You Don’t Have to Break Bad to Get a Healthy Home

Disclosure: I participated in this program on behalf of Seventh Generation and The Motherhood. All opinions are my own. Ahem! I am fully admitting right now that I'm going to climb atop my precarious little soapbox and give you a small spiel.  Don't worry, it won't take long and I swear I don't actually bite.  I drove my neighbors and friends crazy for a while, I will cop to that, but who doesn't when they realize they have the power to change something in small ways but that produces a big impact? I'm talking about the toxins and chemicals that are in your home. Lurking under sinks in the obvious places but also in the not so obvious places like the umbilical cord of a newborn child. SAY WHAT?  … [Read more...]

Coin-Shaped Lithium Batteries- Protect Your Child From Swallowing Them Today

Disclosure: TMC was paid for this post in sponsorship with Energizer and The Motherhood, Battery Controlled and Safe Kids Worldwide.  Opinions and thoughts are TMC's only.  Three kids can bring a lot of emergency room visits.  I should know, I was there just last week when during bedtime the smallest one escaped tooth brushing duties and instead went exploring in my bathroom.  Not more than five minutes could have passed when I heard my middle child yell, "MOM!  The Fifth Element got into your cough syrup!!"  My heart stopped. My cough syrup isn't OTC, which is bad enough. It was just prescribed for pneumonia and contained codeine.  I rushed to her, sniffed her breath, saw a ton of cough syrup on the counter and asked her if she drank it. She burst into tears and I knew she had ingested … [Read more...]

Maintaining My Back-to-School Sanity

Disclosure:  This post was sponsored by The Motherhood for review and educational purposes only. All thoughts and opinions are TMC's only. Last week I decided to start my back-to-school shopping. As I strolled into the store I saw a sign reading, "Virginia Tax Free Day!" Oh, what a happy, lucky coincidence! I would buy my school supplies, coupons in hand and all three kids hanging off the cart and not have to pay taxes. Bonus! Clearly, my intuition failed me. As I walked through the store it was quiet and empty up front. Had a zombie apocalypse occurred without my knowledge? Should I find something sharp to beat off the brain-eaters we might encounter as we selected broad-tip markers? Wait. What is that buzzing sound? That my friends would be the total mayhem that was taking … [Read more...]

The Importance of UV-Protection for You and Your Kids

I wear my sunglasses all the time.  ALL THE TIME.  If it is winter, if it is dusk, if it is pre-dawn and I've been out rockin' till the early morn'. OK, who am I kidding. I am not out rockin' except for maybe once a year. Maybe.  I bet I have my sunglasses on though.  I wear them shoveling snow and even in the rain I can be seen sportin' my shades.  It is something I started doing in high school right around the time I stopped wearing glasses and started wearing contacts.  I cannot drive without sunglasses. I even wear them in the pool. My kids are a whole other story.  One that is fairly sad given that my genes and my spouses already have passed on some weak eyesight in at least one of our kids.  According to the Vision Council short-term exposure, like a day at the pool, can leave … [Read more...]

The Demi Moore Dilemma

I'll be chatting on The Motherhood today with Dr. Vivian Diller, the   author of Face It: What Women Really Feel As Their Looks Change.  It's all about beauty and well being in middle age.    We will talk about the social pressure some women, like Demi Moore and Heather Locklear, who use drugs, plastic surgery and eating disorders in their quest to look young. … [Read more...]