High Maintenance Mom

I love my Nintendo Wii Fit. The yoga helps center me, the strength training, which I originally thought was too easy, is slowly increasing my strength, the aerobics exercises have become a workout, and the balance games continue to cause my kids to laugh uncontrollably. Who knew how much fun it would be for the kids to watch me being hit by one panda or shoe after another as I dodged the soccer balls by mistake. My favorite part is seeing family members on my runs or doing a step routine. The kids will call out, "hey look there's Granny" as I'm running. It feels like I'm running with all my friends and family, at 6:30 in the morning...

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...

The most important thing you can do on Tuesday is to get out and vote. If you do not know where to go to vote, check out Rock the Vote or the Get out the Vote poll locator. And on a less serious note, if you need a break, check out the Saturday Night Live Sketches.

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.......

With a 4 and 6 year-old, the excitement of Halloween has been in the air for weeks. We've been through multiple costume changes (luckily costumes can be used year-round for dress-up and this is a great time to buy them) and had many discussions about the neighbors' decorations. In my post last year, Halloween - One of my favorite nights, I mentioned how Halloween is a fee pass to see all the remodels in our neighborhood. This year it's our turn to show off our changes, or in our case - our construction zone that may not be finished before Thanksgiving. The plastic walls are gone and the oven has been returned from our backyard, but it's not done and there is nothing I can do except focus on having an enjoyable evening. As usual, I will be paying my kids for the candy they collect and then donating it somewhere. Now I just have to figure out where I put the candy and PLAY-DOH! And to make my day even more exciting, our power is scheduled to be turned off for eight hours today due to construction on our street. Happy Halloween and more importantly, we hope you have a manageable Day After Halloween!

The theme for this year's Earth Science Week is "No Child Left Inside." If you've read Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder, or read about it, then you might be looking for more ways to incorporate unstructured time outside. The USGS, one of the Earth Science Week (ESW) sponsors, has a web site with links to outdoor parks and activities around the country. Even if there isn't an activity listed for your area, it doesn't take too much effort to help your child connect with nature. Start with a walk at your child's pace. You may only get to the end of the block but your child will appreciate the time you spend looking at the things that interest them. I find ants much more interesting through my kids' eyes. They, my kids - not the ants, love to watch water run down a drain, look for the biggest acorn, or investigate any type of bug.

We just found a great new show on PBS called Sid The Science Kid. It's smart with some very catchy songs in it. Sid is a want to know it all preschooler with very hip parents (like me!). He goes to school each day wondering about a new thing (science related). His parents, friends and teacher help him find answers to his questions.

The US Environmental Protection Agency celebrates Children's Health Month each October by developing publications and activities that highlight the importance of protecting children from environmental risks. This year’s highlights include the launch of the Climate Change and Children’s Health Education Campaign, which will encourage middle school and high school students to take actions to address global climate change and children's health, and encourage their friends and families to do the same......

Want a fun and fashionable way to say "I'm a cool mom?" High Maintenance Mom and Heart on Your Wrist want to give you something to smile about! One lucky High Maintenance Mom reader will be chosen randomly from the logs to win a Heart on Your Wrist necklace with star charms for your kids' names...

Have you seen the new Shutterfly personal photo web sites? I just created one for our family with pictures of the kids from this year. In the past I have sent pictures by email but the file sizes are large and not everyone likes their mailboxes to be full of kid pictures. To avoid filling mailboxes, I occasionally sent links to our Shutterfly pictures - with Shutterfly invited visitors do not need to join or have a password. But now that it's really easy to create a beautiful site to showcase the pictures, I plan to upload my pictures more often. I also like that I can choose who I want to view the site so my comments and pictures are private. Did I mention how easy it is? Click the Shutterfly image to check it out!