1 minute ago

#blogging
#parenting
#getting real
#confessions
#giveaways
“The Best Mom” is not a Title I Earn Every day →
Ok, bear with me here as I explain the backstory. I wrote this post — “Why I am not as fabulous a parent as my blog suggests“ — wherein I talk about, well, just that, plus feature some pictures of EasyLunchboxes because combining two items in one compartment was the trigger for this huge tantrum that almost made me start tantruming in tandem.
Kelly Lester, the owner of EasyLunchboxes, was inspired to write up this post on her blog in response:
Most of the things you read on my website and this blog, not to mention what you see in my videos, would lead you to believe that I always wear heels and an apron in the kitchen, where I enjoy every. single. minute of packing perfectly balanced rainbow colored lunches for my children, in between sharing household and parenting tips with my fans via every social media platform on the planet. My lipstick is red and my smile is bright to welcome my husband, who sweeps in with roses from our garden which has not one piece of fence that needs mending. 
[…]
I often work in my pajamas till mid-afternoon, sometimes I’m so busy I don’t even wash my face till I go to bed at night (that’s so gross), I pretty much can’t stand cooking (even though I do it and I’m fairly good at it), the girls pretty much hate helping around the house , and I’m way too often short with them and the hubby. In fact, I don’t spend nearly as much time with them as I should, simply because I’m working. What’s THAT about? Of course family is more important than work she said while typing this post, listening to all of them in the other room without me.
As much as I love the pretty-pretty of parenting blogging (because that can be just as real), I appreciate the bloggers who confess, who cut away the masks and let us see parenting-as-it-is.
Incidentally, I was inspired to ask Kelly to host a giveaway of EasyLunchboxes, which has gone live today:
Giveaway: EasyLunchboxes Waste-Free Lunch Box Set $22 ARV {1.11; US/Can}
So how’s that for synergy? Head over to try to win a set for yourself — but do not,under any circumstances, combine two foods in a single compartment. Or you will bear the unholy wrath of a four-year-old. You have been warned.

23 hours ago

#Christmas
#holidays
#green living
#minimalism
#budgeting
Momma Jorje: Monday Minimalist: Giftmas →
From utilities to wrapping paper to holiday cards, great ways to keep expenses down at the holidays!
2 days ago (3 notes)

#body image
#breastfeeding
#postpartum
#comments
#blogging
#stats
I’m Guessing Victoria’s Secret Wasn’t Stretch Marks « Imperfect Happiness →
Love this post on the Victoria’s Secret catalog vs. real-life mothers, particularly the part where she muses on which clothes are nursing-friendly, and then this:
I began imagining the catalog with real-life moms as models, something like a Victoria’s Secret meets The Shape of a Mother. In this imaginary catalog, stretch marks and green and purple veins radiate from the tops of push-up bras. Thighs are rippled rather than taut, just as nature intended. Calves resemble topographical maps with varicosities forming the contour lines. The exposed midriffs look deflated or doughy, depending on whether the model is contracting her transverse abdominals or not. Flesh yields to elastic waistbands. I know some of these models are moms, but I don’t understand how they’ve avoided stretch marks, cellulite, and that inelastic skin on their bellies that I thought was universal.
via (this is kind of convoluted) http://touchstonez.com/2011/12/06/in-response-to-gettin-nothin-but-stat-sick/ which was writing about http://imperfecthappiness.wordpress.com/2011/12/05/gettin-nothin-but-stat-sick/ which referenced this post. The follow-up http://imperfecthappiness.wordpress.com/2011/12/07/the-existential-importance-of-blog-stats-a-response-to-a-response/ is also worth a read.

From Natural Parents Network in a week on Healthy Eating:

• Five Ways Mandatory Snacks Annoy Us
• Gently Weaning a Preschooler
• Wordless Wednesday: Healthy Snacking
• Nutrition Information Labels Don’t Change Eating Habits
• Beating the Constipation Woes: A Food-Based Approach

Giveaways:

• Giveaway: EasyLunchboxes Waste-Free Lunch Box Set $22 ARV {1.11; US/Can} — NEW!
• Giveaway: Custom Nursing Necklace from Monkey Mama Necklaces $19 ARV {1.3, Worldwide}
• Giveaway: The No-Cry Picky Eater Solution $17 ARV {12.26; Worldwide}
• Giveaway: LuSa Organics 5 Product Package $37 ARV {12.19; US/Can}