Mom.me

Skyrocketing summer temperatures are prompting emergency officials to issue warnings about the dangers of leaving children unattended in cars.

The American College of Emergency Physicians on Monday urged the public not to leave anyone in a hot vehicle, especially children, during the summer.

"Putting it bluntly, leaving your child in a hot car is like leaving your child in a lit oven," Dr. Nick Jouriles, the medical society's president, stated in a news release.

Jouriles issued an extra caution for sleep-deprived parents or parents who may have experienced changes in schedule or routine.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the inside temperature of a car can rise nearly 20 degrees Fahrenheit during the first 10 minutes, putting anyone left inside at risk for heat-related illnesses or death.

Children left in parked cars, even with the windows cracked open, have the greatest risk of heat stroke and death, the CDC states on its Web site.

Symptoms of heat stroke include an extremely high temperature (above 103 degrees Fahrenheit, taken orally), strong rapid pulse, throbbing headache, dizziness, nausea, confusion and unconsciousness, the CDC reports.

If people see a child left unattended in a vehicle, call 911 immediately, said Officer Laura Peck, a spokeswoman for the Sacramento Police Department.

"That is a life-threatening emergency," she said.

The parent may be held criminally responsible in some cases.

California law prohibits a parent, legal guardian or someone responsible for a child 6 years old or younger from leaving the child in a vehicle without being supervised by someone 12 years old or older when conditions may pose a risk to the child's health or safety or if the vehicle's engine is running or the key is in the ignition.

The law is named for Kaitlyn Russell, a 6-month-old girl who died after being alone in a parked car for more than two hours.

Here are some prevention tips from the American College of Emergency Physicians:

• Never leave children alone in a vehicle.

• Check the vehicle before you get out of it.

• If you child travels in a rear-facing car seat, keep a reminder of the child in the front seat, such as a stuffed animal.

For more information about heat-related illness, go to the CDC's online prevention guide.

For more summer safety issues, read my story in today's Living Here Family section.

I have a couple of items for willing parent testers.

Zoya, a nail cosmetic company that makes what they claim is the "world's longest wearing natural nail polish," sent us some of their latest colors to sample. I am hoping to find a hip, local mom to try out the nail polish and write up a little review on how long it lasted, what trials the polish endured (full disclosure: one of the colors is a raspberry red, the other is a sparkly slate gray).

I also have a book titled "A Parent's Guide to the Middle School Years," by Joe Bruzzese, a professor at University of California, Santa Barbara. The parent would read the book and write up a little review, which may be published here on the blog.

The first person to e-mail me their interest in either the polish or the book can have the product to sample.

The tester must be willing to pick up the product at the Bee's office, 2100 Q St., Sacramento.

Air quality officials are asking local residents to cast their ballots on a name for the new Spare the Air mascot.

The Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District held a contest last month asking children 12 years old and younger to submit their mascot name ideas. Of the more than 150 entries, four name suggestions were chosen, a district news release states.

The contest, and the mascot, are meant to help teach children about the importance of reducing air pollution in the Sacramento region, the release states.

Now, it's up to area residents to decide whether the mascot will be a Bob, Dexter, Scooter or Stanley.

Residents have until 11:59 p.m. Friday to cast their vote on the district's Web site.

As of 9 a.m. today, "Dexter" was leading the polls with 43 percent.

The winning finalist, which will be announced in early July, will receive a Nintendo Wii console and Wii Fit package. Runners-up will receive prizes such as a Nintendo DS system, iPod Nano or gift card for music downloads, the release states.

To vote, go to the Spare the Air Web site.

Voters who sign up for free daily Air Alert e-mail notices also can enter to win a four-pack of movie tickets to any Cinemark Theatre by entering the word "mascot" in the promotion code box.

The Capitol Corridor train is offering free weekend rides for kids through October.

The Capitol Corridor train runs from Auburn to San Jose and includes stops near major family attractions, such as the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 in San Francisco and the Children's Discovery Museum in San Jose.

The deal applies for up to two children ages 2 to 15 years old for every one full-fare adult ticket purchased, the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority's Web site states. (Kids under age 2 ride seated on a parent's lap at no cost.)

As if not having to drive wasn't enough of an incentive, each Capitol Corridor train also has a Cafe Car featuring snacks and beverages.

For details, check out the Capitol Corridor Web site.

Want to come play?

The Bee is inviting parents to a play date from 9 to 10 a.m. Saturday at the playground at William Land Park in Sacramento.

Come join Features Editor Cathie Anderson and me for a morning of playground fun and camaraderie. We'll have some free goodies to give away and products for readers to take home and sample.

We want to swap parenting ideas and find out what you want to read about in our Living Here Family section.

Feel free to bring along your Frisbees, kickballs and other toys.

The playground is located on the western side of the park, near the intersection of 13th Avenue and Cavanaugh Way (west of the baseball fields). See you there!

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell announced today that free meals are available for children at nearly 2,900 locations this summer through federally funded food programs run through the State Department of Education.

Children 18 years old and younger in low-income areas are eligible for the free meals, which are required to serve milk, fruits, vegetables or juice, grain products and meat or a meat alternative, a department news release states.

The Summer Food Service and Seamless Summer Feeding Option programs, which operate when schools are not in session for 15 days or more, allow sites to serve two meals or one meal and a snack per day.

"The summer nutrition program provides vital aid to students who would otherwise go hungry, and helps them to return to school in the fall ready to learn," O'Connell states in the release.

During the 2007-2008 school year, 3.1 million of the state's K-12 students, nearly 51 percent, were enrolled in the state's free and reduced-price meal programs, and education officials expect the numbers to rise given the state of the economy.

A Bee analysis of state education department data by my colleagues Phillip Reese and Melody Gutierrez revealed that an additional 5,000 children in Sacramento County public schools received a free or reduced-price lunch during the 2008-2009 school year, a quicker growth rate than any seen in the previous 15 years.

Click here to read their report.

In addition to making sure children don't go hungry, officials also are hoping families take advantage of the free summer meals because it could mean an increase in federal funding for the state.

If the state's summer meal programs feed 100 percent of the low-income kids who ate free or reduced-price school lunches in 2008, the state will get an additional $181 million in federal reimbursement to the programs, O'Connell said.

The state has set up an interactive Web site to help parents find summer meal program services. Click here to go the Web site, which will be updated throughout the summer.

For more information about the summer meal programs, go to the state Department of Education's Web site.

Want to come play?

The Bee is inviting parents to a play date from 9 to 10 a.m. Saturday at the playground at William Land Park.

Come join Features Editor Cathie Anderson and me for a morning of playground fun and camaraderie. We'll have some free goodies to give away and products for readers to take home and sample.

We want to swap parenting ideas and find out what you want to read about in our Living Here Family section.

Feel free to bring along your Frisbees, kickballs and other toys. It's more important than ever to get the region's kids moving. Let's get active together!

I received an e-mail recently about time-saving tools I could download and print for free.

I had every intention of printing the cute organization sheets, which have clever names like "The Balance Sheet" and promise to make my life less chaotic.

I put the kids to bed and sat down to print them out, eager to test-drive this wonder organization tool, only to find that our printer is out of ink.

Maybe I should have started using the "to do" sheet the Web site offers a bit earlier.

The sheets, which you can download for free, are by Mommy Track'd, a parenting Web site that also sells pre-printed versions and other organizational stationary and tools. I'm told celebrity moms like Tori Spelling and Brooke Shields are fans of the site.

I'm going to give the organization tools a try, namely the "Eat Sheet," which allows you to plan out a week's menu along with a corresponding grocery list. I'm hoping it helps out my current, pathetic version of meal planning - which consists of me frantically thinking about what to cook for dinner on the drive home while my two hungry, grouchy kids search their car seats for cookie remnants.

In the meantime, check out the free Mommy Track'd planning sheets and post your thoughts. Helpful or too plan-tastic?

A Sacramento mother opened up today to my colleague, Bill Lindelof, about how swine flu killed her daughter in hopes that her story will help prevent others from succumbing to the virus.

Beth Kizere, 24, died Tuesday at UC Davis Medical Center, the first person to die from the H1N1 virus in Sacramento County, raising the state-wide death toll to nine.

Click here to read Lindelof's story.

As a parent, Kizere's death served as an heart-wrenching reminder that I need to make sure our family is taking the proper precautions against the illness.

A quick search of the American Academy of Pediatrics' (AAP) site yielded some familiar tips, such as hand washing, but also advice on what to do if swine flu is reported in their area, what to do if a child has flu-like symptoms and how to avoid overreacting.

Click here to read the AAP's tips for parents.

An emergency children's shelter will reopen in south Sacramento thanks to a major grant from the First 5 Sacramento Commission.

The Sacramento Children's Home received an $853,000 grant from the commission to reopen its South Crisis Nursery, which closed two years ago due to lack of funding, said Michael Kressner, a spokesman for the children's home.

The organization also has a nursery program in North Sacramento, which has remained open since 1996.

The Sacramento Children's Home and First 5 Sacramento Commission are holding a ceremony at 11 a.m. today to celebrate the reopening of the crisis nursery in South Land Park.

The nursery, which serves children ages birth to 5 years old, is scheduled to open July 1 and will have space for eight children overnight and 10 children in its emergency child care program.

The goal of the crisis nursery program is to keep children safe by providing free, voluntary and confidential emergency care for children "when parents are overwhelmed and exhausted," Kressner said.

"We see parents who seek help as heroes, because all parents need help at some point," he said.

The program also provides counseling for parents. According to exit surveys, 95 percent of families felt the crisis nursery program reduced the risk of their child being harmed.

Over the past 13 years, the program has served more than 6,000 children and 4,300 families in Sacramento County.

The commission's grant - funded through Proposition 10, a 50 cent-per-pack tax on cigarettes - will provide enough funding to run the South Crisis Nursery for one year. Officials have already begun looking for funding sources to keep the nursery open, Kressner said.

For more information about the Sacramento Children's Home, go to their Web site.

The First 5 Sacramento Commission also has more information about the programs it supports on its Web site.

The North Crisis Nursery can be reached at (916) 452-3981. The South Crisis Nursery can be reached at (916)  394-2000.

This recipe comes with a disclaimer -  this is the kind of dinner best enjoyed after the kids go to bed. Add a glass of wine or ice-cold Pilsner and you have a perfect date night at home.

There's nothing quite like flavorful scallops kissed with garlic and drizzled with a nutty reduction sauce of Banyuls vinegar. I adapted this recipe from one I saw in Bon Appetit years ago, and it has been a favorite in our house ever since.

Accompanying the scallops are sinfully creamy garlic mashed potatoes, which get their smooth texture from a double-whammy of sour cream and cream cheese (low fat dairy products can be subsituted for the full fat versions).

Seared sea scallops with garlic mashed potatoes

 

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: About 6 minutes for scallops, 30 minutes for potatoes

Serves: 2 (will likely yield leftover potatoes)

Notes: Banyuls vinegar is a wine vinegar made from grapes grown in south of France. The vinegar is aged for more than five years and has a rich, nutty flavor. It can be found at several local specialty grocers, including Taylor's Market and Corti Brothers. The vinegar is a little pricey, about $25 a bottle, but keeps well and can be used to flavor salad dressings and sauces for other meat dishes.

 

Ingredients

10 large sea scallops

Salt and fresh ground black pepper

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

4 large cloves of garlic, minced and separated into two equal piles

2 tablespoons Banyuls vinegar (see notes)

2 tablespoons water

6 red potatoes, washed

1/3 cup sour cream

2 ounces cream cheese

3 tablespoons milk

 

Instructions

*Since scallops cook so quickly, it's best to make the potatoes first.

 

To make the potatoes: Fill a large pot with warm water and add potatoes. Put pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, let cook for about 10 to 15 minutes. Check the potatoes texture by piercing with a fork. Once they are fork-tender, drain the potatoes and place in a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.

Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a medium nonstick skillet on medium heat. Add garlic and sauté until just fragrant, about 1 minute. Pour garlic into the mixer with the potatoes.

 

Turn mixer on low speed, then add in sour cream and cream cheese, increasing speed to medium. Mix until the potatoes start to look mashed, about one minute. Add milk one tablespoon at a time until you reach the consistency you like, adding more milk for a creamier texture. Cover with foil until ready to serve.

 

To make the scallops: Season the scallops liberally with salt and fresh ground black pepper. Heat two tablespoons of olive oil over medium high flames in the same nonstick skillet used to sauté the garlic for the potatoes. Add the scallops and cook until they are golden on each side and opaque in the center, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. About a minute before the scallops are cooked, add the other two tablespoons of minced garlic. Remove the scallop and garlic to a plate.

 

To make the Banyuls sauce, add the Banyuls vinegar and water to the skillet and turn the heat to medium. Bring the sauce to a boil, about 1 minute, scraping up any little bits in the pan. Drizzle the sauce over the scallops.

For more meal ideas and recipes, check out today's Food & Wine section.

Do you have children who would might like to test drive the latest Wiggles CD?

The Wiggles are releasing their newest collection of songs, "The Wiggles Go Bananas!" to correspond with their concert tour. We got a hold of an advance copy and want to give it to a local family to see what they think of The Wiggles newest musical adventure.

The CD includes the song "Monkey Man" featuring Australian pop star Kylie Minogue and other tunes centered around animals and jungle themes.

The first person to e-mail me or post a comment saying they'd like the CD is welcome to it, in exchange for a paragraph or two review that I'll post here on the Mom.me blog.

Jon and Kate Gosselin announced Monday night on their reality television show "Jon & Kate Plus 8" that their 10 year marriage has ended.

 

As cameras chronicled scenes of the eight Gosselin children getting cute crooked houses and at a rainy Mother's Day brunch, the couple voiced disappointed remarks about their decision to separate.

 

"It's just not good for us, for our kids, to be arguing in front of our kids," Jon Gosselin said during the show's episode Monday.

 

Kate Gosselin said the couple has been "dealing a long time with this," and said her goal with the separation is to provide peace for her twins and sextuplets.

 

"I just need relief now," she said. "I need to turn the page."

 

But will that new chapter not include a reality TV show?

 

America has watched the Gosselins marriage publicly dissolve in recent weeks, after rumors that Jon Gosselin had an affair leaked through the media.

 

The TLC show's ratings skyrocketed as tabloids shouted news of their rocky marriage. The show ranked No. 1 among the top 10 cable programs in the Nielsen ratings for the week of June 1 through 7, having snagged 5.94 million viewers, according to online Neilsen information.

 

On Monday night's episode, the couple essentially confirmed that they will keep doing the show, although they will be sharing time with the kids separately.

 

"How does the show go on? The show must go on," Kate Gosselin said.

 

Must it? Have the Gosselins extended their reality show welcome?

 

Isn't it hard enough for these eight children to go through their parents separation without the entire country watching?

 

What do you think? Should Jon and Kate Gosselin continue with their reality show?

Got a big idea for your community that needs a little funding? Scholastic may just have the solution.

The media company is holding a contest asking children, parents, teachers and others for ideas on how to create positive changes in their communities, according to a Scholastic news release.

Participants of the "Be Big in Your Community Contest" must submit ideas based on Clifford The Big Red Dog's "Big Ideas," which are principles central to the Clifford television cartoons.

The "Big Ideas" include share, play fair, have respect, work together, be responsible, be a good friend, help others, be truthful, be kind and believe in yourself, the release states.

The grand prize is a $25,000 community grant. Ten runner-up contestants also will receive grants of $2,500 each.

The winning idea will be made a reality with help from the HandsOn Network, a nationwide volunteer organization.

The contest ends Friday.

For more information or to enter, go the contest's Web site.

There's nothing like a bad bout of forgetfulness and a theme park to make you appreciate your husband's patience.

This weekend was like an odd reality show. The kind that makes you look around for the cameras and producer, hoping someone will yell "cut."

It started with my not-so-brilliant idea to take our little nuclear family Saturday to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. My brother works there as a drummer, and I thought it would be a fun way to spend the afternoon and let the kids hang out with their uncle after his shift ended.

What a hip mom, I thought.

I started prepping for the day-trip Friday night, getting all of our clothes ready and the backpack stockpiled with the requisite fruit snacks, apple juice and fishy crackers.

We bought our tickets and parking pass online (the park has a cost-saving deal going right now, just $30 for an adult ticket) and printed them at home. My husband photocopied our son and daughter's birth certificates so we could prove they are 2 and 1, respectively.

We took the kids on a 2-mile walk to a playground Saturday morning to tire them out so we could nap them early before heading to the theme park.

An hour of traffic and one Wiggles DVD later, we arrived at the theme park in Vallejo.

Where is the parking pass?

Where are the tickets?

Spending quality time with family, volunteering and simply putting family expenses into perspective can help decrease stress caused by the sagging economy.

These are just some of the suggestions offered by Dr. Richard Bermudes, an adolescent and adult psychiatrist with  Mindful Health Solutions in El Dorado Hills.

With many families throughout the Sacramento region suffering job losses, wage reductions and other financial dilemmas, I sat down with Bermudes recently and asked him for some advice for families on how to cope during this fierce economic downturn.

Q: What is your advice for families dealing with loss of a job or other financial stress?

A: People who are Type A (personalities) and are losing jobs tend to respond by working harder at job searching and putting in applications. But the compulsion to work hard is difficult in that it narrows their portfolio of value. In the past, their value was linked to their career. We can develop a narrow portfolio and lose sense of the value of relationship when our identity is our job. You have to think beyond your employment. Maybe it means I sit down and play a game of Monopoly three times a week with my kids and while I'm playing, I'm there. Who can argue with the value in that?

If you're unemployed and not getting leads, volunteer. Job search for two to three hours (beyond that might doesn't tend to yield many results, Bermudes later explained), then volunteer somewhere. Giving has been shown to improve well-being. Get involved with the community. It's important to mental health. I really believe that volunteering is kind of amazing and there's something rewarding about giving of yourself ... And that could lead to job opportunities you may not have thought of.

Q: If a family is dealing with a major financial restructure, how should parents respond? Should we tell the kids what is going on?

A: Maintain family routines and traditions. It's also important not to treat (financial upheaval) as a catastrophe. This is not to mean that you should deny the difficulty of living on a reduced budget, but show (children) what you're going to value. Tell them "Here's where it's tough, but here's how we'll cope." For kids, it's important to put it in a framework they can understand. Something like "We're going to spend more time with the toys we have." For a preteen, the conversation may look different.

Q: How do we help teenagers cope with the financial impacts of the recession without worrying them? What do you do when your teen asks you "Are we poor?"

A: Try to get an understanding of how they are getting to that question. Answer the question with a question: What does he think about that? Sometimes, good old-fashioned empathy works best. Put yourself in their shoes. And be honest. Tell them "We may not have as much money, but here is what we do have."

Talk to them about your financial plan and the uncertainty, but also explain that not everything is perfect. Follow it up with "What is certain about today is I love you. What is certain about today is we are going to have dinner time." It's OK to admit that you're a little nervous, but channel that nervous energy and so something together as a family. Go on a walk, exercise, go out and find nature.

Bermudes offered an exercise in appreciation for teenagers that may just help parents too. For two weeks, document all the family's activities, outings and purchases (examples include going on a walk, having dinner at home together, renting a movie etc.). At the end of the experiment, the family will have a tangible list of things they have, rather than a mental list of things they do not.

Calling all families: free stuff in exchange for your feedback.

We get a lot of books and products for review consideration, far more than my family can endure.

So, in an effort to interact with readers (and actually see the surface of my desk), I'm going to offer some of it to the first people who e-mail me saying they are interested in participating. This likely will become a routine feature for this blog, since my work space is beginning to look like children's supply store.

The rules are simple: you have to come pick up the items at the Bee (2100 Q St., Sacramento), try them out and e-mail me your assessment of the given product.

I may reprint all or portions of your feedback, and may follow up with you for further explanation.

Here's are the items I have at the moment. First person to e-mail me gets the specified product. Please include your name, city of residence and the product you wish to try.

1. "Sandcastles Made Simple," by Lucinda "sandy feet" Wierenga (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, $10.95, 128 pages). A how-to guidebook on building easy to elaborate sand castles. Test family would need to try out one or more of the sand projects at a sandy location (beach, lake etc) in the next month or so. *Note: The tester would not have to make as elaborate of a sand castle as the one pictured in the above photo (photo by The Bee's Anne Chadwick Williams). That sand sculpture was made for the California State Fair in 2000.

2. momAgenda, chores list and baby-sitter's notes - A cute planner and accompanying stationary intended to help mom organize her life. Tester would try it out for a few weeks/month and let us know their thoughts. Did it really make life easier?

3. "Positive Parenting for Bipolar Kids." by Mary Ann McDonnell and Janet Wozniak
(Bantam Books, $16, 347 pages). The book, drawing on pediatric specialists' research, claims to teach parents how to identify bipolar disorder, talk to doctors, choose a "treatment team" and help families cope. Testers would preferably be a parent whose child has been diagnosed with the disorder.

Today marks the 100^th anniversary of when Sonora Dodd, of Spokane, Wash. thought up the notion of Father's Day, in honor of her widowed dad, a Civil War veteran who was raised six children on a farm.

It also marks the day we want to hear from fathers about the stories they want to see this blog address.

A lot of attention has been devoted to mom bloggers and moms sites in recent years, but what about dad?

While this blog is primarily aimed at mothers, it doesn't mean to be exclusionary of fathers' concerns.

There are some 64.3 million dads in the U.S., and of those 25.8 have kids younger than 18 years old, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

We know that 53 percent and 71 percent of kids under 6 years old ate breakfast and dinner, respectively, with their dads every day in 2006.

And that 36 percent of kids younger than 6 years old had 15 or more outings with their dad in a month-long period that same year, the census bureau reports.

So that makes YOU, dad, just the expert we want to hear from.

Post a comment below or e-mail me about what you wish you had more time to do with your kids. What makes you mad at the playground? How has the economy impacted your family budget? Is there a problem I can help you solve?

Fathers work hard. You deserve to be heard too.

For Father's Day gift and event ideas, see my previous blog post.

Christmas in ... June?

You read that correctly. Disney is bringing its "Disney's A Christmas Carol" Train Tour to Old Sacramento Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The area near the California State Railroad Museum on I Street will transform into a winter wonderland complete with carolers and falling snow as part of the free family event.

For more information, check out Bee writer Dixie Reid's post on our 21Q blog.

Tasha Blaine worked as a nanny briefly - just three months each for two different families.

She thought it would be like babysitting and afford her time to write. It didn't take her long, however, to realize that spending about 50 hours a week with a 1-year-old was a hard job, and one that would result in an overwhelming attachment between her and the little girl.

"When you're working as a nanny, you're taking care of their intellectual and emotional development too," said Blaine, who lives in South Land Park.

Though the work was more complex than she envisioned, it opened her up to a world she had never before seen. One that inspired her to write a book about the lives of nannies which, despite having just been released last week, is gaining national attention and acclaim.

"Just Like Family," (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $25, 336 pages) takes readers into the lives of three New York nannies and the families they work for, and on a deeper journey through the nannies' personal lives and the struggles they endure.

The book has made New York Magazine's and Newsday's summer reading lists, and has been written about in the New York Times and other Web sites.

For Blaine, one of the most surprising discoveries she made while working on the book was that many nannies she encountered had left behind children in other countries.

"There are a lot of countries that are really supported by the men and women working in the U.S. who are sending money home," she said.

Such was the case with one of the women in the book, Claudia (whose name was changed in the book), who left her son behind in her native Dominica while he was still nursing. Claudia didn't see her son again until he was almost 16, Blaine said.

"It was very eye-opening," she said.

Writing the book also helped shape her perception of child care, as did having her own children. Blaine and her husband have two daughters, ages 1 and 4

"I think that for a working mother, as soon as you have children and decide you want to work, child care becomes a central issue in your life," she said. "I feel that, and felt that."

More mystifying, she said, is how some parents treat their nannies - the very people they rely on to help raise their children.

"I can't imagine, as a parent, how you could mistreat the person who cares for your children," she said.

Response to the book has been good so far among the families and nannies that served as the main characters in Blaine's nonfiction work.

The nannies "loved it," she said.

"They are real women, they are three-dimensional and they are a little flawed and I think they embrace all of that," Blaine said. "I think they really wanted to be heard by a broader society and that's why they gave themselves over to me in a way."

Blaine will be reading an excerpt from "Just Like Family" at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Avid Reader at the Tower, 1600 Broadway, Sacramento. She also is scheduled to speak at 4 p.m. June 28 at Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera.

For more information about Blaine, visit her Web site.

Calling all mothers and fathers out there: I need your advice, ideas, tips and suggestions.

What do you want to know about? What are you coming here to read? What kind of advice to you want to see?

I want to ensure that this blog is of you, about you and for you, and for that, I need you. Post a comment or e-mail me about the sorts of stories you want to see here. I'll do my best to see that they get written.

Thanks!

It's a question that torments many parents: "What's for dinner?"

I loved asking my mom that question when I was a little girl. Not because I knew it vexed her, (at some point, she banned the question from the ride home from school), but because I was a little food nerd in training. A quirky kid who loved to cook alongside Grandma Bertha and enjoyed looking through the cookbooks that my mom rarely used. I loved hearing what we were having for dinner, primarily because it allowed my imagination to wander in the delectable wonderland of the food world.

Now that I'm a mother, I understand why my mom cringed at the dreaded question. It's hard to come up with quick, healthy dinners that your children will actually eat. But there are some great meal ideas out there, and I plan on sharing them with you every Wednesday. Some are my recipes, some I'll procure from other sources, but all are intended to help you enjoy good food and quality time with your family.

Here is an easy, mid-week dinner idea I came up with recently that we loved. It's simple, low calorie, and won't heat up the house.

Teriyaki Turkey Burgers with Grilled Pineapple

Cook time: About 20 minutes
Prep time: 10 minutes active, 20 minutes inactive
Serves: 4
Notes: These burgers, and the pineapple, turn out best on the grill, but if you don't have one, the broiler works just fine. Serve with baked sweet potato fries (Food Network's Sandra Lee has a good recipe) or some grilled broccolini for a healthy, easy meal. If serving the burgers to children, you may want to omit the onion and substitute yellow mustard for sweet hot mustard.

Ingredients
1 pound ground turkey
1/3 cup diced or shredded red onion
1/3 cup store-bought teriyaki sauce, plus more to top burgers
1 tablespoon garlic powder
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 fresh pineapple, cored and sliced into rings
1 head green leaf lettuce
4 teaspoons sweet hot mustard
4 teaspoons light mayonnaise
4 hamburger buns (onion lend a nice accompaniment to the flavor in the burgers)

Instructions
In a medium bowl, combine the ground turkey, onions and 1/3 cup teriyaki sauce, garlic powder, and salt and pepper and mix with your hands until incorporated. Divide into four balls and flatten into patties. Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for about 20 minutes, to marry the flavors.

While the turkey burgers are chilling, turn your grill on to medium heat. One the grill is hot, spray the pineapple rings with nonstick cooking spray and place them on the grill. Cook for about 5 minutes per side, or until grill marks appear and the fruit becomes fragrant and caramelized. Remove the pineapple to a plate and cover with foil.

Grill the turkey burgers for about 5 minutes per side. Remember: turkey is poultry, so be on the lookout for cross contamination.

Remove the burgers to a new plate and cover with foil.

Adorn the top end of each hamburger bun with a teaspoon each of mayonnaise, sweet hot mustard and a few lettuce leafs. Place the burger on the bottom end of the bun, top with a grilled pineapple ring and, if you like your burger a little messy, pour a little extra teriyaki sauce atop the burger.

Do you have a favorite weeknight dinner recipe? Post the recipe or a link to it in the comments portion of the blog or e-mail it to me and I might use it in future "What's for dinner" posts. Please be sure to include where the recipe came from (Aunt Mable, a magazine etc).

For more cooking ideas and recipes, go to The Bee's Food & Wine section.

He's the father of your children, the love of your life.

The man who, after witnessing 12 hours of childbirth complete with gore and death threats against him, kissed you gently on the forehead and tucked you in to rest while he rocked your new baby by your hospital bedside.

So when it comes to Father's Day this year, what do you get the hero your kids call Dad?

Sure you could go the tie or coffee mug route, but where is the fun in that?

There are ways to dazzle dear old dad this year, and the good news is there are some terrific deals out there as well.

Whether you've got a fisherman or a philanthropist, here are some ways to show the special dad in your family that you love him:

• Take him out to the ballgame - The Sacramento River Cats are offering one lucky dad a chance to be honored with a special message written on the Raley Field infield during Sunday's game. The message will read "Happy Father's Day" and include the winning father's name. Everyone who purchases a Father's Day family pack through Friday will be entered to win. The winning ticket holder will be selected Friday and notified before the game. The Father's Day family packs are on sale now and tickets start at $14 per person (there is a minimum of four tickets per order). Each ticket includes entry to the game, a hot dog, soda, chips, dessert and ticket to Fairytale Town and the Sacramento Zoo. For information on how to mail in a contest entry, go to the Rivercats' Web site.
  

• Honor the animal in him - He's a parent to your little monkeys, why not add a real monkey to the list? The Sacramento Zoo has animals for "adoption" through its Zoo Parent program. Parent packages, which start at $25, include a personalized zoo parenthood gift certificate and the parent's name on display on the Zoo Parent Showcase for one year. For extra fun, have the kids pick out the newest addition to the family.
  

• A picture's worth a thousand words - This idea comes to us from Sacramento Bee staff writer and fellow mommy Laurel Rosenhall: how about a Bee photo of dad's favorite sport, hobby, animal or season? The photos, which start around $15 for an unframed 5-by-7 print, can be ordered in a variety of sizes and customized with frames. Rex Babin cartoon also are available for purchase. The photos may not arrive in time for Father's Day, but the family could show dad the photo Sunday online (a photo by Bee photographer Manny Crisostomo of a duck on Lake Tahoe is shown above and is one of many photos available). Photo gift certificates are available online, and can be printed or e-mailed to recipients. Click here for more information from The Bee's photo reprint Web site.
  

• Meal and a movie - The Esquire IMAX Theatre is offering dad a free movie, and discounts for the rest of the family, on Sunday with the purchase of a meal from a downtown or midtown restaurant. Guests can present a restaurant receipt from any downtown or midtown restaurant of at least $20 and get IMAX tickets for $5 per person. Tickets must be purchased at the box office within seven days of the restaurant receipt. The offer is good for up to four tickets per receipt. This just in: Star Trek is opening at IMAX on Friday, just in time for Father's Day. The Father's Day free ticket still applies, but customers would get $5 off a full price ticket for that show, IMAX officials say.
  

• Take him shopping (seriously) - The Fountains at Roseville is hosting two events for dad. Orvis is having a fly-fishing demonstration, casting lessons and contest from 10 a.m. to noon and from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday. Winners get a Fountains VIP coupon book and an Orvis gift card. Want to really wow dad? Add a California sport fishing license. A one-year license is $41.20, with provisions available for second rod, ocean and Bay-Delta fishing. Go the state Department of Fish and Game's licensing Web site for more information or to order a license online. Fountains at Roseville also is holding a contest to name its pond Sunday. Entries can be submitted at the event and the winner will get a $100 Fountains gift card. Tres Agaves, a tequila store and Mexican restaurant, is hosting a book signing from 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday featuring Joanne Weir, author of "Tequila: A Guide to Types, Flights, Cocktails, and Bites" (Ten Speed Press, $16.95, 144 pages).
   

Summer seems like the time of year when even student athletes would be inclined to relax, but some see it as an opportunity to practice and play sports without the time constraints of school.

It's also the season when overtraining injuries tend to spike, doctors warn.

Overuse injuries and burnout are growing problems among the estimated 30 to 45 million athletes who are 6 to 18 years old, according to a clinical report published in 2007 in the journal Pediatrics.

Up to 50 percent of injuries seen by pediatric sports medicine doctors are related to overuse, the report states.

At the root of the problem is repetitive motion and children playing the same sport year-round, said Dr. Stephen Howell, an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at Mercy Methodist Hospital of Sacramento.

"There's never a down season for a particular joint," said Howell, who is pictured at left. "I think it's more common because you have kids playing on a junior high or high school team, and they're also playing on club teams. That's a lot of games, a lot of practices."

The most frequent prescription for overuse injuries is something an ambitious athlete likely won't want to hear - rest.

"They need to avoid all aspects of training, and sometimes that's a very difficult decision," Howell said.

The physical effects of overtraining are only part of the problem, however.

Young athletes also are at risk of developing burnout, said Dr. Matthew Hay, a Texas City pediatrician with the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

"Severe burnout in children looks exactly like depression," said Hay, pictured at right.

Symptoms include fatigue, nonspecific pain for more than two weeks and poor academic performance.

Burnout often is a result of parents putting unnecessary pressure on a child because they envision them getting a scholarship or making a professional or Olympic team.

That goal is unrealistic for a majority of child and teen athletes since fewer than 1 percent of high school athletes make the pros, the Pediatrics clinical report states.

Given that statistic, parents of young athletes should instead encourage their kids to enjoy their sport without pushing them to unrealistic limits, Hay said.

"The whole point of sports is to have fun," he said.

Here are some tips for parents based on recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics:

• Make sure your child takes at least one to two days off from competitive games, practice and training each week.

• Encourage them to vary the sports they play. Using different muscle groups will help prevent overtraining injuries and burnout.

• Training goals (e.g. repetitions, distance) should not increase by more than 10 percent per week.

• The child should take at least two to three months off from a specific sport each year.

• Limit the athlete's sports involvement to one team per season.

Getting your child to brush their teeth just got a lot more lucrative.

The California Milk Processor Board - the folks behind GOT MILK? - has teamed with the Dental Health Foundation to educate families on the importance of eating calcium rich foods as a way to help prevent tooth decay.

The campaign includes a photo contest for children ages 6 to 12 years old. The child with the winning smile will get a $500 toy store shopping spree, an electric toothbrush and various GOT MILK? loot.

Can you imagine all the Legos that would buy? My feet tingle in pain just thinking about it.

The campaign, which launched this week in conjunction with June being National Dairy Month and National Smile Month, is an effort to increase dental health through diet.

According to a report by the Dental Health Foundation, more than 50 percent of kids have had tooth decay, and that figure rises to 70 percent by the time children reach third grade, states a news release.

Dr. Richard Sobel, an Oakland area pediatric dentist and member of the foundation's board, said a child's nutritional and oral development can be improved simply by replacing processed foods with dairy products such as yogurt, milk and cheese.

"By avoiding sugary snacks in the beginning, it helps prevent them from snacking on that in the future and that helps prevent tooth decay," he said.

In general, children should be seen by a dentist at age 1 to evaluate their growth, show parents how to examine their children's teeth and provide tips on brushing and flossing, Sobel said.

The "Say Cheese with GOT MILK?" photo contest runs through July 31 and is open only to California residents.

Click here to e-mail your photo to the contest. Photos may not exceed 8 megabytes.

Photos also may be mailed to Say Cheese with Got Milk? Photo Contest, c/o RL Public Relations, 11835 W. Olympic Blvd., Suite 1155E, Los Angeles, CA 90064.

For more contest information, go to the GOT MILK? Web site.

A free art event in Old Sacramento promises families a dynamic, Disney-inspired performance Saturday night.

 

Stage Nine Entertainment Store is celebrating the official launch of local artist David Garibaldi as Disney Fine Art's newest member by hosting the artist's fusion-style show during a Second Saturday event.

 

Garibaldi will produce three art pieces, all with a Disney theme, on 6-foot canvases during the event. The show also includes elements of his "Rhythm and Hue" performance art and motivational speaking, a news release states.

 

During his performance art shows, Garibaldi creates large portraits of pop icons in minutes, all set to music.

 

Garibaldi has opened for the Blue Man Group, performed at a Snoop Dogg concert and done shows for Fortune 500 companies, according to his Web site.

 

The event will be held at 7 p.m. at Stage Nine Entertainment Store, 102 K St., Sacramento.

California schools Superintendent Jack O'Connell is backing legislation that would enable the state to better help children of military families.

The state Department of Education today released the final report of a task force examining educational opportunities for military children, which recommends removing barriers military children often face as a result of frequent moves and deployment of parents on active duty.

"Military families make many sacrifices on behalf of our country's safety and security," O'Connell said in a written statement. "Children of men and women in the service often shoulder an extra burden of trying to complete their education while transferring from one state to another ... We can help these students overcome some of these challenges."

Of the 6.2 million children enrolled in California schools, about 61,552, or roughly 1 percent, are children of military families, said Tina Jung, a department spokeswoman.

The challenges enumerated in the report include differences in immunization rules from state to state, entrance ages for kindergarteners and first-graders, exit exams and graduation requirements, a department news release states.

The task force, which is comprised of lawmakers, military, educators and other government officials, recommends easing restrictions regarding release of student records, placing students in the right courses and programs, helping ensure on-time graduation and encouraging school districts to help students receive credit toward their diploma for coursework completed in out-of-state school districts.

The taskforce also recommends that California adopt the Interstate Compact, essentially a multistate agreement to remove educational barriers for military children.

The compact would cost the state about $62,000, which translates to about $1 per military child per year. Given the state budget deficit, the compact does allow for outside funding sources to be accepted.

The compact has been enacted in 20 states, and 18 others, including California, have introduced bills that would enable them to join.

Assemblywoman Lori Saldana, D-San Diego, introduced the bill (AB 343), which is currently in the state Senate and has been passed by several committees.

To read the task force's findings, go to the state report on military children.

A Lake Tahoe backpacking expert is offering parents an opportunity to learn how to backpack with children, complete with an overnight trip to Dardanelles Lake and a guidebook, for under $100.

Tim Hauserman, a freelance writer who has written several guidebooks about backpacking and cross-country skiing in the Sierra Nevada, has teamed with the Tahoe Rim Trail Association to teach the two-session class, scheduled for June 16 and 23 at the association's office in Incline Village, Nev.

The overnight backpacking trip, which is optional, is scheduled for June 27 and 28.

Total cost per family is $95 and includes a copy of Hauserman's book "Monsters in the Woods: Backpacking with Children" (University of Nevada Press, 2007, $15.95).

Hauserman, pictured in the photo with his teenage daughter Sarah above Fontanelles and Dicks lakes, began taking his two girls backpacking when they were about 6 years old.

That's the earliest parents might want to try taking their kids backpacking unless their children are infants and can be toted in carriers, he advised.

"Six years old is fine if you don't go too far," he said. "Between 2 and 6 years old is tough."

When backpacking with children, it's a good idea to plan to stay in one location at least one full day, which Hauserman calls a "layover day."

Giving kids a chance to hike, swim and walk around without a pack affords them an opportunity to relax and enjoy the outdoors.

"That's when they really get to explore and figure out nature," he said.

Backpacking also teaches children that they don't need as many material possessions as they might think they do to have fun.

"We never really brought toys," Hauserman said. "Nature was their toy. They were never bored."

Hauserman's course will outline advice for parents, including potential trips, how to deal with wildlife, safety issues, hiking ethics and gear.

For more information or to sign up for the class, e-mail Hauserman.

Slow cookers may just be a parent's best friend.

They cook inexpensive cuts of meat beautifully, don't require constant supervision and don't heat up the house.

They also can result in healthy meals for your kids.

How about creamy, fruity yogurt topped with homemade low-fat granola?

Here's a recipe courtesy of "Slow Cookers For Dummies" by Tom Lacalamita and Glenna Vance, John Wiley & Sons, $16.99, 264 pages.

Slow Cooker Good Morning Granola

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: High for two hours; low for four to six hours
Serves: About 24 ( 1/2 cup servings)

Notes: Store bought granola is convenient, but can be high in fat. This recipe reduces the amount of oil and adds powdered milk for calcium and honey for sweetness, the authors note.

INGREDIENTS
10 cups old-fashioned oats (do not use quick-cooking oats)
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup nonfat powdered milk
2 cups dried cranberries or raisins
1 12-ounce can of frozen, unsweetened apple juice concentrate, thawed
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon salt

INSTRUCTIONS
Lightly spray a 6-quart slow cooker with vegetable oil cooking spray. Combine the oats, almonds, powdered milk and dried cranberries in the slow cooker. In a separate bowl, combine the apple juice concentrate, oil, honey and salt and pour over the oat mixture. Stir to combine.

Cook uncovered on high for two hours, stirring every 30 minutes. Reduce the cook setting to low and continue to cook uncovered for four to six hours, or until dry and crisp. Stir frequently while the granola is on low to prevent over-browning.

Let the granola cool to room temperature and store in an airtight container.

Per serving based on 24 servings: 305 Calories (70 From Fat); 8 grams, fat ( 1 gram, saturated); 0 mg, cholesterol; 70 mg, sodium; 50 grams, carbohydrate; 5 grams dietary fiber; 8 grams, protein.

Feeling adventurous? Homemade yogurt also can be made using a slow cooker.

Stephanie O'Dea, a Bay Area mom whose blog chronicled her New Year's resolution to use her slow cooker every day in 2008 (and lived to tell about it), successfully made yogurt in her Crock-Pot and said the do-it-yourself version is both delicious and economical. Check out her recipe.

For more information about using slow cookers as an energy-efficient summer cooking method, check out my story in today's Food and Wine section.

Free cooking demonstrations, health screenings and mammograms will be offered today during a family health fair at Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services in Oak Park.

Twenty agencies are offering free services during the event, which is hosted by the food bank and the Albie Carson Breast Cancer Foundation, a food bank news release states.

Carson, a Sacramento mother and realtor, died of breast cancer in 2002, according to the foundation's Web site.

The health fair will be between 4 and 7 p.m. and is intended to raise awareness of important health screenings and help families experiencing economic hardship, but all families are welcome, said Kelly Siefkin, the food bank's communications director.

St. Joseph's Mobile Mammography Unit, a full-service mammography clinic on wheels, will be providing free mammograms during the event. The unit is a program of St. Joseph's Medical Center in Stockton.

Women interested in on-site mammograms should call (916) 927-1592 to register.

Blood pressure and other health screenings will also be available, along with information on affordable health insurance.

Other activities include cooking demonstrations, healthy snacks, arts and crafts, face painting and a bounce house, the release states.

The food bank also will have food, clothing and parent supply services available during the event.

Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services is at 3333 3rd Ave., Sacramento.

Have you ever wanted to know how many calories you burn while chasing after your children? Shopping? Washing dishes?

There are handy online calculators out there and they won't cost you a thing.

I discovered a few of these tools while researching a story published in The Bee today about the importance of outdoor play for children.

My curiosity got the best of me, so I plugged in some numbers for the types of activities I've been doing the past few days.

To get the most accurate figures, you need to enter your real weight (gulp). According to Dr. Gnanagurudasan Prakasam, a local pediatric endocrinologist, the more someone weighs, the more calories they will burn during a given activity.

I used Health Status' Internet assessments and calculated the totals using scenarios for a 145-pound adult.

Here's what I found, listed by activity, duration of time and calories burned:

• Walking/running while playing with kids, 45 minutes: 195 calories
  

• Running, 60 minutes (10 minute mile): 1,183 calories
  

• Washing dishes, 5 minutes: 12 calories
  

• Dancing, 10 minutes (I dance to The Wiggles with my toddlers, which frankly, I count as aerobic dancing): 65 calories
  

• Cooking, 30 minutes: 87 calories
  

• Shopping, 60 minutes: 156 calories

The calculator will even let you figure out calories burned doing activities such as painting the house (991 calories burned in three hours) and sex (enough said).

The federal government also has some helpful online tools for parents and children.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's food pyramid Web site has advice for parents on planning healthy family menus, tools for pregnant or breastfeeding mothers and even tips on eating healthy while dining at restaurants.

If you're looking for a fun Web site to get your kids into eating healthy and activity, try the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Body and Mind (BAM!) site. Features include games, tips and even a spot where kids can post comments about things they've done to improve their health.

For some parents, the end of the school year means gearing up children for summer camp.

It also may mean thwarting some of the trepidation and homesickness children might have about leaving home, both before they go and while they are away at camp.

Most incidents of homesickness passes in a day or two, according to an American Camp Association (ACA) news release.

The organization recently offered advice for parents on how to help ease children's fears and homesickness.

Here are some of their tips:

• Involve your child in choosing a camp. The more a child "owns" the decision, the more comfortable he or she will feel at camp, the ACA states.
  

• Encourage the child's independence throughout the year. Practice mini-separations, such as sleepovers, to simulate the away-from-home experience.
  

• Talk about what camp will be like ahead of time. Consider role-playing anticipated situations, such as having to use a flashlight to navigate a dark path to the bathroom.
  

• Send a note or care package that will arrive the first day of camp. Write that you will miss your child in a positive way, such as "I am going to miss you, but I know that you will have a good time at camp," the ACA recommendes.
  

• Don't link staying at camp to a material object, which sends the wrong message. The reward should be the child's new confidence and independence.
  

• Pack a personal item from home. A stuffed animal, for example.
  

• Make a prearranged time to call each other. If a camp has a no-phone policy, honor it, the ACA states.
  

• Don't take the child home early. If the child makes a "rescue call," be calm and reassuring and put the time-frame into perspective.
  

• Talk honestly with the camp director to get their perspective on how your child is doing.
  

• Don't feel guilty about encouraging your child to stay. For many children, camp is an initial step toward independence and is an important part of their growth and development, the ACA states.
  

About 7 percent of homesickness cases are "severe," however, and if a child is not eating or sleeping because of anxiety or depression, parents should work with the camp director and other staff to evaluate the situation, the ACA advises.

If you do end up picking up your child early, focus on the positive and encourage your child to try camp again next year, instead of emphasizing the shortened camp stay, the release states.

For more information on homesickness, go to the ACA's online resource for parents.

For information about summer camps in the Sacramento region, go to The Bee's camps list.

For a story on ways to afford summer camp, go to The Bee's 21Q blog.

Moms know all too well the frustration, and sometimes heartbreak, that comes with losing a child's blanket, book or special cup.

 

"No I don't want THAT one," your child inevitably will say when you try to play off the impending disaster and offer a substitute.

 

But thanks to an enterprising mom - and former Carmichael resident - parents can label their children's possessions with ease.

 

Michelle Brandriss launched Name Bubbles in January after trying out other labels to mark her 3-year-old son's things. She liked the functionality of labels, but wanted more colors, more options and more style.

 

Brandriss' labels, which also come in dishwasher- and laundry-safe options, are cheerfully bright and can be customized with the child's name and cute graphics.

 

For camp labels, which are a popular product with parents as summer begins, Brandriss suggests including the child's address, phone number and a family e-mail.

 

"Sometimes kids are taking big-ticket items to camp," she said. "Why not label the MP3 player so it can be returned?"

 

Brandriss' product line includes day care label packs, school label packs and even labels for adults, such as college labels and nursing home labels. Label packs range from about $18 to $34 and often include more than 100 labels in a pack.

 

They also feature eco-friendly ink and can withstand temperatures as low as negative 60 degrees Fahrenheit and 225 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

Brandriss, who is based in upstate New York, attributes her online business' success to the labels' style and the fact that other methods of marking children's possessions, such as permanent marker or masking tape, wears off with time.

 

"It does save time and money because these things end up coming back to you," she said.

 

Trial run: I tried samples of dishwasher- and laundry-safe labels, as well as fun stickers, over the past few months.

 

I stuck them to my kids' cups, clothes, my commuter mug, and even the bottom of my son's Crocs.

 

They were run through the dishwasher and washing machine countless times, but all are still firmly intact.

 

I liked how bright the labels are, and that the ink hasn't yet faded, despite the frequent washes. My son loves the graphics and seeing his name on his things.

 

And I'm no longer scared to send a beloved (newly labeled) book to preschool for share day.

There's a dinosaur in my purse.

Specifically, it's a small, red plastic Triceratops, and it's sharing real estate in a pocket with a slightly fuzzy animal cracker.

I'm not quite sure how I got to this place, where the primary clincher between two purses were pockets that could perfectly fit sippy cups for my 1-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son.

Motherhood is interesting. It changes you, challenges you, chastens you.

For many, it also sends you in search of finding others like you. To find information about issues like how to get your babies to sleep through the night, how to potty train a reluctant toddler, how to have the sex talk with your first born.

Look no further.

Mom.Me is the newest blog launched by The Sacramento Bee. It's a place where mothers can find information about the latest parenting trends, products and books, family friendly events, medical advice, recipes and relationships. It's meant to inform, entertain, enlighten and engage. And with a Sacramento Bee writer authoring it, the blog comes complete with the accurate, well-researched, authoritative content that mothers rely on The Bee to provide.

Moms don't have a lot of spare time - usually a few extra minutes while children are napping or before or after they go to bed. Spend a few minutes with Mom.Me, and you are sure to come away with a new idea, a helpful tip, a much-needed laugh.

Motherhood is a journey. Let Mom.Me be one of your daily destinations.