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Healthy Snack Altnerative For Traveling Toddlers
Traveling with a toddler sometimes can be difficult, especially a hungry, tired toddler. If you are like most parents, you want to ensure you have healthy snack alternatives– instead of cookies – and games to keep your little one occupied when you are standing in lines or waiting at the gate. With airline regulations now, going through security with foods for toddlers can be difficult; unless it is formula or breast milk the TSA agents might not allow you through security lines with certain foods. Yes, you can buy food in the convenience stands and restaurants, but they might not have any healthy snack options to your liking. One healthy snack alternative that most likely will get through a TSA security line (although, it is always subject to the TSA Agent) is FruitaBu Organic Smooshed Fruit. Portable and convenient, our Smoooshed Fruit Rolls contain: 1 serving* of all-natural fruit Now Non-GMO Project Verification No artificial additives Real-fruit purée No added sugar – all sugar comes naturally from fruit This taste great and I personally have been eating their fruit leather from years; I buy them at Whole Foods. Originally, I was going to suggest the fruit puree pouches as the best healthy snack alternative for traveling with a toddler, but after reading about how much sugar is contained in the pureed fruit, I opted against them for my children. However, if you are still interested in the fruit pouches, and a lot of parents are — companies such as Plum Organics, GoGo Squeez and Smashies Pouches—as well as multi-national conglomerates such as Gerber® sell them. Most pouches are within the limit of 3.4 oz, and generally will be accepted by a TSA Agent. Please check the pouch size before throwing them in your diaper bag or travel bag. Please note most of these pouches contain a lot of sugar in compared to an actual piece of fruit, but less than a chocolate chip cookie. Good luck with your travels and I hope you have a happy traveling...
read more50 Great Summer Activities for 2-5 Years Old
If your kids are home for the summer whether it is with you or with a care giver, here are 50 great summer activities for kids 2-5 years old. There are many versions of these activities below and can be tailored to your location; so make it fun for you and your kids. Have a wonderful summer and enjoy!
read moreOh, No, Does Au Pair Boredom = Homesickness
What does your Au Pair do during the day while your children are at school? I have been pondering this question for three years now because our Au Pairs have only watched babies and toddlers (not of school age). My Au Pair’s work all day and gets only a slight reprieve when both my kids nap in the afternoon; of course, that is if my three year old cooperates. In the past three years, I would estimate that at least 95% of the Au Pairs we’ve met are Au Pairs for school age children. From what they tell us, they generally work from 7:00 AM -8:30 AM to get the kids off to school and then from 3:00 PM -6:00 PM when the kids get home from school to when their host parents get home. Yes, some work some additional week nights and weekends and have other required household chores, but that still allows a lot of downtime for these young ladies. I am curious what one does with the time between 8:30 AM – 2:30 PM? Are the Au Pair’s bored? Do they join a gym? Do they take their required courses? Do they prepare activities for the day or week for their host kids? Do they cook meals because they can? The reason for asking is I have seen a correlation between the busier an Au Pair is less the homesick they are. From interviewing more than my share of Au Pairs, I have learned that for most of these girls it is the first time away from their home and their country. They either just finished school, or taking a break from University, or taking some time to decide what they want to be when they grow up. These girls have never had 6-7 hours of free time during the day to themselves, much less let alone in a different country, house and family. So, the question remains is it our job as host parents to help keep the girls “busy” – while your kids are in school – to help them acclimating to our culture, homes and house rules? No, I am not talking household chores. I mean providing them suggestions, such as taking their required school courses during the day, while their host children are in school. Or suggest that your Au Pair do one craft, activity or outing with your host kids once every two weeks or month (depending on the kid’s schedules). The Au Pair is required to do the research and provide a planned outline/schedule for those activities with cost, travel time, etc. Have them combine the activity or outing with something they have always wanted to do. For example, go pumpkin picking during October. Halloween is not as widely celebrated if at all in other countries and most Au Pairs like to experience Halloween. Personally, I don’t see it as a “required” responsibility to keep my Au Pair “busy”, but one I take seriously. I believe, the more your Au Pair feels at “home”, more likely they will be happier, less homesick, more connected with your children and thrive in their environment. Yes, there are always exceptions to the rules and some Au Pairs might reject any suggestions, but I am willing to take that risk. Aren’t...
read moreTreat Your Running Mom
If you have not signed up for a race for Mother’s Day weekend yet, we have more than 50 stroller friendly races listed thus far. Give yourself a gift and run by yourself while your hubby pushes the stroller or just watches you race. Get together with your favorite moms and go out and have some fun. The Mother’s Day weekend races are listed by State below. We will continue to add races for Mother’s Day weekend until Friday, May 10, 2013. Good luck and happy running. California CPOA Run To Remember Colorado Redline 13.1 Denver on Platte River Trail Stober Stallion 5K and 1K Fun Run Telegraph Mother’s Day 5K/10K District of Columbia Komen Global Race for the Cure BEST Kids 5K & Kids Fun Run Florida Chick-fil-A Connect Race Series: Jacksonville, FL Georgia Pickens Footsteps for Families 5K & Tot Trot Run Toward the Son 5K Illinois Race to Wrigley 5K Trot For Theresa 5K SMI 5K and Kids Run TheraCORE’s 5K Race for a Cure AERO Special Ed. Coop 4th Annual 5K Capitol Nutrition Pets for Vets 5K Feets of Strength 5K Run for Child Abuse Awareness Root Awakening 5K – Run/Walk for Forgotten Children Food Truck 5K and Block Party Kansas Mother’s Day 5K Kentucky Lourdes Paducah Iron Mom Half Marathon & Relay Louisiana Contraband Days 5-Miler Junior League’s Etouffee 5K Al Briede Gold Cup Race 5k Run for Excellence Mom’s Day 5k Maryland Pasadena E.S 5k and 1M Fun Run Great Chesapeake Bay Wellness Race Stryker’s for a Cause 5K 2ND Annual Choptank Trot for Melanoma 5K Run/Walk Wood Acres JogFest Gospel of the 5K Run/Walk 5K Run/ 2K Fun Run Her5K Missouri 3rd Annual Love 2 Run 4 Love 5K Run/Walk 8th Annual Karen 4 a Kause 5K Fun Run & 1 Mile Walk Nevada Fight for Health Super Hero 5k Fun Run Las Vegas 5K Super Rebel Run Mums on the Run 10K/5K/1M Moms on the Run Girls on the Run Spring 5K North Carolina A Mother’s Love 5K Gorges State Park 5K and FREE Family Walk Lovoso Music Initiative 5K and 10K PMWC Heart & Sole 5k Run for Recess 5K Ninth Annual W-Day 5K “The Hobey” 2013 Oxford Race for Life Run Back To The ’80s 5K – Charlotte New York Run for Fun Oregon Run For Boston South Carolina Chick-fil-A Connect Race Series: Anderson, SC Texas 2013 Bloomin’ Temple Rotary 5K & Fun Run Virginia Gretna 5K Race Mother’s Day 4 milers Washington May Day Dash...
read moreTop 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 Android Clothing Size Conversion While shopping abroad, travelers often run into the dilemma of figuring out foreign sizes. Whether you’re shopping for shoes, pants, a shirt, or even a bra, the app converts sizes for a number of different countries (Britain, Japan, Korea, France, for to name a few). It’s a simple app that performs a simple task, and best of all it’s free. Cost: $0.99 Platform: iPhone and Android Skype Skype you can do free face-to-face video chat, make free Skype to Skype voice calls and send instant messages on the move Cost: Free Platform: iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Android, and Windows Xe Currency Xe Currency app is the app to go for if you are not a fan of clumsy currency conversion. Cost: Free Platform: iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Android, and Windows Whats App Messenger WhatsApp Messenger lets you chat for free with anyone else who owns the app and offers a few extra useful features to make text messaging more fun. With this chat app installed on your smartphone, you’ll save a little money on text charges through your carrier and across platforms. The only catch is that you’ll have to persuade your most frequent texting buddies to download the app, too, but once they see WhatsApp’s advantages, they’ll probably give it a try. Cost: $0.99 Platform: iPhone, Blackberry, Nokia S40, Symbian, and Windows Temperature Convert Temperature Convert is a powerful yet simple tool for converting temperatures from Fahrenheit to Celsius or Celsius to Fahrenheit. It also has support for Kelvin so you can convert kelvin to Celsius or Fahrenheit or vise-versa. Also Included is a decimal and negative point, so you can convert decimal temperatures and negative (below 0) temperatures. Cost: Free Platform: iPhone and Android Google Maps Get comprehensive, accurate and easy-to-use maps with...
read moreTop 3 Personalized Photo Gifts for Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day in the United States is just around the corner. Looking for some unique gifts for your mom or wife, here are my top three favorite personalized photos gifts. iPhone Personalized Case. I love mine! I carry around pictures of my kids every day and it puts a smile on my face every time I look at photos. Several companies offer customized iPhone case, but my personal preference is Shutterfly. The case is high quality, the price is reasonable and they have ample style designs to choose from – 44 to be exact. You can customize iPhone cases for the iPhone 3G/3GS, iPhone 4/4S and iPhone 5. Here is a list of companies that offer personalized iPhone cases. Shutterfly – $34.95 (my personal favorite) not including taxes or shipping and handling Tiny Prints – $39.95 not including taxes or shipping and handling Walgreens – $29.99 not including taxes or shipping and handling Walmart – $29.98 not including taxes or shipping and handling Target – $32.99 – $34.29 not including taxes or shipping and handling SkinIt – -Starting at $14.99 not including taxes or shipping and handling Fleece Photo Blankets. I do not own one, but have made more than a half a dozen of these blankets for gifts. These make for a great gift for Grandmas. The blanket itself is so soft; it makes you want to cozy up with the blanket and a good book. Several companies offer customized fleece photo blankets, but my personal preference is Shutterfly. Shutterfly offers the blankets in two sizes 50×60 or 60×80 (featuring up to eight photos per blanket). I have always purchased the 50×60 and they are plenty large for two people to sit comfortably under the blanket. Here is a list of companies that offer personalized Fleece personalized photo blankets. Shutterfly – $54.99 (collage 50×60 fleece blanket featuring up to 8 photos) Walmart – $44.96 (collage 50×60 fleece blanket featuring up to 30 photos) Walgreens – $59.99 (collage 50×60 fleece blanket featuring up to 30 pictures) iPad personalized case. Create a custom iPad case that is unmistakably your moms or wife’s. While closed, your iPad looks like a portfolio. I do not own a personalized photo iPad case yet, but I hope to in the future. Here is a list of companies that offer the iPad personalized cases. Walgreens offers a soft neoprene sleeve case for $29.99 and a hard cover case for $44.99. SkinIt offers customized iPad cases personalized starting at $34.99. Make that special mom in your life feel great and buy her a personalized photo...
read moreRunning is My Oasis
In order to put things back into the perspective after the terrible tragedy at the Boston Marathon yesterday, I went home hugged my husband and kids and I went on a family run. We strapped the kids in the double jog stroller and went to our favorite lake and ran. Not unlike the rest of the world, I am stunned, shocked, horrified and restless. Who would do this? Why would you do this? My heart aches for the father who lost his precious son and his wife and daughter suffered major injuries while waiting for him to cross the finish line of the Boston Marathon. I am saddened that spectators who came to share in a glorious moment of celebration with their family member(s) and/or friends will forever associate this tragedy with the Boston Marathon. I am sad that runners/racers will be concerned – myself included – that entering any major race is no longer safe or fun. Why put ourselves in harm’s way? Should we race? Should our family come out and celebrate with us? While my heart heals, my legs will keep running. Yes, I will continue to race. Yes, I want my family to celebrate my accomplishments with me. Yes, I will still be fearful that we are in harm’s way. But, I will keep going. Each day I am suffering on the bike, or tired of the monotony in the pool, or breathless running fartleks, I be grateful that I can still run and I have my wonderful family around to support me. I am grateful that my teammates racing the Boston Marathon were all safe. My prayers and thoughts go out to all those who lost a loved one or have loved ones injured. From the Washington Post Boston Marathon explosion: Live updates, Bill Richard, father of Martin Richard, the eight-year-old killed in the bombing, released the following statement Tuesday. My dear son Martin has died from injuries sustained in the attack on Boston. My wife and daughter are both recovering from serious injuries. We thank our family and friends, those we know and those we have never met, for their thoughts and prayers. I ask that you continue to pray for my family as we remember Martin. We also ask for your patience and for privacy as we work to simultaneously grieve and recover. Thank you. A guestbook has been established on Legacy.com for people to write messages to the Richard family....
read moreNutella Banana Popsicles Gluten Free
I usually don’t post recipes, but I wanted to share one I created this weekend out of necessity. I was making baby food and I ran out of storage containers and had two ripe bananas leftover, so I made Nutella Banana Popsicles. I did not have a recipe for it, but after creating my concoction, I decided to see if a recipe already existed. Low and behold you can find several recipes for Nutella Banana Popsicles, but they all called for milk, cool whip or some other variation. I used no milk because I did not even consider it, but I am sure the other recipes taste as good or better. FYI, these were a big hit with my 3 yrs old. Furthermore, for all the people that workout, this is a great recovery food too. NUTELLA BANANA POPSICLES GLUTEN FREE 2 medium ripe bananas 3 tablespoons of Nutella 2 scoops of non-flavored Protein powder (optional) Yields 6 Popsicles Instructions In a medium bowl warm up three tablespoons of Nutella in the microwave for 30 seconds. Mash the bananas up in a blender or with a fork. I just used a fork because my bananas were so ripe. Add the banana into the Nutella and mix well. Add protein powder if you so desire. Pour the mix into 6 Popsicle containers. Freeze at a minimum for six hours, but overnight might just be easier. Nutritional Facts Without Protein Powder 1 serving = 1 Popsicle 85 Calories 0.80 grams protein 14 carbohydrates 3 grams of fat Nutritional Facts With Protein Powder 1 serving = 1 Popsicle 118 calories 7.5 grams of protein 15 grams of carbohydrates 3 grams of fat ...
read moreHow Little Boys Get A Bad Rap
This week for this first time, I realized how quickly people are to place blame on little boys and classify them as “bad”, “naughty”,” aggressive”, etc. Here is what I witnessed. My son C2 – newly turned 3 years old – and his little girl friend were playing around; they are always so excited to see one another. His little friend kept pulling at C2 shirt collar and pushing him to get his attention and C2 repeating asked her to stop. She persisted and finally C2 hit her. At that moment, the teacher scolded C2 for pushing his little friend. Now, I do agree his behavior needed correcting and hitting wasn’t warranted, but what I do not agree with is that the little girl received no correction and/or direction from the teacher. The teacher and I watched the entire scenario unfold and of course, I did correct C2 as soon as I saw him hit his little friend, but I was stunned by how the teacher reacted. She physically gasped at C2 and made an ugly, disgusted face before correcting him, when she clearly could have stepped in and told the little girl that C2 asked her to stop. C2 friend’s mom did correct her and both C2 and his little friend said their apologies, hugged and ran off to play. And at that very moment, I finally got it; this is how little boys get such a bad rap. As a parent, my job is to help C2 learn how to cope and find other ways handle his emotions. But, my job also is to protect my children until they can protect themselves. Prior to having a son, I really never gave credence to how little boys are treated or perceived in school or extracurricular activities by female authority figures. As a mom whose son starts preschool next year this makes me nervous; boys, including my son, might be falsely classified as “bad” or have behavioral problems because they do not handle themselves like girls. Currently, elementary school teachers are overwhelmingly female, 76% to be exact. Even though they think their teaching accommodates all student; it is still hard not to lean the way one is most comfortable. Yes, I do appreciate a teachers job is difficult and I respect the service they provide. I am sure in the past; I am guilty for having similar reactions as C2 teacher did. My hope is that everyone, especially women (including myself); consciously recognize boys are different from girls. Girls innately can sit still and generally tend to be more quite. Boys need constant movement and are generally louder. Sitting still and being quite in class is one of the measurements how traditional schools judge whether your child is “good” or “bad” and unfortunately for boys this criterion is more geared towards girls. According to kindergarten teach Jane Katch, she has been teaching young boys for more than 25 years and she doesn’t see that their activity levels have changed, but our expectations for how long they have to sit still have dramatically increased. Furthermore, Michael Thompson, Ph.D., co-author, Raising Cain says, “For the average boy, school is not as good a fit as it is for the average girl. More boys have problems with attention and focus than girls....
read moreAmazon Wish List New Feature Great for Parents
I was told by a creditable source that Amazon is enhancing their Amazon wish list feature to allow you to “remember” a hidden wish list. As a mom of two wonderful children with two very different needs and wants, this new feature will significantly reduce my time, frustration and repetition. Every holiday or special occasion (e.g., birth present, baby shower, birthday, Christmas, just because, etc.), I will not need to send an updated email with the kids’ “private” Shared Wish List URL to my family and friends of their (our) latest gift requests. I will simply be able to share the list and my family and friends who will be able to “remember” it. My very first blog post “Gift Registries, Are They Worth The Drama?” I discuss the benefits of having a wish list for my child. When my son turned one, I made C2 Amazon Wish list public for his 1st birthday because I had so many people ask me what C2 wanted and I found myself copying/pasting the links into an emails and repeating that process several times. So to be more effective, save time and reduce frustration, we made the decision to go Public (anyone can search for and see this list. You can also share using a link.). I did have hesitation not only because I did not want people to think we were greedy, rude or ungrateful. But, the main reason was I did not want some predator checking out my son’s wish list and deriving Intel about our family through the wish list. Being “public”, left us vulnerable. The day after his birthday, I did change the privacy setting back to “Shared (link only). Only people with the link can see this list. It will not appear in Amazon search results.” With this new feature, you will be able to “Share a link” with your friends and family and when they receive the link, they will be able to “Remember” it. Meaning a persistent link to this list will show up in their Wish List navigation for easy future access. For my family, this means that my husband will now be able to view C2 and Ace’s Amazon Wish List with minimal vulnerabilities at anytime and not constantly ask me to send the link because he is successfully managing his email or send the list to [insert name(s)]. In our case, my husband will no longer have to remind me several times to send the link because it is not my top priority and I will continuously forget. If you do not have an Amazon wish list for your child(ren), perhaps now is the time. Remember, creating a wish list for your child will make it easier for others to buy for your family. By having a wish list, it gives the sender an opportunity to get a gift both the parents and the child both agree upon instead of buying a gift that is a duplicate or something that is played with once and then is never touched again. Furthermore, even if someone decides not to buy off the wish list, the list will give your family and friends more insight to what your child’s needs, wants and perhaps clothing size in order to go buy a present elsewhere. Really, who...
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