High Maintenance Mom

Want to try a new game your kids will love? High Maintenance Mom and WheeGO want to help you entertain your kids this winter with a fun adventure game that reinforces environmental awareness and kindness! Two lucky High Maintenance Mom readers will be chosen randomly from the logs to win a copy of WheeGO...

I have never been a great cook. Ok, so I am not even a good cook but I have improved since my two kids were born. I am a healthy eater but even more so since the kids came along. They are both excellent eaters but when I was given Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food by Jessica Seinfeld, I thought they could eat even better....

Congratulations to our High Maintenance Mom and Heart on Your Wrist giveaway winner! One High Maintenance Mom reader was chosen randomly from the October and November logs to win a Heart on Your Wrist necklace with star charms customized with her kids' names...

I grew up with a computer (well, not email and the internet but we did have a computer) but now it seems that email and kids web sites are the norm and I had better jump on board before my kids have to start teaching me and I lose control of what they are viewing. I do allow my kids a small amount of monitored TV each day but haven't really started the whole internet thing yet....

Heard on the news that today is another "Black Friday." Shoppers are expected to flood the stores for after Christmas sales and returns. Not being a lover of chaos, I'm glad that I can shop from the warmth of my living room. Internet sales are abundant, too. It's the perfect time to buy baby gifts ahead and have them ready for the next newborn in the neighborhood.

Happy Holidays! We hope everyone gets to do something fun during the break. I've been searching for ways to help my kids feel empathy and compassion for the holidays. We usually collect old toys and bring them to a shelter. Last New Years Eve we spent some time thinking about the previous year and what we wanted for the new year. We all wrote or drew the two separate lists (see New Years Eve with the kids. I put the drawings and lists in our holiday cards envelope and then quickly forgot about them. It was a fun surprise for me this year when I started this year's holiday cards...

Need a fun gift that says, "I care about Global Climate Change?" Check out the We Add Up t-shirts. There are over 25 designs to choose from including Recycle, Compost, Solar, Drink Tap, Fly Less, Inflate (tires), and Turn Off (lights). Each organic shirt is hand printed with a unique number. Most of the shirts have the We Add Up tagline, "No one can do everything. Everyone can do something" on the back...

I always look to The American Academy of Pediatrics (www.aap.org) for guidance in raising both of my children and was pleased when they came out with a book to help with the never ending battle of good nutrition. Not only can it be a battle with your children, but it can also be a battle with false information, old wives tales and theories from well meaning parents. Food Fights, Winning the Nutritional Challenges of Parenthood Armed with Insight, Humor and a Bottle of Ketchup may be a very long title but its tips are to the point and chapters easy to read.

We've been searching for books for B to read that are age-appropriate but at his reading level. Several of the books he could read are either too scary or deal with "coming of age" topics that I would like to save until he's a little closer to that age. It turns out that Scholastic Books has a great new feature called the Teacher Book Wizard. The Teacher Book Wizard helps you find other books that are similar to the ones you know your child already likes. It gives you a summary of the book, gives an interest grade level and the reading level. Below are a few of our favorites...

My friend has graciously allowed me to post the story of her son Cade for encouragement to others and to remind us all how precious life is. Here is Cade's story as told by his Mom.......