Sunday - It's Sometimes One of Those Days That Can't Pass Quickly Enough for Weary Moms

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Parenting

My Teens: Triplets (girl, boy, girl) & Big Brother

iPhone photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com

Sunday usually is a day of productivity, a day to catch up before Monday arrives.  The relaxed atmosphere of the day, which typically starts out for me with sleeping in a little and lolling over the Sunday paper for several hours, is actually very energizing.

Apparently, that was not meant to be today.  From the moment I awoke until the minute before I finally was able to write this short post, there have been constant interruptions.  Try as I might, I couldn't seem to write even a sentence before someone would break my train of thought.  After all, with four teens in the house -- all born within a year, including triplets -- I guess I should expect this kind of chaos daily, right? 

I'll leave the details up to your imagination, because if you are a parent like me I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.  I mean picture mom and dad doing all the housework and errands today, while the kids play on the computer and watch TV, every room in our home is newly messed up even though the housekeeper was just here yesterday.

You get the idea: us parents are all in this together.  Raising kids is hard and constant work even when your children are 14 and 15 as mine are. 

So, when you ask me how was my weekend? I'll simply reply, And You?  Then, we'll look at each other knowingly.  I'm sure we will both smile smugly at each other, too, knowing that -- for us both we'll be really glad when Monday finally arrives and some normality returns to our existence as parents.

What are your savvy parenting tips for surviving weekends with one or more children home? Please share your advice generously here.

FTC Disclosure:  MommyBlogExpert did not receive any payment or other compensation directly associated with this post.  See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.

Where Does Mommy Go? A Story for Children Who Have Moms That Work - Book Review

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Books

Where Does Mommy Go? by Shelley Hallier and illustrated by Richele Collins is a hard cover illustrated children's book focused on bonding with mom.  

Hallier, a first-time author living in Missouri, is a mommy of three who spent 12 years working in a corporate job.  Right after her twins were born she wrote this book for other working moms to share with their kids.

Suited for reading to toddlers and preschoolers, this book is also fun for older children to read to a parent.  The colorful and whimsical prose and illustrations depict moms in all kinds of roles both extraordinary and ordinary -- from super hero to pediatrician -- that are certain to ignite a child's imagination and love for their mommy. 

The story also sets the stage for inspiring interactive dialogue so little ones can be reassured that though their moms work outside the home, they still are missed and loved.

The book's closing lines get the intended purpose across succinctly.

She could be working in an office, as busy as can be

But I know no matter where she is she'd rather be with ME.

Where Does Mommy Go? $14.99 is available on Amazon and directly from the author at WhereMommyGoes.com

Do you talk to your child about your job and what you do all day?   Does your son or daughter ever ask if you'd rather be with her or him than go to work?

FTC Disclosure:  I received the book from the author to facilitate this review.  However, MommyBlogExpert did not receive any payment or other compensation directly associated with this post.  See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.

Social Moms Network Has Completely Reinvented Itself With Sleek New Site & Member Loyalty Program

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Mom Bloggers

Janis Brett Elspas (me) and Social Moms Founder, Megan Calhoun

At a book launch for mommy author Kimberley Blaine

iPhone photo courtesy of MommyBlogExpert.com

Just got a really exciting email from Megan and Sasha, Sally and Alysha of the SocialMoms team.  The SocialMoms 3.0 roll out, that's been in the works for almost a year, has finally launched and will be continuing to roll out new features in the weeks and months ahead.  

How perfectly timed this major mom blogging industry announcement is ahead of BlogHer 11, the largest blogging conference of the year for women like you and me who blog -- and the brands targeting us moms in particular!  Megan, I look forward to celebrating this major mommy blog leadership stepping stone in person next week in San Diego.

Effective immediately, the core networking site has moved from SocialMoms.com to the new site address which is  http://www.socialmoms.net.  For existing Social Moms members like me, I can tell you that your profile and settings will remain the same, since I just logged in to the new site just now to check it out. 

When you log in yourself, you'll see that you can easily get to the network by just clicking the network's tab in the navigation bar on top.  New members:  all you have to do is go to the brand new Social Moms site to sign up and join our community.

Based on my own initial experience today, I think the new site is sleekly designed and much easier to navigate than its predecessor.  New channels on the network include Tech, Health, Style, Green, Entertainment, Food, Money, Politics, and Reading.  This makes the new SocialMoms site, in my opinion, the CNN of the mom social media networking world.

How to Join the My SocialMoms Rewards Loyalty Program

It's as easy as going to SocialMoms and then from there connecting  to the network via your Facebook account to log in to the new site.  As promised, the whole process of signing up for the loyalty program, should only take you minutes.   All U.S. residents are invited to join today to start earning points that can be redeemed for Gift Cards, Paypal payments, charitable donations, and more.

Get started by simply liking Social Moms on Facebook or following them on Twitter and you will be immediately enrolled.  You can earn your first 500 points just by adding your profile info to the loyalty program.  Then continue earning more points by doing things such as sharing content by and for moms from Facebook and Twitter, writing quality articles for one of the new channels, by participating in their sponsored blogging opportunities and more.

Megan Calhoun, the founder of the original SocialMoms -- which gone through several major redesigns during the past few years -- says that the site is new so get ready for a few bumps as they grow.  She also explains that the ability to earn points for the SocialMoms Insider app will be expanding over the coming weeks and months. To stay up-to-date with all the activity and new opportunities, Megan's staff will be producing a weekly newsletter describing ways for you to earn My SocialMoms Rewards points.

FTC Disclosure:  I'm a long-time member of the SocialMoms community and just joined the My Social Moms Loyalty Program.  Also, Social Moms is an advertiser on this blog.  However, MommyBlogExpert did not receive any payment or other compensation directly associated with this post.  See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.

Stop Toddler Preschool Brain Drain this Summer With Some FREE Educational, Fun Projects

Education

Adventures of Scuba Jack Go Fish Game

A free download from AdventuresofScubaJack.com

There's still a month or so of summer, depending on when your child goes back to school.  So, if you haven't been engaging your young kid's mind every day since the last day of class, not to worry there's still time to stop the infamous summer brain drain.

A multitude of resources exist online that both you and your child will love, as well as benefit from.  Best of all, these intellectual projects also involve creativity and they're really fun for your kids to do alone or for you to do with them based on their age, motor skills, and mental abilities.  Games are a proven way for young children to learn and activities such as Scuba Jack Go Fish which is pictured here is available on their site as a complimentary downloadable pdf.

Adventures of Scuba Jack is a wonderful source online and off for families with kids from 2-6 years old to get ideas for crafts as well as to download worksheets, learning activities, thematic units, online games, and a Preschool Assessment tool.   There is even an assortment of articles for parents to read on all sorts of growth opportunities for your family when you visit their website.


This wonderful site also has a FREE Homework Club for kids that rewards children who send in their work with special prizes.

The rewards for taking advantage of such gratis resources such as this  are too many to count.  Certainly your child will be entertained for hours but they'll also be reinforcing and building new skills that can give them a significant edge when school begins in the fall.

With still some time left this summer, what are you waiting for?  We all know that our children will all grow up too fast.  Check out this site today for lots of really cool stuff that will make mom, dad, and all the little happy till school begins. 

Remember: Your kids are going to be in high school before you know it!

My daughter, as a toddler.  I can't believe she starts 9th grade this fall

Vintage photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com

About Adventures of Scuba Jack
Created by a teacher, Adventures of Scuba Jack, offers an amazing variety of books, DVDs, and other educational materials that are both fun and inspiring.  In addition to products parents of preschoolers will appreciate the site also offers thematic curriculum units for teachers and homeschoolers.

FTC Disclosure:  MommyBlogExpert did not receive any payment or other compensation associated with this post.  See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.

BlogHer 11 Parties - How to Secure an Invite, Even After the Event is Fully Booked

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BlogHer 11

Wine Sisterhood is among brands participating in the exclusive invite-only parties at BlogHer 11

iPhone Photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com

Landing party invites for BlogHer 11 in San Diego, August 5-6 is harder than quickly writing a challenging blogpost before a sponsored opportunity fills up, it seems, LOL.  

So wanted to share some helpful advice with you that I've learned through my own experiences in arranging my schedule-in-progress for next week -- and which includes just a handful of confirmed party invitations as of now.

New BlogHer brand events announced this morning via official BlogHer email -- including Verizon Wireless, Pepsi Co, California Raisins, and LG Mobile Phones, filled up in less than a half hour and none have wait lists.  I missed out on all these parties, like many of you, because I wasn't quick enough to RSVP.

But, again like some of you, I was lucky to enter in time to at least have a chance to attend the luncheon sponsored by McDonalds on August 5th.  I also submitted my information by last week's deadline to Dove Ice Cream to be considered for their special BlogHer event.  So I still am hoping for a ticket to one or both of those affairs. 

There have been several Twitter parties too, the past several weeks (with a few more Tweetups that you might still be able to participate in) giving would-be party goers a chance to win a coveted party ticket.  To find out about these, be sure to follow the right people on Twitter and read their Twitter feeds to find out about giveaways like this which are usually promoted in advance with a hash tag.

The other thing I'm doing, you might want to consider too.   It's volunteering at a party or two so that you can still be able to participate.  Honest, this is a really good way to secure party admittance if you didn't luck out and get a ticket early.  Besides, when you work behind the scenes there's a bonus.  It paves the way to developing some unique, lasting relationships with brands and event organizers that you may not have been able to achieve as a mere invited party guest.

If you'd still like to try and get into some of the very popular invite-only affairs,  check the BlogHer 11 sponsor promotion page as well as stop in at each brand's booth that you're interested in at the Exhibit Hall in the San Diego Convention Center to see if there have been any last-minute cancellations.  You never know when an opening might come up at the right moment.

After all that, you still haven't secured any party invites?  Not to worry.  The good news is that there are plenty of official, really fun BlogHer parties and social events for everyone to attend that you don't even need an RSVP for.  So check out the conference section on the BlogHer website for info on parties that are open to all attendees.

Good luck to everyone in getting to the events that you are wishing for most!

FTC Disclosure: I am attending BlogHer 11 as a mommy blogger as well as a panelist during the conference.  MommyBlogExpert did not receive any payment or other compensation associated with this post.  See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.