At Operation Shower, we could not continue to give amazing showers to military moms-to-be whose husbands are currently deployed overseas without your help.

In addition to our annual Mother’s Day unit-wide and multi-unit wide celebrations, we also send individual “Showers in a Box” throughout the year. Here’s how you can help.

When you visit the Operation Shower website at www.operationshower.org there are multiple ways to contribute to the cause. By clicking Contribute on the Operation Shower website you will see a number of different ways you can help.

One option is to donate a specific monetary amount. Dollars that are donated to Operation Shower go directly to the moms we are showering. For our annual Mother’s Day celebrations when we bring groups of moms-to-be for a big baby shower, funds help provide items like food and refreshments. Funds are also used to purchase things like boxes, tape, packing material, to pay for shipping individual boxes throughout the year, and to buy gifts like toys, blankets and books that help “round out” each shower in a box to make it unique and special.

Another option on the Operation Shower website is to earmark your donation to go toward a specific type of purchase. For instance, you can choose to give $20 towards baby bath items or $25 to buy a pair of Vincent Shoes.

Finally, we love for people to help by hosting a fundraiser to help raise money or collect product. Please contact me at kris @ cleverparents (dot) com to learn more!

To learn more about corporate sponsorships, please contact me at kris @ cleverparents (dot) com.

Military Moms-to-Be Receive Baby Showers ‘In a Box’

Imagine becoming a parent while your spouse is overseas fighting in a war. The emotions of giving birth are life-changing and with a spouse deployed overseas, those feelings have an additional component that can’t be imagined unless you are in that situation.

In celebration of Mother’s Day, Operation Shower has partnered with Cloud B to honor moms-to-be with their first ever eco-friendly baby shower. On May 2nd and May 9th, 60 deserving moms-to-be whose husbands are deployed overseas will be showered with gifts donated by generous companies and people across the nation.

Military moms-to-be in Fort Hood, Texas and at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois will be celebrated in style – eco-friendly style, that is – with fabulous gifts from many people and companies. The showers are possible in great part because of generous product sponsors, including Cloud B and the following:

Anka
Baby Blend Tees
Childish
Cozy Cocoon
Flower Duet
ImagiPLAY
Jane Marvel
lillebaby
Micralite
Kirby Ink
The Safe Sippy
Sage Creek Organics
Sofia Bean
Sprig Toys
The Ultimate Green Store
Vincent Shoes

WN Epstein is the official shipping sponsor for Operation Shower and media sponsors include Clever Parents, Lena’s Notebook, Integrity, Stem and The Cradle.

Donations are still needed to make the boxes complete. To contribute, please visit the Operation Shower website at www.operationshower.org.

Clever Parents just loves a good parentrepreneur story.

Last year, Clever Parents featured Monkey Toes and their adorable animal and insect themed footwear line by single mom of two, Jenny Chism. (See the review.)

When Oprah interviewed Tom Cruise in the now infamous Telluride visit, the first part of the program showed Oprah walking into his home, picking up a cute pair of mini-fashionista Suri’s ladybug mary janes and saying how adorable they are. As you can imagine, Monkey Toes jumped into the limelight and sales soared as people flocked to find Suri’s ladybug shoes on Oprah. Hooray for Jenny!

If you missed the show, you can see it tomorrow – December 12th (look here for local listings). Use code OSURI08 and receive $5 off your purchase. Happy shopping.

What do you look for in a kid’s backpack?

How often when you pick out a backpack (or lunch box) for your child do you both like the same one?

If you’re like most, you’re lucky to find some combination of function and style – either a style you like or one your child does – and that’s about it.

Then, adding insult to injury, the bag ends up getting dragged around, straps flailing, and by the time the holidays hit that ‘back-to-school’ backpack is ready to be replaced.

Next time, try a Dabbawalla.

The brainchild of sisters Susan Givens and Carol Mack, Dabbawalla, an Indian name for the men who bring lunch boxes to offices, was created out of a frustration by the lack of functional and appropriately sized bags for children.

“You’ll find no cartoon characters or action figures, no utilitarian oversized styles that mimic adult packs – just simple, colorful designs that kids of all ages can relate to,” says co-founder Susan Givens.

Dabbawalla Bags (both Backpacks and Lunch Bags) are made of neoprene – the same material as wet suits – which is free of PVC, lead and other bad chemicals.

The bags feature simple, bright, fun designs on an easy-to-clean sack that both you and your child will love. The clever bags adjust on the inside, so no more problems with dangling straps.

The size is also perfect for a preschooler or early elementary aged child – the child actually wears the backpack rather than the other way around. And, since the bags are made of neoprene, they come out looking new each time you throw them in the wash.

Learn more and buy online at www.dabbawallabags.com

Note: If the video does not appear below, click here to watch it on Disney’s site.

Worried about losing your photos and videos because you don’t have a backup plan? Here’s an easy one for you. Plus, accessories that play up your eyes and tips for turning up the heat in your relationship.

Boston Mamas: Backup for Dummies Safeguard your work and precious digital family photos and videos with the amazingly easy to use Clickfree backup device.

One Chic Mama: The Eyes Have It Choose accessories that play up your eyes to create a beautiful look and make your face light up!

How To Be a Foxy Mom. Feeling sexy is mostly a state of mind. Here are a few quick tips for turning the heat back up!

MomFinds: Win a $100 Shopping Spree for Holiday Cards at Minted.com Don’t wait until the last minute to get those holiday cards made. In fact, get them done early (and for free!) with this week’s prize courtesy of Minted.com, a fantastic site loaded with gorgeous, customizable greeting cards.

TheBump.com introduces new badges just for you! Personalize your message board posts, blogs, or web pages with our Bump badges.

Go environmental, keep up with vaccines and look stylish while preggo with these tips of the week.

Boston Mamas: Stand Tall & Green. Got chemicals? Check out these tips to take charge of your family’s environmental health.

Stay Up to Date With Baby’s Vaccinations! The Bump keeps you on track for well-baby visits with its new vaccination checklist.

One Chic Mama – Go Through Pregnancy in Style. Belly Bundles offers stylish maternity clothing on consignment, at a fraction of the cost!

MomFinds: Win a Dante Beatrix Stroller Tote Luxe. Win a fabulous diaper bag that combines attitude with all of the practical features busy moms need to get through a day out with baby.

We Covet: GIVEAWAY of the Week: Mod Pet Prints We Covet. Win an adorably stylish fine art print from Mod Dog!

From handling biters and making your own Halloween costumes to winning a $42,000 minivan, this Friday’s picks have something for everyone.

Boston Mamas: Handling Biting Behavior Got a biter in the house? Check out these tips on handling biting behavior.

Car & Caboodle: Top 10 Things to Do While Pumping Mom-friendly Medela Freestyle Pump inspires ideas on what to do with all that freedom

Coochicoos: Homemade Halloween Costume Ideas Inspirations & instructions to making your own Halloween costumes

MomFinds: Win a Halloween Costume from Aeromax Toys Searching for a cute Halloween costume for your child? One lucky reader will win a Get Real Gear Halloween Costume from Aeromax Toys.

Moms Buzz: How to Win A New Minivan This Weekend What about shooting a little video for a chance to win a new minivan – the one you always wanted? Like the new Volkswagen 2009 Routan valued at more than $42,000 fully loaded?

New Tickers on TheBump.com! Countdown the days to baby’s birthday, arrival or even conception with this new custom tool

One Chic Mama: Give Your Style A Boost – And Win! Two lucky winners will get a one-hour personal image consultation to help boost their image and their confidence with One Chic Mama founder and image consultant, Michele Little. $125 value each!

We Covet: We Covet Wow Wow Wubbzy! Win a Wow Wow Wubbzy happy pack, including a DVD of the show, a board book, and Wubbzy character doll!

For this Friday’s round-up, we have three giveaways for you: a $75 Vincent Shoes gift certificate, a $100 shopping spree at Tea Collection and a $50 gift certificate from Tiny Prints. Good luck!

Boston Mamas: Win a $75 gift certificate to Vincent Shoes!
We love Vincent’s fall line up; stop by to enter to win a $75 gift certificate.

MomFinds: Win a $100 Shopping Spree at Tea Collection
Tea Collection’s Fall line-up is all about Norwegian-inspired looks. Tell us your favorite piece and you can win a $100 gift card.

One Chic Mama: Tiny Prints
Tiny Print has some of the best modern graphics available for online greeting cards, announcements and invitations. Enter for a chance to win a $50 gift certificate.

Imagine your child’s life being put at risk by something you bought to protect her. That’s exactly what happened to George DeCell.

Those outlet plugs you have all over your house in the name of child-proofing? Turns out they could do more harm than good.

After George removed an outlet plug in order to vacuum the house, his one year old daughter Sage reached onto the kitchen table and grabbed it. “When I turned around she was on the floor unable to breath,” says George who then saved his daughter’s life. “It
took less than a minute for this to happen.”

George was so outraged that a product sold to protect children could harm them he has spent more than four years fighting to remove the standard sized plugs from the market to ensure that another child is not injured. What’s more, George also designed a patent-pending safe solution: SafetyCaps.

Whereas standard small outlet plugs measure 1 3/8 inches wide, SafetyCaps measure 2 1/4 inches and include air holes inspired by the US government’s pacifier anti-choking recommendations.

And for about $10 for a whole-house solution, this purchase is a no-brainer. Learn more and buy at www.safetycaps.com

This week on the Clever Parents Friday Picks of the Week: back to school lunch tips to lure your child into healthy eating, back-to-school spending tips, Modern Moms Groups and more!

Boston Mamas: Lunch Lures
Check out these back to school lunch tips that no doubt will lure your child in to enjoy a healthy meal.

Modern Mom Groups Have Launched! Meet other moms at exclusive Moms Night Out events, play dates and more.

MomFinds: Win a $100 giggle Shopping Spree The first giggle giveaway was such a big hit, we decided to give our readers another chance to win big..$100 big.

Moms Buzz: Back to School Spending Tips Here are some tips to spend less when going out shopping for Back-to-School necessities so that you “hit the books and not your wallet.”

One Chic Mama: Pumping Made Easy August is Breastfeeding Awareness Month and we bring you two great solutions to make it a little easier.

Learn how to throw an Explorer Party this week from Boston Mamas, plus giveaways galore on this week’s Clever Parents Blog Roundup.

Boston Mamas: Fun & Simple Explorer Party. Got curious kids? Check out this how-to on throwing a fun and simple Explorer Party.

One Chic Mama: Go Green, Go Gorgeous. Elwood makes chic yet comfortable and casual clothing from organic and renewable resources. Enter to win a Simone hooded Poncho!

MomFinds: Two Readers Will Win a Pair of Robeez Baby Shoes. Baby will be marching—er, crawling—to the beat of his or her own drum in these comfy, stay-put shoes from Robeez. Just tell us what size you want, and these rock ‘n roll shoes can be yours!

Moms Buzz: Bone Comic Book Giveaway (Kids Pack). Start the new school year with brand new stories to read to your children. In the Bone Comic Book Giveaway, there are 5 prizes of the comic book BONES! The grand winner gets a pack of Bone comic books #1-3 plus other goodies, and the other 4 winners get one book, the “Out from Boneville.”

Enjoy zucchini inspired recipes, why moms need an iPhone and a fresh look at photo baby announcements.

Boston Mamas: Zucchini For All. Perfect to suit the abundance at the farmer’s markets, enjoy these zucchini inspired recipes for the whole family.

Car & Caboodle: 10 Reasons Why Moms Need an iPhone. Moms love their gadgets too, and here are 10 reasons why all moms need an iPhone

Coochicoos: 5 Fresh Baby Photo Announcements. Here’s a fresh look at baby photo announcements. Hint: you won’t find these at Costco.

MomFinds: Win a $100 Shopping Spree at BusyMommi.com. Everything in the site has been hand-picked to make life easier on and more fun for busy families. Happy shopping!

One Chic Mama: Modern Design Makes a Splash. Skip Hop’s Splash Bottle Drying Rack wins a 2008 IDEA Award. Win one for yourself!

Like most parents, sisters Laura and Julie struggled to find a healthy balance between all of their commitments, family and ‘me’ time. Bogged down with the stress of too much to do and not enough time to do it, these two moms with six children between them sought out to simplify their lives.

From their fast-past lives, an idea was born to launch a company focused around products that make life easier for women. Product #1? The Azula, a stylish neoprene mat you place at the edge of the pool so that your bathing suit doesn’t snag when you sit poolside.

Whether you’re sporting a $20 Target special or the hottest find (splurge!) from vivre, suits with snags look unattractive. The Azula solves the snag problem for you. Plus, it’s easy to add to the pool or beach bag (sand doesn’t stick to it!), simply roll and tie it.

Visit www.myazula.com to learn more and buy.

Operation Shower is very excited to be joining with Usborne Books to host an online Book Fair which will allow us to add some wonderful books to our “showers in a box” for moms-to-be whose husbands are deployed! Get a leg-up on school and help military families in the process.

When: Now through July 29, 2008
Where: Click here to go directly to the book fair.
Why: To support our military families. Each book you purchase will count towards free books to be gifted to pregnant and new moms whose husbands are deployed as a part of our ’showers in a box’.*
Who: Sponsored by Operation Shower, Clever Parents and Lena’s Notebook.

* If you would like to donate your purchase directly to Operation Shower, please shop from the Operation Shower Wish List located in the upper right portion of the Operation Shower eFair web page. Orders shipped directly to Operation Shower will be shipped once the book fair closes.

Thank you for your support!

Now that summer is in full swing, taking baby outside brings on a new challenge: protecting him from the sun.

The clever folks at Secure2Me have a great solution that doesn’t involve applying lots of sunscreen.

The Secure2Me Eclipse blanket is made of double-layered Solarveil breathable, sheer fabric that blocks 95% of the sun’s harmful rays. The Eclipse has four clips, one on each corner, so it’s a cinch to cover car seats, strollers, baby carriers or joggers. The breathable fabric ensures that baby stays cool and you can rest easy and focus on having fun in the sun!

Learn more and buy on the Secure2Me site.

Check out a natural craft dough that you don’t have to make yourself, plus giveaways for children’s books, a Cabana Life shopping spree and a personalized charm necklace.

Eco-Dough: Looking for a natural craft dough, but don’t have the time to make it from scratch? Then check out the fabulous eco-dough (also available gluten, soy, or dairy free) by green art supplier Eco-Kids.

Classy Mommy: Little Scholastic Giveaway: Win Little Scholastics Summer Goodie Bag full of 5 Books!

MomFinds: Win a $100 Cabana Life Shopping Spree: Be stylish and sun smart with Cabana Life’s sun protective clothing line.

The Nest Baby: Personalized Charm Necklace Giveaway: We’re giving away a one-of-a-kind Lisa Leonard charm neckalce, personalized with your loved ones’ names. Just give us your best summertime travel tip to enter!

Join A Modern Moms Group! Modern Moms Groups are launching across the country to offer women a community of like-minded moms offline. We hold regular Mom’s Night Outs, events + more.

Check out a fun new way to exercise, tips for improving your gas economy, giveaways and more.

Boston Mamas: Happy Hooping For a departure from traditional exercise, try out the fun, unexpected workout provided by Hoopnotica’s awesome hoops and hoopdancing DVDs.

Car & Caboodle: Good Tips & Busted Myths on Fuel Economy Learn to improve your gas economy

Coochicoos: All-in-One Beaba Babycook Here, But Not BPA-Safe? Cool French Babycooker Not BPA-Free

MomFinds: Win a $150 Shopping Spree at BeanNewYork.com Find the most charming baby clothes at this chic baby boutique and get them for free!

Moms Buzz: Father’s Day and Graduation Giveaway – Win Microsoft® Zune 30GB Bundle! It’s time to break the routine gift-giving cycle for Father’s Day and Graduation. Back away from the ties, stop the hunt for the perfect wallet, and forget about giving a student planner. Delight dads and grads with the Microsoft Zune 30GB and upgrade their lives. It has been extended to Friday, June 13!!

One Chic Mama: Fuzz Buster The Schick Quattro gives you a perfect summer shave.

The Nest Baby: Diaper Bag Giveaway Tell us about your travel horror stories to win a Retro Stripe diaper bag!

Six weeks ago on Sunday, the parents of now five year old Ella Newmiller of Raleigh, North Carolina received a major shock. Ella had not been feeling well, was glassy eyed and sleepy so her parents took her to an urgent care center. The following day at UNC hospitals, they faced the unfathomable news that their precious daughter has an inoperable brain tumor.

Ella’s family has a simple request of people who would like to help: please take a few minutes every day to pray for Ella, for the oncologists and physicians directing her care, for her parents, Renae and Mark, and for her brother Jack who is in second grade.

Once Ella’s rounds of chemo are complete, the Newmiller family will take Ella to a facility that combines traditional and holistic medicine for five weeks. The cost of the health care at the center, which is not covered by the Newmillers’ insurance, is more than $70,000.

A fundraiser is being held on Thursday, June 12 at Marbles Kids Museum from 6:30pm-9:00pm to support Ella’s Miracle Fund and Children’s Brain Tumor Research. Tickets are $50 per family. Enjoy a silent auction along with the exhibits and interactive play at Marbles open after-hours exclusively for this fundraiser. Refreshments and light fare are included in the ticket price.

If you are unable to attend the event, please consider making a donatation to Ella’s Miracle Fund at www.ellasmiracle.com

To visit Ella’s CarePages website for the latest news, click here and register.

This week on the Parent Blog Roundup, clever tips for coping with parent/child separation, the hilarious Jeannie Tate Show filmed in her minivan, Kimochi dolls and more!

Separation is never easy; here are tips from Boston Mamas – for both the parent who is leaving and the one who is staying – for coping with separation.

Catch Jeannie Tate’s Show from her minivan on Car & Caboodle.

On Coochicoos: Children psychologists love Kimochi dolls for helping children express their emotions.

Classy Mommy recognizes Jill, from Michigan, and mother of 4 , including a set of triplets under age 1, as the Big Give for Breast Cancer Winner.

Tell MomFinds how you’ll spend $100 at KoboldToys.com for a chance to win a $100 shopping spree.

One Chic Mama is giving away a Rakkiddo shoe rack for kids. Hurry – deadline is today!