Recommendation Wednesdays

The safety of your home is not always at the top of peoples' lists during the holiday rush, but if you are planning on traveling this holiday season and will be leaving your home unattended, follow all or even some of these recommendations below to help ensure that you are not a victim of holiday thieves.

1) Give your contact information to at least one neighbor and let them know when you will be gone. Also, if you have a maid service or other service provider entering your home when you are out of town, let your neighbor know who they are and when they are coming.

2) Stop your mail delivery, but continue to receive your papers. Ask a neighbor to collect the papers for you so that they don't accumulate in the driveway. Not all paper delivery people are cleared the way postmen/women are so it is better to let them continue to deliver the paper, instead of alerting them to the fact that you are gone.

3)Place a few lights onto timers so that they light up key parts of your home and give a lived in look to the place. Also, ask a neighbor to park their car in your driveway for a day or two here and there so that it looks like someone is home and coming and going frequently.

4) Ask a neighbor to put your trash cans out on trash day so that it looks like someone is home.

5) Consider plugging a radio into a timer and have it set to an all talk radio station. When turned down low the sound of the radio appears to be people's voices and can deter criminals from trying to break-in.

6) Make sure that your extra house key is not hidden outside of your home somewhere. Criminals are very resourceful and will search gardens, door frames, mailboxes and potted plants in an attempt to find a spare key.

Employ these home safety guidelines this holiday season and keep your home safe from criminals.

Going Green and Saving Some Green

It seems that the topic of green- either saving some green or being green- is on the forefront of everyone's minds this holiday season. With the recent passage of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (EESA) and talk of a bailout in the auto industry, everyone is watching their budget and trying to save some money where and when they can.

Of equal popularity is discussion of ways to be green this year and do more to help preserve our natural resources.

Below I have listed a number of holiday-related green tips that will either help save you some green or will help you be more green. Enjoy them and pass them along. Remember that if we all make an effort to do just one of the things on this list, we can make a big difference in the long run.

Green Holiday Tips:

1. Go to the EPA website at www.epa.gov/ecycling for more information on how to recycle your old MP3 players, laptops and cell phones.

2. Instead of wasting money on wrapping paper this year, wrap your gifts in grocery bags or newspaper. To jazz up the exterior of the packages, get your kids involved and have them paint the paper or decorate it with pine cones or pressed leaves from your yard. Not only does this save money, but it involves a craft project as well which is great when its cold and rainy outside.

3. If you put up Christmas lights this year, only turn them on at night and be sure to turn them off before you go to bed in order to cut down on energy consumption.

4. Recycle bows, bags and as much tissue paper and wrapping paper as you can. This saves money and its a great way to recycle.

5. Consider getting your kids involved in making gifts this year, instead of spending a lot of money to buy gifts. Possible options for kids crafts/gifts are: 1)making ornaments for others to hang on their trees 2) baking cookies, breads, granola or other types of holiday treats 3) making personalized CD's 4) decorating a plain photo frame or trinket box with festive paint etc. (these types of plain gifts can be found at most craft stores for minimal money).

6. Don't send Christmas cards this year. Look into sending e-cards or emails with photos attached. This is a great way to do something great for the environment and it cuts down on your holiday bills.

7. Run your ceiling fan clockwise at a low speed this winter to circulate the warm air in your home and push it downwards where it can be enjoyed.

8. Use clay cat litter, sand or ashes from your fireplace to de-ice your steps and walkways. This keeps chemical de-icing products from running into storm drains and public water supplies.

9. Turn your thermostat down during the day when you are not home and use a fireplace or wood burning stove to heat your home when possible.

10. Try turning the temperature down on your thermostat a few degrees and opt to wear a sweater and slippers while you are at home. This will help to reduce your monthly bill, and it's better for the environment.

Green is the theme this holiday season-Go Green and Save Some Green. Pass it along!

Recommendation Wednesdays

Here is a little tip to help soothe your child's cough this winter.

After he gets out of the bath tub at night, rub Vick's Vapo Rub on his feet, instead of on his chest or back, then cover his feet with socks. The rub gets absorbed into the bloodstream faster through the feet than it does when placed on the chest or back and it will not make your child's eyes water.

This recommendation was passed along to me from my mother-in-law and I tried it and it REALLY works. The first time I did it, my son coughed less that night and the rub took effect faster (within minutes of application) than it did when rubbed onto his chest. Also, my son has very sensitive skin and avoiding putting the rub on his chest helped keep him scale and dry skin free.

This is one of those tips that may seem a little hokie or "out there" but believe me, it works. Combine it with a teaspoon of honey before your child (make sure it is safe to give your child honey, based on his age) goes to sleep and you will notice a reduction in coughing, congestion and night time wakings.

Have a healthy winter and pass this information along.

Its been too long

It has been so long since I have posted a blog that I hope I remember how to do this. I apologize for my slacking, but things have been extra crazy at the Butas household as we enter the final countdown phase for baby two's arrival-only ten more days!

In addition to forgetting how much it sucks towards the end of pregnancy (everything hurts and I am tired, but sleeping totally escapes me most days and nights) we have been fighting off a series of nasty viruses that have left all of us, at one point or another, either hanging over a toilet or bed ridden.

Here are a few tips for the holiday season, which is already in full swing, to keep you healthy and to help you mind your budget.

1. Make sure you wipe off your purse and diaper bag at least once a week with some type of sanitizer. It is amazing how many germs can collect on the bottom of your bags when you put them down on the floor at the mall and at restaurants etc. Be sure to clean the straps and the underside of the bag. Also be sure to get the zippers and buckles because germs love to hide there also. When you are at the mall or another public place, try to hang your bag from hooks or place it on a spare chair instead of the floor which tends to be the most germ infested place of all.

2. For holiday shopping this year many people may be thinking of buying gift cards for friends and family. These items are still great gifts, but make sure that the gift cards will be honored after the holidays, because many stores are set to close and go out of business for good right after this holiday season. For example, all Talbot's, Ann Taylor's Pacific Sun, and Eddie Bauer stores are set to close their doors after Christmas so they are trying to get rid of all their merchandise, which means they are having great sales now, but it also means that they will not be around come January 1 if you have a gift card to cash in.

3. To help manage your money this holiday season and to not overspend, get a bunch of white envelopes and write one person's name on the outside of each envelope. Put the amount of money (in CASH) that you want to spend on that person's gift inside the envelope and write potential gift ideas for them on the outside of the envelope. This not only saves time and makes you a more efficient shopper, but paying for everything in cash with a designated amount for each person, helps prevent overspending.

Be safe, healthy and happy this holiday season. Please use these tips and tricks and pass them along to others.

FYI-Halloween Candy

I have received multiple emails from people saying that there is a recall on Sherwood Brand Pirate's Gold Milk Chocolate coins, sold at Costco and other bulk stores as well as at dollar stores, due to the fact that they contain Melamine, an ingredient in milk products that has caused deaths in China.

I verified this information on snopes.com so I encourage you to spread the word, check your children's Halloween treats out before they dive in and check your own household supply of Halloween treats so that you do not accidentally give out these toxic coins. Let's keep our kids safe and healthy this Halloween.

TGIF

It's been a long week here at the Butas household, thanks to a long string of pre-school illnesses that have plagued my son since he started school in mid-September.

For this Friday's tip I wanted to tell you about how easy it is to go and do an absentee vote prior to election day. Virginia is expecting a record number of voters this year and it is predicted that there may be too many voters to handle, meaning that voters could spend hours waiting in line to cast their ballot.

Voters can go and cast their ballot early this year to help cut down on the amount of traffic predicted for election day. Check out Virginia's local government website to see what locations are closest to you.

For example, I live in Falls Church and there is a location on Columbia Pike that is two miles from my home. They are open until 8pm during the week and I breezed in there the other day and voted in no time.

Check it out and tell your friends so that you are not stuck in line on Tuesday.

TGIF

Here is a great website to check out www.babyplays.com. It's kinda like Netflix for toys. You can try out different toys each month and send them back when you are finished with them.

Not only does this save you money and keep your kids interested in the toys you have at home, but it is a real space saver. For example, if you live in a small apartment or condo and do not have a lot of storage space, this is great way to keep things interesting for your kids while keeping the parents sane. Of course a mommy thought of this website.

I encourage you all to check it out.

Recommendation Wednesdays

My mother recently forwarded me an article about how pediatricians are now recommending that the Vitamin D requirements for infants be doubled in an effort to ward off rickets and to ensure life-long health benefits in children.

With the cold weather setting in and the hours of daylight dwindling, I recommend that all parents of infants and toddlers read up on this topic the and talk to your own pediatrician about this issue.

Let's all give our babies the healthiest start possible.

Nesting, Resting and Stressing

With only 7 weeks left until my second baby arrives on December 4th, I have finally begun to hit that wall at the end of my pregnancy. You all know that wall-the one where you are trying to finish up the nesting portion of your pregnancy, but you are often sidetracked by the resting that your body now requires.

I have also added a third dimension to this phase-Stressing-which is partly from being overtired and partly from just worrying that everything will not get done in time.

My wonderful husband keeps on reminding me that its okay if everything does NOT get done prior to the baby's arrival and that it is more important for me to rest than it is for me to stress.

I know that he is right, but it's still hard because I am frustrated that my bursts of energy are dwindling and that everyday I feel like I accomplish fewer and fewer tasks on my to do list.

I guess I will just have to take my husband's advice and make shorter to do lists because "banking" my sleep until the baby's arrival really is the most important thing at this point.

TGIF

My son recently had to go on a medication that acts as a diuretic and makes him go to the bathroom more. For the past few nights he was leaking through his PJ's in the front because his diaper couldn't hold all the liquid.

I examined my options to remedy this situation and this is what I came up with:

1. Put two diapers on him so that he could sleep through the night without a diaper change.

2. Use a diaper liner.

3. Switch to the overnight diapers and hope that they hold.

4. Put some of those plastic reusable training pants on him over his diaper.

5. Wake him up half way through the night and change his diaper to prevent leaks.

Putting two diapers on him just did not seem comfortable at all, so I nixed that option. Switching to the overnight diapers meant spending money on something that may or may not work and the plastic training pants option just sounded horribly uncomfortable, especially for sleeping, plus my son's skin is so sensitive I was worried that those would just lock the moisture in tighter and closer to his skin-yuck. Waking him half way through the night for a diaper change just didn't seem nice at all and then I worried about him falling back to sleep.

So that left me with the liner option. While it is easy enough to go to Babies "R" Us and buy these, again I didn't feel like spending money (even if it is only $10) on something that may not work, so at my sister's suggestion, I used a maxi pad as a liner. Lucky for me I had a bunch of the super absorbent ones with wings leftover from when I had my son so I thought why not give it a try?

My husband was less than thrilled that I was lining our son's diaper with a maxi pad, but it worked. The extra lining prevented leaks and kept his PJ's and bed linens dry.

If you are ever in a bind in the future and need to increase the absorbency of your child's diapers for whatever reason, consider using a maxi pad or diaper liner.

Recommendation Wednesdays

When my son began preschool this September one of things that I neglected to think about was the fact that I would have to pack him a lunch to eat at school on the days he was there. This shouldn't be too hard, I thought, but then I was informed that there was no microwave available for heating up lunches and there were some other restrictions on what you could send in-i.e., no nut products of any kind, only finger foods that my son could feed himself etc.

While these are all reasonable restrictions placed on lunches by the school, it was still a bit of a challenge initially because my son is not a fan of lunch meat and some other cold foods, not to mention the fact that he is used to eating a hot lunch at home with mommy.

Here are a few guidelines that I use every time I pack Bruno's lunch:

1. I try to include a starch, a fruit or a veggie, and a protein.

2. I talk to other moms frequently to see what they send in and that has been helpful-it gives me ideas and I help other moms by giving them ideas. For example, my sister suggested sending in cut up cold hot dogs, which sounds gross and never really occurred to me for that exact reason, but she tried it and her son loves it. I told another mom about Kashi Mighty Bites which have a lot of protein in them and now her daughter eats them regularly.

3. I try to keep it interesting or he gets bored. I look at what they are serving for snack each day and try to vary what I serve him for lunch. For example, if they are having crackers and cream cheese for snack, I send in Pirates Booty for his starch and yogurt melts for his protein on that day so he isn't eating the same thing for snack and lunch.

4. Repetition. I keep at it. Bruno hated chicken nuggets for the longest time, but I kept trying and eventually he ate them and now he loves them. You can try to introduce a food 50 times and your kid may never eat it, but the 51st time he may gobble it up.

5. Talk to the teachers. Teachers are a wonderful resource for suggestions about what to feed kids, especially little ones. They can also shed some light on how much variety there needs to be in your child's lunches and they can tell you what appropriate portion sizes are.

Lastly, keep an eye on what your kids eat at breakfast and dinner. If you get one good solid meal in your toddler a day, that's a real accomplishment. We have to remember that kids get distracted by all the stimulation at school so eating may not be a priority during lunch and kids are pretty good about eating when they are hungry.

TGIF

For this Friday's Tips and Good Information (TGIF) feature, I want to share a little time saving trick of mine.

If you have kids in school, you know that everything has to be labeled-I even have to label Bruno's diapers for pre-school. Anyways, I am good about labeling things that I send to school, like an extra change of clothes and back up diapers, but I often forget to label things he is already wearing when he leaves the house, like jackets or shoes.

To solve this problem I have started keeping a mini Sharpie marker in my car and next to his lunch bag so that if we get to school and I realize that his raincoat is not labeled, I can quickly label it and send him off for the day and not have to worry about if the jacket will return or not.

This is a really obvious trick, but one that took me two weeks of pre-school to pick up on. Hope that you find it helpful too.

Recommendation Wednesdays

I recently got to host my friend's baby shower. Since I provided the location-my home- and all the food, the other hostess was in charge of the cake, games, decorations and favors.

For the favors she choose to have individually wrapped baby theme cookies as the take home favors. These were some impressive cookies. Pink and blue babies swaddled in blankets hanging from a stork's mouth were what was created for us by Jill Rodeffer of Cookie Cutter Creations. I want to highly recommend using Jill for your next birthday party, special occasion, or baby shower. She can do theme cookies of all varieties and she wraps each cookie in plastic and ties cute little bows around the top to keep the cookies fresh and to complete the presentation.

Jill's son has severe allergies, so she is very careful to list every single ingredient that goes into the cookies, the icing and the sprinkles, so you know exactly what you are getting.

She also does custom cookie bouquets for special occasions as well. Check it out, it is money well spent, plus the cookies are so yummy.

Cookie Cutter Creations

Custom Cookies & Cookie Bouquets

Jill Rodeffer

703-327-1268

cookiesbyjill@aol.com

Scheduled

It was sort of surreal when I got the letter in the mail. It was from my OB/GYN's nurse and it said that my baby would be delivered at 9am on Thursday, December 4th.

Below this sterile news was a list of preparations for me to fulfill prior to arriving at the hospital, 2 hours, before my surgery.

I called my husband and let him know the news. He agreed that it was so bizarre that a letter told us when our second child would be arriving, not the baby or my body. A medical decision had been made and that was that.

At first I was sort of bummed out because there was no longer that element of excitement or surprise; I could no longer wonder when my baby was going to be born. I already knew and could mark it on my calendar like any other task, chore or event, which was odd in and of itself since I am a planner by nature and you would think that I would love the knowing aspect of this like anything else.

I guess I felt sort of gypped, like my daughter had no say in the matter-she couldn't break my water and tell me when she was good and ready to arrive. She didn't know it yet, but her birthday had already been pre-selected. Isn't bearing children supposed to be natural and on mother nature's time clock, not a hospital's schedule?

After a few days of letting my daughter's pre-determined birthdate sink in, I realized that it would be alright for things to be different the second time around because it was what the doctors thought was best for the baby and best for me. I began to like how easy it was going to be to plan for childcare and my husband's schedule and carpooling to pre-school and all those other things that can get mucked up when you unexpectedly go into labor.

I decided that just because there was no element of surprise to her birth that did not mean that her birth would be any less wonderful and empowering than my son's.

TGIF

I just recently learned the other day that BuyBuyBaby accepts Bed Bath & Beyond gift certificates and coupons! How great is that? It makes sense if you think about it because the stores look alike on the inside and are laid out in a very similar way. A friend of mine was kind enough to share this information with me and I want to pay it forward to all of you.

Another great thing to keep in mind is that even though Bed Bath & Beyond coupons have expiration dates on them, the stores will still accept an expired coupon of theirs and honor you with the discount.

I hope you find this Tips and Good Information Friday tidbit helpful for you the next time you head out to shop for something for the kiddies or your home.

Recommendation Wednesdays

For today's recommendation I want to highlight Kinder Haus Toys in Arlington, Virginia.

This place is definitely my favorite toy store around. They carry clothes, shoes, accessories, books, toys and some large furniture items like Nilo play tables and train tables.

There are four reasons that I like to spend my money at this toy store as opposed to any other. 1) It is huge and has a wonderful variety of toys. In addition to carrying all the name brand toys that you see most places, KHT offers some newer lines of toys and some less well known lines from Europe. I have never gone to this store and not found something new and fresh, which I think is great. 2) Everyone that works there is knowledgeable and friendly. Each staff member knows exactly where each toy goes and they make some really nice recommendations for presents and gifts if needed. They are also good at suggesting age appropriate play items for your playroom and they are never pushy or overwhelming. 3) Although this store is large and there is a lot of different stuff in there, it is laid out very logically and it is easy to browse. You can flow from one section to the next without feeling overwhelmed by the selection. Things are placed together by category and it is easy to decipher age related toys and gender related toys. 4) KHT also offers a nice play area for the little ones. They have a large train table, stocked with many trains, not just one or two, and they also have a Nilo table set up with blocks and other small hand toys to entertain your little ones.

This is a real gem of a toy store and definitely worth checking out sometime. They also offer a story time each Monday and Friday at 10:30am. The story time area is on the smaller side and slightly cramped, but there is the play area for the kids to explore as well and not many people know about this story time so it has not been over run with people, yet. At the end of the story time, each child is given a balloon to take home which is always a nice take away for the ride home.

For your next birthday party shopping excursion, I encourage you to branch out and check out this wonderful toy store in the heart of Arlington.

Different Babies, Different Pregnancies

At a little over 7 months, I am now really beginning to understand what "they" (doctors, specialists, medical professionals, your parents, and other moms etc.) mean when they say that all pregnancies are different.

In the first 3-4 months of my second pregnancy all my symptoms were the same as with my first pregnancy-horrible morning sickness, acne along my jawline and cheekbones, and extreme fatigue. Once my belly started to show-this happened a lot faster the second time around-it appeared to everyone that knew me, that I was carrying the same way as I did with my first pregnancy, further convincing people that I was having another boy.

Imagine how shocked my husband and I were to learn at our five month ultrasound that we would in fact be having a baby girl this time around-ROLL OUT THE PINK. From the outside I looked the same as I did with my first pregnancy, was carrying the same way as with my first pregnancy, but it was what was going on inside me this time around that was so different.

Maybe it is because I am under a lot of stress (work, health issues with family members, husband who is growing a business and working insane hours etc.) as of late, but in the last couple of months I have noticed a real shift in my pregnancy and a a change in myself-one that I do not necessarily like. I have been extremely emotional and hormonal all the time. I get easily annoyed by things that never used to bother me and I have a real sense of dread sometimes about not getting everything done before the baby's arrival.

It is obvious that this pregnancy is different than my first one and it is clear that I need to deal with these issues in a different way than I have been so that I do not make myself overly stressed out before our little girl gets here. I cannot take feeling this way any longer so I am going to try to make some changes to feel better on the inside so that I am as healthy inside as I am on the outside.

I am making it my goal this week to get back on track with things and to get away from this feeling of malaise that has set in. Sometimes breaking the cycle and getting out of a rut can be one of the hardest things to do, but also one of the most liberating things too.

What is my plan? It's pretty simple and still in the "construction phase," but here it is: 1) Get more sleep, which translates as: get into bed no later than 10pm each night. Waiting until I fall asleep on the sofa and then migrating to my bedroom is doing horrible things to my sleep cycle. More rest should help with my fatigue and irritability. 2) Hire a babysitter to help me out 10 hours a week or so. I need to get a lot of work done before I have the baby and I have gotten to the point where it is time to call in reinforcements and ask for help. I must remember to reassure myself that I am NOT a total loser for needing a little help with my toddler from time- to- time. Balancing work life and home life can be hard and it is even harder to try and do by yourself, so why make myself crazy in the process? 3) Make myself a priority. I have been neglecting my own needs for too long. I need to get more rest and slow down. If the dishes sit in the sink overnight every once in a while, I need to accept the fact that the world will NOT end and that the household police will not fail me on the kitchen inspection portion of the "test."

If any of you out there are currently pregnant and feeling a little overwhelmed or out of sorts, I encourage you to search for some answers. Figure out where your problem(s) lie and try to think of at least one or two small steps that you can take to alleviate them. I did it and I feel better already even though I just started implementing my 3-step plan. Sometimes, just talking about what you need to change with your partner or writing it down and reading it to yourself can be helpful as well. Remember, if you are not taking care of yourself, it is hard to care for your spouse and your family.

TGIF

For this Friday's Tips and Good Information (TGIF) I am going to share two tidbits of information with you.

The first one is about avocados. Bruno loves avocados but rarely eats a whole one in a sitting. If you cut the avocado in half and feed your child the half without the pit, you can leave the pit in the other half and preserve it in the refrigerator for longer. By leaving the pit in the uneaten portion of the avocado, you keep it from turning brown and getting mushy. This is a great way to prolong the life of your produce.

The other tip is about one of my favorite websites, www.diapers.com. I have recommended this website before and I will continue to do so. Currently they are offering an incentive for new customers. If you spend $49 or more and enter this code: DABU3069, you will receive $10 off of your order and I will get a $1 credit towards my next purchase. Talk about spreading the good word about a great website and receiving something great in the process. The more friends you share this information with the more people there are out there saving money!

Spread the word, share the savings, and pay it forward!

Recommendation Wednesdays

When I was at at the park this past Monday chatting with one of my favorite mommy friends, the conversation turned to the vent/commiserate/rant phase that is common after mothers are completely wiped out from the series of summer activities and are forced to deal with extra cantankerous kiddies as the fall starts and schedules change.

Anyways, it was clear that my friend was burnt out. The summer was long and hot and involved lots of traveling and health issues for one of her little ones. Since it was the start of a new school year she made two goals for herself: to hire a new cleaning woman and to get a new babysitter (her other one had returned to school). I told her that I thought those were realistic reasonable goals and that more mothers should have sensible goals like that. She went on to say that it had become apparent to her that she was not taking good care of herself and that that in turn was putting a strain on everything else-her communication lines with her husband, her long days with the kids, her patience and emotional well-being etc.

As I sat there and spoke with her about how I could totally relate (I always try to do too much and often play the role of the Mommy Martyr instead of asking for help for fear that I will be judged as a failure by everyone for not being able to work, have a family and do seven million other things simultaneously) I realized that I too was not taking care of myself either. I believe my exact words were something to the effect of: "it's just too easy to put your husband's needs and your children's needs and the demands of your household before yourself. When you get married it is one thing, but once you are a mommy, you always come last."

Now that I reread these words, it is sad to think that mommies are the glue that run the house and hold the family together, yet mommies are always in last place when it comes to getting their own needs met.

This casual chat at the park reminded me of the best advice my mother has ever given me and I want to share it with all of you, since it so simple to do. My mother always said to "Do Something Nice For Yourself Everyday." When I was younger I thought this meant something really extreme, like save your allowance and buy yourself a pony, but as I have gotten older and the stressors in my life have grown exponentially, I have come to understand that this something nice that you do for yourself everyday should be something small. Something that reminds you for a minute that there are simple gifts in this world, that you are appreciated, and that you have the hardest job in the world.

These nice things do not necessarily have to be time consuming either, because nice means something different for every person and nice can vary from day to day. It could be as small as treating yourself to a Starbucks coffee instead of coffee at home. It could involve reading a book for pleasure for 10 minutes while waiting in the carpool line or it could mean telling your husband that he is in charge of ordering food for dinner (you just can't bear the thought of cooking tonight) or cleaning up the dishes.

For my recommendation this Wednesday, I am offering a reminder to all you overworked, underpaid, overtired, stressed out SAHMs-"Do Something Nice For Yourself Everyday." You will be surprised how the littlest things can make a huge difference in your demeanor.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

I was at Turtle park earlier today with my son and I was so impressed by this short encounter that I had with an 8 year-old boy, Adam, that I have to share it.

Bruno and I were in the corner of the park by the hill with no grass, only dirt, and my son had gleefully decided that he was going to haul a Tonka truck up to the top of the hill and push it down-repeatedly. As much as Bruno was enjoying this game, he tired after about three turns and decided that he wanted to keep playing this game so he would push the truck down the hill and Mommy would fetch it while he stood at the top and watched. Of course I obliged because that's what Mommies do, but after a while I too began to tire of this game. It was unusually hot today and being 7 months pregnant makes you pretty sweaty to begin with, so marching up and down a dirty hill in the heat was not my first choice of park activities, but how could I say no to my boy?

After about my tenth trip up the dirt hill, a chatty little boy, Adam, came over to join in the fun. Adam was about 8 or 9 years old and he had chosen a nice round cement mixer to send down the hill of dirt. Adam must have seen me sigh or maybe he sensed my fatigue as I struggled up the hill yet again with Bruno's Tonka in tow, because he looked at me and said: "Mommies always have to do the most work."

I was caught so off guard by this child's poignant remark that I almost didn't answer him. "Well, I said, he (pointing to Bruno) is still so little so it's kinda hard for him to climb up the hill with the truck on his own."

Adam seemed perfectly happy with this response and went back to pushing his cement mixer down the hill as planned. Once I got to the top of the hill, Bruno threw his arms open and happily accepted the Tonka truck. Bruno turned it around and got it set up the way he wanted and before long it was sailing down the hill at top speed once again. Adam was already half way down the hill to retrieve his cement mixer by the time Bruno's Tonka came roaring onto the scene and without a word or a glance in my direction, Adam picked up his cement mixer and Bruno's Tonka and walked to the top of the hill. When he reached the top he laid the Tonka at Bruno's feet and began busily setting up his mixer for another run.

For the next twenty minutes or so Adam and Bruno played alongside each other, years apart in age, but both happy as clams with their new found hill of entertainment. Each time Adam sent his truck down, he would wait for Bruno's to arrive at the foot of the hill and he would walk the Tonka up the hill and lay it at Bruno's feet. Each time Bruno would happily clap his hands and dance around, so excited that his truck was being returned to his eager little hands.

There was something so nice and good about this child and his helpful gesture that I was amazed at his age-he couldn't have been more than 9. I feel like he really hit the nail on the head when he told me that Mommies always have to do the most work and even though he probably didn't realize how insightful his comment was at the time, it made me feel appreciated and like I was good mommy for going the extra mile at the park in the heat with my little boy.

They say that actions speak louder than words and today I experienced that. By bringing Bruno's truck up the hill along with his own, it was as if Adam was saying to me: "Hey, I realize you are tired and hot and pregnant, so let me help you out a little."

When we left the park a little while later I couldn't help but hope that one day my own little boy grows up and learns to let his own benevolent actions speak louder than his words.

TGIF

Do you ever feel like your pantry or hall closet is being overrun by left over plastic bags from the grocery store? If you are like me, you use your extra bags for doggie waste and dirty diapers, but not everyone knows this trick. Check it out and see what you think.

When you are in the kitchen at night preparing dinner, place one or two empty Safeway or Harris Teeter plastic bags on your counter and use them for waste as you are cooking.

I usually reserve one bag for the packaging and waste (trimmed fat etc.) from the meat that I am preparing for dinner. This way you are not dripping chicken juice (with bacteria, E-coli etc.) all over your counter, floor and garbage can; you are containing everything in one plastic bag that you can tie up and place directly into your trash pail. This also protects little hands and doggie tongues from licking up or touching these harmful bacteria if they get into the kitchen trash can, which they sometimes do!

I use the second bag for vegetable refuse as I am peeling, coring, seeding etc. I find that having the open bag right in front of me on the counter helps cut down on the number of trips I make to the garbage can and it is so convenient it helps me maintain a "clean as I cook" mentality in my kitchen which makes cleaning up after dinner a lot quicker too.

If you have never tried this trick, please give it a whirl the next time you are cooking, I think you will find it is a great time saver and that it helps keep things really clean.

Recommendation Wednesdays

I have been a huge fan of the diapers.com website for almost a year now. When my son was an infant and we moved into our house, I finally had the ability to store large quantities of products like paper towels, bottled waters, and diapers so I began ordering from diapers.com in bulk.

My sister-in-law recommended the site to me originally and the first time I used it, I became hooked. It was so easy so use and the site is laid out so well that it makes it very efficient to find exactly what you are looking for. Another thing that I really liked was that when I went out to do my errands, I didn't have to buy diapers in bulk at the grocery store or at Target where they not only cost more, but took up so much space in the shopping cart and then in the back of my car, that it made it cumbersome.

When you place an order from diapers.com, your items gets shipped to your front door step within 24-48 hours-how much easier can things get? If you spend over $50 (which is not hard when buying packages of 200 diapers at a time) shipping is FREE!

Diapers.com has excellent customer service representatives who are knowledgeable about products and the one time they left an item out of my order, they shipped it to my house for free within 24 hours. You even get little samples of products thrown in with your orders so that you can try out new items.

Originally I only used this site for diapers and formula, but now they have expanded their repertoire of items and they carry children's clothing, toys, medicines, feeding supplies, and breast feeding supplies.

Once you go in and create an account, which takes about 3 minutes, your information is kept on file, which cuts down on the amount of time that it takes to place your orders in the future.

I have found their selection to be excellent (they carry all the name brands, plus many of the organic ones, and even the discount brands like Kirkland) and their prices can't be beat, plus the convenience of ordering from them online is a real time saver for busy moms.

Now I go to the diapers.com site about once a month and order all the supplies I need for my son-diapers, wipes, Motrin, sippy cups, disposable bibs, bath products and more!

Anything that saves me time on the mommy front makes me a happy mommy!

TGIF

If you want to prolong the shelf life of your berries-blueberries, blackberries, strawberries or raspberries-try this great trick.

When you purchase a new container of berries, dump the contents out into a bowl. Line the bottom of the berry container with a dry, clean paper towel and place the berries back into the container on top of the paper towel. Store the berries in the refrigerator and remove portions as needed and then clean them. If one berry spoils, remove that one from the carton and throw it away so that it does not rot the other berries in the container.

By storing berries in their own container with a paper towel in the refrigerator, you increase their shelf life by a week.

Berries are some of my son's favorite food and they are so expensive that it is a shame when they spoil after a couple of days. I tried this trick with a container of strawberries and now I do it religiously for all my berries since it works so well.

Pass it on and tell your friends.

Recommendation Wednesdays

Now that the summer is officially over and schedules are changing, here is a recommendation for a great family friendly restaurant in Arlington. If you are looking for something to do with your little ones, try the Chestnut Hills Park right up the street and then head on over to Pie-tanza for a little lunch afterwards, you will not be disappointed with either place.

I love this restaurant! Nestled in the shopping center on the corner of N. Harrison Street and Lee Highway, this casual pizzeria has it all-great food, a large menu with a huge selection, cheap prices, ample parking, kid-friendly environment, take out options, and friendly staff. You can dine-in or carry out, which is a nice option for the colder months and they even offer catering options as well.


As an added bonus, it is located above a toy store called Aladdin's Lamp that frequently has toddler story time, craft activities, or featured local authors one to two days a week.

I eat at this restaurant at least once a week with other moms and their kids. When I am done I sometimes stop by the grocery store which is only 3 doors down in the same shopping center or I will go inside and downstairs to the toy store, Aladdin's Lamp, to pick up birthday gifts or to browse the book section with my own son.

School Days

As I walked through the mall today with my 16 month-old, Bruno, in the stroller, I looked around at all the kids getting ready to start school-haircuts, new shoes, new backpacks etc.- and I couldn't help but remember what the first day back to school was like. I used to call all my friends the day before to hear about their summers and to plan what outfit would be the best thing to wear that first day.

There was always a mixed sense of excitement coupled with fear and anxiety about the first day of school. Would my teacher be nice? Would I be prepared to learn everything that I was supposed to? Would my friends still like me?

It's been so long since my own first day of any school ( first day of kindergarten, middle school, high school, college) that I almost forgot all the preparation and excitement that accompany it. There is something so calming about the back to school rituals that always took two or three days to complete-haircuts and shoes one day, school supplies and backpacks another day. As my own thoughts were consumed by my old memories of my own first school days, I realized that my 16 month-old was too young to even know that he would be going to his first day of Pre-K in one week. He did not yet understand what these rituals signaled.The excitement of preparing to go to school were still unknown to him. It was at this moment that I got choked up for the first time about my son going to school-where had the time gone? Was he too young? Was I making the right decision to send him early?

I think that I was mostly sad that I wouldn't get to spend as much time with him as I usually do, but I was also sad that he had grown so fast and I worried that he wouldn't be ready for Pre-K and that his lack of preparation would be a direct reflection of my skills as a parent.

By the end of our trip to the shoe store and the haircut place, I came to terms with the fact that even if I wasn't ready for Bruno to go to his first day of school, that didn't mean that Bruno wasn't ready to go to his first day of school. Yes I would miss him while he was at school and I would worry and wonder about what he was doing each moment of each day, but at the same time, I remembered how happy it made me each year to go through these back to school rituals of haircuts and shoe buying because it meant that the dull days of summer were over and I was allowed to return to a fun place where I flourished.

So as I purchased new shoes and asked the lady to not cut too high on the sides above my son's ears, I felt good about my decision to send my son to Pre-K early, hopeful that he too will remember the rituals of returning to school and smile.....one day.

TGIF

So sorry for the delay in posting, again, but traveling over Labor Day weekend is always a challenge, especially when you have little ones in the mix.

My TGIF posting is about the kitchen and cooking-one of my favorite pastimes. I know that this good information tip requires a little forethought, but I promise that the minimal planning pays off big time in the long run.

If you are like me and you enjoy cooking, you probably keep a freezer full of dinner supplies-chicken, beef, seafood etc.-so that you can pull something out in the morning and it will defrost in time for dinner....right?

Try marinating your meats and seafood BEFORE you freeze them. It really locks in the flavor and while the meat defrosts it also marinates so that by dinner time all you have to do is cook the meat, instead of trimming it and deciding how you are going to prepare it. Plus, the extra time the meat marinates only enhances the flavor.

Although it requires a little more prep time when you initially buy the meats and freeze them, it saves you a good fifteen minutes or more when you are trying to throw dinner together on the week nights.

I personally like to buy meats in bulk (to save money) at Costco maybe once per month. I plan my shopping trip for a day when I know I will have some free time and while my son naps, I break up the chicken and meat and seafood into small portions. I put each dinner sized portions in their own Ziploc bags with a different marinade (Buffalo sauce, terriyaki, citrus, etc.) and I label it on the outside of the bag so that I can differentiate between what each item is when it comes time to defrost. As I said before, I love to cook, so I choose to make my own marinades which takes longer, but you can cut down on the prep time by buying pre-made marinades or herb rubs when they are on sale at the supermarket (there is always at least one brand of marinade or salad dressing on sale at the supermarket each week) or you can purchase them in bulk to save money. A little Italian dressing on plain chicken breasts can make some really good moist grilled chicken in the summer months.

It takes me about an hour, once every few weeks, to trim the fat, divide up these meats and seafoods and marinate them, but it stocks my freezer full of pre-marinated entrees that I can quickly defrost during the week when I am pressed for time.

As an extra bonus, I am going to share one of my favorite (and really easy) marinades with you. This marinade is excellent on chicken, but is so mild it can be used on almost any kind of meat or seafood.

-Place 1 pound of boneless, trimmed chicken into a Ziploc bag and mix with:
-1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil
-fresh cracked pepper from a mill to taste (almost a full tablespoon)
-salt to taste (almost a full tablespoon)
-Oregano, fresh or dried (1 tablespoon)
-juice from 2 squeezed lemons

This is a nice light marinade that works well for chicken kebabs or grilled fish or shrimp.

Enjoy!

Recommendation Wednesdays

I recently received this email:

The Emergency Number worldwide for Mobile is 112. If you find yourself out of the coverage area of your mobile network and there is an emergency, dial 112 and the mobile will search any existing network to establish the emergency number for you, and interestingly, this number 112 can be dialed even if the keypad is locked. Try it out.

I so wanted the information to be true because as a parent I feel that I am now more cautious and more aware of my surroundings in general than I ever was before and traveling with kids always heightens my feelings of angst and my desire to be prepared for any situation.

To verify information like this and other snippets or facts that claim to be lifesavers or the hottest new tidbit of information, log onto http://www.snopes.com/. This website is designed to test the truthfulness of the most current urban legends that are circulating the Internet and by word of mouth.

After logging onto this website I learned that this email contained false information and that I should not depend on being able to dial 112 from a locked cell phone in case of emergency. It only took me about 30 seconds on the snopes website to debunk this urban legend and even though the information turned out to be misinformation, I feel better knowing for sure.

Hope you find this website useful as well.

Vacation Days

One of my favorite things about my family is the fact that we have certain family traditions that we work hard to maintain. The most relaxing of these being our annual trip to the Outer Banks in the end of August for a family vacation.

My parents originally began taking my siblings and I to the Outer Banks back in 1985. The first year we went to Kitty Hawk and then we moved further down and started to spend our summers in Duck, North Carolina instead. This annual family vacation morphed over the years from one week to two weeks and we upgraded from smaller town homes further away from the beach to large sprawling houses on the beach that were so big we were all permitted to bring a friend with us on vacation.

I can't remember when exactly the vacations ended, but after about 8 or 9 years, they ceased because my older siblings left for college and came home and worked over the summer or went abroad and eventually I went away to boarding school, so late August vacations were no longer conducive to everyone's busy schedules and preparing for a new school year.

Sometime after my brother graduated college and got married he and his wife re-instituted the annual trip to the Outer Banks. They rented homes for two weeks that could accommodate everyone in the family and their spouses and we were all invited to join them. These vacations picked back up in the late 1990's- 1997 to be exact, I think. These were fabulous times. We were all older and immersed in our own lives but for one week every August we made the trek to the shores where we had spent our childhood summers. Fond memories of past summers always came flooding back and new memories were made. We lingered on the beach during the day, indulging ourselves in the luxury of uninterrupted pleasure reading. Cocktail hour usually began no later than 4pm and we all took turns cooking dinner. We would all leave the beach with a sun kissed glow and a refreshed outlook on life.

By the time we hit the new millennium, my brother and his wife had a child and my sister was engaged and I was living with the man who would later become my husband. With only one kid in the mix in 2001, things were not that different the first year or even the first two years at the beach. He was little and still slept a lot, so other than having to be a little quieter at night so that the baby could fall asleep, our family tradition of a week at the beach was not that different.

Enter 2007. By then there were three kids in the mix and 8 adults. We were all married and we were "in production" as my dad says. The houses got larger and larger every year and cocktail hour started later and later. Being on the beach no longer meant indulging in the pleasure of leisure reading (except for my husband and I who had not started reproducing yet), it involved chasing after little ones who ran around with shovels overhead as they crushed each other's sandcastles squealing with delight.

Summer 2008 marked the start of a new era at the beach. Our family vacations were complete and had come full circle. My parents were there for the week with their three grown children, their children's spouses, and their children's children-apparently I was in the early stages of my pregnancy at the beach the previous summer in August of 2007 but didn't know it until I got home and took a pregnancy test when I couldn't shake "the puking flu" that made me feel awful for weeks. The house we got this summer in Pine Island sleeps 22 people in 8 different bedrooms ( no fold out sofas here) spread out over three floors. We have a huge pool out back that is fenced in and we are less than 100 yards from the beach. There are four little monkeys, ages 6, 3, 3, and 1 running around at all times and both my sister and I are pregnant with our second and we are both having a girl. I am due around Thanksgiving and she is due around Christmas.

It is amazing to have this week together every year to regroup as a family and to see each other; plus it is nice for the little kids to grow up together and to really know their cousins. There are so many adults around and so many helpful hands on deck that everyone gets a break. The same person is not cooking dinner every night and there is always someone around to watch your kid for a few minutes so that you can take a shower. With all these wonderful things though comes rivalry. Kids are on different schedules and want different things at different times and they are forced to compromise and share which they are not necessarily used to. It is an adjustment for the adults as well. We are older and have been around each other longer and can act more maturely than the 3 year-olds can, but we too have to give in to other's whims and compromise sometimes. Maybe Dad makes the coffee a lot stronger than you are used to or your sibling does not parent their child the same way you do in similar situations, but these are all things that adults have to learn to adjust to as well as their children.

Being at a beach house can also exacerbate the situation because everyone is out of their element. Kids are not sleeping in their own beds and adults are cooking in different kitchens and having to get the lay of the land of the rental house which is never as equipped as your own home is. All of these things can make tempers flare and patience run thin. People's nerves get frayed and its easy to say things like, " Oh I would never do that" or "He would never behave like that at home, but he's on vacation...." or my personal favorite, "Oh well, I will go back to eating a healthy diet when we get back home."

What do these weeks away teach us and our children? To be patient and communicate so that we can compromise. I feel like I also gain insight, small little glimpses, into the way my siblings parent and reminders about the way my own parents raised us and I find it both reassuring (that I am doing a good job) and encouraging. It is nice to know that other parents go through some of the same battles with their kids that I do and that I am not alone.

These vacations are really a gift in so many ways and they are a reminder of how lucky I am to have a great family that I can share this time with. Yes, there will be times on vacation when I long for my own bed or get distressed because the older kid's screaming woke up my son prematurely from a nap, but it's good for me to be reminded of what it is like to have to roll with the punches and it is also good for my son to learn this lesson from my own example.

TGIF

So sorry to keep you waiting, but traveling to the Outer Banks for our annual family vacation and setting up our computer took longer than anticipated, so here is Friday's post.

Great Tips For Traveling With Kids of Any Age:

1. Be Prepared. Make sure sure that your diaper bag is fully stocked with all the basic necessities like diapers, wipes, snacks, bottles, sippy cups, change of clothes etc. and that it is accessible and easy to reach when you are in the car and when you stop. Make sure that your diaper bag also includes a medicine pouch with band-aids, Motrin and other items that may prove useful if your child starts teething while on the road or accidentally gets a bee sting while at a rest stop. Put a cooler in your car as well and fill it with snacks and cold drinks for both parents and kids. This can be a real time saver while on the road and sometimes the options for where to eat are slim and not the healthiest.

2. Car Entertainment. Stock up prior to your trip on some new small toys that your child can play with while in his car seat. If you have a DVD player in your car or a portable one, purchase a new DVD for your child as well. The novelty of these new toys and new videos can be lifesavers for when you get stuck in traffic or your child just gets plain old bored and cranky from sitting in his car seat for too long.

3. Time Your Trip. If your child is on a set napping schedule, try to schedule your departure for when your child needs to nap. For example, our son naps everyday from 11am-2pm so when we need to drive a long distance somewhere, we wake up and start our day at home the usual way-breakfast, playing outside or a trip to the park to tire the little guy out and then a big snack, a bottle, and a diaper change before we get into the car to head out. Within the first fifteen minutes our son dozes off and sleeps for the first few hours of the car trip. Once our son wakes up we schedule another stop at a restaurant, a rest area with picnic tables (we pack a picnic lunch in our cooler) or a fast food joint if that is the only option. Stopping and getting out of the car, even if it is only for half an hour, does wonders for a traveling child's demeanor. Our son likes to stop and eat and stretch his legs. Lots of rest areas have grassy picnic areas where he can run around for a few minutes after lunch before getting back into the car and many McDonalds include play spaces where kids can get their energy out.

4. Plan Your Route. We all plan our route ahead of time and with all of the modern GPS technologies out there it is not hard to navigate your route. If your car does not have a navigation system in it, make sure you have a map of the area where you will be traveling and alternate routes mapped out as well in case roads are closed or there is an accident somewhere along the way. You can also plan your route according to where you will make scheduled stops. For example, when we drive REALLY long distances, like to Florida, we find malls along the way that offer a lot of resources for us when we stop. We can all get out of the car and eat at a restaurant and the stimulation of walking around a new setting with lots of new things to look at, not only gives the adults eyes a break from the monotony of driving, but for our son it is enough stimulation to keep him from getting too cranky while traveling.

Employ this strategies the next time you are traveling with kids and see how it makes your ride a little easier and little more enjoyable.

Recommendation Wednesdays

I have had a lot of friends and family members recently ask me how to find good childcare in the Washington, DC area. As a former nanny in the area I am very tapped into the local "nanny network" and below is an article I wrote to explain the methods one should take to find appropriate childcare in this city. I hope that you find it useful and that you pass it along to your friends and family.



How to Hire the Right Nanny for Your Child


Sometime after the birth of your child, you will hit a point when you need to consider hiring some professional help. For some women that means employing a full-time nanny so that the mom can return to work. For others, it means getting part-time help so that the mom can work part-time or just have some time to complete her chores and the running of her household, without always having a baby in tow.

Whatever your needs may be, it is important to take the right steps when going through the process of finding the right caregiver for your child. Of course every parent wants to hire Mary Poppins, because if you can’t be there with your child yourself, you want the next best thing and for many people, Mary Poppins is the ideal candidate. That being said, you have to realize ahead of beginning your search for the perfect nanny that there is no Mary Poppins and that if she did exist outside of the Disney movie, she would already be employed by someone else.

Common sense tells us a lot of what we need to know about finding a suitable nanny-do your research and make sure you thoroughly screen all candidates-this person will be caring for your most valued baby. Always be prepared and ask a number of questions in order to get to know the person etc. These things are obvious and what any parent would do. To really get the inside scoop on a person who you are considering hiring to watch your child you need to do the following three things.

Your first step in the hunt for a nanny should be to tap the network. Talk to friends, family, and other moms in the area and ask those people if they have a nanny and if so where did they get her? Often times this will lead to referrals. When I was a full-time nanny working in DC, I often babysat on the weekends for families other than the one that employed me as their full-time nanny. The mother would recommend me to friends of hers, or women from the neighborhood would approach me at the local park and inquire if I was interested in making some extra cash on the weekends, doing some part-time babysitting for them.

Some other great resources for tapping the network are: 1) put an ad on craigslist.com. The pre-screening can be done via an anonymous email account and from there you can do phone interviews to get to know the candidate before meeting in person. 2) Place an ad in a local paper like a Gazette or a college newspaper. Universities and colleges are huge resources of employable young people who are often looking for work and who have flexible hours. If you live close to a university or college call and ask where you should place the ad for hiring a part time sitter. Is it best to do it in the college paper or is it better to hang a flyer on campus somewhere? 3) Billboards. Make a flyer stating your needs and what you are looking for and hang it around your neighborhood on billboards at supermarkets, parks, and high schools. Again you can do interviews over the phone before meeting candidates in person. These billboards usually also have flyers made up by nannies looking for new jobs or extra weekend hours so you can take down their information and contact them if you are interested. 4) Hit the net. There are various websites that are devoted to helping you find appropriate childcare and most sites let you register and view resumes and profiles (for a small monthly fee) of candidates that are available in your area. 5) Hire an expert-if you have tapped out the local network and exercised all the contacts you have in the mom world and dislike the idea of daycare, hire an agency to help you find a nanny. Yes, this will cost you a little more money up front (a finder’s fee) but someone will do the searching for you, according to your specifications.

You may get lucky right away and get a name from a friend. Even though this is a slim chance, there is also the possibility that your friend’s nanny has other friends who are nannies and one of them may be looking for work. When I worked in DC, I had a whole group of other friends that I hung out with who were also full-time nannies. Our nanny clique organized play dates, birthday parties, trips to the zoo, and lunches. We were our own nanny network. Even if you don’t get the name of a potential candidate, at the very least you will gain valuable insight from other parents who have already had the experience of hiring a nanny. While everyone’s experience is different, getting advice from other parents can save you from making some of the mistakes that they did and it can also grant you the benefit of knowledge about what did work for them. Overall it is worth it to tap the network and complete your research on this topic before you begin interviewing candidates. You will feel more prepared and you will have a clear plan of how to hire a nanny.

Once you have decided what qualities you want your nanny to have, it is important to outline a list of questions, so that you can determine if each candidate possess those specific traits or not. While most parent know ahead of time what they consider to be the “perfect nanny” you have to remember that just like so many other things in this world, you get what you pay for. If you want Mary Poppins, you are going to have to be reasonable and realize that you will have to pay top dollar for the cream of the crop of the nanny world. Educated, experienced nannies are going to cost more. One time I interviewed with a family who was great and it was an ideal job in most respects, except that this particular family was not willingly to pay me the going rate. They felt that my time was worth a lot less and that sent a clear message to me about what it would be like to work for them. I ultimately took another job since they were not reasonable about my pay rate. For the amount of work they wanted me to do; they did not want to pay me a comparable rate for those tasks. Remember, like other jobs out there, nannies with more experience and better resumes are going to have their pick of various jobs and are going to command a higher salary than most, since their qualifications dictate that they have earned the right to do that. Do not go into the interviewing process with high hopes of finding the perfect nanny who miraculously charges $5.00 less per hour than the going rate, because you will be disappointed.

Lastly, look at interviewing candidates as a big game of match making. Not every great nanny is the right nanny for you. Finding someone who you are comfortable with and who your child is comfortable with is important and you may not feel right about every candidate. When I recently interviewed babysitters there was this one candidate, Sarah, who was great. She was experienced, getting her master’s degree in education, and she was first aid and CPR certified, but during the entire interview process she paid more attention to our lazy bulldog than she did to my son. When Sarah did ask me questions about the job, she chose to inquire about my handbag that was sitting on the counter, instead of asking anything about Bruno, the hours, the details of the job or what the pay rate was. To me her lack of interest in my son and the job I was offering seemed to bore her. She was an example of someone who looked great on paper and who had a lot of really great qualifications, but she just did not seem like what I was looking for. She may be great, but she was clearly not the right fit for my family.

Remember, some candidates may be experienced and great on paper, but may not share your views on discipline or parenting. While you don’t have to see eye-to-eye on everything, you have to feel like your nanny respects your rules of parenting and that she will enforce those rules in the same way that you would when you are not around. On the flip side, you need to be aware that a nanny may get multiple job offers from various families and that if she chooses to decline your offer of employment, it is no reflection on you, your child, or the way you parent. Finding a nanny is like finding a wedding dress, you know it when you see it. Don’t be deceived by the outward appearance of it, because it is about how well it fits and how you feel inside when you try it on.

Blips in the Road

Why is it that when you finally feel like you have a handle on things and that everything is smooth sailing you hit a bump in the road? That was my Monday and the reason I am late posting my blog, but even with the bad comes good and even though the grey clouds roll in, there is a silver lining. It took me three hours at a doctor's visit to find the silver in this grey cloud, but I got some good advice from another mom that I would like to pay forward. I hope you too find this story inspiring.

I woke up feeling energized this past Monday after having gone to bed the night before at 8:30pm-I mean I was actually asleep by 8:30pm, not reading and not watching TV in bed, but full on bedded bliss. I started my day the usual way-make coffee, feed dog, empty dishwasher, make Bruno's breakfast, return phone calls, check daily "to-do" list, throw in some laundry, take out trash etc. - and even got the privilege of taking a shower in the morning (bonus for Mommy) ,which I do not usually get to do, because I was headed out to the OB for my 6 month check up.

Since I was the second appointment of the day the doctor was on time and I got to leisurely read a Fit Pregnancy Magazine ( bonus number 2 for Mommy) while I waited to be seen. All was well on the baby front. Blood pressure was good, weight gain was appropriate and not in the excessive realm and I was already thinking about all the errands and chores I was going to complete after I left the doctor's office because I had the babysitter until noon.

When the doctor came in and went through all the usual questions i didn't pause until we got to the one about "Are you experiencing any pain, vomiting, bleeding etc. etc? " I told my doctor that over the weekend I had experienced some cramping but that it always went away and was not constant.

As a precaution I was placed on the monitor anyways. At this point I was pretty much convinced that it was something silly like bad gas or indigestion, but I was happy to be strapped into the blue and pink baby belts all the same. I knew that I would feel better in fifteen minutes when the doctor told me everything was a-okay and that I should feel fine again after a large bowel movement. I kicked the recliner out and put my feet up and continued to enjoy my magazine while thinking that this minor delay at the doctor's office would still give me plenty of time to complete my chores if I left in the next half hour.

After fifteen minutes of listening to the thumping heartbeat of my baby girl the doctor came in to read the paper that the machine had spit out and I was shocked when I saw her facial expression. She pointed to the sharp peaks on the paper and said that sure enough I was having contractions at 24 weeks!

As my stomach dropped I felt a look of worry take over my face-my husband always says that I furrow my brow when I am intensely worried and I always denied it, but his time I did not fight the furrowed brow. I was instantly worried. They say your life can change in a minute and this was one of those examples. My regularly scheduled 6 month checkup at the OB was not normal-there was something happening that shouldn't be and I was freaked out.

My doctor obviously saw the alarm in my face and went into calm the patient mode. She told me about the injection I would be given that would make my heart race and flutter while relaxing my uterus so that I didn't experience any more "blips" was the word she used. They were going to keep me on the monitor for another twenty minutes or so to see how I handled the medicine. Before I had time to digest the information or ask my doctor the hundred or so questions that had formed in my head in the last 30 seconds, the nurse appeared with a needle and said, "this will sting a bit, so hold on."

The injection was put in my arm and made me feel like I had consumed 40 cups of coffee on an empty stomach. My hands were shaking and I was all jittery, there was no more indulgent reading of a magazine, only racing, frantic thoughts of terror about what was wrong with my baby. Was it the decaf Mochas I had the past few mornings as my chocolate fix? Was I not resting enough? Was my nutrition poor? How could I have let this happen to my little girl, was all I could think about for the twenty minutes I was hooked to the monitor like a dog to a tether post.

Fortunately, I responded well to the medicine and the "blips" stopped about 20 minutes after the shot-Good. I still felt like a horrible parent, though. How was I going to be good Mommy to a baby girl, my second child, if I couldn't manage the pregnancy without these kinds of "blips" in the road?

From there I was given a full work up. Exam, Ultra sound etc. to ensure that the baby was okay and that everything was still in tact in all the right places and that nothing had shifted. Good on that front as well. My nerves were shot at this point and I was filled with dread playing the "what if...." game with myself in my mind. So the contractions had stopped, but why was I having them at 24 weeks?

I didn't start to feel better about this "blip" in the road until I went into my doctor's office for the post-visit chat. When I sat down in her office, I felt like I was back in middle school and being sent to the principle's office for throwing food in the lunch room; at this point I had convinced myself that I was to blame for my thumping uterus. I was sure that it was because I was over stressed, or working too much, or trying to do too many things that this had happened.

She summarized by saying that everything looked good with the baby and that while I had to "tone things down a bit for the next few weeks," she was not overly concerned that these "blips" would be a long term problem for me. I began to feel slightly better about the situation-okay, I wasn't a failure as a mother and it wasn't my fault that my uterus was contracting at 24 weeks, these things just happened sometimes, but I still wanted to clarify that there wasn't something I was doing or eating or not doing or not eating that was causing this problem. She then asked me a series of questions as she was making notes in my chart and there was one that sealed the deal for me. My doctor asked if I worked, I paused and after I finally said "sometimes," she said, " its okay to work, you know."

In that instant I felt like she said more to me that was of value than she had said in the past two years that I had known her. She was not only telling me that it was okay to be a SAHM that works sometimes, but she was reassuring me that babies have a mind of their own -especially when in utero- and that this "blip" was not from my doing, but rather from the baby's doing and my body's doing. I was not expected to control these things, how could I? "Blips" happen, its the natural course of lthings and inevitable in everyone's lives.

After my three hour visit to the OB, I was tired and drained, but I felt inspired at the same time. Another mom had reassured me that we all hit "blips" in the road and that what makes us good parents is how we choose to deal with those "blips" and keep on going.

Yeah a three hour tour of my privates at the OB was not what I had hoped my routine 6 month visit would entail, but the important thing was that it was over and that the "blip" had been dealt with-the baby was okay ( full of personality already, she can't wait to get here), I was okay (maybe a little mentally battered, but no worse for the wear) and I got a friendly little reminder that life is not all smooth sailing all the time. There will be "blips" in the road for all of us to deal with and if we just remind ourselves that "blips" are part of life that come and go, we will enjoy the ride so much more.

TGIF

I was fortunate enough to receive an email the other day from my mother-in-law that contained very useful information-the many uses for WD-40. I always thought this product was a "man potion" only to be used for automobile projects and fixing rusty lawnmowers, but I read the list of uses that WD-40 can serve around the house and was blown away by the practical 40+ purposes this amazing "man potion" has to offer. I am no longer a skeptic about forwarded emails from my MIL and I have a newfound respect for some of the items my husband hides in his tool shed.

For this Friday's TGIF I am going to share the list of WD-40's many uses with you in the hopes that you too will find a place for this fish oil based product in your house-well, okay, maybe the garage at least. You will not be disappointed with these tips.

Stay tuned for Recommendations Wednesdays and TGIF's every week. As my list of useful tips, tricks, recommendations and hints grows I hope that your motivation, education and preparation for parenthood continues to expand and flourish.


Amazing Uses For WD-40


1) Protects silver from tarnishing.
2) Removes road tar and grime from cars.
3) Cleans and lubricates guitar strings.
4) Gives floors that 'just-waxed' sheen without making it slippery.
5) Keeps flies off cows!
6) Restores and cleans chalkboards.
7) Removes lipstick stains.
8) Loosens stubborn zippers.
9) Untangles jewelry chains.
10) Removes stains from stainless steel sinks.
11) Removes dirt and grime from the barbecue grill.
12) Keeps ceramic/Terra cotta garden pots from oxidizing.
13) Removes tomato stains from clothing.
14) Keeps glass shower doors free of water spots.
15) Camouflages scratches in ceramic and marble floors.
16) Keeps scissors working smoothly.
17) Lubricates noisy door hinges on vehicles and doors in homes.
18) It removes black scuff marks from the kitchen floor! Open some windows if you have a lot of marks.
19) Bug guts will eat away the finish on your car. Removed quickly, with WD-40!
20) Gives a child's play gym slide a shine for a super fast slide.
21) Lubricates gear shift on lawn mowers.
22) Rids kids' rocking chairs and swings of squeaky noises.
23) Lubricates tracks in sticking home windows and makes them easier to open.
24) Spraying an umbrella stem makes it easier to open and close.
25) Restores and cleans padded leather dashboards in vehicles, as well as vinyl bumpers.
26) Restores and cleans roof racks on vehicles.
27) Lubricates and stops squeaks in electric fans.
28) Lubricates wheel sprockets on tricycles, wagons, and bicycles for easy handling.
29) Lubricates fan belts on washers and dryers and keeps them running smoothly.
30) Keeps rust from forming on saws and saw blades, and other tools.
31) Removes splattered grease on stove.
32) Keeps bathroom mirror from fogging.
33) Lubricates prosthetic limbs.
34) Keeps pigeons off the balcony (they hate the smell).
35) Removes all traces of duct tape.
36) Folks even spray it on their arms, hands, and knees to relieve arthritis pain.
37) Florida's favorite use: cleans and removes Love Bugs from grills and bumpers.
38) Protects the Statue of Liberty from the elements.
39) WD-40 attracts fish. Spray a little on live bait or lures and you will be catching the big one in no time.
40) Fire ant bites. It takes the sting away immediately and stops the itch.
41) WD-40 is great for removing crayon from walls. Spray on the mark and wipe with a clean rag.
42) If you spray WD-40 on the distributor cap, it will displace the moisture and allow the car to start.
43) Keep a can of WD-40 in your kitchen cabinet over the stove. It is good for oven burns or any other type of burn. It takes the burned feeling away and heals with NO scarring.

Recommendation Wednesdays

I was beginning to feel bad that I was taking my son to the same park day after day. I worried that we were stuck in a rut. I didn't take him to this park exclusively because it was the only one I knew about, but rather, it was clear to me that it was his favorite park out of all the ones we visit. If Bruno is happy, then I am happy and in park talk that means that we can go to this park and stay for a couple of hours, versus leaving after 30 minutes because Bruno is either bored or not interested in what the park has to offer.

Currently our daily park visits take us to the park on N. Harrison Street, off of Lee Highway in the Arlington/McLean Area. I like this park for many reasons. First of all, it is huge and spread out so my son has room to run around. Secondly, I like it because the park offers shade and sunshine as well as picnic tables. There are two large jungle gym structures that are appropriate for children ages 9 months to 10 years old as well as a sand box and lots of toys that people have donated to the park over the years. Thirdly, I like this park because the jungle gym equipment is divided up by area according to age groups so the larger jungles gyms where the 8 year-olds play are not the jungle gyms where the one year-olds play.

Bruno goes to this park every morning for about 1-2 hours and is constantly discovering new things to play with and new areas to explore. We are there so much that I am now friendly with many of the other moms that frequent this park. For example, for the first time today, Bruno discovered that there is a large hill sloping down towards the school behind the park. For half an hour he sent a toy lawn mower down the hill, retrieved it, pulled it up the hill all by himself and then sent it down again with squeals of delight filling the air. The fact that he is able to find new ways to entertain himself at the same park each day, day after day, reassures me that he is getting the stimulation that he needs and the activity that he craves even though we are frequenting the same establishment.

If you have never been to this park I encourage you to check it out with your kids in the future. Be aware though that this park is sandy so be sure your child has on play clothes that can get dirty and that he is wearing old tennis shoes or slip on shoes, such as crocs. For parents potty training their children, also be aware that this park only offers one portable potty. There is not a physical structure that houses bathrooms.

I feel so good about my daily trips to this park that it has inspired me to designate Wednesdays as my recommendation days. Each and every Wednesday I will post a recommendation on my blog. The recommendation will document one of my favorite parenthood-related resources: parks, activities, restaurants, stores, websites, etc. that are available in the Washington, DC area. I hope that you will read over them on hump day and learn about a new resource that you will share with your friends and family. I also hope that you will share your favorites with me.

Manic Mondays

I always feel fresh and inspired on Mondays. It is the beginning of a new week and another chance to start checking tasks off my endless to-do list. I always pack a lot into Mondays because I want to start the week off on the right foot. I feel like if I accomplish a lot on Mondays, I will set the tone for the rest of the week and continue to get a lot done each and every day, thus feeling a continued sense of accomplishment and motivation to keep plugging along.

This Monday was no different. I had a list of tasks for the day and it was two pages long, which is always a scary sign. My husband and I had been out of town all week visiting family, so in addition to being tired and having a one year-old that was slightly off schedule, we were both feeling a little disorganized, which always makes Mondays harder. How are you supposed to get up and feel fresh and recharged if you are sleep deprived and your house is a mess? Needless to say, I was looking forward to the challenge of knocking out my two page list in one crazy busy day.

My Monday was going to start off with a few meetings at my office, which is not the norm, so it also meant that I had scheduled our babysitter to come and watch Bruno from 8am until 3pm. Even though the meetings wouldn't take that long, I knew I could use the extra time for other things.

Just knowing that my son would be cared for lifted a huge weight off of my shoulders. I would still have a lot of things to get done, but knowing that I didn't have to try and juggle my one year-old as I frantically scrambled all over town somehow made the two page list of tasks seem less daunting.

I began to get an unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach by the time it was 8:30am and there was still no babysitter. My husband called and left her a message on her cell phone and while we waited 15 minutes for her to call back we began the dreaded discussion-"Plan B." This is the horrible game that parents are forced to play when their childcare falls through at the last minute and they have to decide what is the best option when they are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Since I am a SAHM we fortunately do not have to play this game much-this was actually our first experience with it-but that does not make it any better.

We became frantic and started calling everyone we could think of who could watch our son for a few hours so that we could at least both go to our already scheduled appointments/meetings. Finally after 20 minutes of phone calls we got lucky and my friend Robin came to our rescue. I had watched her son Mitchell in the past when they were on vacation so I didn't feel too guilty about calling in a favor. What I did begin to worry about though was my little man. This was not part of our schedule. He hadn't been to Robin's house for a play date in a while-what if he didn't remember her, or her house, or her kids? What if he wouldn't nap in his pack and play? What if he freaked out and screamed for the whole three hours?

As we packed his stuff and loaded him in the car my husband reassured me that Bruno would be fine-"Kids are more resilient than you think, Daph", he said. Besides, Bruno and Mitchell are friends, they will probably just play the whole time, I wouldn't worry about it anymore."

I tried to heed my husband's words, but as a mother you worry, it's part of your job. I no longer worried about what happened to the babysitter or why she didn't show up, I only thought about my child and if I was doing what was best for him, even though it might not have been what I originally planned.

Needless to say the "hand off" to Robin went well. I walked in and put Bruno down on the floor in her living room and he ran right into her playroom, long enough for me and my husband to slip out.

After our meetings were done, we headed back to Robin's to pick Bruno up and he was as happy as a clam. Robin said there were no tears when we left and he even napped in his pack and play for her for two hours. Not only was my son fully intact, but he was happy, and even though his schedule had gotten completely thrown off, it didn't bother him one bit because he didn't know the difference-he was too busy just being a kid.

As stressful as this manic Monday was it reminded me that sometimes it is good to mix things up a bit. How will my child ever learn to adapt to situations and roll with the punches if I never give him the chance to? As much as I like keeping him on a schedule, my husband was correct to remind me that sometimes I don't give my son enough credit, even if he is only one.

You can learn a lot from these unexpected situations that parenthood constantly presents and it's not the situations themselves that mold us as parents, but the way we handle these situations that determines the way we parent; I think we all need reminding everyone once in a while that life is not perfect and that being good parents means conveying this message to your children as best we can.