The musical toothbrush was such a great idea.  I wish I had thought of it.  It's not very expensive.  It encourages kids to brush longer.  Even better is the fact that I can hear my son brushing his teeth.  He was the king of telling me he brushed when he in fact, didn't.  I would have to threaten to check if his toothbrush was wet which is when he got the brilliant idea to just run his toothbrush under the water.  Well, we've had a few cavities and a few large...

I can't say that I'm an expert at too many things but since I've been caring for children for years and have potty trained more than a dozen now, I feel like I am qualified to share some potty training tips. 

1.  I think step number one is the parent and/or caregiver agreeing that it's time.  I think 2 - 2 1/2 is definately old enough but every child is different.   They definately start giving you clues that they are ready when they "hide" when making a BM, when the...

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.  Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.  The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves."  ~John Muir

I had noticed an article on Digg that said people hate nature more than ever.  I guess it was just a headline to draw people's attention.  It worked for me.  After all I don't hate nature.  I love nature but t...

My son ate chicken last night. This sounds like such a silly thing to be so excited and proud about especially when my son is 13 years old. My son has 18 Q- syndrome mosaic. This a partial deletion of the 18th chromosome and since it is mosaic it means that it is not in every cell of his body. We have had our challenges particularly because this is pretty rare but also because it is mosaic we were not sure which characteristics would manifest.

One of the things that I found hardest deal...

My husband has wanted to get the boys a trampoline for years. I always said no because I was concerned about safety. I had read a magazine article about how many accidents and broken bones result from trampolines and that made me wary. Also I had a friend who was an ER nurse and she would tell me freaky stories about protruding bones and that didn't endear me to trampolines anymore than I already was.

But I am starting to waver. Why? Because I think anything that would get my boys off ...

I had a fun morning outside with my daycare kids. They are two years old now and we can now do some of the activities I used to do with my boys. I just thought I would share some of our activities in case anyone wants to try something new. These are all cheap or free too. Not everyone can spend $200 on a blow up pool and $1000 on a playset.

Sidewalk chalk is one of the funnest things ever. I drew pictures. They scribbled. I drew a hopskotch board for them. They had fun trying to hop...

You know how sometimes you feel like you are the only person who ever felt a certain way and then there is that wonderful day when you figure out that you're not a freak. That other people feel the same way you do. I really thought that I was a bad mom, no, not really a bad mom but I felt that I had lost myself to mommydom. It seemed like my friends and neighbors were happy to have their whole lives revolve around their kids and didn't feel that same dissatisfied feeling that I did.

I kn...