Update: This contest is now closed.

Baby Gizmo Buying Guide Giveaway
I recently had the opportunity to review a book that is chock full of parenting tips for new moms and moms to be.

When I first heard of this book, I thought it would be all about recommendations for particular baby products that the authors found to be useful. But I was wrong. This parenting book is even better.

Heather Maclean and Hollie Schultz, the authors, do not actually recommend any products. Instead they offer a parenting course of sorts to new moms and dads. You see, the sheer quantity of baby equipment that is available in stores today can easily overwhelm the uninitiated buyer. And parents to be don’t have a chance against the marketing campaigns of big business. Do they really need all that stuff?

That is the question that the authors aim to answer in The Baby Gizmo Buying Guide: From Pacifiers to Potties . . . Why, When, and What to Buy for Pregnancy Through Preschool.

Heather and Hollie carefully review every class of baby product imaginable. They discuss the pros and cons, what to look out for, what to avoid, and what to consider when making your purchasing decision. Brand names and equipment models come and go, so the authors make this parenting book timeless by never recommending a particular product. Rather they leave the choice up to the reader and give the reader enough information to make an informed decision.

It just so happens that I have two copies of this parenting book to give away. Leave me a comment on this post by midnight on June 1, 2008. As always you get an extra entry if you Subscribe to Parenting Tips at NeenMachine.com by Email. All entries are subject to my contest rules.

Parenting Tips: Extracurricular Activities - How much is too much?

Spring used to mean showers and may flowers - but in our family it signals the beginning of spring sports. If your schedule is anything like mine - the day picks up pace around 3:00 pm. The kids come home and the driving begins. I know I am not alone.

I have always been a firm believer in afterschool activities. It builds kids self confidence, fosters teamwork, and gives them an outlet for all of that pent up energy. The trade off is the ever important down time that children also need. In my case building down time into our schedule is almost impossible. With four kids that have different interests, each one individually has something to do just about everyday. And if we have to take one child to an activity, then everyone must come along for the ride. (You know I will post one of my parenting tips extolling the virtues of carpooling very soon!)

The problem that I see with extracurricular activities is not the activity itself, but the young age at which sports change over from something fun to participate in to something very serious and competitive. Practices quickly go from being once a week, to twice, thrice or more per week. And since “everyone” is participating - you must too to stay in the game.

My kids don’t seem to mind the schedule at this point. They enjoy seeing their friends and being outside in the warm weather. But it does take a toll on parents especially moms. All the afternoon driving means that dinner must be prepared or at least planned for early in the day. In our house school comes first - but when spring is in the air, it is hard to corral the kids into getting their homework done before the activities start. And don’t forget the cost. Each sport or extracurricular activity usually carries a fee for the program itself, along with an added cost for uniforms and equipment.

If you are feeling a bit overwhelmed the following list may help you out:

10 Parenting Tips for Managing Extracurricular Activity Overload

1. Determine your available time and budget and limit your children to one or two activities each.
2. Set up a carpool with one of your child’s friends if you can.
3. If you find out that your child will have more than one practice on a given day even if they are not at the same time, pick one to attend and skip the other. The coach won’t love you for it but keep your child’s best interests in mind. Perhaps you can alternate weeks for each sport.
4. Make sure school work doesn’t suffer. Just as you schedule your child’s sports practice on your calendar, you should also add homework time to the calendar.
5. If your child seems to tired to attend practice one evening don’t push it - but make it clear that you cannot routinely skip an extracurricular activity once you have made a commitment to attend.
6. On busy evenings try to free up your own time to devote to your kids. Make dinner ahead of time if you can. (check out these posts on vegetarian slow cooker recipes and slow cookers in general for some good ideas)
7. Participate by watching. If you are permitted to watch your child’s practice. Stay. It may not seem like it but your child will feel proud to know that you were there cheering him/her on.
8. Recognize when something isn’t working out. Everyone makes mistakes. If you or your child chose a sport or activity that he/she hates, and you’ve given it a good try, maybe you just need to write it off. If you feel strongly about sticking with it, then it is not unreasonable to ask that he complete the season and then choose something else in the summer or fall.
9. There will be days that you will not have any downtime. Make sure to compensate by taking the following day at a slower pace.
10. Sleep is important. Make sure that your children are getting enough sleep. This will help them keep in pace with their busy lives.

I have been posting quite a few parenting tips about permanent markers lately. So, I write this at the risk of becoming known as the permanent marker blog.

It seems that my four year old daughter refers to permanent markers as “pregnant” markers. It took us a while to figure out exactly what she meant when she asked to use the pregnant markers. But after much guesswork we were able to decode the situation.

And then it dawned on me - my daughter is truly wise beyond her years. While markers are hardly pregnant, pregnancy is certainly permanent.

A good lesson to remember for the teenage years.

And one more phrase to add to “my favorite words“.

You know I love giveaways. Hey if you can get something for nothing - well, why not? Especially if the prize is useful to parents and families.

Right now, time is running out to enter my U Grl Trading Card Giveaway. If you haven’t entered already be sure and check it out!

It also happens to be Giveaway week at Weary Parent. Char and Christine are offering up some awesome stuff including books for moms, Blume Girl Thermals, and my personal favorite - a brand new blog design. Keep watching as the week progresses for new items up for grabs!

Building self esteem in our children is part of a parent’s job. If you have a daughter, this job is made even more difficult because of the media.

This commercial by Dove may be a bit extreme - but it summarizes all of the body image messages that our daughters are being bombarded with. Messages that tell them that they are not beautiful “as is”. We, as parents, need to be aware of this and the effect that it has on our goal of building self esteem.

Take a peek at the video and tell me what you think. Is it over the top or is it an accurate reflection on how our daughters will someday perceive themselves? What can we do about this - and how can we twist these negative media messages to work on building self esteem instead of breaking it down?