Johnsons Melt Away Stress Giveaway

Let’s face it – being a mom is stressful. We fulfill endless obligations, problem solve with the best of them, and rarely get the time for a break. Luckily, Johnson’s, the brand that was with us as we grew up and then helped us nurture our own children, understands the busy life of a mom. And the company’s new Melt Away Stress line was created to help. The formula for the line of lotions, moisturizers, and body wash was based on years of research, which, obviously, were well worth it. Everything from the scent right down to the design of the bottles is meant to be calming, and Johnson’s “aromasooth” fragrance not only smells great – it really will help you to relax. There’s something comforting about a brand that sticks with you for life, as well as a product that can truly bring some peace to an otherwise chaotic day.

To help you “Escape Your Stress,” Johnson’s is running a number of promotions and has invited Mom Central to help.

First, the company is offering 3 members of the Mom Central community a chance to relax with some of their Melt Away Stress products, including Johnson’s SOFTWASH Melt Away Stress 24-Hour Moisturizing Wash, Johnson’s SOFTLOTION Melt Away Stress Moisturizing Lotion, and Johnson’s SOFTCREAM Melt Away Stress Dreamy Night Cream. To enter, simply post a comment here by Wednesday, July 9. The winners will be selected at random and contacted for their mailing addresses.

 

Also, Johnson’s connected us with Dr. Michelle R. Callahan, a relationship expert, coach, developmental psychologist, and writer who is working with Johnson’s to help you de-stress. As an expert on not only stress and women’s health, but family and relationships, the Co-Host and Life Coach for BET’s inside-out makeover show REMIXED!, the Resident Relationship Expert for The Tyra Banks Show, and a frequent guest on a number of other national TV shows, Dr. Michelle had plenty of advice for busy moms.

Olive Kids Giveaway

Olive Kids, one of our favorite online destinations for kid-friendly designs, is celebrating summer with Mom Central! The company was started by parents to help other parents decorate their kids’ rooms in fun patterns and adorable designs. The coordinating items (which include a number of personalized products) will ensure that your child has the coolest room in the house.

Even better: Olive Kids is giving away a prize pack to one lucky member of the Mom Central community. The pack, worth over $30 with shipping, features a personalized 4th of July placemat (there are 2 to choose from) as well as both a personalized bookmark and a personalized nametag of your choice (both of which have many to choose from).


Don't forget to read our review of Olive Kids here. And be sure to visit The Olive Kids website to check out the rest of their products.

 
This giveaway is over, but look for more coming soon. And congratulations to Carrie, our Olive Kids winner!

Caffeinated Moms

Today’s moms work hard, find themselves constantly on-the-go, and have become busier than ever. So how do we get through the day? More often than not, with a cup of coffee in hand. According to the National Sleep Foundation, 80% of moms report feeling sleepy during the day, and 65% of moms drink caffeinated beverages in order to fuel their jam-packed schedules, which comes as no surprise to those of us who understand the power of a good caffeine jolt. Rather than being considered an addiction though, most of us see it as a necessity! After all, the sun never sets on our washers and dryers, carpools to practice, phone calls to return, dinners to plan, and emails to answer. In reality, many moms don’t just have a cup of coffee in the morning or grab a Diet Coke during lunch; a number of moms drink full pots of coffee or six-packs of energy drinks daily. Which may keep us on top of our always-too-frantic schedules, but we can’t help but worry about caffeine’s effect on our health.

Is Equality a Reality?

A recent article in The New York Times has received a lot of attention recently. Entitled “When Mom and Dad Share it All,” the article chronicles the lives of some couples engaging in “equal parenting.” These couples split time at home with time at the office as equally as possible, hoping to both earn money while staying involved in their children’s lives. Which, although it sounds ideal to many, is clearly the exception to the rule, and a phenomenon that is unlikely to become a trend. Although every mom who, on average, does twice as much housework and childcare as her spouse, might wish that her husband pitched in more, the reality of equal parenting is not always as perfect as it sounds.

A Special Lunch Date

We were delighted to welcome 12 mom bloggers to our new Mom Central offices last Wednesday for our first Boston-area Mom Bloggers lunch. It was the perfect opportunity to get together with our local mom blogger community and introduce them to our team here at Mom Central.

Give a bunch of bloggers who usually only converse through the written word an opportunity to get together live, and conversation flows! The ladies who joined us cover so many different topics in their individual blogs – family, babies, kids, working from home, working outside of the home, homeschooling, raising teens, single parenting, and so on. You name it, these ladies do it and have an opinion about it! Needless to say, there wasn’t one moment of silence throughout lunch.

Pregnancy Pact in Gloucester: So Many Things Wrong

Recent news about teen pregnancy in Gloucester, Massachusetts, highlighted in Time Magazine, has been spreading like wildfire, controversial not only because the news involved 17 girls in one high school, but because many of them made a pact to get pregnant together on purpose.

Although this story evokes a number of different responses, the main question on my mind is: what went wrong? What failures were there in parents talking to their teens, in schools educating their students, and in community resources reaching out to young adults? Honestly - how many people weren’t paying attention in order for this to happen?

On the girls’ part, they appear to be classic millennials who seemingly lack direction and ambition. Is this a reflection of the economic situation (which, in Gloucester, due to an ever-decreasing fishing industry, is especially bad)? Perhaps these girls couldn’t see a lot of options for their future, found nothing to engage them, and considered this to be their way out. Many of these girls in telling their story believe that pregnancy won’t just bring them unconditional love, but it will make them whole. In fact, they’re so sheltered that they didn’t even think about what pregnancy would mean, about their lives falling apart around it. Rather than thinking through the consequences, these girls instead act impulsively, all too likely believing that their parents would be there to back them up and figure out the details. However, unlike teen rebellions of the past, which involved tattoos, body piercings, and gothic hair, this one has lifelong irreversible consequences.

Sunny Days

As soon as June (and that incredible heat wave) hit, parents started stocking up on sunscreen for their kids, only to find that they had a choice not just of sunscreens for body and face (in a variety of forms, including lotions, sprays, and bars), but sun-protective glasses, hats, bathing suits, shirts, and even the beach towels themselves.

These days, parents are not just stocking up on sun-protection for their kids - this is just a piece of a larger problem - we don’t think we are raising our kids in a safe environment. In fact, we no longer think that our kids are safe anywhere: we give them constant supervision while they play in the back yard, keep them away from any food that might have preservatives or toys that we think could have toxins, and strap them into booster seats until they’re 13. When we were kids, we not only played outside until dark, we never wore sunscreen, which is part of the problem. Now we practically chase our doctors down to have them check out the newest freckle or mark we’ve discovered. We didn’t wear bike helmets back then either, but now any time a child is moving at a speed faster than a walk, you can be sure she’s not only wearing a helmet, but knee and elbow pads as well.

“Sure,” we think, “we can buy some SPF 45 sunscreen and be good parents, or we can buy sun-protective shirts and children’s sunglasses with not just SPF 70, but UVA and UVB protection to the point that kids can barely see through them and be great parents.” Which is exactly how these things get out of control.

Sunscreen is still important – you can be sure my family will be wearing it next time we spend an afternoon outdoors - but there’s a limit to the amount of protection that’s a good thing. Otherwise it won’t be long before we’re locking our kids up in their rooms and forgetting about helmets and sun protection all together.

To read more about this, see the USA Today article in which I commented.

Father's Day with Mommy Daddy Blog

By Sheena at Mommy Daddy Blog

Our third B.O.M.B. Award goes to Sheena. We love her post because she celebrates someone who is important in the lives of moms and kids everywhere - Dad! And even though Father's Day is now behind us, it's never too late to take the time to praise and thank the daddies who change diapers, read bedtime stories, and just love being with their kids.

Today is a very special day for a very special man in my life, Hounz, I mean Greg! Today Greg will be celebrating his very first Father’s Day. Although I’m not showing any signs, I think that I’m actually just as excited about Father’s Day as he is because today will be the first Father’s Day that I’ll get to celebrate too.

Classy Mommy Interview: Dr. Sears on The Vaccine Book

By Colleen Padilla at Classy Mommy

Our second B.O.M.B. Award goes to Colleen because, not only are vaccines one of the hottest topics around right now, but she has brought an archetypal expert to the world of Mom Bloggers. The interview is both thoughtful and really informative, and it's something that will interest us all. Great blog, Colleen!

As a Mom of a 2 year old and 3 month old, I loved The Vaccine Book. I found your writing style and research easy to digest. As a former pharmaceutical sales rep, I really appreciated your comprehensive research into the Product Inserts for each vaccine and your breakdown of each vaccine by brand to show the differences in ingredients dependent upon the manufacturer of each shot. That info coupled with your discussion on what ingredients could be controversial enables parents to draw their own conclusions about each vaccine so they can make the best decision for their children.

Our First B.O.M.B. Award!: Titles. Tags. And labels. STAY AWAY!

By Audrey at Pinks and Blues

Why do we love Audrey's post? Because she says something we've all thought and that makes us strive to be better mothers, despite the fact that it's really easy to fall into the exact conversation she just described. Thanks for the post, and congrats on being the first ever recipient of Mom Central's Best of Mom Blogs award!

I was at the playground yesterday with the boys. There were 4 other mothers standing around next to me watching their kids play.

None of us had ever met, but we all had kids that were about the same ages - 5 and under.

Out of the 5 of us there, 4 of us had 3 children. So there were 14 kids playing together. It was very cute.

But then one of the little boys started crying because his older sister “by mistake” threw sand at him.