Mommy’s Preschool Blues
My husband and I just got back from a “preschool interview.” The interview is a prerequisite for our son to be enrolled in a September class. I have to say, this was one of the more 
depressing days I have had for a while. Was it a great preschool? Absolutely. Did our son seem to love it? Yes. Were the teachers, kids, and administration all exceedingly nice? Of course. So why am I so down? I think it is just the idea that our “baby” is growing up. But it is also the idea that our society now seems to expect toddlers to be ready to go to preschool. They might be, but I am not sure that the we are. At least not this set of parents. We keep weighing the pros & cons of making this leap, and most of the pros come down on the side of “it is time for our son to go to school.” But I just can’t shake the guilt, fear, and hesitation in taking this step. Maybe it is our concern about being separated from our son. Or perhaps it is the fear that our son will do something “naughty” and others will sit in judgement of our parenting skills. Or maybe it is that we worry that now others will have a greater influence than us upon our son. Most likely we just know that once we start this process, there is no going back. Before we know it, he will be in “real school” and family time will be the exception not the rule. Whatever the case may be, I know that every day before September I plan to offer a few extra cuddles and cherish every little bit of mommy time I can get, but I can’t help thinking those preschool blues just aren’t going to go away.
For more “Mommy Talk” moments click here.
Happy Father’s Day Dad!
John Adams once said “A desire to be observed, considered, esteemed, praised, beloved, and admired by his 
fellows is one of the earliest as well as the keenest dispositions discovered in the heart of man. ” Well dad, you are one man that is truly observed, considered, esteemed, praised, beloved and admired by your family and by so many others. Thank you for being such a wonderful model for us all, we hope you enjoy watching a bit about this other model, John Adams. Happy Father’s Day! We love you so much!!!!
Best Baby Gifts
What are Mom’s Favorite Baby Gifts?
I admit it, every time I find out a friend is pregnant, I start panicking about what gift I will buy for them. But over the years, with more and more friends having kids, I dedicated myself to trying to research and track down items that my friends and their babies would use, that would last, and that would be unique. So my top Mom’s Favorite Baby Gifts are listed below. For Mom’s Favorite Guide to all the Best Baby Gear click here. For even more of Mom’s Favorite Baby items click here.
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5. Mozart Magic Cube
Our whole family loves this toy. When we received it as a baby gift, we were confused as this didn’t seem like a “baby toy.” But boy, as our little one grew this toy was one of the best baby gifts we received. |
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4. Tiny Love Gymini – Black, White & Red
We received this as a gift, and it stood the test of drool, vomit, and other fluids. Every baby that we have given this gift to (and their parents) love this baby “gym.” |
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3.The Baby Bunch 0-6 Month Bunch Gift Set We love this beautiful “bouquet” of organic cotton baby clothes!
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2.Personalized Children’s Books These books are amazing. They are personalized children’s books with the name of the newborn baby written into the story. This was a very special gift that we have received and now have given several times! |
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1. Hand-crafted quilts, clothes, and cuddly toys from
This is a great company with great and really unique baby gifts. They have shipped things all the way to Australia for us!
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Family Travel Guide
Family Travel
Even harder than going to the grocery store with kids is traveling with them!
Whether it is by car, bus, train, or plane we have discovered a few ways to survive.
Booking Travel
Like so many other families we now book almost all of our travel online. One thing that has helped us survive is buying a whole “vacation package” from one site. Several competitive online companies provide this option. We have found that some of the best are kayak.com, Orbitz.com, Travelocity and of course Expedia.com. You definetly need to shop around to see which has the best rate. Use the “flexible date” option to see how changing your plans by one day can save you 1,000’s of dollars.
Some credit cards, such as Citibank’s Premier Pass, offer a conceirge service to book the most competitive flight for you, and many times at a discount. Also of course, see if you can use “Thank You” Points to book and pay for your trip.
Flights
No matter what time of year it is never fun flying with kids. With long lines, cancelled flights, and crowded airports, flying with a family is just not fun. Remember the days when the pilot would come out and give your child a tour of the cockpit? Well, those days are numbered!
Saying that, we have found some family friendly, and unfortunately some not so family friendly airlines, to fly.
Who are the best airlines?
By far the best international airline we have flown is British Airways They were baby, child, and parent friendly! Every time we have flown them they have provided us with whatever we have needed (which is saying A LOT in this day and age).
We have also flown other international airlines such as Air France & Cathay Pacific, which were both incredible! Both airlines actually booked us in a row with no one else there so we could all move around and not bother other people.
Other good domestic airlines include Continental and Delta. They have also helped us with our special family needs while flying.
My other “mommy friends” have told me JetBlue is also quite good and the individual tvs help entertain little ones.
As with all travel advice, call ahead to see if the different airlines can accomodate you (especially with getting the bulk head seats so your child is not pounding on the seat in front of you!).
Who are the worst airlines?
By far the worst airline we have ever flown was Spirit Air! They have long lines, CHARGE YOU $20 for every bag you check in, and you can never find someone to help you!!! I am sure that as airlines keep cutting back, I am sorry to say we will keep adding to the list of the worsts. No wonder we prefer to drive!
Car Rental
We have found the cheapest car rentals at Hotwire.com. There are also many “last minute” deals at alamo.com. As a family we tend to book the “mid-size” SUV and then request an upgrade by searching for coupon codes on the Internet. This upgrade allows us to usually receive a “full size” SUV when we are traveling. If you book often with the same agency many times they will offer you complimentary upgrades and/or a discount on upgrading your car the day you pick it up.
Of course most of us now travel with a car seat, but you can book one through the car rental company and now you can even rent them at many airports or through taxi services (which means one less thing to lug around).
Hotels
There are definitely some “family friendly” hotels that we have found in our world wide travels.
One of the best experiences we have ever had is with the hotel chain Westin. At our last hotel stay they provided a crib, rollaway bed, bottle warmer, and refigerator at no cost to us. This enabled us to have all the things we needed without the stress of being away from home. Call your hotel ahead to ask them whether or not they provide these and other services for kids (including a kids club).
If you want to make sure you are making the best decision about your hotel, check out tripadvisor.com to see the rating of different hotels and review vacation packages.
Trading a Panda for a Picnic
In our family, we still find it hard to make it to a weekend family movie. Usually what happens is that if something good comes out, we simply wait for it to be released on DVD. And this Father’s Day weekend is no different. With lots of families going to the theater to escape the heat, we are going to give the cinema a miss and instead bond with dad over a nice indoor picnic. However, I was pleased to see that the number #1 in America right now is a kids movie, “Kung Fu Panda,” and it will one that we add to our Blockbuster queue, because we were surprised to see such a glowing review of it from the NY Times.
Oh-Boy, we like this O-Ball
When my parents gave this to our son we looked at them with the face of “okay…” But now that summer is here, this is fast becoming mom’s favorite toy – because it is an indoor-outdoor ball that can get wet, doesn’t bring in dirt, doesn’t break anything (famous last words), and can easily be tossed, kicked, or rolled by a baby, toddler, child, or adult. So to my parents – kudos for being more hip than mom – and finding this new cool toy, the Oball, from Rhino Toys.
Mom’s Favorite Treat for a Snack Pack
So our little one is just about to make his first foray into a summer program, and all of a sudden we find ourselves desperate to find good and healthy snacks he can take with him. We love cut up grapes, apples, halved cherry tomatoes, and defrosted beans – which all hold up well with heat and travel. But we have recently found a new favorite to add to mom’s list – which is a healthy & organic version of “animal cookies” – called Barbara’s Bakery Vanilla Snackimals Animal Cookies,. Although we try to limit sweets, every now and again we do allow a little treat and we discovered these at our local health-food store. We love them so much, that we have now started to buy a pack of 18 through Amazon.Com as they make a nice addition to a healthy snack pack for mom & dad too.
Mom’s Favorite Tips For Going Green
This mom is dedicated to trying to go green. Seriously, do we need another documentary to realize that things are not good for mother earth? So what are mom’s favorite ways to go green?
Recycle. Get the kids involved and have them help you think of ways to do this. I know it sometimes is not convenient, and that might be an understatement. (We recently had our recycling left at curb because we were told they do not collect #1 and #2 plastics – which makes up 90% of what we recycle, leaving us to collect and deposit these items on are own). So we make it a priority to recycle our empty containers, even if it takes a little elbow grease to do.
Change to Biodegradable Products. We also have started to move toward using “Earth Friendly” cleaning products. This mom is very concerned with using healthy cleaning products that won’t harm the whole family. There are now a large amount of “mainstream” products which are going “green.” It is so important that moms (and dads) use these products because they are biodegradable, lack harsh chemicals, and are environmentally friendly. Some of mom’s favorite “green” cleaning brands include: Method Home, Mrs. Meyers, Seventh Generation, and even Clorox Green Brands.
Ditch the plastic bags. We recently traveled to Europe and were pleasantly surprised to see that there was a charge for plastic bags. We have tried to always remember to bring our cloth bags with us so that they are easy for us to use and we have no excuses not to use them.
Change the light-bulbs. Really, this is probably one of the easiest things to do. Conserve energy by turning off the lights and using GE Energy Smart Light-bulbs.
Educate yourself and your family. I have been really happy to see that moms are doing just that lately. But there is always room for more learning, so educate yourself on other ways to stay green by going to some many great websites out there to help you live a “green lifestyle.” Some of mom’s favorite websites include:
Find Green Stores.
Dr. Greene and Raising Baby OrganicHealthy Child for a Healthy World
Even Oprah has done quite a few shows on this topic, giving 101 ideas for going green.
Keep inspiring yourself to live a green & organic lifestyle. Recently Amazon just published their “My Three Green” list where over 3,000 customers voted on the top three “green items” they believe everyone should have. Check out ‘Your Three Green’ by clicking here.
