Once you get the basics down (feed the baby, burp the baby, change the baby, rock the baby to sleep) you’ll be faced with the inevitable curveballs, the problems you have to solve in the moment. With some field-tested solutions, and your innate smarts, you’ll be prepared for anything!

1. The Last Diaper

A time may come, if it hasn’t already, when you are down to one diaper—or no diapers!—either at home or while on the go. You have options:

• Advanced Warning: The following isn’t as gross as it sounds. If you have only one diaper left, chances are you have some sanitary pads in the house or, if you’re in a mall or restaurant, you can buy one from a ladies room vending machine. Stick a highly absorbent pad into that last diaper. The pad will absorb all or most of the mess and enable you to just change the pads until you can get your hands on more diapers. Read the rest »

Our mission was clear and simple—find the best-fitting, figure-flattering maternity jeans out there, and round them up in one fabulous guide for our readers.

Whether you’re short or tall, petite or full-figured, a big spender or a thrifty chick, we’ve found the maternity jeans you’ll love so much, you’ll be wearing them day after day throughout those glorious nine months—and then some.

Click here to read our guide >>>

A friend of mine called me a few months ago on the verge of tears. She called to ask if I could help her find a home for her two miniature poodles. My friend had had these dogs for over 7 years and was in a desperate position. While she loved them very much, she simply could not manage their behavior towards her 18 month old baby any longer. She had tried everything since she realized that her dogs did not like her daughter, but nothing seemed to work.

This is a difficult position to be in. On one hand, you love your pet and made a commitment to care for her. On the other hand you have a child whom you must protect and care for as well. You are exhausted, overwhelmed and have little time to deal with any additional stressors. This is not the time to start introducing your newest addition to your best friend. While there are no guarantees, with proper preparations this could be the start of a beautiful relationship between your human child and your furry one. Read the rest »

Are you at all interested in raising a thirty-year-old Nintendo player who lays around your house all day eating cold pizza and sucking up diet Pepsi? Probably not. If your are like many of the parents who attend our parenting workshops, creating a thirty-year-old video game player is not high on your list of parenting goals. Our prediction is that you are probably a lot more interested in raising a responsible, caring, conscious youngster who somewhere between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five, is capable of leaving home and living successfully on their own. Read the rest »

When economic times are good, you may be inclined to shop with little regard for price or value. But when conditions turn sour it’s another story. As your dollars must now be stretched longer and harder, you’d better spend each of them wisely.

What brand of watch do you wear? Whether a top-of-the-line Rolex or an economy Timex, recognize both keep excellent time. The current models all do a better job than the “precision” pocket watch your Great-grand-uncle Elmo used as a railroad engineer. The only justification for a high-priced model is self-image and the illusion of prosperity. These are both overrated. Read the rest »

If you have a child with allergies or asthma, you probably work hard to keep your home and the air inside your home as clean as possible. But there are some things you might do or buy that can actually introduce rather than solve indoor air quality (IAQ) problems.

Let’s start with a hot-air heating and/or central air conditioning system – often a source of many allergens and irritants in a home.

1. Electronic filters are efficient in theory but lose their filtering capacity quite quickly as they get dusty. Since people rarely clean such filters frequently enough (monthly), these expensive filters (often costing upwards to $1,000 each) end up being pretty next to useless – kind of like using gold jewelry as a paperweight. Read the rest »

Every parent knows that it is just a matter of time before their child comes home with a stray dog asking, “Can we keep him Mom, huh, can we?” If it isn’t a stray then we will inevitably come across a box of puppies somewhere with the words, “Free to a Good Home” plastered across it in big bold letters. Let’s face it, children love dogs and America has gone to the dogs. According to the United States Humane society 40% of all households in the US own a dog. So in a country where dogs are more popular than ever, how can we be sure that we are selecting the right dog for our family? Read the rest »