Thank you Mardi Gras Napkins for sponsoring this post. Visit your local retailer to get the conversation going in your home! “Mom, Annie’s mom puts notes in her lunch box for her everyday.” This wasn’t the first time my 6 year old had mentioned this touching gesture from her friend’s…
family organization
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Thank you to the Chinet® brand for sponsoring this post. Last month, my daughter’s school had multiple Spirit Days, Half-Way Day, the 100th Day of School, a Children’s Fair and all the fanfare associated with Valentine’s Day – each requiring special attire and more. My husband asked me how I…
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Budgeting TipsFamily Finance MomFamily OrganizationFor ParentsSavvy Mom Life
A Flexible Childcare Option to Fit Your Unique Family Needs
by MeghanThis is a guest post by Jennifer Terra, a Local Childcare Consultant for Cultural Care Au Pair, the leading provider of intercultural live-in childcare. Learn how an au pair my be the flexible childcare option your family has been searching for. I will never forget my childcare search when I was…
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This post is sponsored by Twinings of London facilitated by the Mom It Forward Influencer Network. Grab a cup of Twinings of London Herbal Tea, and answer these simple questions to get to know yourself better so you can #BeYourBestBlend. Anyone else have a love/hate relationship with social media? You…
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This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group®, Kellogg’s and The J.M. Smucker Company but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #SamsClubBTS http://my-disclosur.es/OBstV EVERY night we faced the same frustration. My girls wanted to read a specific book that was no where…
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With three kids, it is an hourly struggle to be present and attentive to each of them. Not to mention keeping up with chores, feeding everyone, writing, sleeping… oh, and showering! That’s important too! My video baby monitor helps me get closer to doing it all, every day. I can…
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This was Big M’s first year at preschool. She goes to a partially co-operative school, which means, that we as parents contribute to the school beyond just sending our child every day and paying tuition. We give our time, signing up for required Parent of the Day sessions throughout the…
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Family OrganizationFor KidsFor ParentsPlayPractical Parenting
10+ Kids Playroom Organization Ideas & Essentials
by MeghanAfter the mudroom, my next favorite room in our new house is the playroom! Getting the toys out of our family room was huge. Having a place for all the kids’ stuff AND in sight line of the main living space was a double win. But a playroom can also…
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You get everyone out of the car, and they race into the house. As you schlep extra bags, coats, the baby carrier and anything else left behind, you follow to find a trail of evidence in their wake. Backpacks thrown on the kitchen counter. Coats draped across the stairs. Boots…
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When we moved into our forever home in August, I finally had a dream kitchen with space for everything. But that can be a double-edge sword. Space to store and stockpile, if not well-organized, can lead to lots of waste. We had also reconfigured our kitchen to eliminate a walk-in…
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For ParentsPractical ParentingSleep Series: Infancy to Preschool
One Month Baby Feeding Schedule
by MeghanI never talked about sleep more than when I first had a newborn. And with my third newborn, nothing has changed. These tiny little people befuddle us with their sleep: are they sleeping too much? not sleeping enough? sleeping all day, but up all night? My experiences with my first…
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ActiveFamily OrganizationFor KidsFor ParentsOutdoorPlayPractical Parenting
15 Ways to Remove the Grump From Your Day
by MeghanEvery parent has had one of these days… from the moment your child wakes up, they are crying about something. Or maybe you didn’t get enough sleep last night, and you are the one with the short fuse. Regardless of who the grump is, the day starts off all wrong,…
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Family OrganizationFor KidsFor ParentsPlayPractical ParentingSkills
10 Screen-Free Ways to Entertain Kids Out to Eat
by MeghanWe eat out with our kids a lot. They have been going to restaurants since they were infants, and I can recall maybe twice since Big M was born nearly 4 years ago, where they were so badly behaved we took turns racing through our food while the other shepherded…
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CraftsCrafts & DIYFamily OrganizationFor KidsFor ParentsPractical ParentingSkills
DIY Weekly Magnet Calendar
by MeghanBig M, at 3.5, has become increasingly interested in the concept of days and times. When she is awaiting a holiday or Grandma coming to visit, she will ask what day it is happening, and then everyday ask if it is that day yet! Similarly, she has picked up on…
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Family Finance MomFamily OrganizationFor Parents
12 Questions to Ask Before Buying a Vacuum
by MeghanWe are in the market for a vacuum cleaner. Our current vacuum was purchased the year we first moved in together nearly a decade ago. And even with the move to our starter home a year later, and now two kids many years after that, it is more than sufficient…
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CraftsFamily OrganizationFor KidsFor ParentsPractical Parenting
How to Stock Your Craft Closet
by MeghanThe secret to keeping your kids entertained, especially through this interminable winter, is a well stocked craft closet. You’ll often notice in my At-Home Activity posts, I mention that an activity was free or cost me a $1 because I already had everything else in the craft closet. So what…
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It is not news to anyone that the cost of a college education increases every year, growing at astronomical rates, faster than the overall economy and significantly higher than inflation. When I went to college, I had no college fund, but with the moral support of my family, hard work…
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Early Childhood TransitionsFor ParentsSleep Series: Infancy to Preschool
Transitions: Sleeping in a Big Kid Bed
by MeghanEvery Tuesday, we post tips to make family life easier, covering an array of topics from the kitchen, to parenting, to managing your household. Over the next few weeks our tips will focus on childhood transitions, and how to make them as seamlessly as possible. Two weeks ago, we offered…
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When I was expecting Lil’ M, my mother-in-law kept telling me to prepare myself… that 1+1 did not equal 2. I would laugh, and think to myself, how much harder can it be? How I Survived 2 Under Two I had reached the honeymoon stage of babyhood. By the time…