Parenting Sites 411

I don’t know if one would refer to me as crazy, insane or just a plain ol’ blog hog…but I have a few blogs and I’m preparing to launch a group blog……anyone have any late night issues…I’m an incurable insomniac. You can always find me on twitter as jareason. As it is, I am attempting to bribe another woman named Jerri Ann into giving me that twitter name but so far, no luck. I’ll let you know if it pans out. And, I am also trying to buy the domain jerriann.com from the person who owns it as it has sat since 2004 with the same photo of “under constructin” type info on it. But, in the meantime…here’s where you can find me….

Jerri Ann Reason - media site
Jerri Ann - my battle wth EASports and the 30 day challenge
Mom~E~Centric - my personal site
TV Boyfriends - my most popular site
Mom is Teaching - where I hope to grow the most
Mental and Emotonal Health- where I hope to lend a helping hand the most often
Media Critiques - where I make fun of people (you maybe)
Parenting Stes 411 - where I try to offer up good parenting links I find
Michelle Obama Watch - watching Michelle Obama become the most popular First Lady ever
Life in Reality - celebrity watch
TBTS The Real Truth - a scam that caught even me

And, stay tuned for an upcoming group blog endeavor. Scarry? Yes, indeed!

You can read everything that has been posted plus upcoming tweets, skype messages and emails as well as all comments from this site on the new blog

TBTS The Real Truth

I remember being pregnant and praying almost daily that my child would be born healthy and that their father and I could do our best to make them happy.  I think we’ve done fairly well, my children are rarely ever sick and they seem to be pretty happy and well adjusted.  One thing that neither of my children have is a notable birthmark.  I wonder about them when I see other children with obvious marks on their face and neck and of course after owning a daycare, I saw plenty of birth marks on other parts of the body.

Luckily most birthmarks are generally harmless.  I’ve never known anyone who had a birthmark that was dangerous to the person with the mark but apparently there are some problems that can be the result to a what is thought to be a simple birthmark.  Most of the birthmarks are apparent at birth but there are a few that occur after birth. The cause of them is always guessed at by many people who call themselves believers of old wives tale.  You know, things like it is a sign of a mother’s unfulfilled wishes, the result of something the mother ate during pregnancy, or the product of a traumatic birth.  These are simply not true.

There are birthmarks that have a genetic component but most of the marks are just random.  And believe it or not, having a birthmark back in the Middle Ages, you may have been accused of witchcraft but honestly, most marks don’t have serious or lasting effects. 

Birthmarks are generally categorized as pigmented or vascular.  Pigmented birthmarks are generally a result of an overgrowth of melanocytes which are the cells that regulate the pigment of the skin.  Moles are included in the pigmented type.

igmented birthmarks are a result of an overgrowth of melanocytes, the cells that regulate the pigment in our skin. Pigmented birthmarks are very common, including marks such as café-au-lait spots, moles, and Mongolian blue spots.

There’s much more to know if you or your child has a birthmark and you can read about it here.

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We don’t have guest over to our house often.  Our house is a wreck and even though my mom works her tail off everyday (I am in a non-mobile cast so don’t even go there) to try to keep it all done but it is simply really hard to do with a 4 year old and a 6 year old scattering clothes, toys, dirty, more dirt. 

I have a few items that just need to be carried to the garage and stored and then of course there are crutches and walkers and can boots and holy cow my husband has no clue where the hamper is.  The one thing that irritates my mom (and our former cleaning lady) is that fact that we have so many computers.  I didn’t say that in a boastful way because, mos6t of 6them don’t work just yet. 

Wait, they might work, I just haven’t seen them in action. Right now there are about 4 laptops running, 2 fully functioning desktops, 2 desk tops that he is “building” and then the boys computer.  So, yea my family room is a wreck and I don’t even let the pizza delivery guy come inside. 

But, if you host a lot, I have some links for you…you can’t afford to miss.  Be a Better Hostesss – 10 to help you become the Ultimate Hostess With the Mostess

While you are checking out that article just keep reading.  There are tons of great stuff over there at Purple Trail

PurpleTrail is a brand new way to organize and manage parties, get-togethers, events and meetings. With it’s fresh perspective, PurpleTrail brings together some of the best features and experiences to help you easily manage your event.

Short video Tour - http://purpletrail.com/pt2/cons/mkt/tour/

PurpleTrail has been growing! In the last 6 months since PurpleTrail came out of beta we have seen hundreds of thousands of users visit us. They often share suggestions and feature requests.  We have been adding tons of features and currently we have the most comprehensive list of features for online invitations. Today we are making a milestone release with tons of improvements; both visible and not so visble. Here is a sample:

• PurpleTrail Design center : We are launching a revamped design center. It’s faster, has more features and tools and a completely new collection of design elements and invitation designs to choose from. You can now create stunning looking invitation designs like never before. Give it a try and you will never go back to standard invitation designs ever again.  Visit the PurpleTrail Design Center and click on ‘ Design your invitation’
• PurpleTrail is now with added boosters:  We have optimised the service and now PurpleTrail is faster than before. This means an improved and quicker experience for you.
• PurpleTrail looks better: With Spring on its way we decided to give PurpleTrail a new set of clothes and you can now enjoy PurpleTrail with a new header and a new home page. The new header improves the experience your invitees have with your invitations, ecards and announcements.
• Custom subject for emails: You can now customize the subject line for the emails you send out.  Again, this is a feature you will find only on PurpleTrail.
• Others: Also a host of smaller improvements like a better RSVP box to increase the response rate for your invites.

  

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It’s 2:00 a.m. and your three month old is crying…a lot. You’re a first time mother, and while you’ve got a ton of questions, you called your mom at 2:00 in the morning last night about that crazy looking diaper, so you’d really like to get through this one on your own.

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The Mom Maven MomECentric

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I’m curious how many of you that read here are stay at home mom’s, work at home moms, work outside of the home moms, etc. 

I’m curious to know your status and I’m gonna give you a few ideas that you can use to make a little extra cash.  And I  notice now that I didn’t include our dad’s on there so if you are a stay at home father or any of the others but fall into the father department of parenting, please jump in on the other section.

So, if you are just careening about, looking for some extra cash on the side, here’s a few ideas to get you started.  Dog Walker?  Well, where I”m from there are no such thing as dog walkers because dogs simply run free and walk themselves.  But, if you live in a big city, I can see where you might could make some cash (and lose some weight) if you did this for a living.  Could you imagine walking 2 or 3 dogs a day at 2 or 3 different times.  That’s be 3 long walks and 9 dogs…woot, some money there I’m sure.

A handyman?  Now, that, that’s pretty funny because a handyman I am not!  I couldn’t fix anything if I tried, but if you have those skills, people are always looking to fix broken things.  A medical transcriptionist is a great way of making some extra cash if you in that business.  I happen to have excellent medical terminology skills from all those years working in doctors offices and I type really well and I’ve yet to get one of these jobs so I don’t know how hard they are to get for everyone else but for me…not easy.

A few other odd jobs that you mind find some extra cash can be found in this article.

So, are you afraid?  I mean, I wasn’t too alarmed really.  I mean, I haven’t been to upset about the whole situation.  I have mono, for the second time in a year.  And my children haven’t caught it nor has my husband so it just wasn’t on my list of priorities.  I have been more concerned with this cast on my foot and my own mono worries.

Then a friend on Face Book made mention of being a bit concerned about the outbreak.  So, I read a little, asked a few questions and apparently for now, it’s still an issue in Mexico and no fatalities in the U.S.  Not that I’m saying it’s ok for it to be there, just saying…

Anyway, you know how kid are, you send them to school and the slobber and snot and germ all over everything.  A friend’s husband who is a med tech suggested that I wear a mask in the airport and on the plane.  I’m not flying for a couple of more weeks and we will see then how it all works out. 

In the meantime, what is your freak factor?

This is not a political blog.  It is merely something that came to my attention tonight and I felt I need to say that I am amazed and I am grateful that a man, any man, any where would say this……….it’s prolific, PERIOD!

I’m paraphrasing here but what he said that was so powerful to me was this

“I believe that this is a moral issue….I believe that this is not an issue that women take lightly….I believe that women are in a better position to make decisions on this matter than congress …or the President of the United States….and at the same time….I want to see what we can do to prevent unwanted pregnancies especially in teenagers…..which is on the rise”

People, that is powerful stuff!  The man has the ego big enough to finally be open and say that regardless of what men say, they have no idea what pregnancy feels like or how to do with unwanted pregnancy.

I eat for crap.  And, that is basically an understatement.  Some days my husband and I skip meals all together but when our kids are around, they let us know that “we haven’t even had breakfast or lunch”.  So, off we go looking for something to eat.  I’m all good to skip at least one a day and I know that’s a horrible habit to get into and I certainly hope my kids can learn better habits than we have already started. 

So, there’s a question and answer segment on Parents.com that you can look at.  People asking about how often to let kids eat cookies or ice cream or babies that like to nurse nonstop all day.  One question is about toddlers snacking during the day and that definitely happens at my house.  My 4-year-old would eat 20 little meals a day if you let him.  We have to watch him or every time we turn around that kid is in the pantry or digging in the fridge.

And, what happens when your kid is chubbier than his classmates?  Is it a problem by a certain age or is it all just something that’s predetermined?  How much should the kids be eating?  Generally in our house we don’t push the issue of finishing your plate.  I’ve never been forced to eat a certain food or a certain amount and I definitely have food issues.  So, I an only imagine what it would be like for a kid who was forced to eat food they didn’t like and finish all of what was put on their plate.

Go read about it though and see what you think, let me know what worries you most or least?

I hate when I see the same ol’ ads coming through twitter every few minutes.  Even if the link is different, if it is the twitter person, I am not amused. 

So, for  you, all my dear sweet friends, I’m asking you to take the following polls….yea all of them please…or just one….doesn’t matter…

Ok, demographics – please?

Parents?

About Television and Your Family

and the biggeee…

I need Guest Posters please…

So, if you don’t mind, oblige me please, especially on the Guest Posting ones, I need some assistance.

Do you ever wonder where in the world your children come up with some of their words?  Words that my kids use like “pud muddles” and “dishin’washin’contergent”.  That stuff cracks me up.  Well, now there’s a book out there with all the words that you need to know.  You know, the meaning of the words you need to know not just the words.

Have you ever had your kids pull off a WISHJACK?  Do you know what that is?  It’s when a child maliciously blows out the candles on another child’s birthday cake.  Whew, talk about causing a stir.  Or maybe you need to know what a KODICK is, that’s the child who refuses to cooperate in the taking of a family photograph.  And, I have one of those in my family for sure.

What about the Invisibooboo?  I”m sure you know what that one is right?  That’s when we put those mysterious bandaids on and we never even see the place that needs it.  Or here’s a good one that applies to my family, THREEMAGEDDON which is the supposed hellfire and brimstone that would erupt should an annoyed mother reach the third digit  while counting aloud to 3 to get a non-compliant child to get his act together..
"ONE !….TWOOOOOOO !!!!…..  "

Eric Ruhalter is the author of a book with more of these funny words and definitions.  If you would like to take a look, the name of the book is The Kid Dictionary and you can find it at that link.  Go give it a whirl, see if you could add some words to it that come from your own children.

I’m curious about you guys?  I’m not sure that there’s alot of you out there reading, the signs don’t necessarily point in that direction, although I’d like to think that there is.  So, I’m wondering if I could get you all to answer a few questions for me.  Tell me who you are, what you like, what you want to read more of, what kind of sites you are interested in me finding for you so you don’t have to. 

So, there’s this little poll below and if you don’t mind answering a few questions, maybe we can vamp up the readers around here so that we could make this a better site, a more useful site. 

So, I ask you, what is it that brings you here?  And, all that good stuff?  I’m really wanting to build this site and I definitely need your help so anything you can give me is good.  Feel free to comment in the comments section or in the poll where it would be more private.  And, if you definitely want them to remain private, they will be there because there’s no where that it asks for a name and I’m not going to go IP hunting just for this.  I’m just curious.

As parents, we all strive to do what we think is best for our children.  There’s a nice set of Blog Carnival sites where you can sit and read parenting, education and family blogs all day long.  A Modern Mother is where it all began and each week people are encouraged to write their blog posts and turn them into one person who will then host the links on their blog.  And, the host blog rotates through the community of writers.

Now, with time being of the essence I get pretty bogged down sometimes and I don’t get my post into the host and get it listed.  But, that’s just me, I can always find tons of awesome information there to read and learn from.  And, besides that, you read enough of me here, you  need to go check out the Blog Carnivals and find some new folks to read. 

So, take a minute go to the Blog Carnival site on A Modern Mother and then you can just sit and read for hours on end.  Because we all know we have nothing else to do but read for hours on end.

And, while you are there, take note that next Tuesday, the 5th of May, the Carnival will be hosted on my personal site, Mom~E~Centric and you can easily get a belly full of parenting links as well as tons of family oriented information.

I haven’t decided why it is that I can’t seem to keep up with some of the big name writers, other than my skill level isn’t quite up to par, because I sure seem to spend an awful lot of time sitting here writing and writing and writing.