What to Do When Kids Act Up

Finally winter is almost over, though it is sunny for most days but still a bit chilly, at least you don't need too much gear to put on anymore. When the weather was still very bitterly cold and tons of layers need to be put on especially with young kids, it is always a hassle going out of the house. It's so frustrating when we have to go somewhere and my son acts up and won't wear his winter jacket, boots, hat and mittens, not to mention he's arching his back sometimes when you sit him in his car seat too, whew! I would sometimes literally drag him just so we won't be late for an appointment. It's always hard to head out in time when things like this happen.

Here are some common problems that moms encounter everyday and suggested quick solutions:

• PROBLEM: Your child screams uncontrollably when it's time to get dressed.
• HOW ABOUT: Making it a matter of choice: "Do you want to wear a dress or jeans?
• NO LUCK? TRY: A change of scenery. Getting dressed in the kitchen might be more fun

* * *

• PROBLEM: Your child clamps her mouth shut at the sight of a spoon.
• HOW ABOUT: Taking a bite yourself. It will look less like you're forcing something on her.
• NO LUCK? TRY: Giving up - for now. She won't starve, so pick your battles.

* * *

• PROBLEM: Your child refuses to share at a playdate
  
• HOW ABOUT: Putting her leadership skills to work: say "Teach Kristen how to play with the toy."
  
• NO LUCK? TRY: "Two more minutes, then it's Kristen's turn. Decide what to play with next.

* * *

• PROBLEM: Your child won't go to bed.
  
• HOW ABOUT: Letting her rest on the floor of her room.
  
• NO LUCK? TRY: Turning off the lights and TV's. With no reason to stay up, she may go to sleep.

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A Better Alternative to Getting Prescription Eyeglasses

I've been having headaches the past days. I thought that maybe it is due to my lack of sleep or I may have been staring at my computers too long. But even when I got rested already, the headache is still there. So I figured it might be that I need new glasses already. Well it's been almost a year now since I got my present eyeglasses and I wonder if I need a much stronger prescription this time. Oh geez, even if I have optical insurance, a pair of simple eyeglasses will still cost me too much. Especially that I add more features to them like anti-glare, anti-scratch, UV protection and more.

It 's good to know there is a better alternative I can go to online, it's called GlassesShop.com. GlassesShop.com is an online prescription eyeglasses expert that offers Wide Selection of Eyeglasses at very affordable prices. It is committed to providing its customers with the best and most affordable prescription eyeglasses with high quality and stylish frames plus high index lens; anti scratch; UV protection; quality case and cleaning cloth. The site of Glasses Shop is very easy to navigate so you can right away find what you are looking for. The eyeglasses are arranged by categories like price range; frame styles; material; recommended eyeglasses; and gender. It also has prescription sunglasses and special glasses like bifocal or progressive.

One of the things that I liked about GlassesShop.com is its Virtual Try-On feature that allows you to actually see how a certain style of frame will look on models with similar shape of face as yours. Or you can also upload your own picture that shouldn't exceed 1MB and see how they would actually look on your face, how cool is that? Since my eye doctor appointment is coming up soon, then I can get my own prescription and order online for additional eyewear. I already have the style of frame in mind and ordering online is such an easy step. I'm glad to have learned about GlassesShop.com because with them I can afford to have more than one pair of prescription eyeglasses at a price even much lesser than only a pair I could get at my regular eye doctor's clinic. This is a welcome savings for a frugal mom like myself.

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Quick and Easy Weight Loss Surgery

If you are obese and have tried different diet plans and exercise without any favorable result, you can perhaps consider an obesity surgery as another option to losing excess weight. LAP-BAND system is considered the safest and proven weight loss surgery. The procedure uses a laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding procedure that is completely reversible and adjustable for life. The laparoscopic surgery is performed by a lapband doctor on an outpatient basis, so you basically get a surgery in the morning and be discharged to go home a few hours later and enjoy the comforts of your own bed that night. Get a quick and easy weight loss with LAP-BAND

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My Son's Favorite Bedtime Story

My son's favorite bedtime story is "Goodnight Moon". He actually has memorized the lines in the story, that whenever I read it, I will always pause and he supplies the missing words in the sentence. This book was a gift to him by a friend when he was 14 months old and until now it's still his favorite of all. I even memorized it myself, that even when he flips the pages ahead of me, I can still catch up. Here is how the story goes:

GOODNIGHT MOON
by Margaret Wise Brown

In the great green room, there was a telephone and a red balloon
And a picture of, the cow jumping over the moon
And there were three little bears sitting on chairs
And two little kittens and a pair of mittens
And a little toyhouse and a young mouse
And a comb, and a brush, and a bowl full of mush
And a quiet old lady who was whispering "hush"
Goodnight room
Goodnight moon
Goodnight cow jumping over the moon
Goodnight light and the red balloon
Goodnight bears
Goodnight chairs
Goodnight kittens and goodnight mittens
Goodnight clocks and goodnight socks
Goodnight little house and goodnight mouse
Goodnight comb and goodnight brush
Goodnight nobody
Goodnight mush
And goodnight to the old lady whispering "hush"
Goodnight stars
Goodnight air
Goodnight noises everywhere

The highlighted words above are the words that my son say himself while we read the book. Sometimes he would insist to read the book to me instead. And on the part of the 'old lady whispering hush' he would say it softly with his index finger on his lips. I just point to the pictures to encourage him to identify them. How about you, what's your son's or daughter's favorite bedtime story?

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Less is More For Busy Moms

For busy moms like myself, less is more. I want to simplify things so I can accomplish more. When shopping for example, I would rather do it online since I'm mostly online after my tot's bedtime anyway. That way I can hit two birds with one stone - doing some online work and shopping on the side wearing only my jammies. I don't need to take a trip to busy malls with an unpredictable tot in tow, and come home with only half of the things in my list. That is if I'm lucky. And when shopping online, I don't just shop at any shopping sites. I look for reliable sites that offer great deals as far as discounts and shipping are concerned. I find ShopWiki.com a very reliable and helpful site in the sense that it returns more results from different stores when you search for a particular product.

Like when I was looking for shoes the other day particularly running shoes for me and rain boots for my little tot, it gave me different stores that carry the style and features I wanted. So more stores means more options to compare and more savings in the process. The way ShopWiki works is it crawls and seeks out every store on the internet the same way as Google works. So unlike the traditional online sites that will only show stores that have paid for placement, ShopWiki will give more information regardless of whether they earn anything from it. Not only that, the best feature that I find very useful at ShopWiki is the Buying Guide they offer that you won't find in other sites. Aside from results I got from searching for shoes, I also got the top picks, video reviews, foot type, shoe types, controversy, insoles, quick tips, major manufacturers, related buying guides, external links and related searches. Basically you won't go to any other sites anymore to get more information, you can find everything at ShopWiki already.

So to my fellow budget conscious and practical moms out there, or to future wives and moms searching for wedding shoes, ShopWiki is our one stop shop in the net.

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It's Not Easy Being a Woman

I'm sure a lot of women will agree with me that it's not easy being a woman. There are so many situations that we have to deal with at every stages of womanhood. Like the discomforts of menstrual period; the risk of pregnancy; the pain of child birth; hormonal imbalance; post-partum depression; the pain of going through mammogram procedure; hot flushes and vaginal dryness caused by menopause and so on and so forth. Add to that the challenges and sacrifices of rearing a family 24/7 without monetary compensation. I just wonder why some men would even have the heart to hurt women considering all these.

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Who Wants to Be an XML Grand Master?

If you are a student or professional well-versed in XML; database technology; or hardcore programming skills in DB2, here's your chance to be recognized for your skills and win fabulous prizes at the same time. There are 5 contests you can register for and each xml contest has separate recognition and sets of prizes in store. Before you can participate, you first need to take a Quick Quiz once. You will earn participation points for each entry that you make. And whoever garners the most participation points will be crowned as the "XML Grand Master".

Register now for one of the following contests:

• Video Contest - Invent a creative use of XML, XQuery or DB2 and record yourself doing it
• Gadget Contest - Develop a downloadable gadget or widget leveraging DB2
• Query Contest - Use XQuery to find 5 answers. The best queries win the best prizes.
• Ported App Contest - Port or develop a new app for DB2. Enter as an individual or assemble a team.
• XML Contest - Win by building useful, user-friendly XML apps from scratch. Enter as an individual or assemble a team.

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If I Were to Put Up a Restaurant

I love eating at diners. I guess they are the only place not affected so much by recession. Everytime I drive by the local diner close to us, the parking is always full and there is a long queue of patrons waiting outside despite the cold weather. So if I were to put up my own restaurant, I would love to do a diner. Diner foods are normally easy and simple and not at all expensive. And what better furniture to go with simple inexpensive dishes but tables and chairs that are not too fancy either. At FashionSeating.com, there are a wide selection of commercial Restaurant tables to choose from. I found a specific style of furniture at FashionSeating.com that will perfectly go with the style I'm envisioning my dream diner would look like. I would go for the aluminum table tops and chairs because they are very easy to clean and maintain, and they will definitely last longer. FashionSeating.com is a great resource of stylish seatings of great value. It is a very helpful site for restaurant entrepreneurs who are looking for chairs, tables, and stools of different finish. At FashionSeating.com, there is really one style that will fit everyone's needs.

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Would You Consider Plastic Surgery?

If you were to ask me if I would consider plastic surgery, my answer is no. I am very contented with the body I'm born with even if it has many imperfections. But just for the sake of argument, if I had one thing in my body that I want to alter, it would be my tummy. When I became a mom, exercise was the farthest thing from my mind. I want a quick transformation of a flabby tummy into a flatter one. I would take a quicker route to do a make-over and hire a competent and reputable Cosmetic Surgeon in an instance. But I read that not everybody is a good candidate for certain surgery, so it pays to get reliable Cosmetic Surgery Advice before even considering to get one. I found that MYA Cosmetic Surgery Forum has informative discussions relating to cosmetic surgery that will hopefully enlighten the questions that are boggling my mind. So if you are seriously considering a nip tuck, get free plastic surgery advice at Make Yourself Amazing Cosmetic Surgery forum.

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Practical Buy at Hard Economic Times

If you haven't heard about ZenniOptical by now, I don't know where you have been hiding. ZenniOptical is all over the news and it was recently featured at New York Times. ZenniOptical offers stylish prescription eyeglasses that only cost from as low as $8. Unbelievable but true. This is a very practical buy especially at this hard economic times. Like in my situation where I can't function without my prescription eyeglasses, ZenniOptical is the great choice to get my eyeglasses from without breaking my bank. It has a wide selection of stylish and quality frames with single vision lens, sunsensor (potochromic) lens, tinted sunglasses lens, bifocal lens and progressive lens. I need new pair of eyeglasses every year which cost me at least $135. Those are without any add-on features and it can go up to as much as $285 depending on the features I want.

Why do you think ZenniOptical can offer these glasses at very low prices? Well it's because no middlemen are involved, they manufacture their own frames and sell directly to their customers so then they can afford to sell them for much less. And they don't have any advertising expenses so nothing is being passed on to the consumers anymore. With ZenniOptical I can afford to even have spare eyeglasses and still not spend as much as I have been spending. And if that is still not a bargain, I can purchase as many pairs as I want and just pay $4.95 flat shipping charges. What a great deal!

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Durable Yet Affordable Shutters

Our house is already 15 years old and I must say it needs a few retouching here and there. We had the exterior wall repainted twice already and I guess this year might be a good time to do another one. The exterior shutters might also need replacement if not repainting. This is a major project that we are thinking of doing this year so I'm on the lookout again for great deals. I saw a site called Larson Shutter Company that carries a large selection of exterior shutters. I didn't know there are so many different kinds of shutters available which are not found in the local home centers. I would go for the durable, care-free shutters that will last longer because they are fade resistance and can withstand environmental extremes. These features and more are found at LarsonShutter.com at very affordable prices and with factory direct free shipping deal now through the end of year for online purchases.

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A Disney Vacation

I've got tons of photos I took of our vacations within US and overseas. I am quick to upload them to my online albums but not quick enough to arrange them on separate files. I really need to sit down for it and also make backup copies on CD's. I just couldn't seem to find the time to do it continuously. There is always a distraction everytime I try to do it. Anyway, the other day while going through some of the photos, my son was beside me watching me the whole time. I played a slideshow of our Orlando vacations for him and he got so excited to see the pictures of Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters taken at Disney World. Oh why wouldn't he be? I was so excited myself when I was there with my then boyfriend hb. I enjoyed every minute I was there, and the child in me surfaced. Hopefully in two more years when my son is old enough to appreciate Disney World, we can take time off and travel back with him.

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Show Off Your Curves

Who said that beautiful only means women who wear size 0 to 1? Well just leave that illusions to the entertainment world. The reality of life is that there are more plus size women than the 'anorexic' type. Well pardon my word, but I prefer voluptuous and healthy looking women than the very thin sickly look types, though I don't belong to either one of the types. If you can carry an outfit with confidence then it doesn't matter whether they are inexpensive, what matters most is that you are comfortable and can present yourself very well. If you are a plus size woman and are looking for sexy styles, casual looks and the latest in fashion trends, visit PlusSizeFix.com for a wide range of womens plus size clothing that will compliment your curves. There are also plus size clothing for plus size girls and teens. I like most of the outfits in the site but I like the outerwear most of all because they are very trendy yet affordable. Actually all the items in the site from dressy tops to casual tops, dresses, leggings, pants and skirts are very affordable. There is a very informative size chart to guide women on the correct measurement when they order online. If regular prices are not affordable enough, they still have Sale Rack where you can find items that are really very tempting for their great deals. By the way shipping is free for all orders over $100. Another great site that I won't hesitate recommending to all my readers.

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Only the Best For Our Furry Son

Pets like dogs and cats are considered members in today's modern family. Small toy dogs are even clothed with fancy outfits that match their carrier bag. We have that special bond and connection with our pets that the only thing lacking is to be able to claim them as dependents in our tax return. Yeah no kidding. When we had our pet dog, we spent a lot on his medication, grooming and food like you wouldn't believe. And when we went on vacation like we always did in the summers, we left our dog in the care of a trusted well-known Kennel for at least two weeks and we paid extra for each day he spent with dog walkers. Well my point is, when you have a pet that you care for just like you would a real son, you will only give him the best of anything.

The American Animal Care Center located in Fremont, CA is an example of an animal hospital I would take my dog to because it's a state of the art animal hospital dedicated to enhance and expand the human-animal bond. They have very knowledgeable and well-informed veterinary specialists who are most of all compassionate and can offer any possible veterinary care to our pets. That's the ideal place to take our pets to and I wouldn't settle for anything less. If you live in the Bay Area and you want committed professional health care for your pets like dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, rabbits, guinea pigs, ferrets, chinchillas, hamsters, gerbils, mice, rats, turtles, and iguanas, you can stay connected with the American Animal Care Center through American Animal Care Center Flickr or American Animal Care Center Twitter. Our dear pets are part of our family so don't entrust their health care to just anybody, I would use the American Animal Care Center.

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Teaching Toddlers to Protect the Environment

It's never too early to teach our young children to be conscious about the environment. In fact we should expose them as early as they can comprehend to the idea of protecting the planet that we live in. Afterall, they are the very persons and the generations after them who will benefit from a cleaner and healthier environment that we will create today. My son, like any other toddler likes to imitate a lot. He always wants to do just about anything that he sees I'm doing. I've got quite a bit of house plants around the house and in my garden window. Whenever he sees me watering them, or removing dried leaves he would really insist to do the same. From time to time I encounter unwelcome insects attacking my plants. I use organic soap to get rid of them and not the synthetic chemicals that lingers in and around the house that is bad for the health.

Spring and summer are my two most favorite seasons of all. It's because I can spend more time out in the lawn and get my hands dirty again. My son enjoys doing garden work with me, in fact he has his own garden tools as well. I normally plant different annuals to add to my perennials. I love the beautiful blend of colors they create. But this year, I will try my hand in planting vegetables too like tomatoes. I will buy this organic tomato growing kit that I saw at SaferBrand.com site. It includes stakes to support the vegetables as they grow and organic solution to kill the garden pests that can harm the vegetable crops. I use organic fertilizer that has the dual function of stimulating growth of the plants and also killing the weeds in the process. It's pays to use organic gardening products that are not only very effective to fight gardening pest problems but also won't harm our environment. I hope to instill in my son the love for gardening and the value of protecting the environment.

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EC Top Dropper Day - February

A big thank you to all the 25 top droppers for the month of February. As usual the top 10 droppers will get a special spot on my sidebar to display their widgets and links for the whole month of March.

The following 15 droppers, though didn't make it to the top still deserve to be acknowledged with linky love.

Life's sweets and spices

Health.duniasoer.com

Toys For Kids

The Coupon Coup

Cool Dad Central

Wii Mommies

The Cool Mom Guide Reviews

The Cool Mom Guide

Wonderful Things in LIfe

Night Clicks

The Junk Drawer

Comedy Plus

My Point Of View

Coming Back to Life

cheapdanny

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