April 6, 2015 Not sure how to entertain the troops over Spring Break? Maybe you’re going nuts inside the house. One of the newest videos from Common Sense Media offers some fun ideas and hits straight to the core of what I love. Family Friendly Spring Activities lists three apps that will inspire outside adventures…
April 14, 2015 April is National Volunteer Month, the perfect time to think about getting kids involved with helping others. I strongly believe kids need to get outside of their personal life bubble in order to appreciate what they have and develop empathy for those less fortunate. This allows them to grow up with a…
May 7, 2015 Springtime in California brings families out for fun in the sun, but it’s a great reminder to take precautions with the little ones in the sunlight, heat and around the water. Don’t let the carefree days turn ugly. Enjoy the warmer months with these easy safety tips: Water Safety: With two children dying…
April 21, 2015 Are you getting tired of the high cost of cable? If so, you are not alone. Many people have begun cutting the cord and finding other ways to watch their favorite programs and movies. The reality is that regular cable packages are too expensive and often contain channels that subscribers don’t even…
April 25, 2015 Get ready to purchase your red nose and make a difference in the lives of children! Red Nose Day is a campaign dedicated to raising money for children and young people living in poverty by simply having fun and making people laugh. The inaugural Red Nose Day will be held in the US…
April 22, 2015 Earth Day is today. If you’re like me, that’s about 504,172 things down on your to-do list. In short, “Ain’t nobody got time for that!” Naturally, in the middle of the chaos, one of my dear sweet way-too-observant children noticed that tiny line on the calendar … Earth Day which, not unlike…
April 30, 2015 When it comes to the appropriateness of movies, music, television shows and video games, every family is different. Ultimately, only you can decide what you think is right for your children. Some parents are fine with allowing their children free range in order to test their own limits whereas others feel that…
May 7, 2015 I don’t know about you but I love a great film that weaves in an important message. Strange Magic is just that! With great musical elements and a diverse cast of characters, this new animated film from Lucasfilm empowers you to believe in yourself and accept others for who they are. You’ll also find…
May 21, 2015 It’s the beginning of blockbuster season and, this month, there are three big sequels (Avengers, Mad Max and Pitch Perfect) mixed in with some new material. The expected action-packed offerings are broken up by a horror (Before I Wake), comedy (Spy), romance (Aloha) and family-friendly flick, Tomorrowland. Here’s what’s in theaters May…
April 28, 2015 A few weeks ago, my daughter and I stopped at a gas station on our way to do some work. I noticed a sale on Gatorade, gave her a few bucks, and sent her in to get us a few while I filled the tank. Her reaction looked like I’d asked her…
May 4, 2015 Girls these days have to battle against so many negative messages in the world. Culture wants to dictate how women look, act, and succeed. At the same time, many voices have joined the fight to free us from these imbalanced standards. Common Sense Media produced a fabulous video for Women’s History Month…
May 7, 2015 It’s almost Red Nose Day! While this comic fundraising initiative has been a hit in the UK for more than 25 years, it’s just now making a difference in the United States, with Walgreens leading the efforts. Red Nose Day is a campaign dedicated to raising money for children and young people…
May 7, 2015 She’s just a few days old but Princess Charlotte is already a little trailblazer in her own right. Fortunately, her parents, Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge (Kate Middleton), have been insistent that their desire to provide a progressive, modern life for their children be heard at Buckingham Palace. Here are…
May 11, 2015 It’s a very personal decision to freeze embryos and it’s usually something that is borne of necessity. Whether a woman (or man!) is about to undergo treatment for cancer or wants to preserve her eggs as she gets older, there are very good reasons why couples decide to bank some of their embryos….
May 26, 2015 It’s been a long wait. For fans, it has felt like an eternity but, finally, the third season of Orange is the New Black will be made available on Netflix on June 12, 2015. It’s pretty exciting for those who have followed the series but, if you haven’t, there’s still time to…
May 8, 2015 New moms have experienced a lot of change with arrival of baby. While there’s so much happiness that comes with their bundle of joy, there’s also stress that comes with learning to juggle baby needs, household chores, bills, money, work and personal time. With Mother’s Day quickly approaching, it’s the perfect time…
May 12, 2015 A few weeks ago, I talked about the tension between “free range” parenting and a more protective approach. A dad in Tennessee gained a certain amount of notoriety for his solution to this very problem. Now dubbed “Drone Dad,” he followed his daughter’s walk to school with a drone helicopter equipped with a…
May 18, 2015 With last week being Mother’s Day, we’ve definitely seen our share of mom commercials. Personally, I got a little sick of being told I all I want is a car, a shopping spree, or a brown diamond. I would settle for a hug and a nap! But then I kept seeing this…
May 19, 2015 It’s not glamorous. In fact, it’s downright dirty. But we all have to spend some time with the never-ending mountain of laundry. Too many times I look at a shirt and have no idea how to salvage it from the disaster created by my children. How do they manage to get so…
May 20, 2015 School is centered around reading, writing and arithmetic. The focus seems to be on timed tests, words per minute and academic performance, yet as a mom of a 7 and 8 year old, it occurred to me that school is not necessarily teaching kids how to get along. After a week of coaching…
May 26, 2015 “Mom, I’m bored.” “I’m busy, Dear.” “There’s nothing to doooooo.” “Well, figure it out or I’ll find something for you to do.” It’s super cliché but this happens in every house in the country. Every time my kids come to me with this kind of complaint, I roll my eyes. They have…
June 17, 2015 As any Mom in direct sales knows, working at home can be time-consuming and overwhelming while dealing with regular household duties and taking care of the kids. Not to mention the frustrations of the peaks and valleys of the business. On the other hand, working at home is one of the most…
June 1, 2015 It’s June. For most elementary students, the year is wrapping up. For most parents of elementary students, you are running ragged because the school has decided to plan everything under the sun within these last few days. Whatever your lead-up looks like, you all deserve some sort of occasion or celebration for…
June 3, 2015 It’s finally June which means we are well into summer blockbuster season! The weather is warm, the delicious scent of backyard cookouts fills the air and there’s always something fun playing in theaters. Life is good! This month, we have some original, standalone films, sequels and a follow-up to a television show…
June 2, 2015 If the men in your life are anything like the men in mine, Father’s Day presents a challenge. They tend to buy themselves anything that catches their fancy. Every year I’m left wonder what in the world to get them. Ideally something they’ll like, so they don’t return it. But also something that…
June 18, 2015 One of the best things about summer is the music. There’s something so liberating about taking a drive, rolling down the windows and singing along to your favorite tunes as the wind whips through your hair. It just doesn’t feel like summer has truly begun until you’ve experienced one of those carefree moments….
June 15, 2015 Every month, Netflix adds new titles while removing others. It’s always exciting to see what is coming to the online streaming service. It’s summer which is great news for fans of Orange is the New Black. The third season of the Netflix original show will premiere on June 12th and fans are…
July 31, 2015 I just read a great article about the difference between kids nowadays (overbooked, plugged in and stressed) and the kids in the 1960’s- early 90’s (us). I’m sure most of us remember summers running around the grass with the other kids in the neighborhood. We also remember being bored with a capital…
June 9, 2015 This year has been all about art in my household. I taught art in my kids’ classes and am now planning an art camp for 200 kids in a few weeks. I pretty much eat, breathe, and sleep art. A lot of articles out there can tell me why this type of…
June 17, 2015 A smartphone camera is portable, convenient, and easy to use – and the photos it takes can truly shine if you learn to make the most of it. Use your phone camera to tell your travel story and capture memories, giving you a chance to savor your precious vacation days just a little…
June 29, 2015 It’s summer. The kids are done with school and homework is the last thing on their mind. As parents, we face the balance of how to keep them learning, their brains working, and the lessons fresh while still leaving space for summer fun. I have always been a huge believer in allowing kids to rest….
July 1, 2015 July is a great time to head to the movie theater and get out of the summer heat and, fortunately, this year there are some great titles being released. In fact, it doesn’t always work out this way but there’s a decent selection for moviegoers looking for options in almost every major…
August 12, 2015 While it’s great to spend time huddled together indoors during the winter months, there’s something about that carefree feeling of summer that can really bring people together. Maybe it’s the lack of inhibitions that allow us to better connect with each other or perhaps the sunshine makes us happier. Whatever it is, warm…
August 5, 2015 Here we are. The last month of summer vacation and movie studios are hoping you will want to see a few more films before you forced to go back to your regular routine. The selection is not as varied and impressive as last month’s but the offerings are still pretty decent. Friday,…
June 30, 2015 At the end of last year, my family came across a Frozen photo op in the form a character board with holes for faces. My daughter enjoyed the movie, so I suggested we stop. She answered, “Okay, but I get to be Elsa. I’m not gonna’ be Ana. She got engaged twice…
July 28, 2015 You may have reached that point in your summer where the novelty has worn off and you desperately need something that will wow your kids. Here’s an easy art project that will teach, challenge, and – most important to a mom who’s heard one too many whines – entertain. Getting Started If you did our first…
August 5, 2015 Parenting … “It’s the hardest job you’ll ever love,” some people say. While they might be right, I’ll be honest, most days parenting expressions just make me roll my eyes. Being a mom can feel like anything but lovely. Between the sunshine and rainbows of Mommy videos, I’ve found a these 5 videos…
August 20, 2015 It’s that time of year. School, and all of the activities that come with it, are starting up again. One of the best parts of these beginnings is the blank slate. Kids enter the classroom relatively clear. Their potential remains untapped. They have no grades in the grade books or homework assignments…
September 2, 2015 One of today’s most hotly debated topics revolves around how much freedom children should be given. Some parents believe that kids should be independent from a young age while others feel that their children need to be closely monitored. The majority of us fall somewhere in between. No matter what side you’re…
September 24, 2015 Everyone has off days when they just can’t seem to focus on getting their work done. Unfortunately, the frequency of these unproductive spells seems to increase over the summer months and carry over into the first few weeks of fall. When the nice weather is dwindling, it’s hard to want to stay…
October 1, 2015 Most people have a core group of apps they depend on but, with so many being modified or created every day, it’s hard to know about the new ones that can make life easier. This is especially true if you are trying to keep track of an entire household’s worth of activities. To…
September 10, 2015 In today’s fast-paced society, we are often running on all cylinders without getting enough sleep, eating well or taking adequate breaks. Instead, we push ourselves to our limits (or past them!) and ignore signs that something is wrong. It feels like the cost of living has never been higher and many of…
August 26, 2015 It’s that time of year again. It’s hard to believe but school is starting across the nation. It can be a little difficult to get back into the swing of things (it’s amazing how much we can forget when we’re having fun in the sun) so here are some suggestions for making…
August 25, 2015 We’ve been seeing them for a month now: back-to-school pictures, back-to-school sales, back-to-school supplies and so on. But if you have a little one at home, “back-to-school” might not look like an August commercial. What can you do with those toddlers who get left behind when the older kids go to school…
September 1, 2015 It’s the first day of September, that wonderful month that traditionally signifies “Parental Freedom.” Oh no, I meant to say “Back to School.” Whether your kids started weeks ago or still have a week of vacation, you can probably relate to the feeling I have today. Even though I know the massive…