Thursday, 28 August 2008 00:00
As my teenage children (not to mention my husband and I) enter those tumultuous college preparation years, they find themselves staring the SAT’s squarely in the face. For many years, teens have believed that that, in order to study for this exam, they would simply need to hole up in their bedroom for weeks at a time with an SAT prep book weighing more than their entire backpacks. Thankfully, the “For Dummies” line has created an innovative game that makes studying much more fun.
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As moms, we all worry whether or not our children consume a healthy and balanced diet. Think of all the schemes we come up with just to add a few more fruits and veggies into the daily menu. However, even with so much focus on our children’s healthy diets, I sometimes find myself letting my own slip. Balanced meals do not always seem so simple when you juggle work, family, afternoon carpools, loads of laundry, and practices that take place during dinnertime, and life can easily become too busy to worry about nutrition. Realfood Organics' Her Daily Nutrition vitamins provide a unique way to supplement your diet with vital nutrients.
Lately I feel like I have spent more time than not on a plane. With constant trips to conferences and meetings, I have traveled back and forth across the country multiple times over the past few weeks. And besides the reading material, music, and snacks that everyone knows are standard airplane necessities, the most important thing I travel with are comfortable clothes. Everyone knows there’s nothing worse than spending a 6 hour flight wishing you’d worn looser pants or a different top. And for moms who are traveling with young kids, why should it be any different for them? I recently came across Planewear, a company started by a mom and former flight attendant that makes plane-ready clothes for kids which aren’t just comfortable, but incredibly cute.
Every year, my husband and I have at least one get-together at our house. Whether it’s a summer barbecue or a holiday dinner, we like to plan something to get our friends and family over and enjoy an evening together. Of course, anyone who has thrown a party knows that what lasts a few hours takes weeks of planning. From designing invitations or calling (and re-calling) all of the guests, planning a menu and coordinating help, and making sure everyone has directions, party planning takes up time that most people just don’t have to spare. I’ll no longer worry, though; I recently discovered Center’d, a website that makes all of this planning come together seamlessly. 
As evening rolls around, I always find myself looking forward to a peaceful dinner. Time to sit down with family, ask about my husband’s day, and hear my kids talk about school, their upcoming soccer games, or the movie we watched last night. Yet dinnertime did not always seem so relaxing. When my kids were younger, every meal had the potential to become a struggle, with my husband and I trying everything possible to get our kids to sit still and eat all of their food – including the vegetables. Most parents can probably relate to this mealtime battle, letting your own food get cold as you deal with picky, messy, or far too easily distracted kids. 
Even though summer is winding down and back to school season has arrived, we still find ourselves always on the go, shuttling kids to and from friends' houses, baseball fields, and music lessons. It also means we're on the lookout for fun and safe activities that will keep the whole family entertained when we get some time to relax together at home.
Moms never have enough hands. Whether you’re juggling one child or several, when you add that to shopping bags, groceries for dinner, laundry, and everything else we carry, two hands just don’t seem like enough. Which is why I find it fantastic that Keen Distribution has brought us The Mommy Hook. This ingenious and effective product is basically a super-sized hook, meant to attach easily to a stroller or cart.
It seems like just a few years ago (because it was!) that my now teenage son would run around the house, pretending to be fighting some sort of evil alliance as I watched him in fascination. He always remained on the lookout for the newest, most technologically advanced blaster, while I just wanted him to have fun and stay safe. With some guns having small parts and dangerous “bullets,” I would worry about him hurting himself – or someone else. Yet the people at Nerf have always been innovative and logical in their design for this type of childhood toy, taking into account both entertainment and safety, and they are at it again.
Candles might qualify as the simplest yet most beautiful way to decorate a room. Whether lit and glowing or simply on display, they provide an effortless way to make any room seem warmer and more inviting. And as the rest of our houses go green, with products ranging from energy-saving light bulbs to organic bed sheets, we can also have eco-conscious candles for our homes thanks to Soy Basics.
Just because we’re moms on the go, doesn’t always mean we travel light. In fact, between the usual items (wallet, phone, keys), beauty accessories, things for our kids (bottles, diapers, toys, changes of clothes), papers, our laptops, a book, snacks for the road, and the list goes on – we barely have room to fit all of the “necessities” in our bags. And that’s without even considering daytrips to Grandma’s or the beach!