It can be said that I've taken this blog from the cradle to the grave.

I had the idea to launch Mom.me in the spring as a spot for parenting advice, family events, product reviews and musings.

It grew to include a column in our Living Here section on Tuesdays, when the focus is on family.

But to be honest, as my workload grew (I also write stories for our Family and Food & Wine sections, as well as blog on Appetizers and 21Q), so too did the amount of time I was missing with my own family.

The irony was painful.

I decided to take some of the very same advice I had passed along here and in my column.

Cathy Greenberg, a sociobiologist and co-author of "What Happy Working Mothers Know: How New Findings in Positive Psychology Can Lead to a Healthy and Happy Work/Life Balance," (John Wiley & Sons Inc., $19.95, 256 pages), had told me in an interview for this blog that we moms (and many dads too) lack the courage to say no because we're afraid to compromise friendships and relationships.

It took about a month for Greenberg's message to penetrate my stubborn skull.

I confessed to managers about being overwhelmed, to the late nights and ridiculously early mornings in front of my computer, to the fact that something had to give.

That something is this blog.

The great news, however, is that I will continue to write my column for the Family section. I also will continue to post items on our entertainment blog, 21Q, and food news and recipes on our Appetizers blog. You can also find my writing in the Family and Food & Wine section.

So thank you, dear blog readers, for your following and support. Without this experience, of which you were a central part, I wouldn't be traveling down this new path.

Please be sure to e-mail me if there is a story or idea that you think I should explore for my column. Your input is appreciated, and central to ensuring that my work is reflective of issues and topics that you are interested in learning more about.

Best to you all.

In the flurry or excitement to take children trick-or-treating on Halloween, basic safety precautions can sometimes be overlooked.

Here are some tips for parents, children and homeowners from Sacramento Police Officer Laura Peck.

Click the link below to see her advice.

SacPDHalloween.doc

 

It's a dreaded question in many households: what's for dinner?

The routine query seems even more trying now, as many of us struggle to do more with less.

A few weeks ago, I solicited readers' tips on stretching food budgets while still cooking meals that the family would enjoy. What I got in return was some great advice.

Judy Lane, of Gold River, wrote me in an e-mail that years ago, before her now-grown children were born, she started planning her family's menus, checking recipes for truly needed ingredients and verifying pantry items before heading to the grocery store.

She shopped just once a month, making weekly trips as needed for produce, milk or things that couldn't be frozen or stored. She also remained flexible, cooking dinner a night in advance if the family's schedule warranted.

"I always incorporated several 'go to' family favorite recipes each week and most always tried something new," she said. "The effort cut 25 percent off the grocery bill and reduced the number of hours in the grocery store by a couple of hours each week!

"Menu planning is a task that even small children can help with and they are more likely to eat what's prepared when they've had a voice in that decision-making process."

Lane admitted she has strayed from the exercise over the years, but when she returns to planning her grocery bills go down.

Follow the link below to read more advice from fellow readers.

Joanne Graham wants children to have fun on Halloween. She also wants to help ensure they don't wind up with stomach aches, cavities and too much sugar in their system to sleep (now that's a nightmare).

The dietetic internship program director at California State University, Sacramento just wants to help parents steer their kids toward some healthier choices.

That's why Graham, the dietetic internship program director at California State University, Sacramento teamed with the California Milk Processor Board to arm parents with some advice this trick-or-treat season.

Did you know a typical candy pail on Halloween contains about 9,000 calories worth of candy? Click the link below to learn more.

It's been a whirlwind of work the past few weeks, so I'll be taking some time off the rest of this week and taking a scheduled vacation next week.

As a result, the posts on this blog will wind down. If you're looking for other blogs to fill the void (oh how I hope I make that much of an impact), check out the other blogs The Bee has to offer.

Want fashion and entertainment news? Try 21Q. Running the California International Marathon and want some advice or support? Check out our new running page. Food news? Head to Appetizers. Grocery shopping tips can be found at Shop Cheap.

Looking for a good parenting blog? Try the New York Times' blog, Motherlode, by Lisa Belkin.

See you soon.

Having trouble getting your toddler or preschooler (or teen for that matter) to eat something other than waffles and chicken nuggets?

Check out my story in today's Food & Wine section, where we explore daycares and preschools that are striving to expand childrens' culinary horizons through fresh produce and innovative meals.

The section is packed with recipes, but here is one we couldn't fit. For more extra recipes, check out our Appetizers blog.

Stevie's Speedy Enchilada Sauce
Cook time: 22 minutes
Serves: 8
Notes: This recipe is courtesy Chef Steve Magana of Sacramento Montessori School.

Ingredients
1/3 cup corn oil
2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons chili powder
One 8-ounce can tomato sauce
1 1/4 cups water
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
Sea salt to taste

Instructions
Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in flour and chili powder and cook until lightly brown, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Stir in tomato sauce, water, cumin, garlic powder, and onion powder into the flour until smooth, and continue cooking over medium heat approximately 12 minutes, until thick. Season to taste with salt.

Eating Suggestion:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Place a good amount of sauce in a casserole pan and roll some mozzarella cheese in a few corn tortillas and place in a casserole pan. Add more sauce over and top with cheese. Cover with foil and bake 15 minutes.

Per serving, sauce only: 102 cal.; 1 g pro.; 5 g carb.; 9 g fat (1 sat., 2 monounsat., 6 polyunsat.); 0 mg chol.; 94 mg sod.; 1 g fiber; 0 g sugar; 79 percent calories from fat.

Some families are willing to go to great lengths for a crack at fame and fortune.

Take the Heene family.

Parents Richard and Mayumi Heene, of Fort Collins, Colo., are accused of staging allegedly staged<NO>a runaway balloon caper starring their 6-year-old son, Falcon.

Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden is now saying the whole thing was a hoax, staged as a publicity stunt to land a reality TV show. One entertainment media outlet has paid the couple in connection with the balloon launch, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

The Heenes have a history with reality shows. They've already been featured twice on ABC's "Wife Swap."

The couple face possible state and federal criminal charges in connection with the hoax, as well as other sanctions.

Kevin Wehr, an associate professor of sociology at California State University, Sacramento, said he's not surprised that an alleged attempt at reality stardom was behind the Heene fiasco.

Society has become addicted to television, and reality TV has simply extended the fascination.

The problem is that reality TV isn't really what it claims to be: While we think we're watching real people, those people "are largely reading off scripts that are very similar to the shows done by actors," Wehr said.

"Because we see these people as 'real people,' there is a certain amount of voyeurism involved," he said. "I think this really leads to an increase in people behaving badly."

What's truly disheartening is how much time we all dedicate to these types of shows and the impact they have on our lives.

We talked about "Octomom" for months following the birth of her eight babies. (To summarize, the birth of her octuplets in January brought her total number of kids to 14.)

The same holds true for Jon and Kate Gosselin, the stars of TLC's "Jon & Kate Plus 8," who announced earlier this year that they were divorcing.

We ate it up.

The show's ratings skyrocketed, ranking No. 1 among the top 10 cable programs in the Nielsen ratings for the week of June 1-7 with 5.94 million viewers tuning in, according to online Nielsen information.

The couple and their set of twins and sextuplets have graced the covers of tabloids and dominated pop culture conversations ever since. And it likely will continue now that the show will shift to focus on single mother Kate and her brood on Nov. 2.

Wehr said our collective fascination with reality television has become a stand-in for actual relationships, making it an even more powerful medium.

"This really diminishes us as people," he said. "We're talking about the latest antics of (celebrities) instead of talking about real issues. These are fake issues."

There may be hope on the horizon, however.

The number of reality shows currently on television and their pervasiveness indicates that the bubble might burst soon, Wehr said.

"The way these things go in terms of the spectacle they represent is they become massively popular and then after a while, saturate the market and people tune out," he said. "My hunch is that we're about at that point with reality TV."

Let's hope so.

Jeanne Chasko, 58, holds reading in high esteem. Chasko is a mother, grandmother and substitute teacher who is looking for a job teaching elementary school.

Chasko recently read and reviewed "Reading Together: Everything You Need to Know to Raise a Child Who Loves to Read" (Perigee, $15, 279 pages), a book that author Diane Frankenstein wrote to help guide people toward appropriate books for kids and help connect children with reading.

Chasko enjoyed the book and found it to be a useful tool.

Follow the link below to read her review.

Buy a book, support a local charity.

That's the crux of a fundraiser that begins today in Barnes & Noble stores nationwide.

The bookseller will be donating a percentage of all sales made today through Sunday to a Sacramento Children's Home "Reading to dogs" literacy program.

The program pairs children with calm, volunteer dogs who patiently listen as children read aloud to them, said Michael Kressner, the organization's spokesman.

Sacramento Children's Home programs serve 3,600 children and 2,200 families in the Greater Sacramento Area through emergency, educational and supplemental services.

Author Michael Milone will be reading his book "Nasha, The First Dog" at a special reading event at noon Saturday at the Barnes & Noble store located at Arden Fair mall.

To make a purchase that will help support the Children's Home, mention code 10041499 at checkout.

OK parents, here's the skinny on H1H1 vaccinations for your children: some pediatric offices in the region have them, others don't.

Kaiser Permanente has received 17,000 doses of the nasal spray version of the H1N1 vaccine for use in Northern California and began distributing a limited number of them to pediatric clinics earlier this week, Dr. Stephen M. Parodi, Kaiser's chief of infectious disease, wrote in an e-mail to The Bee.

The vaccinations are being given only to certain high-risk groups as directed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state Department of Public Health guidelines.

Patients are asked to call Kaiser's flu information hotline at (800) 573-5811 to determine if they are eligible.

Kaiser anticipates that it will receive more vaccinations, including the injectable form, in coming weeks.

Belong to Mercy, UC Davis Health System and Sutter medical groups? Follow the link below to learn more about vaccination availability with those providers.