Holiday Shopping= Holiday Cold and Flu?!?!

Even though online shopping is more popular now than ever, a trip to the mall is usually a necessary evil during the holiday season when shopping for your loved ones. And according to Health.com, a shopping mall or center is the perfect place to pick up a virus, cold or flu. Can you say, "Yuck?!?!"

So before you head to your local shopping center, arm yourself with some hand sanitizer and read this very interesting article on the eight "germiest" places at the mall.

Stay healthy this holiday season!

Is your child talking back to you?

One of the things we are working on at our house for our five year-old is to curb the talking back. "No fair," "why" and "you can't make me" can become pretty mainstream from preschoolers all the way up to teenagers, so this is a topic many parents can identify with and would like to eliminate from their households.

Breezy Mama website had a great article entitled, "5 Steps to Put the Brakes on Back Talk." Check it out here!

The third step is my favorite...pay attention to your kids! The step encourages parents to give their child undivided attention daily and you will see an improvement in their behavior. Such an easy thing to do, and very positive for both parent and child.

Stay-at-Home Moms- This is a Must Read!

Stay-at-home moms...this is a great read from the website Yahoo! Shine. It has some great tips on how to keep staying at home with your kiddos fresh and stimulating for you and baby.

My favorite tip? Become a joiner...the article encourages new moms to find mom groups and connect with other moms in their communities. Such a good tip, and so true!

Enjoy!

Mommy Marathon...Literally!

Did you hear about the pregnant woman who ran (and finished) the Chicago marathon when she was only eight days away from her due date? Incredible! Even more incredible...seven hours after finishing her marathon, she gave birth to her baby girl. Read more about this amazing story on the Today Moms website.

This mom's unbelievable story made me wonder, how much exercise is healthy during a pregnancy? Can you overdo it? According to WebMD, if you were physically active before your pregnancy, you should be able to continue your activity in moderation. It really depends on how physically fit you were before your pregnancy as to what is considered safe to do during your pregnancy. It is best to talk to your doctor about your exercise routine when expecting to ensure you don't exert yourself too much.

For some more great tips on exercise during pregnancy, check out the WebMD article here.

Can your kids "catch" your stress?

I ran across an interesting article today on a subject I have often wondered about...can kids "catch" your stress and anxiety? When you are feeling stressed, does it affect your kids?

The answer is yes. According to the article on Yahoo Shine, "Stress is highly contagious between parent and child, even if the parent is unaware of his or her own anxiety." Ouch.

Parents, it's time to destress, for the sake of our kids! Check out the article here for more info on how to deal with stress and help your kids deal with stress, too!

September is Baby Safety Month!

Did you know that September is Baby Safety Month? Underwriters Laboratories (UL), an independent product safety certification organization, is asking parents and caregivers this month to take a minute to learn some valuable at-home safety tips to keep your babies safe and sound at home!

Will you accept UL's challenge to commit to learning its top 10 babyproofing tips? UL cited the alarming statistic that over 2.5 million children are injured in their homes every year, so help keep your babies and children safe by checking out the this very informative article on the website, Baby Zone.

Get Up and Go!

Most kids are heading back to school this week. (Moms everywhere are sighing with relief!) With the lazy days of summer behind us, it's time to start gearing back up for our early morning, back- to-school routines. Julie Cole, a mother of six kids under the age of 11, gave some great tips on Celebrity Baby Blog on how to get back-to- school ready. Check it out here!