Here’s something that was sent to me that some of you might be interested in. I haven’t tried it myself, as I am on a credit card moratorium, so I can’t vouch personally for anything here.

Basically, it is a deal that when you get a particular credit card, you get points which can get you a free plane ticket or help you make some money. 

If you get an American Express Business Gold Rewards credit card, you will automatically be given 25,000 points as a sign up bonus. You can use these points to get a plane ticket anywhere in the United States. You can also the points to get a $250 gift certificate or a voucher on Southwest airlines.

We fly on vouchers from Southwest all the time because we have a friend who works for them. One good thing about these vouchers is that anyone can use them, so there is quite a lucrative market on craigslist and ebay for them.

So basically, you get the credit card and then you can either get a free plane ticket or the gift certificate. Or, if you want to make some money, you can get the voucher and sell it.

There are a few catches. You have to make a purchase in order to get the points. So you have to buy something in order to get the free stuff. The card also has an annual fee of $125 bucks. But it is waived in the first year. So you could get the card, make a purchase, get your free stuff, and then cancel the card.

I’m not really experienced in these kinds of things, but I know a lot of people use points to get free plane tickets and all. So if you are interested, check out the Bankaholic site for more info.

The 24-Hour Pharmacist by Suzy Cohen starts off with a chapter on overcoming fatigue. Since fatigue is my middle name, I was immediately drawn into this book.

Suzy Cohen is a pharmacist who believes in medication, but she also believes in various natural cures as well. The 24-Hour Pharmacist is chock full of good advice about everything from weight-loss to snoring.

For me, it wasn’t the type of book that I could sit down and read all the way through. Instead, I flipped around to the parts that had to do with me. I got some great advice and some new things to try regarding things like depression and sleeping problems.

If you are looking for some alternatives to the pills your doctor is handing out, or you feel like there has got to be something better out there for you to try, pick up a copy of this book.

Now if you excuse me, I’m off to take some buffered vitamin C to prevent a UTI from attacking me.

See what other bloggers are saying about the book at Mother-Talk.

In the midst of my long days filled with money troubles, couch pushing, bobby-pin throwing, screaming temper tantrums, and food issues, reading Elizabeth Pantley’s “The No Cry Discipline Solution” made me sit on my bed and bawl my eyes out. Because she gets it.

She gets that parenting is hard. She gets that the behaviors demonstrated by children are often exasperating. And then she helps you deal with it.

Pantley’s focus is not only on giving you practical tips to deal with undesirable behavior, but also helping parents change the way they react to the behavior. Large sections of the book are devoted to dealing with anger. I find that anger is one of the least talked about parts of parenting. I understand why, because I want nothing more than to be the perfect parent with a clean house, fresh-made muffins in the oven, adorable children who rarely misbehave and if they do, I deal with it in a calm, loving, instructional way.

Unfortunately, that is the stuff of sitcoms and not what it is like in most homes. How do you keep from getting angry when a child starts destroying your home seconds after Grey’s Anatomy starts? You don’t. Anger is normal. This book lets you know that it is normal to feel anger at your children, but then goes further and explains to you step by step on how to deal with the anger.

Then, it gives common behavior issues and tells you the Do’s and Don’ts of how to deal with them. I love the way this is presented because you can skip past, “Bath, not wanting one” and go directly to “Hitting, Kicking and Hair Pulling.”

Not only did I like the advice given in the book, but Pantley is careful to include adoptive families. References to the adoption are scattered in a very natural way throughout the book.

This book will make you feel like a better parent. It will make you feel less alone. And who couldn’t use a bit of that?

See what other bloggers are saying about “The No-Cry Discipline Solution” at Mother-Talk.

I’ve always been the type of reader who can never get enough of books. Growing up, I always had a book in my hand. I can read very fast, so for most of my life I’ve picked up a book and finished it a few short hours later. I was never one to read a book over the span of a week or a month. That would drive me nuts.

Over the past months though, my reading has been greatly curtailed. I’ve mostly stuck to reading People and the books I’m sent to review. Even then, I’ve read then five minutes here while cooking dinner or ten minutes before I can’t keep my eyes open any longer.

Until I started reading Once Upon a Day. I couldn’t stop reading it. That particular night, Geo tried to be really nice and show up at around 1 am with candy for me since I was feeling depressed. Except I didn’t want the candy, I just wanted to know what happened next. I didn’t care about sleep, didn’t care about sugar, only cared about these characters.

Once Upon a Day can best be described as a modern take on a fairy-tale. The whole story has the feel of a world where you recognize the places and the events, but nothing feels exactly like it does when you put the book down and go back to your real life.

The book centers around a 23 year old named Dorothea, who has been raised in isolation from the rest of the world. One day she sets out to find where her brother, who was also raised with her, went to. Lisa Tucker’s writing is often beautiful and the images she creates stayed with me. I became invested in her characters, even though they all are flawed and at times, quite unlikeable. (Grey’s Anatomy, anyone?)

Once upon a Day is a love story and a mystery and has enough of a interesting twist that I couldn’t put it down. And in my life right now, that is saying a lot.

Find out what other bloggers though at Mother-Talk.

Spoiler/sensitive subject alert: The book does contain references to an assault and a miscarriage. Neither was done in a way that was particuarly upsetting to me, but be aware if these are triggers for you.

Here’s what I was really supposed to talk about today (Yay! I’m not late!). It is a great site called Mamasource.

One of the hardest things for me in being a “instant Mom–just add water” was that I had no idea how to figure out how all the other Mom’s knew what to do. How did I decide what daycare to go to? What pediatrician was good? Are there any playgroups in the area?

I don’t know what mother’s did before the internet and cell phones. What did my mom do when I licked roll-on deoderant? Me? I ran upstairs, googled “child licked deoderant” and then googled the number for the poison control center. Then I texted Geo to tell him that Bubba just licked deoderant.

Unfortunately, all the searching doesn’t clue you into the fact that while Daycare A has better advertising, Daycare B actually has a much smaller teacher/child ratio. That is where Mamasource comes in. You plug in where you live and the site becomes personalized just for you. You can talk on messageboards with moms who live in your local area. There is a section for Mom’s to review local businesses. If you recall, I live in the middle of nowhere, but I was surprised to know there were listings for Small Town. I even found out about a Mommy and Me Playgroup. I’ve been trying to get info on something like that forever. The messageboards seem to include a bunch of intelligent women and the responses I read to questions were respectful and articulate.

Being a mother can be really isolating. Mamasource definitely is a way to bridge that gap between your online life and your local community.

To see what other bloggers are saying about Mamasource, check out Mother-Talk.

The great people at Mother-Talk gave me a chance to talk about the book “The Big Payoff: 8 Steps Couples Can Take to Make the Most of Their Money and Live Richly Ever After” by Sharon Epperson.

Unfortunately, I was supposed to blog about this yesterday and I had every intention to do so. Except I got caught up with trying to get enough work done so that I could pay my credit card bill and arguing with DFS about how much money I was entitled to, as I want to make sure I can pay my rent next month.

Which is quite ironic, actually, considering this book is all about how individuals can take care of their financial futures. I wasn’t sure I’d like this book, because it is aimed at couples, but there really isn’t anything in here that I couldn’t use for my own personal knowledge. I’ve read a lot of financial management books lately because I’ve set a goal for myself to stop living paycheck to paycheck, get money saved, start contributing more to Bug’s college fund, and start making wise financial moves.

It seems that money problems have been a steady issue for me for a long time. My parents got put into a bad financial position due to some circumstances out of their control. Then I went off to college, paying for it by myself and having very little financial resources. Ten years later and I’m still not to the point I want to be. Money is an almost constant stressor for me and I am really working to improve that.

The book starts off with things I’m sure you’ve read before: how to keep a budget, how to set up an emergency fund, how to set up for your retirement. But it also covers things like how to sell or buy a home, how to save for your kid’s college tuition, how to purchase health and life insurance and how to make a will. The chapter on college tuition was something of particular interest to me as I’ve been starting to look at my options for Bug, especially since I have a short time to do it. The book is easy to read without being condescending and explained things in a way I understood. There are worksheets included to help you plan your finances and an index which can help you quickly find what you are looking for.

My little sister is getting married next year and I think this would be an excellent book to pass along to her. Like I said, although it is geared towards couples, you will find plenty of info if you are a single woman or man (Do any men read this blog besides my dad?) as well.

For more information on the book, Visit Amazon. And to see what other bloggers thought about The Big Payoff, visit MotherTalk.

***

Choosing between the many Mother’s Day gifts available out there can be tough, between picking something for Mother’s Day that is specifically for your mom or just going out and picking from Mother’s Day gift baskets and hoping she’ll like it; it’s worth taking some time to consider.

I’ve got a bunch of book reviews, product reviews, and just my own “Hey..I think this rocks” things to pass along..so I figured I would try to do that on Wednesdays from now on until I run out of things to talk about.

So here goes:

SNOWBABY RECOMMENDS:

I’ve talked about Baby Dagny before. The lovely people there sent Snowbaby a Purple Frog Plush pacifier which is a free gift they send to anyone who creates a registry and sends it to ten family or friends. Getting something from Baby Dagny is always exciting, because everything they send out is wrapped so nicely. The pacifier came in this lime green box with a purple ribbon and it was wrapped up in tissue paper and trust me..it looked awesome. Anyway, the Purple Frog pacifier is a regular pacifier with this stuffed purple frog hanging off of it. It looks slightly ridiculous, but Snowbaby LOVES it. I’ve given it to her in the grocery store when she is getting anxious about food and we always get comments about it. The cool thing about it is that it was given away in the Oscar gift bags, so when someone comments on it, you can say, “Oh this? They gave these away in the Oscar gift bags.” And then you can have the person think you are someone famous. (You know, if you are a big dork like me.) Anyway, the pacifiers are available for $16 bucks, but like I said, set up an online registry, send it to your family and friends and then get one for free. Then your kid can be as cool as Snowbaby. (Their car seat chillers are also on sale now. I haven’t tried it, but I’ve heard they work really well.)

BUG RECOMMENDS:

The fine folks at Family Travel Gear sent Bug a Snack and Play Travel Tray. Bug LOVES it.  It is basically like a lap tray, but it has a strap that goes around the back so if younger children are using it, it can be fastened around their car seat. Bug doesn’t let the younger kids use it though, because she likes it so much. We spend a lot of time in the car driving to visits and the like, and this gives Bug the chance to work on school work or draw on a smooth surface. It also has mesh pockets on the side to keep her pencils and crayons. It has raised edges so things don’t roll off into Snowbaby’s lap. It’s also good for when you eat in the car. Bug has used it on every car ride since we got the thing, so I’d say she gives it two thumbs up.

Baggage Recommends:

I got a book awhile back called “What the Other Mothers Know: A Practical Guide to Child Rearing told in a Really Nice, Funny way that won’t make you feel like a Complete Idiot the way all those Other parenting books do.”  The “Other Mothers” book is pretty darn good. While there are some tips that might raise a few eyebrows, such as hiring a religious or plain looking babysitter so that they won’t get a boyfriend and quit, for the most part the book gives some good practical advice written in a quirky, friendly way. This would be an ideal gift for someone who was starting off as a foster parent and was willing to take younger children. I read it right about the time the kids came here and reading it made me feel better. The best part is the lists of what you should bring in your bag depending on the age of your children. It does seem to be written to a more “upper middle class” audience, with its discussions of private schools and how to throw a killer birthday party, but for the most part, it is a good little book for those of us starting out as mothers with no earthly idea what we are doing.

BUBBA RECOMMENDS:

Bubba recommends licking Bug’s roll-on deoderant.

**Note: Bubba is a trained professional. Do not try this at home. This will cause your foster mother to have to dial the poison control hotline for the first time in her life.

I love taking part in Mother Talk Book Tours. I don’t have a lot of extra money or time these days, so a free book that I **have** to read forces me to get some reading time.

Today was my day to share with you my thoughts on Elizabeth Irvine’s book Healthy Mother Healthy Child: Creating balance in everyday life.

Except I’m a little late on getting it done.

See, I wanted to have it written last night so all I had to do was hit publish. But then I had to pick up Bubba at daycare early because he had a 103 temperature. Bug’s ankle started to hurt her.

Snowbaby had to go up to Little City to get her pre-op appointment out of the way, which meant 3 hours in the car. And then she has to be up there at the crack of dawn tomorrow for her surgery.

Oh. And remember how I told you I had a sinus infection? And a urinary tract infection?

Yeah. I still do. Except now I think my urinary tract infection has progressed to a bladder infection/kidney infection?

I needed to go to the doctor because all my home remedies were failing miserably, but when do I have time to go to the doctor? Plus, can you bring a baby with you to a veteran’s hospital? I’ve never seen a baby there, but then again I’ve never seen a female patient under the age of 70.

So as I was shuttling people around, I was handing out tylenol with one hand and begging for Geo to call our doctor and beg him to write me a prescription since he had seen me for both of these things before (as I have chronic UTIs and chronic sinusitis.)

Hmm. I wonder why anyone thought I might benefit from this book?

It’s a beautiful book. It is chock full of black and white photographs of children and moms relaxing, meditating, and doing yoga. The author got on my good side right away when she explained that she does rely on medication when the “body is in crisis.” So many books like this are anti-medicine, so it was nice to see a different take.

I love doing yoga and I’ve introduced it to Bug who likes it too. This book goes through some basic yoga poses and breathing techniques. There is a section on nutrition which made me want to use more natural foods, something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time.

It is also a great introduction to different types of complementary therapies. I really enjoyed the visualization exercises, as this is something Bug recently was taught.

My only real problem with this book is that it assumes you gave birth to your children if you are a mother, and it makes no accounting for families that are non-traditional such as single mother families or two moms. There is also a section about Catholicism that seems out of place and not of particular interest to me since it doesn’t mesh with my personal beliefs.

I’m not sure I would have picked this book up on my own, but it is a good place to start if you are looking to bring some balance to your life, like I am.

(Now I’m off to take some antibiotics and a big handful of tylenol.)

Buy Healthy Mother Healthy Child!

Learn more about the book, including links to the author’s blog at the MotherTalk website.

I was a good kid. My dad always says that I was only “bad” one time. Maybe twice. I’ve often tried to think about what exactly my parents did to make me a good kid, so I can do that with my own children. One thing I keep coming back to is that they encouraged us to develop our own identity. We each had our own interests and they worked hard to encourage us to find out who we were. Even now, as adults, my parents are supportive of who I am and what I want to do, even when they don’t agree or understand. (You’re joining the Marines? You are taking in HOW many kids?)

Joseph Nowinski seems to have taken some advice from my parents in his book The Identity Trap: Saving Teens from Themselves. I’m always up for new approaches to dealing with Teens and Pre-Teens since I’ve got one child running as fast as she can into teenagedom, so I was excited to have the chance to read this book.

Nowinski’s focus is on helping teens develop their identity and helping parents work with the identity that their teens develop. He has a unique way of dealing with behavior issues and explains that what we see as oppositional behavior might just be a way of the teens trying to express themselves as they work through becoming who they truly are. He goes through different types of identities and gives a lot of practical advice.

This is valuable stuff, especially for parents of children who have pretty constant behavior issues. There are times when I feel like Bug becomes her behaviors. There are times when I forget to see the little girl behind the negative things she is doing. Nowinski encourages parents to focus more on the identity which will help give you clues to the behaviors and how to best deal with them so that your child can succeed.

The book is chock full of stories of teens and parents which makes it an interesting read. Although some of the little tidbits presented throughout might seem like common sense, I often find that when I am most frustrated with my child’s behavior, my common sense flys out the window. These simple reminders might help.

Nowinski encourages parents to not assume that their child has a mental illness if they are having behavior issues. I think this is good advice, but sometimes I felt his tone seemed to indicate that he didn’t believe in things like ODD. For the most part though, he keeps a real respectful tone to the parents who are featured in the book and who will be reading it..not putting them down for their decisions while at the same time suggesting alternatives.

If I saw this book at the store, I might be turned off by the cover, which features some surly looking teens. But I’d recommend this book to anyone with pre-teens or teens, or even younger children with behavioral problems. I’m going to utilize some of the advice in this book in my home.

For more discussion of The Identity Trap, check out Mother Talk.

I *still* have to mail out two of my books from the last time I did this, but we’re going to do it again!

If you want a chance to win a copy of The Identity Trap, leave me a comment about you as a teenager. Did you do something great? Got a funny story? Anything will do. Bug will pick a random winner on Sunday.

Ok, so roll call! Who is reading blogs on Saturday night?? Me!

Comment if you are too so we can all feel less pathetic. Haha. And, what did you have for dinner??

I had shish-ke-bobs. Is that how you spell that? I don’t know. But Bubba only ate rice.

I’m way behind on my reviews. I’ve got several products, multiple books, and some unsolicited reviews like my thoughts on “Meet the Robinsons” that I really need to get to. I’m going to try to knock them all out soon. I’ll be putting all my reviews over on my Typepad blog and letting you know over here when one is up so you can decide whether you want to read it or not. (Please read it. I get my feelings easily hurt. HeeHee)

Go check out what I thought of bamboo washcloths from Baby Dagny.

(P.S. If you are a company with something you’d like me to review, especially a high-priced stroller, a digital camera or video recorder, or some kick-ass clothing…well, you can find my email on my about page. I’m just saying.)