Shake ‘n’ Bake: Educate Your Preschooler in the Kitchen

08 Sep 2014

Our childcare centres in Perth live by the motto “learning through play.” One of the most common questions we get from parents is “How can we help our child learn while playing at home?” The best way is to have your child do something with you that helps them learn. Children idolise and imitate their parents when they are young and are happy to do whatever they are doing at the time.

The Playground Rockingham: Great Fun Not Far from Baldivis

01 Oct 2014

Our Cuddles Childcare Centre location in the Perth suburb of Bertram serves the people of Baldivis as well as those in neighbouring Rockingham. We have a natural interest in places where children and adults can play. For children in the Baldivis area, it may not get a lot better than The Playground Rockingham.

Recess is Out: All You Need to Know About Snack Time

15 Sep 2014

If there’s one thing we have noticed at our day care centres in Perth, it’s that children seem to be hungry all of the time. There is rational scientific explanation for this: they are hungry a lot more than adults. Children combine high energy requirements with small stomachs. The only way for them to eat as many kilojoules as they burn when being active is to eat more often.

Does Your Child Like Horsing Around?

02 Sep 2014
At Cuddles Childcare Centres, we usually focus on doing what we can to give our children in the Perth area a great experience that helps them learn while playing. Sometimes, though, we like to alert parents of opportunities for their children outside of the Childcare Centres but in the Perth area. One such opportunity is the Foxdale Riding School.

Everything You Need and More

St James: Everything You Need and More
24 Sep 2014

Our Cuddles Childcare Centre in the Perth suburb of St James is typical of our philosophy for locating our centres. It is in a location convenient to a lot of amenities and infrastructure. Our locations are great places for a young family to live. Here are a few of the amenities and fun things to do in the St James area.

Go Get Physical: Encourage Your Child to Be Active

22 Sep 2014

If you take your child to a child care centre in Perth, at least one of ours, you won’t have to worry about them not being active. One of the more common questions we get from parents is “How can I encourage my child to be active at home?” Here are some strategies.

Does Your First-Aid Kit or Chest Endanger Your Children?

16 Sep 2014

At our child care centres in the Perth area, we are big on ensuring your child’s safety. One of the essentials is a first aid kit. Many parents don’t have a first aid kit but have a fully-stocked medicine chest. Sometimes, this can result in children taking medications that are not appropriate for them and can result in harm. Here are some dos and don’ts for children’s first aid.

Terrible Twos: How to Be a Problem-Solving Parent

05 Sep 2014

We have taken care of children from babies through five years old at our child care centres in the Perth area. One of the more challenging ages, both for parents and for day care providers, is the “terrible twos.” At two years old, most children seem to discover the true meaning and pleasure of the word “no.” Occasionally, it can seem like they say “no” to everything.

The Easy Way to Get Your Children to Eat More Vegetables

03 Sep 2014

One thing that we’ve noticed at our day care centres in the Perth area is that the kids who eat healthier foods seem to get a “head start” on those who don’t. They tend to be more calm and balanced. We know that kids, if left to their own devices, would rather eat sugar all day, but it is in your best interest to get them to prefer fruits and vegetables over prepackaged snacks.

The Importance of Social Interaction for Your Toddler

01 Sep 2014

At Cuddles Childcare Centres, children in the Perth area are given all of the tools to be lightyears ahead of their peers in the area of socialisation by the time they reach primary school. Social interaction is an important skill that becomes more important as a child progresses through school.

Easy Ways Your Child can Play and Learn at Home

19 Sep 2014

At any Cuddles Childcare Centre in Perth, you will notice our motto: learning through play. We take great pride in helping children learn while they are playing because it takes all of the work out of learning. Parents often ask how they can help their children learn through play at home. Here are some ideas.

Mommy Mondays: Almost Famous

Before we get into today's story, a little background info: As many of you know, my sister Sarah works at National Geographic. Sarah's friend, Sarah A., also works at Nat Geo and is currently involved with a project about Jane Goodall. Sarah A. asked me and some other parents she knows to send in videos of our kids talking about Jane Goodall. Jack, being four, had no idea who Jane Goodall was, but I don't like to disappoint, and besides, I figured it couldn't be that hard to feed Jack a couple of lines about chimpanzees and the illustrious Jane.

As usual, I was wrong.

First we watched a video about Jane for context. Jack enjoyed the chimpanzees. Then we moved onto the lines: "I really like chimpanzees. I want to be like Jane Goodall when I grow up." This took slightly longer to master than I anticipated.

Eventually, though, we got a decent take, which I sent to the Sarahs. Sarah A. said it was great, but my Sarah told me it would never work.  I hadn't filmed it horizontally, and my camera skills sucked. I assured her it was fine with Sarah A., and that was what mattered. But then Sarah A. sent me an email: Could I please film it horizontally? I was more annoyed that my sister was right than that I had to re-film it. Plus, by the time I got the email it was bath time. Oh well. Nothing wrong with a kid talking about Jane Goodall in the bath tub, right? So I shot a couple more takes.
But when I sent that to my Sarah, she told me the bath tub thing wasn't going to cut it. Argh! So I got Jack dressed in his monkey pjs and chose a neutral background with bright lighting, as instructed. Then something weird happened.
Whoops! Didn't even know there was a slo mo option on my iPhone. After I figured THAT out, I got what I thought was a pretty good result.
Done and done! I sent the final product to my sister. She immediately wrote back to tell me it was no good.

Now just for a minute, imagine this scenario: it's 7:30, which is bed time. We've shot at least a dozen takes of the same scene, and Jack is getting pretty fed up. So, as it turns out, am I. I have bribed him with the last of the Cadbury mini eggs, and I'm feeling pretty awesome about giving my kid a bunch of candy right before bed. But, Sarah assures me, all I need to do is set up the shot EXACTLY like she tells me, and it will be fine.

Here are my parameters: hold my phone horizontal, use some kind of background for depth (like a couch), prop my arms on something so the image is steady, use the brightest light I can find (mind you we have one lamp next to our couch and no overhead lights in our temporary lodging), Jack should be looking at someone sitting next to me so his eyes don't wander but he's not staring right at the camera, he should be about a third of the way into the shot, I should talk to him before and after we get the lines to leave room for editing, I need to be at the same level as Jack, and it would be really fabulous if I had a book about chimps I could use in the scene. Because you know, I have tons of those lying around.

It is admittedly a rocky start, but it ends on what I think is a pretty good note.

I send the video in and declare myself well and done. Sarah, sensing my frustration, agrees that it will probably do, and I finally get to put the poor little reality television star to bed.

And then I see Sarah A. on Saturday. "How was it?" I ask, since I hadn't heard back about the final video.

Sarah A. looks at me sympathetically. "He didn't make the cut."

What the what?! How can this be? I followed all the rules (which by the way weren't actually provided). My child was adorable. I spent close to an hour on this utter nonsense! I suddenly understand why all those stage moms get so nuts when their kids don't win the beauty pageant. What could possibly be cuter than MY KID?!?!

I'll tell you what. The producer's kid.

And so began - and ended - Jack's acting career. Some of us just aren't made for this kind of cut-throat competition. It's a chimp-eat-chimp world out there. And no one understands that better than Jane.

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Things I Love Thursdays: Minted

Okay, so I'm probably the last person on earth to know about Minted, but can I just say: adorable! So many cute prints for kids, and really great prices even with a frame! I love that so many of them are customizable too. I've got my eye on several, but I've decided I need to wait until I actually have a house before I acquire anything else. There are too many I love to share them all, but here are some of my favorites.

These are the girly colors, but dammit, I'm sick of posting boy stuff!
The obligatory fox. They have a lot of good fox ones!
I love the retro vibe of this one, and that you can choose your initial.

Perfect for the baby's room, and I like that it's not TOO babyish.I LURVE the tree ring idea. I'm going to try to do this as embroidery though.

They also do signs. Since I'm considering an outdoor/camping theme for Jack, I may have to get this.
I'm also pretty obsessed with their birth announcements. They have some of the best designs I've seen, and the prices are reasonable.

Have any of you purchased from Mint before? Any thoughts? I see myself wasting a lot of time on this site...

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Like A Virgin "Getting to Know You" Blog Hop

As part of the Like a Virgin Writing Contest I'm entered in, I'm participating in the Getting to Know You blog hop. Here are the questions, and my (hopefully not too boring) answers.

1. How do you remember your first kiss?
Let's ignore the fact that my first actual kiss didn't happen until college and focus on a much more charming story. Technically, my first kiss was in fourth grade, when I had my brother lead my crush (a freckle-faced, red-headed boy named Tim) under the mistletoe with his eyes closed. Tim pretended to be horrified, but he was my boyfriend for the next two years, so I must have done something right. Also, I think I deserve some kind of award for having the longest elementary school relationship ever.

2. What was your first favorite love song?
I can't really think of the answer to this one, although I was definitely partial to "Kiss the Girl" from The Little Mermaid. 

3. What's the first thing you do when you begin writing for the day?
Aside from having something to drink on hand (generally water - exciting, I know), I don't have a real writing ritual. I like to re-read what I wrote the previous day and go from there.

4. Who's the first writer who truly inspired you to become a writer?
There are many writers who have inspired me over the years, but the real credit belongs to my best friend from childhood, Erin. She wrote a book when we were in sixth grade, and she read constantly. Now Erin is an agented writer and one of the smartest and most well-read people I know. If she hadn’t been my best friend growing up, I’m not sure books and writing would have become such a big part of my life.

5. Did the final revision of your first book have the same first chapter it started with?
Revision of my first book? Ha! I didn't even know what revision was back then. But the final revision of my first REAL book does have the original first chapter.

6. For your first book, which came first: major characters, plot or setting?
Plot is almost always first for me, followed closely by characters and setting. They all kind of go hand in hand, don't they?

7. What's the first word you want to roll off the tip of someone's tongue when they think of your writing?

I don’t care if a reader thinks I’m the funniest, or the smartest, or the best, as long as they get sucked into my stories enough to want to keep reading! That’s certainly what I look for in a book – one that grabs my attention and refuses to let me put it down.

I'm having trouble getting the linky list to show up here (which I'm sure is entirely my fault) but here's the link:
http://www.linkytools.com/wordpress_list.aspx?id=229928&type=basic

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Things I Love Thursdays: Green and Black's Organic Hot Chocolate

I'm keeping it short and sweet today. This hot chocolate mix from Green and Black's (they also make my favorite 85% dark chocolate bar) is delicious. It's just the right amount of sweet, and it dissolved instantly into the milk I heated on the stove. None of the insane whisking I have to do with cocoa powder. I found it at Cost Plus World Market but it's also available on Amazon. If winter is going to insist on sticking around FOREVER, I'm going to keep on drinking hot chocolate!

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The Writer's Voice Entry

Here's my entry for The Writer's Voice!

Title: Needle's Eye
Genre: YA urban fantasy
Word Count: 69,000

Query:
17-year-old Akira Tanaka isn’t your typical Russian girl. Sure, she does ballet, but only to hone her Japanese sword-fighting skills, and she wouldn’t be caught dead in stilettos or a mini-skirt. Between her Russian grandparents and Japanese-American father, Akira has been raised on a combination of cultures that leaves her feeling out of place even in her hometown of St. Petersburg. With her sights set on an upcoming kenjutsu tournament and university in Japan, Akira is blindsided by the mysterious Dmitri, who not only wants to be a part of her future, but knows entirely too much about her past.Meanwhile, a series of violent murders has left several major Russian cities on edge, and there are strange links to a story Akira’s grandfather told her when she was still a child: the story of Koschei the Deathless. Up until now, she never believed her grandfather’s ridiculous claim that Koschei had spared his life in exchange for Akira’s soul, any more than she believes in the big bad wolf. But the strange, insect-like sound her grandfather once described is eerily similar to the one Akira hears every time another victim is killed. And the more time she spends with Dmitri, the more she starts to wonder if there isn’t something evil lurking behind his ice blue eyes.As the murderer closes in on the people surrounding Akira, she finds herself on the verge of losing everything—and everyone—she’s ever cared about. Now it’s up to Akira to stop the killer, but this time it will take more than a deal with the devil to save the people she loves.

NEEDLE’S EYE, a multicultural YA urban fantasy, is complete at 69,000 words and will appeal to fans of Christina Farley’s Gilded. I have written and edited professionally for multiple publications including Leatherneck Magazine, the Costco Connection, and the Veteran’s Administration blog. For the past year and a half, I have lived and worked in Yekaterinburg, Russia, where my husband is serving as a diplomat. I hold a Master’s degree from the University of London and blog about my experiences abroad at mosteligiblefamily.blogspot.com.When I was very small, my grandfather told me stories of Koschei the Deathless.He was trying to frighten me. They were the kinds of tales villagers told children to keep them from wandering alone into the woods, the Russian equivalent of Little Red Riding Hood.  But just as there was nothing scary about a wolf wearing a bonnet and bifocals, there was nothing remotely frightening about my grandfather, so I paid little attention to his stories. “Solavushka,” he began (he had called me “little nightingale” since I was an infant, when I kept everyone up all night with my “singing”), “the thing you must know about Koschei the Deathless is that he will not appear as a wicked old man with a long white beard, the way the storybooks say. He will not take you to his castle to make you his wife.”I nodded as I examined my grandfather’s long, wiry eyebrow hairs, wondering why my grandmother didn’t trim them.“Yes, Dedushka. I will make sure to stay away from Koschei.”“You are not listening, child,” my grandfather grumbled, standing abruptly so I tumbled onto the floor. “How many times do I have to tell you?” He shook his head as he stormed off into the kitchen for some of my grandmother’s walnut oreshki.  “I met him when I was a young man,” he told me once, not long before he died. “He had taken the form of a small girl, just a year or two younger than you are now.” 

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Mommy Mondays: Do You Believe In Magic?

Because Jack sure does! I was perusing his class wall the other day and once again confirmed that our child is a bit...different.

Dinosaurs, dragons, and wizards. Yeesh. I'll leave you with this little conversation from our drive up to New York the other day.

John: "If you could choose, where would you want Jack to go to college?"
Me: "Georgetown would be good I guess, but it depends on what he wants to be."
John: "Jack, what do you want to be when you grow up?"
Jack: "A wizard."
Me: "Hogwarts it is!"

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Mommy Mondays: Life Lessons I Learned at Camp

When I was a kid, I went to several different camps, both of the "day camp" and "sleep away" variety. Maybe it's a testament to how pleasant my home life was, but while most of the other children seemed to take pleasure in field trips and camp food, the time spent outdoors and lack of adult supervision, I had a different take on the whole camp thing. In fact, I hated it.

I can remember three specific camps I attended: YMCA camp, which was probably a couple of weeks in the summer (similar to what Jack just spent the past two weeks doing); Foxfield riding camp, which was a two-week sleep away camp at the barn I rode at; and, worst of all, Sunny Skies, which we fondly referred to as Scummy Skies.

There's evil lurking behind those wonky eyes...
Perhaps I was foolish to think Jack's experience at swim camp would somehow be a positive one, but after the first three days, which all went, well, swimmingly, things got ugly. Every day he clung to me in tears, begging me not to leave him alone. Part of it was the fact that the five or six different camps the YMCA has all met in a gymnasium in the morning, where they sang the aforementioned "Boom Chicka Boom" and several other classics. Unfortunately, it was incredibly loud and echo-y in the gym, and Jack sometimes has an aversion to really loud noises. Then there was the fact that the counselors were never in the same place at the same time, so I couldn't find people he trusted to leave him with. He also hated certain aspects of the swimming (basically any aspect that didn't involve flopping around at will). His favorite part of the entire two-week experience seems to be a bus ride he took on the second day. (He just admitted this morning that he wasn't actually supposed to get on the bus. Whoops!)

While I greatly enjoyed my free time every day - I spent two or three hours in the mornings eating pastries, drinking coffee, and writing, then met up with friends for lunch or shopping in the afternoons - drop offs were so painful I wasn't entirely sure it was worth it. Now that camp is over I'm starting to rethink that, however...

Still, as much as he "hated" camp, he did make some friends and maybe learned a thing or two about swimming: his report card revealed significant improvement in bubble blowing, although his floating still needs a lot of work. (His teacher also wrote, "Sometimes Jack doesn't always want to get in or participate, but when he does he is very enthusiastic." Why do I get the feeling I'll be seeing more of those types of comments in the future?).

He went from a 1 to a 4 in bubble blowing. Never has a parent been more proud.

But perhaps these kinds of experiences are important, as negative as they may be. Looking back, I can think of quite a few things I learned at camp, and I thought I'd share them with all of you. Maybe they'll bring back fond (or not so fond) memories of your own...

Life Lessons I Learned at Camp:
1) Bees sting. No matter how many times you get stung by a bee (seven), it still hurts like hell.
2) Boys are never too young to want to see naked girls.
3) Water parks are a great place to pick up stomach viruses.
4) Chlorine turns blonde hair green.
5) Getting pooped on by a flock of birds is NOT lucky.
6) Rattlesnakes will make even the toughest of boys cry like a baby.
7) Sandwiches do not make good beach food.
8) Long bus rides are better with friends.
9) Sunscreen is not optional.
10) Camp is more about Mommy's sanity than it is about you having fun.

So, to the a-hole counselor who told me to "flick it off" when I had a bee on my pants (bee sting #3), the boys who watched us change through the holes in the wooden fence by the pool, and that poor girl with the white-blonde hair which turned a fascinating shade of chartreuse, thank you for helping to shape my childhood, for better or worse.

And Mom - I finally understand why you happily shipped us off to camp every summer. Some day I may even forgive you.

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Foreign Service Fridays: ¿Cómo Se Dice?

Today on Most Eligible Family, I send out a cry for help - I need to learn Spanish! I also forgot to mention last week's post about Peruvian food. Please stop by if you get a chance. Oh, and happy Friday! Only one week until John leaves Russia for good!

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Things We All Need to Stop Teaching Our Kids

Mommy Mondays: Things We All Need to Stop Teaching Our Kids

I realize the title of this post may sound quite serious, but I assure you this isn't a post about sharing or breastfeeding or moms wearing bathing suits in public. It's about the obnoxious things kids say and then pass on to another kid, all at the expense of my sanity. I've been pretty lucky on this front, I guess, since Jack's social interaction has been fairly limited. But last week after swim camp, he came back with a few, shall we say, bad habits, things I know he didn't pick up from me (I already blame myself for plenty of other annoying and inappropriate things Jack says). Here, in no particular order, are some of the phrases I wish we could all agree to banish from preschooler vocabulary forever:

Mommy Mondays: The New Normal

I am a creature of habit. I like routines and schedules. I love lists and plans. I can roll with the punches pretty well when things go awry, but the idea of things going awry stresses me out. John likes to call me a catastrophizer. I believe I inherited this from my mother. Thanks, Mom.
After Baby Will was born, my routine was obviously thrown out the window along with the notion of sleep. Newborns don't have schedules, unfortunately, and when you add a move into the mix? Forget about it. But now that he's 8 weeks old, I figured it was time to get some kind of order into my life. John returned to Russia a little over a week ago, and while I may be ready to kill myself every evening around, say, 7:00 pm, I find it slightly easier to stay organized since I have one less person to take into account. One of my main goals was to start working out again. I even purchased a crappy but functional treadmill from Craigslist before John left.

Mommy Mondays: Treading Water

I can't believe it's been two weeks since I blogged last. I wouldn't say time is going quickly these days, but it's like it keeps slipping past me, rolling along while I barely manage to stay afloat.
I know this is what early motherhood is like. The days are filled with nursing the baby, making sub-par meals for Jack, running load after load of laundry, trying to keep the house from turning into a complete dump, and heading out for the occasional errand. The nights are even worse. I feel like I've just fallen asleep when it's time to get up and feed Will again. I know that I'll look back on this period and it will feel like a blip on my life's radar, but right now it's just plain hard.

Life With Two: The First Month

I apologize for being so absent from the blogging world lately! Honestly, this past month has been a whirl-wind. New baby? Surprisingly not that difficult. Moving with said new baby? Really freaking hard. Of course, we haven't made life easy on ourselves. We had my parents visiting the week after Will was born, we moved the week after that, and we went out of town the two weekends after that. Yeesh. Fortunately, Will had his one-month check-up today and he appears to be doing very well. My sanity, however, is subject to debate.

Mommy Mondays: No Filter

I've been considering writing this post for a while, but after the hell of potty training, I'm slightly less likely to share every embarrassing parenting moment on this blog.
But only slightly, so here goes.
Recently, Jack has been asking questions. The tough ones. It probably started right around his fourth birthday and it doesn't look like it's going to end any time soon. In fact, one of the more difficult topics came up today, at Target. Here's how the convo went:
Jack: "Where are Great Grandma and Great Grandpa?" (side note: This is not the first time he has asked me this since my grandparents died last year. It's just the first time that my evasion technique failed miserably.)

Life With Boys

Mommy Mondays: Life With Boys

If you know me in real life or have been following this blog for a while, you probably know that I have always wanted daughters. I started saving my favorite toys and clothing for my future girls when I was about seven or eight years old. While my sister Sarah gravitated toward dolls with long hair and pretty dresses, I usually chose baby dolls, including a porcelain baby doll in a Christening gown that must have driven my father insane (we're Jewish). It was never a question that I would have a daughter. Even when I found out I was pregnant with Jack, I consoled myself with the fact that it was only my first, and Sarah wrote me the best baby shower card: "Remember: Shakespeare, Kipling, Tolkein, Twain - all boys." How could I not love a mini-John? The mini-me would come later.

Foreign Service Fridays: Russia On My Mind

I've been thinking a lot about Russia this week.  Hop on over to Most Eligible Family to read about it, if you like. Happy Friday everyone!
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Home Is Wherever I'm With You

Last week the lovely folks over at dogvacay.com asked me to write a post about what I consider my "home away from home." For some people I guess this is pretty easy: a cafe you like to write in, a family vacation home, a favorite corner of the local library. But if you're someone who moves frequently, like I am, it's hard to find a special place where you really feel at home. (Although I will say there is one place I can go to wherever I am that provides a certain comfort and familiarity: Starbucks. I know, shameful. But you can't beat it for consistency the world over! A chai latte is the same in London, Barcelona, Geneva, Istanbul, and Moscow. Alas, there is no Starbucks in Yekaterinburg.)

Foreign Service Fridays: Did I Mention the Food?

I realize I've spent a lot of time blogging about FS stuff lately - I promise to get back to Mommy Mondays just as soon as something blog-worthy happens. (Jack's performance today at John's promotion ceremony might just make for a good post, once I've moved on from furious to amused.) In the meantime, I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.
PS - Did you know Peru has the best food in Latin America?

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Foreign Service Fridays: до свидания, Россия

Today on Most Eligible Family, I say an official farewell to Russia! My sights are now firmly set on Lima (assuming I survive until then). I hope everyone has a great weekend!

  View the original article here

Life as a House

Yesterday, my darling little boy looked innocently into my eyes and called me a walking house.
To his credit, he did say "walking." Waddling, shuffling, or, let's be honest, stationary would have been more apropos. At just one day shy of my due date, I definitely feel as big as a house. Jack pushed on my non-existent belly button (the "door bell") and called loudly to the baby, "Hello! Is anybody in there? It's time to come out now!" He then pretended to open the window (aka my mouth) to see if he could spot the squatter in apartment 1A. Unfortunately, the tenant shows no signs of vacating the premises.

Tell Me Your Mommy Must-Haves

Mommy Mondays: Tell Me Your Mommy Must-Haves

Four years ago when I had Jack, there were a few key products that made my life as a new mom easier. For example, the BOB stroller made it possible for me to start running a few months after Jack was born and train for a marathon. I know there are other jogging strollers out there, but I really feel like the BOB is the best. It's also amazing for traveling and handled Yekaterinburg's post-apocalyptic sideways like a champ.
Other items I loved: my My Breast Friend nursing pillow - a terribly named product that really did make nursing easier in the early days; my Petunia Pickle Bottom Boxy Backpack - pricey, yes, but that sucker held up beautifully for over two years of daily use; Sophie the giraffe - she lives up to the hype. Kids love that overpriced piece of rubber like nothing else; the Angel Care monitor - it lets you know if your baby stops breathing. Worth its weight in gold as far as peace-of-mind is concerned; Kirkland baby wipes from Costco - just the right amount of softness and strength, at a great price. And let's face it, wipes are pretty much vital to motherhood.

My Summer "Vacation"

Mommy Mondays: My Summer "Vacation"

Today was Jack's first day of swim camp. I signed him up back in January, when I knew John would be gone for seven weeks and I'd be alone with two small kids all day, every day, with no help. At the time, two weeks of full-time camp sounded absolutely brilliant. I'd be able to get in some one-on-one time with Will, and Jack would learn to swim. But as the first day approached, I started to get nervous. Jack's never done anything like this before. Eight hours is a long day, especially for a kid who's barely been to preschool. How would he do? And how, for that matter, would I do?

Call the Midwife

Things I Love Thursdays: Call the Midwife

When you have a baby and your husband is out of the country, you find yourself with a lot of long, lonely evenings. We have about five cable stations, so I've been scouring Netflix for something to watch. I'd seen "Call the Midwife" come up as a suggestion, but to be honest, the picture and description sounded kind of boring.
From Netflix: "This period drama set in impoverished East London in the 1950s follows a newly qualified midwife and her colleagues at a nursing convent."

Writing Wednesdays: The B Team

Some of you may be wondering what's been going on with that whole writing thing lately, since I haven't blogged about it in ages. The truth is, I haven't blogged about writing because there hasn't been much to report. That's not to say I haven't been diligently working behind the scenes for the past year or so. I have, a lot. But despite all my hard work, progress has been slow. I finished my Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy set in Russia, Needle's Eye, back in March, and I've spent the past few months revising when I can. I've entered a few contests and had some mild success in terms of agent requests, but nothing major (obviously). So when I entered Pitch Wars--a contest where 60-something mentors (agented or published authors or editors) choose one manuscript each to work on for two months before a big agent showcase in November--a few weeks ago, my expectations were low. (There were something like 1200 applicants this year.)

Mommy Mondays: One Month Left (and Why I'm Afraid of an Ugly Baby)

Today I'm one month away from my due date. You'd think, what with this not being my first rodeo and all, I'd be pretty comfortable with the idea of having a second kid. After all, I sort of know what to expect in terms of having the baby, and I have a pretty good idea of what sleep deprivation is all about. I know that beyond diapers, a crib, clothes, and a car seat, I don't really need all that baby gear that's still tucked away in storage, and I know that I can pretty much trust my instincts as a mom.
All that being said, I'm still terrified.
And one of the things I'm legitimately scared of is having an ugly baby. There, I said it. And I know what you're thinking: But Mara, you are such a stunningly attractive human being. How could you possibly think you'll produce an ugly child? (Just kidding.) A valid argument to this fear-of-ugly-offspring thing is that we did manage to produce one pretty cute kid already, so I have no reason to think #2 would be any less adorable. But what if all the cuteness got used up on #1? What if Jack was just a fluke? What if the nightmare I had last week comes true (I dreamt I gave birth to a kid with a full head of hair and a full set of teeth to match)?

Mommy Mondays: Almost Famous

Before we get into today's story, a little background info: As many of you know, my sister Sarah works at National Geographic. Sarah's friend, Sarah A., also works at Nat Geo and is currently involved with a project about Jane Goodall. Sarah A. asked me and some other parents she knows to send in videos of our kids talking about Jane Goodall. Jack, being four, had no idea who Jane Goodall was, but I don't like to disappoint, and besides, I figured it couldn't be that hard to feed Jack a couple of lines about chimpanzees and the illustrious Jane.
As usual, I was wrong.
First we watched a video about Jane for context. Jack enjoyed the chimpanzees. Then we moved onto the lines: "I really like chimpanzees. I want to be like Jane Goodall when I grow up." This took slightly longer to master than I anticipated.

Like A Virgin "Getting to Know You" Blog Hop

As part of the Like a Virgin Writing Contest I'm entered in, I'm participating in the Getting to Know You blog hop. Here are the questions, and my (hopefully not too boring) answers.

1. How do you remember your first kiss?
Let's ignore the fact that my first actual kiss didn't happen until college and focus on a much more charming story. Technically, my first kiss was in fourth grade, when I had my brother lead my crush (a freckle-faced, red-headed boy named Tim) under the mistletoe with his eyes closed. Tim pretended to be horrified, but he was my boyfriend for the next two years, so I must have done something right. Also, I think I deserve some kind of award for having the longest elementary school relationship ever.

Writing Wednesdays: The End of an Era

I am sad to say a truly wonderful era is coming to an end, and I'm not ready. Yesterday, Laini Taylor's third book in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy came out. I'm sure Dreams of Gods and Monsters will be just as phenomenal as the first two, and that's why I haven't bought it yet. I don't want this series to end. They are my favorite books of the last few years and I highly recommend them to anyone who loves YA, urban fantasy, and damn good writing.

Root Elements For child support - For Adults

The court can order seizure from the assets from the nonpaying parent like real property, accounts, stock, car or some other property. Communications about updates in your case are almost non-existent because in the heavy case load each employee faces. If you can not pay your child support you can file a "petition for modification" while using court that issued the support order. To list some from the most common assets that in many cases are found when a property search investigation is conducted would include the following: Child Support , The resolution of these assets should be determined before you sign the divorce papers as part of your respective divorce settlement. one or both mom and dad is working in a self-owned enterprise,. In other provisions, monetary support ends when the child reaches high school graduation and already contains the capability to come up with a living. Among the things that child support should pay is part in the child's share of utilities, room and board. The bill is based on the bogus rationale that supporting your children awards must climb, because inflation has risen child-rearing costs within the years.

Practical Programs In safeguarding children - The Best Routes

The game can be played with a sizable group of players or possibly a smaller group. Early childhood education, School authorities can put a kind of a box where students can drop their letters or note on such activities as well as a separate team needs to be formed in schools that will take care of which notes and take the necessary action from the culprits. It is essential to note, nevertheless, that children' character luggage, or personalized luggage that is most certainly created for that distinct age won't previous they will via their unique age of puberty or perhaps university. Allah makes man more responsible than woman in relation to the fulfillment of duties and obligations. There are numerous women in India, who're caught in violent marriages. Navigating the evolving safeguarding landscape can show challenging for companies whose core competency lies elsewhere, hence this short article - quick tips for administrators and HR managers to test whether they're compliant with the latest safeguarding legislation. Make gaming a family activity- many times yourself enjoying these games too. 

Child Care Centres:Making Your Child Feel Great

Food for example milk, cereal, cheese, juice, beans, peanut butter and eggs are the main foods that are provided. More than $4 million dues are then collected by SEIU, the union selected to represent the staff. It is probably one of the biggest expenses connected with parenthood in the 21st century. Parents tend to be concerned in regards to the sanitary problems that prevail inside childcare centers; it is often appropriate that they can take quality note in the premises. The staff ought to be trained in handling young children and must have received the necessary certification. Pets provide great sensory stimuli and may provide children with a real link with nature that they might not get in your house. There is a certain amount of fearfulness whenever they come with a daycare, this is extremely natural. To see more great information on how to find the best care for you personally and your little one, you can access a replica of a free report. Babysitters can visit the home as required around work and school hours as well as special occasions in which the parents need them. Which is why it's important to make your nursery plans prior towards the child being born.

Understanding Key Factors For Child Training Courses

The online TEFL course can be a complete course for those enthusiastic about teaching English as a foreign language to young learners of different linguistic backgrounds. It could possibly be that some courses are better for you in person plus some online, so be likely to check your alternatives. Potty training boys is especially difficult for mothers because in the anatomical differences which exist between mother and son, childcare training, These are normally looking with the visible results on the outside rather than on the thinking process happening internally. There are quite several diseases which have a high rate of mortality inside past, and now have it in a few pockets with the world. Let us explore about funding sources that will help to pay for child development classes, even online. You may come across various sites that can ask that you first download the game. We might help them learn reading, writing, math, and computer skills. Many of the students graduated mid-year or are nearing completion. Before finding such free medical training courses, you should be comfortable using the idea of signing a real bond.