Portland Kids Calendar

Baby powder removes sand. Best kid tip EVER.

It seems that my kids always want to take one last dip in the ocean before we head home, which means they are a tremendous sandy mess by the time we hit the car. A few years ago, I spied […]

Parenting tips for air travel with the kids. No benedryl required.

Like many New England families, yours is probably ready to exchange their skis and snowshoes for bathing suits and sunscreen by the time February school vacation arrives. Unfortunately, in order to get to a warm climate quickly, we have to […]

6 Easy tips on cleaning (and keeping clean) your house for holiday guests.

Is your house becoming the local Motel 6 for the holidays? Sounds like it’s time to bust out the cleaning supplies. Here are some simple tips on keeping up appearances without turning yourself into a Merry Maid for the next […]

Super cool homemade Halloween costumes that are so easy and cheap, it’s spooky.

With commercial children’s Halloween costumes being such a big draw for kids enamored with fictional characters, it’s easy as a parent to toss the cashier $25 bucks for the polyester screamfest and call it a day. But the generational tug […]

Get ready for your closeup. Tips For nailing the family portrait.

The long, golden days of summer are firmly in place on the Seacoast, with picturesque sunsets that may have you considering an outdoor portrait session with the family. Before your photographer knocks at the door, camera in hand, here are […]

8 Discipline mistakes parents make– and solutions to fix them!

Guilty as charged! I’m not going to admit to how many of these parenting no-no’s I’ve committed, but let’s just say a fair share is squarely in my corner. This Parenting.com article is a great reminder of how to […]

Babysitters 101: How and Where to find the good ones.

It’s summer and the kids are ready to get out of the house—and so are the adults! But finding a great babysitter can be as easy as finding a four leaf clover, especially if you have just moved or don’t […]

Kids and drugs. Have you had the talk yet? When and how to start.

Maybe it’s because I’m an incessant watcher of the television show Intervention, but lately I’ve been obsessed making sure my kids never walk down the path of substance abuse. My children are 7 and 8, so while I feel they […]

Found! 30 healthy snacks under 150 calories. Now you can eat more.

I don’t know about you, but I need some new snack ideas- but ones that are still healthy. Here are some delish snacks for you OR the kids. Craving salty? 5 olives (any kind) (45 calories) 1 small Martin’s […]

Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone Challenge: No baggies, water bottles or paper towels, Oh my!

I’m not a professional environmentalist, nor do I play one on TV. But I do like to think of myself as (semi) eco-conscious. So when I simultaneously ran out of paper towels and bottled water this week, I knew which […]

Chow time! “Cowboy Night” makes for super fun family dinners.

Years ago, way before my kids were old enough for me to implement it, I read a great article in one of those parenting magazines about a dinnertime idea. I, like a lot of mothers, have always struggled with a […]

7 Ways you’re wasting your money. 7 Ways to get it back.

Just came upon this article from MSN Money and thought it was pretty right on. Passing it along in hopes you can save some green, as well… Wasting money doesn’t necessarily mean you’re bad with money. You don’t have to […]

Ridiculous Green Tips. I just won’t go that far.

I’m always on the hunt for green living tips to share with you, and I try to keep the recommendations realistic and simple enough where you might be subjected to a short period of uncomfortable change, but nothing that will […]

Elusive restaurant manners. Teaching kids to mind their P’s & Q’s.

Teaching your kids restaurant manners can be a frustrating and seemingly futile task. It wasn’t until almost a year ago that I felt comfortable bringing my now 4 and 5 year olds out to eat—and even now, all the stars […]

Culinary trickery. Top 5 ways to bamboozle your young kids into eating healthy food.

When my kids were around 2-3 years old, they were happily subsisting on a strict diet of macaroni and cheese and goldfish crackers. Trying new foods was a joke. Despite all my efforts to trick them into taking just a […]

Get active! Outdoor family games that are just plain f.u.n.

If you’re the person who gets up at 5:30am and goes for a jog before the kids get up, this article is not aimed at you. Let it be known that you people who are able to muster the motivation […]

10 Things to Do Before You Have Kids – Pshaw. Do them AFTER kids!

Even though I have kids, I decided to click on this article I stumbled upon the other day titled “10 Things to do Before you Have Kids”—just to see what I was missing and/or didn’t do before I decided to, […]

10 ways to improve your mood and ‘tude. Peace is closer than you think.

Life, kids, relationships, groceries, bills, cleaning, carpools, homework, regular work—it can all get pretty overwhelming! Often times we don’t feel like it’s possible to give ourselves a break so we continue on, resulting in more fatigue and more stress. Yuck. […]

The “Good Enough” Parent: Kicking the Martha Stewart Syndrome in the pants.

In an age where so many of us are twisting ourselves into balloon animals over everything concerning our children, I’m feeling an intervention is in order. I know I am not the only Mother who, after tucking the kids in […]

Teaching kids (and yourself!) about hurtful words.

“Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” – a familiar mantra we all used at one point or another during childhood. As children it may have provided us with some momentary mental toughness, but […]

Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone Challenge: Stop Procrastinating!

I’m great at procrastinating. If one could make a living out of this, I would be a very wealthy woman. I didn’t used to be this way, not at all. But then life happened. Kids, work, house, school. Remember when […]

5 Fun (and free) ways to get the family active in the winter!

With childhood obesity on the rise it is important that kids stay active and to encourage a lifelong love of exercise and fitness. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends one hour a day of some kind of physical activity for […]

Winter Body Bounce Back. Easy ways to get fit- even in winter!

Ah, the heart of winter. Long gone are the frantic Christmas buy-buy-buy-sale-sale-sale commercials, in and constant are the gym membership, Lap Band 30 second spots. Madness, really. My behind is still sporting the holiday cookies and I am bombarded with […]

Car Seat Saftey: 11 Mistakes parents make.

I wouldn’t be lying if I told you that the last time I had my car seat properly checked out was by the valet at Brigham & Women’s the day we left with my newborn daughter. Physically having a car seat […]

5 Things parents should never say to their kids. Come aboard, there’s room on my guilt wagon.

Article courtesy of Charlene Prince Birkeland, Team Mom on Yahoo.com. It’s no secret that parents should pay attention to how they communicate with their children. Even tiger moms and parents following the French style of raising children could agree that […]

Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone: A week without television.

Recently it was National Turn Off Your Television Week and I decided to subject my family to this challenge. No television and no movies. Oh boy, what have I done? Save us from ourselves! Day One: I have to literally unplug […]

Cheap recipe alert. Eggs…not just for breakfast.

Always in the mood to save a little moula, I’m thinking this week is a great one for some money saving recipes. What better way to think Spring than to whip up some protein rich, healthy and budget friendly recipes? […]

5 Best Apps for paranoid (cautious) parents. You know who you are.

Just as there are apps to help your children avoid being bullied, there are apps that can calm even the most paranoid parent. Many of these use GPS to track a child’s location, so parents should read the license agreements […]

How to be broke like a real person. Budgeting tips you can actually use.

(SKC’s wonderful friend and contributor, Brenna Jennings, posted this fantastic budgeting article on her blog, www.suburbansnapshots.com, the other day and offered to share her thoughts here. Thanks Brenna!) How to be Broke like a Real Person During the sixty-five eternities […]

Procrastination busters. Start your day by eating a frog.

Everybody wakes in the morning with a list of things to do. If you’re like me, some of those tasks persistently show up day after day. Why? Because that particular task makes my upper lip curl with disgust, so I […]

9 Best “Mom” apps. Being this smart/organized/fashionable is natural, dontcha know.

I’ve had an iPhone for some time now, but have never invested too much time finding apps-come to find out, I was missing out on quite a bit- and not junk, useful stuff! Check out these recommendations for our favorite […]

Looking for Some Family Fun? Try Geocaching!

Looking for something to do with the kids at home or on vacation? Try geocaching (pronounced geo-cashing), a scavenger hunt with a high-tech twist. What’s Geocaching?Geocaching is an outdoor game that uses a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. It’s an […]

Eating out? Best and worst Kids’ Menus.

Between tricky restaurant choices, finicky eaters, and the desire to provide healthy, nourishing food, taking the kids out to eat can drive any parent crazy! Here’s the inside scoop on better choices and some easy steps on how to lighten […]

Creating the easiest (online) family scrapbook ever. How cool!

How are you doing with those scrapbooks? You know, the ones you have a thousand clippings for, but just can’t find the time to assemble into something that resembles a readable documentation of your child’s milestones? Check out this super […]

Technology Free Weekend? We DARE You!

There have been many, many times over the past year when I’ve gathered up my resolve and decided to cut down on my non-work Internet time. It’s not like there aren’t a million other, more productive things I could be […]

Errands be gone! Checking off your To-Do List without actually to-do’ing anything.

Ding dong. Who’s there? Oh, it’s my groceries! Ding dong…excellent, the dry cleaning is here! What’s that, Mr. Mailman? Oh, my drug store items have arrived. Niiice. The delivery industry has finally listened to our cat calls and is starting […]

The Right Way And The Wrong Way To Use Consumer Loyalty Cards.

Following up on our Loyalty Cards: A Good Deal Or Scary Big Brother, here’s a great article we found on the best ways to work the loyalty/membership card system. There are definitely some good tips here… ______________________________ If you’re like […]

Loyalty Cards. A Good Deal Or A Scary Big Brother?

Remember when you used to be able to walk into a store because they were having a sale on (insert favorite product here), paid the cashier and were on your way? Not anymore. Most stores, particularly the grocery or pharmacies, […]

“Do Kids Belong In Restaurants?” Article In The Herald. Our 2¢ On The Subject.

Upon cracking open the newspaper this morning, my eye immediately caught the article written by Portsmouth Herald food critic, Rachel Forrest, titled “Do Kids Belong In Restaurants?” (read the article here). My mama bear hackles are already on alert. Because […]

Career Hiatus? How To Stay In The Game While You’re Taking A Break.

I happened to catch Good Morning America one day last week where they were running another story about unemployed mothers and were giving tips on how to stay involved, professionally speaking, while out of work. I assumed it was going […]

Finding New Friends In A New Town. This Ain’t As Easy As It Used To Be.

A few weeks ago I wrote on my personal blog about the difficult time I was having finding friends locally. My husband, I, and three dogs moved to Portsmouth from Boston almost four years ago. I hadn’t wanted to leave […]

Guilt Be Gone! Let’s Give Ourselves A Break, Because We’re Pretty Great.

I’ve been following a weight loss program for the past 17 weeks, 2 days and 3.5 hours — that’s just a rough estimate. I’m doing really well, but still, when I slip up it’s all, “Shut your pie-hole, chubby” and, […]

Is McDonald’s To Blame For Making Our Kids Fat? Here’s Your Chance To Weigh In (No Scale Required).

Everyone knows that fast food chain restaurants aren’t winning any awards for being nutritionally responsible. But one public interest group is taking it a step further and claiming that McDonald’s is guilty of “predatory marketing” using their Happy Meal toys […]

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