Maria’s days seemed to run together. She had a pile of laundry taller than Pike’s Peak and a department filled with employees anxious after hearing news of a merger. And her home life? She preferred to call the layers of chaos ranging from scattered toys to piles of unfiled paperwork: “evidence of past and current adventures.”

Her children were growing out of their clothes almost as soon as she purchased them, and the worry she carried in the back of her mind about all the things she still hadn’t gotten done nagged her worse than Aunt Francine. Dry cleaning? Needs to be picked up. Groceries? Always out of something. Oil change for the car? Definitely overdue.

Printing photos from digital camera?

Don’t even go there. Read the rest »

There’s a holiday that celebrates chocolate? Who wouldn’t love Valentine’s Day! Americans devour about 11.7 pounds of chocolate per person annually. Today when you want to buy chocolate there are more choices than ever. Everything from Artisan, Organic, Fair Trade and Save The Rainforest chocolate bars are available to American consumers. And in moderate amounts, chocolate can also be good for you! Where do I sign up?

The cocoa beans in chocolate contain flavanols, which have been linked to blood vessel and cardiovascular health. Tannins in chocolate can prevent cavities from forming ( a fact I won’t be sharing with my children) But read the labels, chocolate must contain at least 70% cocoa to have a healthful amount of flavanols. Those that have less than 70% cocoa tend to contain more sugar which can have a negative effect on the teeth and hips. Read the rest »

Problem: Your kid’s stuffed animals are cramping your style and your space.

Solution: Boon Animal Bags

Why: Leave it to the modern mavens at Boon to come up with a stylish solution for all your kid’s stuffed animals. Instead of taking up precious space and collecting dust, now you can put them to work with Boon’s fun, new Animal Bags. Open up any one of the see-through, zippered windows, and fill it to the brim with as many stuffed animals as you can. The end result is one very cool seat that kids can sit on, climb over or anything else their creative minds can imagine.

Available in three different sizes to fit your unique storage needs and in funky colors to brighten up any room, the only problem we have with them is that they’re so fun, you might end up wanting even more stuffed animals to squeeze into the bags. But that’s much better than cringing the next time your kid receives yet another stuffed animal, right?

Price: $59.99 – $99.99

Find it: amazon.com

Tip: Need some help organizing your kid’s bathroom, as well? Make sure to check out Boon’s innovative Frog Pod to scoop up and store all your kid’s bath essentials. Fill it up with baby bath products for a memorable (and useful) shower gift. (Tisha Campbell holding up a Frog Pod at the Golden Globes Boom Boom Room.)

Episode #13: Marybeth Winstead Keeps Moms (and Moms-to-be) in Shape!

HealthyMoms Fitness – Stay Fit from Maternity through the Baby Days. Watch the vidcast on Clever Parents TV.

Have you ever taken a close look at the other women around you while you were eating out? Chances are that many of them are “hunched” over and often complain of various body pain and discomforts. Hopefully, those most affected by musculosketal injuries, and/or predisposed discomforts due to heredity, are seeking the advice of a competent physician or licensed chiropractor. However, what I have observed from my experience as a certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor (as well as, being a “forty-something”, mother of two!), is that so much of our aches and pains may be relieved by simply becoming aware of the many changes that our bodies go through during pregnancy and postpartum.

In the 1970’s and early 80’s pregnant exercisers were not the norm. In fact, pregnant women were considered “delicate”. Unfortunately this “myth of the delicate condition” is still alive and well today. It is amazing to me that even in 2007, my perinatal fitness students tell me stories about total strangers coming up to them while they are exercising , saying such things as, “Are you sure that is safe for you and your baby?” If these observers introduced themselves as certified in perinatal fitness, I might listen to them. Otherwise, their comments would lead me to believe that they are unaware of the vast amount of research available today that supports the benefits of exercise before, during and after pregnancy. Read the rest »

Step 1: Are there cracks in your foundation?

Haven- (noun) a sheltered place: a place sought for rest, shelter, or protection – Encarta Dictionary

Do you look forward to being home? Do you feel relaxed, comforted, and safe? Or is the opposite? Does your home make you feel overwhelmed, consumed, and lost?

Before you try to make changes, you need to figure out what actually needs to be changed. Sit down and write up a list of all that brings you discontentment at home. What causes you stress at the end of the day? Make sure you get to the root of the problem. Try and come up with solutions that are realistic. Often times what we think is the stress in our lives is actually the symptom or result of the true area of discontentment. I often hear women say that they wish they had a housekeeping service. This may be true, but often the reality of the situation is that it is not the dusting and sweeping that is overwhelming them but rather their families’ inability to work as a team to help around the house (clean up after themselves, chores, control clutter, etc.)

What if the area that is causing you so much stress is something that is out of your control? Accept it… and focus on those areas that you CAN control. Just keep in mind that often times we say that we don’t have the power over certain situations because it is simply easier than making difficult decisions. Read the rest »

As a busy mom always short on time, what I loved most about Confessions of a Slacker Mom by Muffy Mead-Ferro was the sense of accomplishment that I felt after reading it in one night! It is a quick and easy read. I got the sense that the author wasn’t trying to write yet another parenting advice book, but instead wrote about her experiences growing up in the 70’s and her mother’s parenting style versus the popular, trendy parenting methods of today. It was a great tribute to her mother and the important life lessons she took away from growing up on a ranch in Wyoming and being forced to be an independent, hardworking, appreciative child.

I enjoyed reading several different chapters where she takes on many of today’s modern parenting challenges. First, her take on toys (Toys Aren’t Us) humorously describes needing to buy stock in battery companies, the constant chore of picking up the 60+ pieces to the toy or sorting through toys to put them back together, which I know from experience has taken up way too much of my time! I whole-heartedly agree with the fact that today’s kids have so much to choose from that almost nothing is truly special. She also reflects on how much more time was spent outside using our imaginations and playing with sticks, rocks and spending hours building forts out of card board boxes instead of buying expensive “educational” toys that the kids look at once and forget about! Read the rest »