting back on nutrition.”  The Court also ordered Mead Johnson to retrieve from the public domain all advertising or promotional materials containing these or any other false claims about PBM’s store brand infant formula.  
The details of the decision and the complaint are posted online in full at:
The nutritional supplements under examination in the case are two fats, DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and ARA (arachidonic acid), which Mead Johnson calls “LIPIL®” solely for marketing purposes and touts as promoting infant brain and eye development. PBM’s claim focused on Mead Johnson’s direct mailing to more than 1.6 million parents of an alarming blurry picture of a child’s cartoon duck next to a clear picture of the same image which suggested that anything other than the Enfamil LIPIL® blend of ingredients is inferior and will result in poor eye and brain development.  Other parts of the false advertising campaign consist of statements that only Enfamil LIPIL has been proven to confer visual and mental benefits on infants, and store-brand formulas are a “cut-back in nutrition” compared to Enfamil. 
PBM successfully argued that these advertisements were false and misleading especially since PBM store- brand infant formulas have the same nutrients at the same levels as Enfamil.  PBM infant formulas are formulated to contain DHA and ARA, and are sourced from the same supplier in amounts which equal or exceed the DHA and ARA in Mead Johnson’s Enfamil LIPIL®. 
This decision marks the third time PBM Products has sued Mead Johnson for false advertising claims. On the prior occasions Mead Johnson admitted that it made false claims about PBM’s products.  It is also the first false advertising case to focus on the issue of DHA and ARA nutritional ingredients in formula, which were introduced into the market in 2003 and have become a staple in recent years by many brands as key components for infant development.
“This jury verdict should send a significant and clear message to Mead Johnson about the way it conducts marketing and advertising for its brands,” said Manning.  “This lawsuit also demonstrates our complete commitment to defending our products and the valuable brands of our retail partners.”
“As a parent and supporter of children’s medical research, I take a personal responsibility in assuring our customers that the products we produce are healthy and nutritionally equivalent to brand names like Enfamil® LIPIL®.  It is important, especially now, for parents to know that there are lower priced yet highly nutritious store-brand formulas that will provide the same benefit to their children as any national brand name formula product,” Manning added.   
The U.S. infant formula market is estimated at $3.4 billion and the global market is estimated at $7.9 billion.
All of PBM’s formulas, and for that matter all of U.S. infant formulas, are subject to the exacting standards of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), pursuant to the Infant Formula Act of 1980.  This legislation vested FDA with the authority to ensure that all infant formula products sold in the United States provide the necessary levels of identified nutrients required for the growth of healthy babies. For more information, visit this FDA link.
PBM Products was represented by the law firm Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP.  Partners from the firm’s advertising practice, Harold P. Weinberger and Jonathan M. Wagner in New York, led the team.  
About PBM
PBM is privately owned and based in Gordonsville, VA.  PBM companies specialize in manufacturing, distributing, and marketing consumer food, nutritional, and pharmaceutical products. For more information, visit www.pbmproducts.com.
Enfamil® LIPIL® are registered trademarks of Mead Johnson & Co.
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Becoming Mom

By Joanne January 26, 2010

Can you stand it? Me? For two days in a row?

Today is my colleague’s due date. They are telling her that she could go as long as two weeks over. Do OB’s actually ALLOW that to happen anymore? I guess if baby and mom are both okay… it just seems strange. No way in HELL would I want to walk around 40 weeks pregnant with no baby in sight. I am excited for her baby girl to arrive for a number of reasons:
1) It took her a long time to get pregnant- it was a long and difficult road to baby and I get that.
2) So I can take a stab at running the show for awhile.
3) So I can say I TOLD YOU SO!!!

Okay, about #3. I always laugh when I hear new moms-to-be think their lives won’t change that much. Having a baby changes EVERYthing. You no longer get to sleep. you no longer get to work overtime regardless of how much work you have, you can’t just “run” to the store on a whim, you don’t go on dates much, you bicker with your spouse regardless of the fact that you never EVER used to argue before. Perhaps these things won’t happen, but I couldn’t help but offer a fair warning that a 100% of the time baby is entirely different than just babysitting your niece for a couple weeks. RAISING a child is different. I don’t know why, but it just bothers me that she is completely unfazed by having a baby. Especially from someone who has struggled with infertility for a number of years. Just things like checking into work daily. HUH? Or, that your schedule won’t change when you come back to work. Wanna make a bet? Like I said, everything changes.Of course I care about my job and love what I do, but it doesn’t even remotely come close to being as important as my job of being a Mom.

Rant complete.

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Back Again So Soon?

By Joanne January 25, 2010

Yes, it is true! I am here blogging! Shocked? Yes?

To recap the weekend…

Friday Night: I had the enjoyment (or NOT) of watching Paranormal Activity. I am not going to write a full-on review here, but I will say that it scared the living shit out of me. Since Friday, I have literally had to tell myself over and over that it wasn’t real!! I feel like a little kid for getting so worked up over it, but it really was a frightening and very realistic movie. My husband making comments like “What was that!!” over and over is not helping either. I bitched him out big time and told him he needed to stop if he ever cares about me sleeping again. Speaking of ghosts though… I actually do believe they exist. Not only just from some freaky experiences in the past, but because I have seen them in Jack’s room! If you have a video monitor, check it out for yourself. If you watch it long enough, you may just see an orb or two flying around by the camera. Orbs are friendly spirits. I like to think of them as the angels that watch over my son.

Saturday Night: I had a lovely dinner with two of my dearest BFFs. We haven’t done that in a LONG time and I realized how much I missed them. After dinner, my one BFF was playing a gig at a Minneapolis coffee shop (she’s in a band). Before they went on, they were doing “Spoken Word” acts. Poetry. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m an English Major and have a deep appreciation for poets, but there was a guy there that really would’ve benefited more from simply reading his poetry. Instead, he tried to play music with it, attempted to sing and it was a distracting disaster compared to the lovely things he writes about. FINALLY my friend went on and did an amazing job.

Sunday Night: RIP Vikings. My beloved football team decided it would be a great night to choke. The last minute in regulation play was so exciting. I was so worked up- we were sooooo close to going to the Super Bowl. We were that close to a field goal. That’s all we needed were those 3 little points and the game would’ve been ours until Favre got picked off. My poor heart broke in a million pieces. Who knows when we will ever get that close again.

In other news…

Praying for good friends who are having their IVF transfer this week. They are wonderful people who would make wonderful parents and I want this to happen for them!

I failed miserably at my first week on WeightWatchers. Only lost .2. Is that even a loss? I’m not counting it as one. Anyway, I am newly revived and motivated this week to do a better job meaning, no more excuses. I will stick to the plan and I will find time to work out and be active every day. I can DO this.

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Hi. Long Time No See!

By Joanne January 22, 2010

I know it has been a long time and I make no excuses for my lack of blogging.

I have been thinking a lot about the things I want to discuss and talk about in my blog. I thought that I should narrow my focus, pick a topic and stick to it. Then I thought it should only be about motherhood and babies. Then I thought it should be about marketing, work and my passion for social media.

Then I decided.

If I narrowed down the things I would want to discuss in this blog it wouldn’t live up to its name: Mixed Bag of Rant! So,  I will continue to rant about whatever, whenever. Just more often.

I can’t believe I haven’t blogged since November! So much seems to have happened…

Firstly. My little Jack is a walkin’, talkin’, tantrum-throwin’ toddler machine. He is unbelievable! He did recover from H1N1, but he did not seem to recover from his ear infections- as a matter of fact they just kept getting worse. One visit to the ENT and he was scheduled for surgery to get ear tubes. It was one of the easiest surgeries he could’ve had but that didn’t stop me from being terrified. I stood there and watched them put him under and it was the scariest moment of my life. 15 minutes later (felt like an eternity in mom-world) the doctor brought us in to tell us how great Jack did and how awful his ears were. I am happy to report that we had only one ear infection post tubes in early December and NOTHING SINCE!!! Tubes were a miracle for him and we have zero regrets about getting them put in for him. Within days, Jack speech improved ten-fold. It was as if a whole new world opened up for him. It was fabulous. As of today, he has also officially been moved into the TODDLER room at daycare! Congrats to Jack for graduating!

We survived Thanksgiving and Christmas relatively unscathed (no pun intended). Hubs and I hosted for both of our families so as to make it easier on the Jack monster to be on “his” home turf. Christmas is certainly not the lovely organized event of adult past.

As for me, and I can’t even remember when all this originally went down, but I have to have surgery on February 5th. Long story short, there is a small mass in my uterus that they need to remove and test which is causing a host of menstrual problems as well as low progesterone. We are hoping that it is simply leftover scar tissue from childbirth; however, we can’t rule out that it could be something more. The progesterone meds I am on are awful!! Just a dirty, awful trick that they make me feel pregnant when I’ve been told specifically NOT to get pregnant until after surgery.

On another note, my husband took a new job that does NOT require travel! Yay! It also doesn’t require him to work with total assholes either! Yay! Turns out, in a dinner with one of his former colleagues, a VP was badmouthing him at a recent team meeting/happy hour. He was ripping on him regarding a comment he made during our disastrous trip to Tahiti nearly 2 years ago. When asked if we were enjoying the trip, we responded with a very firm NO. According to him, when a VP asks you a question, you are only to respond positively and that our response was incredibly rude. So… what he’s saying is that you should never be honest with a VP and only tell him what he wants to hear? What kind of culture is this ass job creating?? Did he look around and wonder if anyone will ever tell him the truth again? I hope a asinine comment such as that will someday get him canned. I hope that someone told him the reason we weren’t enjoying our trip (had he listened in the first place) was because his 5 month pregnant wife became deathly ill, almost required hospitalization on a foreign island 90% of the natives did NOT speak English nonetheless and nearly had to cut our vacation short. Our responding NO had nothing to do with the company or our being ungrateful for what should have been an exquisite once in a lifetime journey. NO meant that me and my unborn child could’ve died. So for that? I say a big fuck you VP. My husband is in a much better job and much better place career-wise than he will ever be. The irony?? They now have to sell their products to my husband!!! Better watch what bridges you are burning there Mr. VP too big for your britches!!

I have sooooooo much more that I could rant about, but I will save it for another day.

Peace!