What is a Stroller-Friendly Race?...

A stroller-friendly race is a running race that allows parents to walk, jog or race with a stroller. These races are not specific running races for strollers to race one another or have specific categories for “strollers” like age group categories, but just to allow running parents to participate with their child in a stroller. We have found races in all distances (e.g., marathons, half marathons, 10k, 5k, etc.) that allow Stroller Runners.  To read more, click here for the entire...

Top Recommeded Features When Buying a Jog Stroller...

Are you in the market for a jog stroller, here are our top recommended features to look for when purchasing a jog stroller.  Read the article in full at Run Stroller...

Should Kids Get Race Medals?...

Should kids get medals for participating in a race. Here the reasons why I think kids should receive...

No “Off Limit” Foods In My House...

Are any foods “off-limits” in your house? If you don’t ban “off- limit” foods in your pantry, you will not be able to control yourself? Not me, and this is why.  Read here....

Year End Review: DIY Thank You Cards...

Since the holidays just ended, it is time to thank those who generously gave to us. Another year end review is this popular post, Thank you Cards. Thank you! These two little words mean so much. I was taught early on when you receive a gift, you send a hand written thank you card. As a kid, I thought this was a major pain in the rear, especially when you rather play with your toys instead of writing hand written thank you notes. But, we did it because it was required. As an adult, I have tried to maintain this practice and instill the importance behind writing thank you cards in my kids. Yes, sometimes life gets in the way and I do not always get hand written thank you cards out, but I try. Even though my kids are 3 years old and  now 15 mos. old (originally 12 months old when the post was written), they have been required to participate in creating their own thank you cards. My son has colored on each card that goes out since he has been 15 months old – putting his own touches on it.  For my daughter, she painted her own thank you cards for her first birthday.  Here is how we did it and how you can recreate them for your own family. Supplies Needed 1 Roll of Painter’s tape 1 Box of plain cards and/or paper (card stock) 1 paint brush or the kids can use their fingers 1 washable paint (colors of your choice) 1 paper plate for the paints Directions Get out your blank cards out. If you are using card stock paper, cut the paper down the middle; leaving two pieces of paper. Then fold each paper in half...

Year End Review: Top 10 Apps for Au Pairs...

Because I am spending some well needed quality time with my family during the last two weeks of December, I am running some of the most popular posts of the year.  Another post that many people tended to gravitate towards was the Top 10 Apps for Au Pairs. Like any young woman between the ages of 18-26 years old, Au Pairs are attached to technology.  Most Au Pairs have smart phones or devices, whether the host family provides it or they purchased their own.  To make their transition go more smoothly and help them feel more acclimated, here are top 10 Apps for Au Pairs. Alarm Clock Free Alarm Clock Free turns your mobile device into a beautiful digital clock and alarm clock for free! It even displays live, local weather conditions and temperature that makes you know about the weather immediately when you wake up. Cost: Free Platform: iPhone and Android   Gas Buddies Find the cheapest gas (petrol) around you. GasBuddy uses gas price information provided by our users to bring drivers together to support the common goal of saving money on gas.  Gas prices only for USA and Canada. Cost: Free Platform: iPhone, Android, and Blackberry   Circle of 6 Circle of 6 lets you choose six trusted friends to add to your circle. If you get into an uncomfortable or risky situation, use Circle of 6 to automatically send your circle a pre-programmed SMS alert message, with your exact location. It’s quick. It’s discreet. Two taps on your phone is all it takes. Cost: Free Platform: iPhone and Android   Wi-Fi Finder  Over 650,000 locations in 144 countries worldwide! Quickly and easily find FREE or paid Wi-Fi when you travel with the JiWire Wi-Fi Finder. Cost: Free Platform: iPhone and...

Year End Review: Who Did Your Au Pair Bring Home?...

Another popular post from the year, Who Did Your Au Pair Bring Home? This is so pertinent because so many Au Pairs travel during the holiday season that they need to pay attention to who is sleeping in their beds with them. Does your Au Pair travel? Does your Au Pair stay in cheap hotels/motels or hostels?  Most likely the answer to these questions are yes.  Has your Au Pair heard of bed bugs?  The most likely answer to this question is no and if they have heard of bed bugs it is because the commonly  used phrased by parents worldwide when tucking their children into bed. “Sleep tight; don’t let the bed bugs bite.” This is no longer just a phrase. This past August our Au Pair had friends visit that frequented several hostels while traveling the United States East Coast.   Not only did her friends stay at our home, but they left some uninvited guests – bed bugs. According to Orkin Pest Control, they have seen a 33% rise in bed bugs since 2011.  As of 2012, New York (ranked 10th in the country) and Washington, DC (ranked 7th in the county), of course two of the places my Au Pair’s and their friends frequented. Every morning for about a week, our Au Pair would wake up with bug bites all over her legs, neck and back. We thought at first that they were mosquito bites and then perhaps spider bites finally my husband – who lived in New York – said that we might have bed bugs.  Of course I was mortified and automatically started itching. I knew nothing about bed bugs, so immediately I did research, but my husband did.  You can’t get rid of bed bugs with RAID and...

Year End Review: 15 Tips For Flying with Lap Infants and more…...

During the next two weeks, I will be spending some well needed time with my family and will not be writing as much, so I’ll be running some of my most read posts, starting with…15 Tips For Flying with Lap Infants.   Don’t worry though Stroller Runners, I will continue to update the stroller friendly race calendar on a daily basis. Flying with kids of any age can be very stressful, but flying with kids under the age of two seems like you are embarking on an epic journey. It does not have to be that way. I am no expert in baby/toddler travel, but I have driven several thousands of miles with my son and flown more than 8 times with a “fly free” or lap infant in the past 20 months, so I feel I might be able to provide some useful guidance and tips on traveling with a toddler.  With the holiday season coming up and families are considering traveling to see friends and relatives; I thought this would be an appropriate topic to broach. Here are my top 15 Tips For Flying with Lap Infants for parents with lap infant or “fly free” kids (children under the age of 2 years old) to make you and your baby have a more relaxing trip. 1.  Fly when your child seems to be the most relaxed. This might require trial and error. Some parents say flying the red eye is best, or flying during nap times. I have flown during my toddlers nap time; did not work because he was too excited. I have flown a red eye (night time, think that would work); nope he was up the entire flight. The best time we found to make it the most pleasant flight for...

Sport Massage for Runners...

By Stephanie Maziejka This month’s massage article is inspired by Lara Coffee’s recent Ironman accomplishment, Congratulations Lara! Sport massage can be used to supplement the health and wellness of athletes everywhere and a good massage therapist caters the session and treatment plan to the athlete’s specific sport. Doing so allows the session to be as efficient and streamlined as possible and will take into consideration repetitive movements unique to the sport, targeted muscles for the sport, and the conditioning/training schedule of the athlete. Most runners that I have come across are passionate about running, almost more so than any other athlete is about their sport. Running, though not a contact sport in the traditional sense is incredibly hard on the body. Direct and forceful contact is made striking the ground repetitively sending shock through every joint and muscle in the body. Running’s Repetitive Movements and Injury Running is a series of movements continuously repeated which is why runners are at risk for repetitive injury if they are not careful. The most common areas of injury for a runner involve the feet and the knees. The joints of the body are meeting points for two bones and it is the place over which muscles cross resulting in articulation or movement. Injury (not caused by a direct trauma) usually occurs in hypertonic stressed areas where muscles have overly contracted, adhered to adjacent soft tissue areas and pull at the structure causing tension and overload. Overtime a body under stress and fatigue will decrease in productivity and resiliency and become more susceptible to mistakes and injury. It’s the same concept as individuals surviving through sleep deprivation or flourishing when well rested. The main actions of running are flexion/extension at the hip, knee, and ankle joint. The type...

50 Holiday Gifts for Host Dads...

Here is the follow up post on 50 Holiday Gifts for Host Dads.  My Au Pair thought it would be great if I could publish a 50 Holiday Gifts List for Host Moms and Dads. She told me it is very stressful buying for host parents, especially when they seem to have “everything” they want. Here is my 50 Holiday Gifts for Host Dads.   This is for all those Au Pairs that are not quite sure what to buy for their Host Dads. Click on the picture on the right hand side and it will open the 50 Holiday Gifts for Host Dads pdf.  The pdf has hyperlinks, so scroll over the item you are interested in and click through to the website where you can purchase the gift. The 50 Holiday Gifts for Host Dads gifts range from under $25 – under $100.  You can also find more gift ideas under my Gift Ideas for Host Dads on Pinterest. Here is a selection of 10 gifts out of the 50 Holiday Gifts for Host Dads. Pinterest Boards Dedicated to 50 Holiday Gift Lists Pinterest: Gifts for Au Pairs Pinterest: Gifts for Host Dads Pinterest: Gifts for Host Moms Pinterest: DIY Gifts From Kids...