High Maintenance Mom

I'm working a night shift on the big island of Hawaii watching the Halema`uma`u vent and data feeds. My 16 days of working 8pm to 4am are almost over and while I love being here, I miss my family. I have to admit that not being able to talk to the kids because of my hours has been really hard. I've been sending pictures by email and writing postcards but it's not the same. If ever do it again, I will spend more time setting up video calls with our computers for the weekends.

Knowing the night shift was going to be hard, I brought several comfort items from home.

The Flip Video Ultra Series Camcorder is the easiest camcorder I've ever used and perfect for catching those adorable kid moments. It comes with two AA batteries so all you have to do is plug them in and you're ready to start recording. There are easy to recognize buttons for turning it on, recording, zooming, and deleting. There is also a USB plug that flips out to connect to your laptop. Once connected, the software loads (on a Mac you have to click on the Flip drive) and you are ready to download movies, edit them, burn them to DVD, or send them to friends and family - and uTube. It's the size of a phone and doesn't weigh very much so it fits into a purse with everything else. Like digital cameras, you can record your kids and then show them the movie - it's really that easy. For $130 from Amazon, the Flip 60 minute digital camcorder is a great Mother's Day gift. I also recommend rechargeable batteries.

If you or your children need surgery or you are going to be giving birth, it's helpful to think about and find the comfort items that will make you feel better. My list includes "chick-flick" movies/tv shows, comfy clothes, food, and ice packs. My favorite items that I brought to my recent gum surgery were bought for a long flight, the Bucky Fuzzy Wuzzy neck pillow and the Bucky Eye Shades with Earplugs. I was allowed to use the neck pillow, eye pillow, and ear plugs during my surgery. They really made me feel comfortable. I also had my iPod with music but due to the sedation, I really didn't care for it...

Do you ever wish someone would hand you the perfect shampoo and conditioner? Are you looking for a more natural solution? High Maintenance Mom and ARCONA want to pamper one lucky High Maintenance Mom member with a set of clarifying and conditioning natural hair products (Green Tea Cleansing Base Shampoo, Essential Nutrients Karite Conditioner, and Essential Nutrients Silk Leave-in Conditioner) for our Mother's Day giveaway.

Easter comes early this year, March 23rd, so I am thinking ahead about how I will spend it with my husband, 2 year old daughter and 4 month old son. I have decided that instead of an Easter basket full of chocolate (since I will be the only one eating it all) I will fill it with books. My daughter can not seem to get enough books in her hands and she does need a few new "big girl books" as I call them.

N received Cranium Cariboo for the holidays and played it 10 times each day for the first three days. We still play it and have switched from the beginner version to the advanced version. Caribou is a treasure hunt game where players take turns picking a card and then 'unlocking' doors to find all six balls needed to open the treasure chest. Doors are picked based on matching characteristics from the picked card to the door. For example, in the beginner game a card with a green number one on it would match an door with one object on it or a door with green objects on it. The key is then pressed into a 'keyhole' and the door opens to reveal if a ball has been found. Once a ball has been found, it is put into the treasure area. Because the game is started by dropping the balls into separate holes and shuffling the cards, each game is different. The only issue is that my kids want to play with the balls too so we have to talk about how the game balls are special and need to stay with the game...

Magazines are a fun gift for kids because they come in the mail throughout the year. Our kids see our magazines come and they watch us read them. In turn, we enjoy watching our kids get excited about their magazines. I have not read every kids magazine but I do have some favorites. If you are interested in knowing more about a magazine, I recommend checking out the magazine web site and looking for them at a local library or bookstore. Here are some of our favorites...

Check out the fun and helpful organizers from Knock Knock. Keeping useful information in one place, such as takeout menus and greeting cards, is a great way to reduce stress over the holidays. Plus, they make you look organized. The Takeout Menu Organizer is the perfect adult Trapper-keeper. It provides a neat home for all those takeout menus along with a frequently called numbers list, tipping guide, notepad, pen, and helpful ordering advice...

"We have the good Legos at school", my son tells me as we look at all the fabulous Lego sets in their enticing boxes. "Which ones", I ask concentrating on picking a set I would like to build. "The ones without the instructions." It takes me about a minute to figure out, with B's help, that the "good ones" are any Legos in a big box that you can use to build whatever you want. At age five I was looking to graduate B from the Duplos to the "big kid Legos" but he didn't seem to want to relive my youth with me. The realization that he wanted a big box of pieces or in my mind, the aftermath of buying a few sets, loosing a few pieces, and putting everything that was left into a box, felt like waking rested from a coveted nap to a quiet house...

The new HMM picks include the LeapFrog Leapster® Learning Game System, My Book About Me, and MGA Play Smarter Cook'n Learn Kitchen.

LeapFrog's Leapster - We bought a Leapster before a hospital visit and it has been a huge success. We ended up waiting at the hospital for three hours in the morning and it was used for most of that time (we also read books together). Now that the Leapster is at home, both kids are using it. They love trying to collect carrots in the math and letters games that are included.