With Memorial Day, Father’s Day and Summer upon us, outdoor entertaining is a welcome change. Make the grill the center of attraction for your next party. Plan a menu that allows your guests to sample various barbecued foods. How about hosting a Kabob Party and offer your guests the opportunity to make their own skewer from a selection of marinated meats, seafood, veggies and even fruits. This will be a fun activity for your guests and will satisfy your kids, and vegetarian friends while engaging the guests in conversation. Read the rest »

Keeping kids active and learning through the summer months can be a challenge for parents and caregivers. Usborne’s Ten Terrific Weeks Reading Adventure Program could make a difference in your child’s summer by keeping them connected with learning so they don’t suffer the summer “brain drain”. Each exciting program comes complete with books, curriculum and detailed supply lists. Short daily activities encourage creativity, learning and fun. The individual programs are geared toward preschoolers up through middle school and beyond, and offer parents a great alternative. Read the rest »

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. Read the rest »

Five years ago, two moms, Amy and Michelle, were chatting over dinner and laughing about balancing family, friends and work while keeping their sanity intact. Michelle’s designer diaper bag had milk stains all over it and receipts and diapers were falling out all over the restaurant floor.

Wanting something that looked good and matched her personality, Michelle had purchased the bag only weeks before when her attempts to find a stylish bag that also functioned well came to a halt. “I was not willing to give up my identity and style just because I had a baby,” says Michelle. Read the rest »

I’ll admit it. I am not totally sold on the digital era. I have fought tooth and nail to keep my paper ways of doing things. It was a struggle going from my notebook style planner to my PDA and took months until I stopped using both paper and digital! With this same reluctant spirit I opened the box of “Neat Receipts”: a product that was supposed to revolutionize the way I handle paperwork. Read the rest »

Operation Shower gathered last Saturday in Fort Bragg, North Carolina for a Mother’s Day celebration to complete the mission of showering 100 new moms and moms-to-be whose husbands are soldiers. Twenty moms and their soon-to-be redeployed husbands from the 96th Civil Affairs Battalion gathered for an afternoon of food, gifts, raffle prizes and fun. Read the rest »

We have a 12 hour car trip to the beach coming up soon and my husband and I are always looking out for some new DVDs to add to our rotation.

“Summertime Fun” consists of five episodes of your child’s favorite characters. The episodes of Barney and Thomas the Tank are new to DVD and there also appearances by Angelina Ballerina, Fireman Sam , and Bob the Builder. Each featurette is less than 20 minutes and that really kept my kids’ attention. The shorter length helped stave off boredom. Read the rest »