Handmade Thank You Cards by W

Like most kids W loves to color and in the last few months he's really started to actually draw, which is so fun. I like having him create thank you cards, because they're cute and who doesn't love a cute kid drawing for their fridge?!?!

These are W's Christmas thank you cards. I wrote "Thank You" on note cards and then left it up to him, asking what he drew each time... Let's just say I would love to spend a few minutes in this kid's head:

"Dr. Octopus"

"Ironman Fighting A Bad Guy"

"Octopus" (as opposed to his friend Dr. Octopus)

"Oogly Monster"

"Portrait of B"

"Portrait of W"

"Supermans's Car"

"Whale"

"T-Rex Eating a Lemon"

I really love "T-Rex Eating a Lemon" and his self portrait.

Which one is your favorite?

Good Deeds 2012 Week 4: Valentine's Cards For Nursing Home

Good Deed: Made Valentine's Day cards for a local nursing home.

I didn't think of this one on my own, but I love it. Our preschool asked that each kid make cards that will be delivered to a local nursing home for Valentine's Day. Sweet, right?

I love that this is something you can do anytime of year and is a great way to get the kids involved. I tried to explain why we were making the cards, which went something like this:

Me: "Sometimes when people get old they go and live in a place with other old people and people who take care of them."

W: "Am I old?"

Me: "No."

W: "Why do people have to take care of them? Can they go home?"

Me: "Because sometimes old people get sick and that becomes their home. Do you remember seeing Great Grandpa at the place he lives? It's like that."

W: "Do they die?"

Me: (...LONG pause...) "How about we get started on those cards???"

Wow, explaining nursing homes to kids is not easy. And he's been asking about the D-I-E word a lot these days. Thankfully making cards was easy and really fun!

I kept W's interest long enough to make two cards. I'm hoping he'll make a few more with me before the week is over.

What was your good deed this week? Link it up here or leave a comment!

I'm a Kidgrade Ambassador!

When you have kids your eating-out habits are going to change. It's inevitable. For us, it means we  don't eat out as often. And, when we do, we find ourselves at different restaurants than we used to go to and are looking for the best possible place for us to have a good meal and feel comfortable with our kids.

Some restaurants just aren't kid-friendly, which is OK. Maybe they're missing a changing table or only have one high chair. Or maybe they're just complete jerks about the fact that you have kids. Or the food takes fooooorrrreeeevvveeeerrrr and the kids menu is gross and overpriced. All of those things can ruin an experience with kids. We learned early on that when dining out with kids you're looking for good food, an environment accepting of your kids, timely food service, friendly servers, and clean changing tables and high chairs.

To make that easier we have Kidgrade, a site created to help families navigate the places that are worth your time and those that just aren't. It helps take trial and error out of the rare opportunities to go out for dinner.

We've learned a lot of by our own trial and error. I've changed diapers in very creative places and enjoyed my meal with a kid on my lap. We've been the only family in a too-quiet restaurant or waited beyond tantrum time for our food. And every time it sucked.

Matt once commented that it would be awesome if there was a website that rated places for families to help make going out easier. What if parents could find the best fit for them before going out to dinner instead of finding out the hard way? So, imagine how happy I was to find the site already existed and - even better - I get to partner with it!

Check out Kidgrade! Be sure to submit your favorite spots or check the rating before the next time you head out!

On Not Telling My Sister How To Be A Mom

My sister had a baby boy a few months ago. I've been thinking and thinking about how to post about this. Over thinking it, clearly. But, it's hard to explain the experience of seeing your sister have a baby for the first time.

I'm used to being the one with the babies. Waiting while she was in labor was agonizing. We spent a long day at the hospital and at one point my other sister looked at me and said, "This is your first time doing this, isn't it?!?!" Everyone else had played the waiting room game twice while I was the one on the other side of the doors. It was strange to be the one waiting to meet our new little family member.

Up until now I've been the mom and my sisters have been the aunts. And they're truly amazing aunts. They love my kids like no other. I have often wondered how they love them so much. I'm serious. I see how generous they are with their time and gifts and hugs and affection and wonder how you do that for a kid when they're not yours.

But, now I get it. I see how amazing it is to see your sibling become a parent and have an adorable little guy in your life who isn't yours, but feels pretty close to it. And now I know how hard it is not to tell my sister how to be a parent. I'm the older sister. I've always told her what to do, that's just how it goes.

When she calls to ask about sleeping or feeding or going back to work or anything like that I tend to start telling her what she should do. But, that's not my job. My job is to talk it over, listen, give her ideas, and let her know that being a mom is often difficult, nothing works for everyone, and it gets easier.

This weekend we were talking about Baby C's erratic sleep schedule. Some of my ideas don't work with how she wants to parent, but I didn't stop trying to convince her that she should do it my way. I hung up and Matt told me this: "You cannot tell her what to do. She's not your little sister anymore, she's a mom and you have to let her do it her way. She'll figure it out." And he was right. This is the first time I get to sit back and watch her make her own decisions and know that it will all work in the end. In the meantime, I'll just enjoy being an aunt and watching her figure it all out.

Trust Me, You'll Love Baby #2 Just As Much As #1

Almost everyone I know thinking about having Baby #2 has the same thought: There is NO WAY I will love Baby #2 quite as much.

I thought this too. Actually, I was POSITIVE that there was no way that any baby could ever compete with my love for W. I was really nervous that I wouldn't have enough love for both of them or that I'd always favor W. And then B was born... And I can say to parents thinking about Baby #2: You're wrong. You're beyond wrong. And so was I.

I never, ever imagined how different and fiercely you can love another child without any hint of competition or change in your love for your first child. It's hard to grasp, but your heart grows and stretches beyond what you imagined possible, as does your capacity to love. It's just one of those crazy parenting things.

When people ask me about B, I usually tell them that he and I are connected in a special way. I mean it. I feel a very strong, emotional connection to him, as if he and I have known each other for a very long time. It's hard to explain and might sound totally crazy, but I can look at him and know we're on the same wavelength. There are moments when I'm positive I know what he's thinking or that we're in on the same joke. And he loves me in the sweetest way. He has been wrapping his arms around my neck and fiercely hugging me for months and just this weekend he grabbed my cheeks and put his lips to mine. I'm convinced it was the first time he kissed me.

We were all having dinner the other night and W started asking when B will be old enough to play with him more. I asked if he remembered life without B and he had to really think about it... and so did I. As each day passes it's getting harder to remember life before B. It's almost as if we were all waiting for him to get here. And it will be the same for your family. I can't promise many things when it comes to parenting, but I can promise that.

Meal Planning: Week 4 and I'm Less Enthused

Seriously, if it were not for posting it on this blog I'd be going into this week totally clueless about our meal plan. Tonight I gave W peanut butter and jelly and Matt and I had sauteed kale. Just could not bring myself to cook. My enthusiasm is disappearing.

Here we go for this week:

Monday: Pepper chicken in the Slow-Cooker and baked sweet potato fries
Tuesday: Baked paprika chicken with brocolini and salad
Wednesday: Slow-cooker pork tenderloin with brocolini and roasted fingerling potatoes
Thursday: Fritatta with turkey bacon, spinach, potatoes, and parmesan
Friday: Roasted curry root vegetables and chicken

So, what are you making this week? Any great, fast, healthy recipes to share?

Call Me A Mom Blogger, But Don't Treat Me Like An Idiot

There are a few perks of blogging... I often get invited to fun events, I get complimentary products to review and sometimes offer to my readers. In turn, a lot of my non-blogging friends comment on the cool stuff I get and how fun it must be. It is fun, but it's also work, just like any other job.

So, while it seems fun and exciting to get all of this complimentary stuff, there are also pitfalls of having the mom blogger label. Like I said, blogging is like another job. A job I am not paid for, but just like any other job, I expect to be treated like an adult and a professional. Calling me a mom blogger is OK with me, though a lot of "mom bloggers" take issue with it. I take issue with the stereotype, not the title.

I'm going to share an interaction that I had with a PR professional last year to give you a taste of the other side of mom blogging. I agreed to REVIEW a product and do a give away. I am blocking out anything that would tell you the name of the product. I am not going to tell you what it was, only that you can take a look at my PR disclaimer and see my reminder to her.

She asked me to include mention of what a great gift I thought the product was and requested more than I was comfortable doing, to which I replied:

Hi "PR Professional,"

Yes, I will link back to your sites. I'll mention the gift stuff, as long as I really believe it. I don't agree to review products that I am not confident that I'll like, but I'm honest.

So, I laid it out clearly, right? A week late I put my post up and sent her the link. Imagine my surprise when I received this email:

Lisa,

Thanks for sending me the link.  I'm a little disappointed that you posted some negative comments.  I don't see how providing you with a free personalized book is going to help my business with this review . :(   The company that made this book has no relationships with a fishing company.  All I have gotten with other Moms have been great reviews on the books I sent them.  I didn't see any mention to our Facebook and Twiter sites - can you pls put that info in.   Sorry this book wasn't a great fit for you family.  I wish I knew about it ahead of time before you posted the review.

Kind regards,

"PR Professional"

Side note: My review was not negative. Basically she is expecting me do something that is totally unethical and I don't believe in, by not including any thoughts that could be read as negative. And she is also acting as if I was hired and my time is worth about $10, which is roughly the value of the product.

My response...

Dear "PR Professional"

I'm surprised you felt this was a negative review. I think that I gave my readers a good review with an overall positive opinion. However I think you need to understand that I never offer positive reviews, only honest ones: http://hannemaniacs.blogspot.com/p/pr.html

Nowhere did I say this wasn't a good fit for our family. I said it has staying power, will work for years, and that our son may have been a little too young to grasp the story and that we weren't into fishing. Had we been given an option of what book would work best, I would have chosen one that fit, but you never gave me an option.

I'm disappointed that you feel that a blogger should post positive reviews because they receive something for free. I usually receive items that are valued much higher than this and have never received that type of input. If you are looking for someone to "help" your business, you should plan to pay them for it. A book is not payment. I have worked with companies that compensate me in return for partnering with them on a campaign. This was not the case.

I plan to promote the giveaway this week through my Twitter and Facebook pages. Including Twitter and Facebook links were requested, but not part of what I felt was required or works with my post. There are multiple links to your website within the review.

For what it's worth: I'm really surprised the company doesn't have a relationship with Bass Pro Shops. Their logo was on the jacket and the hat of all the bears on every page of the book and the description of going to the store seemed like an advertisement to me. Telling my readers that I felt it was distracting is my honest opinion. Rather than take that as a negative, I would hope you would value the input from your target audience.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks,
Lisa

In her response she admitted that she did her homework and she was incorrect in telling me that I wrong about a particular item in my post and learned something about working with Mom bloggers, which I can appreciate. But, my job is not to teach her a lesson on being professional. When I am working at the job that actually pays me, I don't experience this treatment.

When I first started blogging there was a lot of animosity between PR companies and mom bloggers. It was a dialogue that I walked into. I didn't really know what earlier mom bloggers had experienced, so I kind of rolled my eyes and figured most of these ladies were being big complainers. It couldn't be that bad, right? (To be honest, I have always had pretty good interactions with PR companies.) For all of you non-bloggers, the issues are of compensation, being treated like a professional, being valued for your partnership, etc. etc. And with the perspective I have now, they were right on, but things have started to change in the last couple of years. Except there are still people out there who don't get it. Like this "PR Professional."

I do reviews and giveaways, because they're usually fun and it means I can offer something to my readers. I like when my friends and family ask about the blog and are interested or excited about the opportunities that come my way, but here's the flip side. And I don't take well to people who treat me like I'm an idiot. Because I'm not. And neither are most of the other moms out there blogging.