MOM CONFESSIONALS

It’s entertaining season for many, especially this household!  With the upcoming holidays and my son’s birthday, there’s more than one party to be had.  I finally bucked up and purchased a rolling garment rack!  A quality commercial grade one can be found for as little as $60 at Bed Bath & Beyond or Container Store.  It is an awesome investment which I wish I had purchased sooner.

Gone are the days of collecting guests jackets and unsanitarily piling them on top of our bed.  Now they will hang organized on a rolling garment rack and make a much prettier presentation!

When there’s not a party to be had, it can be folded for easy storage or in my case, making me one step closer to a neater laundry room, I’ve found it handy to hang clothing that need to be air dried or hung to stay wrinkle free.

What tips have you picked up over the years of entertaining?

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Mathematics illuminates patterns that abound in our lives, providing clarity and structure. Explore surprising aspects of math in the Math Midway, a fun-filled exhibition from the Museum of Mathematics. This traveling exhibition runs from now until January 22, 2010 and provides an interactive, hands-on tour of mathematical concepts, all in a colorful, carnival style.  Looking for things to do this upcoming holiday vacation? Take them to Liberty Science Center’s Math Midway.  It’s the perfect activity to engage the kids and keep their minds fresh!

Guests of all ages will delight in:

• Riding on a square-wheeled tricycle to discover why the ride is so smooth.
• Playing the Wheel of Chance – Pick three cards – which one is most likely to come up when you spin the wheel? Keep spinning until you’ve got a winner!
• Experimenting with the Ring of Fire, using a laser beam to find hidden shapes within shapes.
• Marveling at mind-bending mirrors.
• Creating a giant pattern or “tessellation,” of monkeys in a puzzle-like pattern.
• Getting into the swing of harmonics with the Mysterious Harmonograph, which creates beautiful swirling patterns on paper.
• And more!

Debuting at the 2009 World Science Festival Street Fair in New York City, the Math Midway has since delighted families and school groups throughout the country. It makes math fun for all ages!  From babies playing with the building blocks to adults riding the square wheeled tricycle.  The Math Midway is free with paid admission or membership to Liberty Science Center.

The Museum of Mathematics will have its grand opening in 2012 at 11 East 26th Street in Manhattan. Its mission is to enhance public understanding and perception of mathematics. Dynamic exhibits and programs will stimulate inquiry, spark curiosity and reveal the wonders of mathematics. Through these activities, a broad and diverse audience will understand the evolving, creative, human and aesthetic nature of mathematics. For more information about the ongoing development of America’s only Museum of Mathematics, or to join our effort, visit MoMath.org.The new Math Midway exhibit at Liberty Science Center explores surprising aspects of math, a fun-filled exhibition from the Museum of Mathematics.Experience Ride the Square-Wheeled Tricycle; Spin the Universal Wheel of Chance; Dare to challenge the Ring of Fire; Look at the Mind-bending Mirror!

GIVEAWAY: Liberty Science Center is giving away a Family 4-pack of tickets to one lucky Mom Confessionals family!  To ENTER, from now until November 15th 2011 you MUST subscribe to Mom Confessionals.  For additional entries – 1st Option – If you follow me on twitter @momconfessional and re-tweet this giveaway (I just entered @momconfessional’s @gotsci #LSCmath #Giveaway and you should too! http://wp.me/pLvfH-19z) – 2nd Option – If you “like” us on Facebook and share the giveaway with your friends. DON’T FORGET to visit this FORM and leave a separate entry for each action. Giveaway only open to those with U.S. addresses and must be 18 years or older. Giveaway ends on November 15th 2011 at 11:59 EST. A winner will be selected randomly by Random.org and notified by e-mail.

{ disclosure: photographs provided by Liberty Science Center }

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ONE Moms is a movement of moms everywhere using their extraordinary power to spread awareness for the fight against extreme poverty and something very near and dear to me, preventable diseases.  I am thrilled and honored to be ONE of these moms.  Ava and I recently sat down with some truly amazing moms doing their part and filmed this Call to Action and I hope you’ll join us!  These moms are leading a movement to promote education, engagement and activism on behalf of the world’s poorest.

It only takes ONE mom. That’s what we believe. ONE mom can make a difference; she can tell another mom’s story. She can help a child with homework; she can tweet, blog and use her voice for mothers in the world’s poorest places.  As I said in the video, “It only takes ONE mom to inspire hope.”  Won’t you be that ONE mom?  To learn more about ONE, please visit: http://www.one.org/us/actnow/moms/

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I wonder how parents do it.  Lately it seems that my little girl is growing leaps and bounds before my very eyes.  First it was her very first day of school and now her big move to her big girl bed!  From her adorable cute and small little toddler bed to a grown-up full-size bed.  I know!  A full-size bed!  I struggled with this too!  But remembering that day, months before she graced us with her appearance, standing at the furniture store, I assured my husband that a convertible bed was the best investment we could make.  Who knew he’d hold me to that!  Ever hear about the crazy pregnant lady?!

And now the day is here, having outgrown the toddler bed, she wanted a bigger bed.  Although I don’t think she realized how big her bed was going to be and her parents didn’t give enough thought to spacial arrangement.  Daddy abandoned the new full-size bed smack dab in the middle of the room and left me to figure it out.  Thank goodness, mom here (yea that’s me! tooting my own horn!) has some design sense and figured it all out.  I think I deserve a pat on the back for this creative design!

Welcome to Ava’s new room now including a reading nook! At first we were going to move the bookshelf against the wall along side her bureau drawer but I worried she might fall out of her bed which was now twice as high as her toddler bed.  Moving the bookshelf, back to bed, luckily a finished bookcase back, solved my dilemma and created a beautiful unintentional little reading nook.  She now also has a place bedside for her clock and a glass of water.

Here’s the irony — while Ava has upgraded to her big girl bed, Grandma decided she needed to downgrade to a twin-size bed.  Go figure!

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There is nothing I love more than when a brand partners with an organization to do good and create awareness.  This time it is baby staple, Maclaren!

Recently Maclaren was introduced to Tracy Seckler, founder of an organization called Charley’s Fund. Charley’s Fund directs money into the hands of researchers who have the best shot at developing a treatment or cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). The organization’s goal is to cure DMD in time to save Charley Seckler’s (the organizations namesake) life and the lives of thousands of boys like him. DMD is the most common fatal genetic disorder to affect children around the world.  Children with DMD cannot produce dystrophin, a protein necessary for muscle strength and function.  As a result, every skeletal muscle in the body deteriorates.  Although Duchenne is the most common fatal genetic disorder to affect children, sadly, there is no cure.

When Maclaren learned of this illness – which is commonly diagnosed when in boys only around the ages of 1 to 3 years – last year, their Chairman wanted to use the Maclaren name to help bring awareness of this disorder AND raise money to find a cure.  They created the Charley’s Fund “I Believe” Triumph buggy. The stroller will retail for $195 (and will include a special “I Believe” Universal Organizer and raincover).  While most companies donate a portion of their sales to a charity, Maclaren has gone above and beyond buy giving ALL proceeds from the sale directly to Charley’s Fund to support research to find a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

Many of us have family and friends who are either suffering from a terminal illness or disease or know of someone who does.  My family right now is dealing with my mother’s cancer diagnosis and in my job I am often meeting new families dealing with their own difficult diagnosis.  It’s through companies like Maclaren, taking the initiative, helping consumers make more thoughtful purchases, that there is hope.  If you’re in the market for a new umbrella stroller, won’t you consider a stroller that will help fund research for a now incurable, but soon to be curable disease?  With time and money, it is possible!

The stroller is available exclusively in Maclaren’s Online Store – http://www.shopmaclarenbaby.com/charleys-fund-i-believe-buggy/

To learn more about Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, please visit – http://bit.ly/r1rlLo or follow Charley’s Fund on Twitter (@charleysfund) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/charleysfund).

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Jennie Finch, USA Softball Player and Mom, is a Shout stain expert. Jennie has encountered her share stains between her years playing softball years and caring for her 4 ½ year old son, Ace and newborn baby boy, Diesel. Jennie has 27 Lessons for Life: On and Off The Field, offering lessons about life, laundry, play and stains each week on Shout’s Facebook page and Twitter handle.  I got a sneak preview of a few and here is one of my favorite tips to get you worrying less about stains and simply enjoying life:

So what’d you think?  Will you being carrying your camera every where?  I certainly do already!  If you know me, my camera is never far away and my kids know the lens real well.  They’re still young but I love going back and looking at all my photos of them since birth.  I love the ones that capture faces and moments only a mother could love.

GIVEAWAY: ONE (1) lucky reader will win a Shout caddy full of the entire Shout product line, Jennie’s brand new autographed book, and a Shout T-shirt!  To ENTER, from now until October 31st 2011 you MUST subscribe to Mom Confessionals.  For additional entries – 1st Option – If you follow me on twitter @momconfessional and re-tweet this giveaway (I just entered @momconfessional’s Shout #Giveaway and you should too! http://wp.me/pLvfH-18t) – 2nd Option – If you “like” us on Facebook and share the giveaway with your friends. DON’T FORGET to visit this FORM and leave a separate entry for each action. Giveaway only open to those with U.S. addresses and must be 18 years or older. Giveaway ends on October 31st 2011 at 11:59 EST. A winner will be selected randomly by Random.org and notified by e-mail.

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Designed around Sesame Workshop’s “Healthy Habits for Life” initiative which helps young children establish an early foundation of healthy habits, Sesame Street: Ready, Set, Grover! reinforces that message through game play. Kids will join their favorite Sesame Street characters like Elmo and Abby, playing through a serious of challenges laid out by Grover.  The game promotes physical activity, good nutrition, personal hygiene by exercising hand-eye coordination as well as their imaginations.  As I’m teaching my daughter how to brush her teeth properly and cover her mouth when sneezing, I appreciate the fun reinforcement from some of her favorite Sesame Street friends.  The game also teaches other critical skills such as counting, shape and color identification, classification, and listening comprehension which we can never get enough of.

Sesame Street: Ready, Set, Grover! for Nintendo DS comes with a FREE Grover jumbo-click stylus designed for smaller hands and a handy wrist strap.  Rated EC for Early Childhood and available nationwide, games like these help make embracing video games so much easier.  Ever since she’s gotten a DS it’s been a struggle to find games that aren’t just about play but learning too.  You can always count on Sesame Street to bring that component to the table.  On long road trips, I am perfectly okay with my daughter playing her Nintendo DS as long as she’s learning something.  Ready… Get Set… Get Ready, Set, Grover!

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Written by Dr. JJ Levenstein, M.D., FAAP, president and co-founder of MD Moms
With the school year under way, children’s health should be a top priority for every family. Whether your little one has just started pre-school or is back to high school after a long summer break, making sure your child is healthy is vital to academic success. The following tips will ensure the entire family stays happy and healthy in these first few weeks of school and throughout the rest of the year.

Maintain healthy eating habits all day long. To maximize your child’s learning, make sure to leave time for a healthy breakfast. Without food to fuel their brains, children may find concentrating and learning in class difficult. A healthy, complete breakfast should include complex carbohydrates (such as whole grains and fruit), as well as protein and plenty of water. Avoid beverages high in sugar in order to avoid a potential high/low sugar surge. At school, lunch and snack times give children the energy boost they need to maintain their momentum all day long. When preparing food for your child to take to school, make sure to include different food groups, such as protein, dairy, vegetables and fruit. Examples of healthy snacks that can help your child refuel and stay focused on schoolwork include low-fat cheese sticks, nuts, whole-wheat crackers and yogurt.

Don’t put too much stress on the back. Your child’s spinal health is important to keep in mind each school year. When a child’s backpack is too heavy or worn incorrectly,muscles can fatigue or become overused, leading to back pain and muscle imbalance. Make sure your child’s backpack is the right size for his or her body and frame. Also, pack the heaviest items closest to the back, with lighter items in the front. One of the most important things to remember about backpack safety is that a child’s backpack should not weigh anymore than 10 to 20 percent of his or her body weight.

Sun protection shouldn’t end with summer vacation. Although students are in the classroom most of the day, they are often outside during recess, lunch and after-school activities. These activities happen in the peak UV sun hours (10 a.m. – 4 p.m.). Frequently, children are sent out to play without the protection of sun block, hats or sunglasses. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends using at least an SPF 15 sunscreen that offers both UVA and UVB protection. As a general rule, use one ounce of sunscreen (the size of a shot glass, or a palm full) per application. A good practice is to apply sunscreen in the car, enroute to school. Encourage your child to re-apply at lunchtime and after school if anticipating afternoon outdoor activities. MD Moms’ Baby Silk Babysafe Sunscreen Towelettes, for example, contain SPF 30+ physical sunscreen and are easy to pack in your child’s book bag. Just be sure to check with your school before packing sunscreen, as some administrators require a doctor’s note prior to allowing a child to self-apply sun protection.

Don’t forget yearly checkups. Annual checkups with your child’s healthcare provider are pertinent to their learning success, and in fact many schools require them. At these checkups, children usually are screened for vision and hearing problems, allergies, anemia, sleep dysfunction and other issues that could hinder academic performance. Seeing your child’s doctor annually is a proactive way to avoid problems such as having trouble seeing the blackboard or hearing teachers speak.

Beware of germs. Sicknesses ranging from common colds to more serious maladies can spread easily between children during the school day. In order to curtail the spread of germs, make sure to teach your child the importance of washing his or her hands before meals and snacks, and encourage your child to NOT share food or beverages with other children, and practice “covering his cough”. Also, at your child’s annual checkup, make sure immunizations are up to date. Equipping your child with a small container of wipes or hand sanitizer makes remembering easy.

Extra points for staying active. By sitting behind a desk all day, children have less time for physical activity during the school year than they do in the summer. As a parent, you can find creative ways to maximize your time with your child by being active together. Turn on music and dance, have a pillow fight, race while walking home from school or clean the house together — anything to increase everyone’s heart rate and benefit cardiovascular health. Try to walk or bike to school, distance permitting.

Z’s lead to A’s. The more sleep a child gets, the better he or she is able to concentrate and excel in school. The school day can be exhausting and it is a parent’s job to make sure a child gets enough sleep to remain alert and refreshed throughout the school day. Generally, preschoolers need 12 hours (which can include naptime), kindergarteners need 11 hours, and children eight and older need an average of 10 hours. A healthy amount of sleep is important for both your child’s physical and emotional well-being.

GIVEAWAY: ONE (1) lucky reader will win a set of MD Moms Sunscreen Wipes!  To ENTER, from now until October 15th 2011 you MUST subscribe to Mom Confessionals.  For additional entries – 1st Option – If you follow me on twitter @momconfessional and re-tweet this giveaway (Staying safe with MD Moms and @momconfessional’s #Giveaway! http://wp.me/pLvfH-17r) – 2nd Option – If you “like” us on Facebook and share the giveaway with your friends. DON’T FORGET to visit this FORM and leave a separate entry for each action. Giveaway only open to those with U.S. addresses and must be 18 years or older. Giveaway ends on October 1st 2011 at 11:59 EST. A winner will be selected randomly by Random.org and notified by e-mail.

{ disclosure:  Mom Confessionals was not compensated in any way for this post, nor did we receive any samples.  We believe in these few simple tips that while obvious, is so important. }

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There are points in history they say you’ll never forget.  Until that one fateful morning, I hadn’t found one moment that I would never forget.

It was a morning, just like any other morning.  In the corporate communications office of Merrill Lynch bright and early, readying for the day.  I changed from my sneakers into my pumps, grabbed my wallet and was about to head down to the cafeteria to grab some breakfast when we noticed a plane coming awfully close to the building and then CRASH!

Everyone froze and many scrambled to turned on their televisions in their offices.  It was business as usual on TV and one of my co-workers muttered, “What an idiot, how did he not see the building.”  A bunch of us stood by the window gaping, wondering what to do, if the people in the plane and building were okay.  The news had now picked up on the crash but still, no one knew what was going on.  Then my boss said, “There’s another plane.  Why’s he coming so close?”  Another co-worker wondered if there was some computer malfunction and then the second crash.

My boss grabbed me by the back of my shirt and I fell out of my shoes, I quickly lunged to pick them up as he dragged me towards the stairs, he said to me, “That was NOT an accident.”  Everyone was running towards the door.  While the alarms had sounded, it was eerily quiet, mixed with a few sniffles, as everyone filed orderly into the stairwell and down 32 flights of stairs to the streets.   My shoes were still in my hands as I stared up at the two burning buildings.  My co-worker came up next to me and said, that’s not rain and we both turned away in realization.  As we were directed to walk north along the west-side highway up to a satellite office, I kept wondering what movie this was.  Unable to comprehend what was happening.  I held my co-workers arm tightly as we wept and walked.

There was silence, until the screeching and screams, we turned around to see the first building falling down and ran as the smoke started coming towards our direction.  We ran and ran and ran until we reached our satellite office and were ushered right in,  I had no more breath.  We all sank to the floor unable to process what had happened and I still was trying to figure out what movie this was, because this couldn’t be happening.  Even the most collected of people seemed turned around.  Some people went into crisis mode, following company protocol, and others like me, just didn’t know what to do.  We all wanted to call someone, anyone, but all the phone lines were down.  As my colleague started to take a head count we realized one of our own was missing.  He wasn’t in his office, he wasn’t on the streets, we tried calling his cellphone, no one could remember seeing him.  Then the realization hit, he was at the World Trade Center.  He was suppose to be delivering a press conference on the 106th floor of 1 World Trade Center when the attack occurred.  We all hoped and prayed he wasn’t in the building.  Maybe he was late someone said.  We all knew better.  Robert, fondly known as “Bob”, McIlvaine was never late.  Everyone gave each other hugs and parted to find their loved ones.  Still in a daze, I headed north with some of my co-workers.  My feet were blistered from walking in heels and I took them off and started to walk uptown barefoot.  For the most part it was a quiet walk, bidding well wishes and farewell to co-workers at different points.  Storefronts along the way were passing out water.  Parked cars had their windows open with their radios turned up so we could hear the news as we walked by.  By the time I hit 34th Street and the west side, I was by myself.  My mom’s office was still another 25+ blocks away.  A middle eastern man asked me if I’d like to walk along with him and I said yes.  He stopped by a nail salon and purchased me a pair of $5 slippers to walk in.  He told me he was trying to get to his daughter’s school and then to his wife’s office.   He told me he would walk with me as far as he could which was about 20 blocks.  I was so grateful for his company.  We didn’t say much else to each other but it was still comforting to walk together.  I’ll never forget his kindness.  The rest of the days and weeks were a blur.

I remember the sickening feeling I had when my boss announced that we were going to back to the World Financial Center as one of the first companies back.  To show America and the world, that we would not be broken.   I remember walking into our building, which was once alive with thousands of people chattering away and the now eery silence and the elevator that only went to 2 floors – our floor and ground floor.  I remember being one of the first to walk through those elevator banks and back into our offices, now cleared of old breakfast trays and coffee cups.  My sneakers still under my desk and the September 11th New York Times and Wall Street Journal, yellowed with age, sitting on my desk.  I held back the tears, as did my coworkers, but I could see we all had that same watery glint in the corner of our eyes.  I remember my co-worker walking over to Bob’s office and closing the door.  I remember thinking, it will never be the same again.

Many people assumed when I left my job at the World Financial Center, it was to move onto the next step in my career.   While that was true, I had also imagined myself with a long career at this company but the memories of that day haunted me at every turn.  In the years since I’ve left, I’ve never gone back to the site, averted my eyes when I’m in the area.  With every thought, the emotions were overwhelming.  If I didn’t look, if I didn’t think about it, it would be okay.  My whole life changed on that fateful day, as many others would also say.

In honor of those lost, make your life have meaning.  Give someone a hug, help a stranger, share the love.  Give a smile.

[image from: http://www.theharrowgroup.com/articles/20020401/WTC_facts.htm]

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Yesterday was my daughter’s very first day of school as she entered Pre-K.  No one could have been looking forward to this day more than I.  I had been dreaming of this moment before she was even born along with many other dreams.  Filled with excitement as she got dressed in her Nerdy but Cute T-shirt, her staple leggings with her new velcro (requested) Puma sneakers and her beautiful Land’s End back pack.  We spent the night before perfecting her First Day of Pre-K sign for our family photo commemorating the occasion.  Mommy drew an apple and wrote “First Day of” and Ava who had been working hard on her penmanship wrote “PRE-K” and brought out her inner artist and drew a beautiful flower, “because I love you Mommy!”

My family must have been quite a sight at this prim and proper school as my husband, sister and I escorted Ava to school and into her classroom, taking loads of pictures along the way.  Pictures of the front entrance, picture of her cubby, picture of her desk, picture of her attendance apple, picture of her wall.  We were just so excited for her!

The hardest part of the past few years is the lingering guilt I have for taking her out of daycare.  With my career change and subsequent schooling, we no longer could afford to send her.  I was racked with guilt taking her out in an environment she was so thriving in.  Every day, even at the tender age of 2 years old, she was giddy to go to school (daycare).  She loved her teacher and her teacher loved her.  Every day she learned something new, and her teacher said there didn’t seem to be a task she couldn’t tackle.  She was a sponge, a very gifted sponge her teacher said.  It broke my heart sending in the letter to the teacher letting her know we could no longer afford to send her.  On her very last day, her teacher cried and hugged her tight.

For the past two years as I pushed forward with school, she spent most of her days with her grandmother.  While it was a wonderful time filled with love, it was not a teaching environment.  She spent most of those days watching TV or causing trouble per grandma.  We interpreted that as her being bored.  She was yearning for stimulation and education.  Whenever we could and not as often as we would have liked, we took her to museums and aquariums and other education events and you could see the dancing lights in her eyes.  While my excitement for this day was exploding, hers was palpable.  We had been preparing for this day ever since she got her acceptance letter.

As expected my outgoing girl had no problem acclimating.  She practically burst through those doors if we hadn’t been holding her hands ever so tightly.  She embraced her new teachers and didn’t hesitate to bid us farewell — shooing us out the door as we snapped some last few shots… She was right at home… and so our big girl was off to school!  The first of many more…

I can’t wait to hear about her day… every day…

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