I have discovered that I have lost all of my motivation, to do basically anything, since I have been pregnant. I am supposedly in the honeymoon phase of my pregnancy (the second trimester) and I can’t seem to complete anything these days.

Part of it feels like I am lacking motivation, but the other part of me feels like I am trying to squeeze in as much time with Ethan as I can before he returns to school & before the next baby arrives.

Instead of running him all over town, we have just been hanging out at the house and I have been doing absolutely nothing. Our home has been in poor condition, our meals have been lacking that certain sparkle that I am so famous for, and my calendar has been cleared of all my obligations.

I am so excited about having another baby, but I am also a little bit scared too. We have wanted this baby for so long, but now that it is finally happening, I seem to be getting a little bit of the jitters.

When it was just the two of us (my husband & I) I couldn’t imagine how we were ever going to have enough love/time/devotion to add one more person to the mix. Then Ethan arrived and we realized that we did have all of those things to offer him.

Now we have given Ethan all of our love/time/devotion and I can’t imagine how I will ever have enough of that to give to one more person. I suppose that my heart has the capacity to do this though since people have more children than us, but it just seems very mind-blowing that I will be able to divide my love/time/devotion evenly between two children.

I remember asking my mom over and over and over again which of us she loved more. She always told me that she loved us equally and every time she said this to me, I always thought that she was harboring a secret special love that was extra and just for me. I couldn’t imagine that, of the three of us kids, that she could equally distribute her love. She never told me if she had a favorite among us, but always claimed that she loved each of us the same. Then I would ask her if she loved me more than my dad and this would be answered with the statement of it being a different kind of love and yada yada, but I still thought she was storing some dark secret of loving one of us the best of all.

I wonder if my kids will be asking me this someday and wondering the same thing when I answer them with the same answers my mother gave me. History does have a way of repeating itself, and I can picture me telling my children this same exact thing…..and I have feeling that they won’t believe me either!

Well, I may be lacking motivation these days, but I am not lacking love/time/devotion for my son and I guess that is all that matters.

I checked my email this evening and noticed that there were actually comments that had come through on my blog. That is when I remembered that I had a blog….oh, and that it could use a little updating. Unfortunately, my creative moments seem few & far between so I have had little to contribute these days. I will give this my best shot though…

We found out a couple of weeks ago that we are expecting a baby girl. What a dream come true to have a boy & a girl! I feel like the luckiest woman in the world. My life has been a sea of pink since we got the news. This is the first granddaughter on either side of our family and I know she is just going to be spoiled rotten. We already have quite the little wardrobe, for our future princess, and I already know that her outfits are going to be better than my own. It is just so much fun to be able to buy for her.

Ethan is starting school soon and we have his little meet & greet night coming up. I am a teensy bit worried about all of this because they have put him in a class that is for potty-trained kids and my son is nowhere near the potty-trained stage. I have read that it isn’t good to pressure them into potty-training just because you feel under the gun, but it is hard not to feel that pressure.

Potty-training with Ethan is not going as I had hoped. There are a couple of things that inhibit us from being successful. One thing is that he does not like to be naked…..at all. I know that most parents have the exact opposite problem, but our Ethan is very private and thus he must be fully clothed at all times. Other than swift diaper changes and popping him in the tub (both with much struggle) he is always fully clothed from head to toe.

The other problem we have may be the way that we started the potty-training fun. We thought that putting him on his little toilet in front of the boob tube, watching a favorite movie, would be a great way to get him to go on the potty. We also gave him his favorite salty movie snacks, a gallon of fruit punch, and a big bowl filled with warm water and little boats for him to play with. I even was pouring the water very slowly into the bowl to make great sounds for him to potty by. Two hours later he did potty, but now all sitting on the potty must now be done in front of all of his favorite shows, playing with boats, eating snacks, and drinking fruit punch. Are we going about this the wrong way? Oh…the other thing….he has never peed on the potty since this one incident so our tactics have not been a roaring success.

Now I have read these great tales of people potty-training their kids in a day and, God bless them, I think that is just freakin’ wonderful….but I have trouble grasping the realism and if there is really that much success with that. I have heard greater success stories from people who just let their kids decide to go on the potty and when they made the decision, their kid was potty-trained.

Now all I need is for Ethan to make this decision within the next two weeks and we will have absolutely no problems…..

Any suggestions from my little peanut gallery will be much appreciated. If I have to read Once Upon a Potty one more time I just might lose it, however, I will read it four thousand more times if you all think it might make a difference.

I must return back to the potty-training trenches….good night, all!

Once upon a time, I was an attractive person. Not in the drop-dead-knock-you-off-your-feet attractive, but a mildly attractive woman who was able to snag herself a nice young man to spend some time with. That young man, of course, was my husband and upon being married, I realized that no one’s head would be turning for me anymore because I was a married woman.

Despite my marriage, I still thought I could maybe turn a head or two, of a gross, not-so-attractive man, in a grocery store or the mall. I knew I still had a little bit of the “it” factor left- just barely, but I was still ticking away.

Upon having a child though, I have become invisible to the male population, which is fine with me. Instead of seeing who is looking at me, in the vain way that I used to do, I now look at other mommies with their kiddos in the carts. I also look at those young whippersnappers to see exactly what clothes are in style anymore. Those are the types of things that I look at. This only happens, of course, when I am not doing a tap dance for my son in the aisles to keep him entertained.

To illustrate my point on how rare it is that a man looks at me, I will share with you all my funny story of a little incident that happened to me at Walmart…..

Last summer, our family had been out for the evening and we came home to our dark house to get ready for our nightly routine. When we flipped on the light in the kitchen, however, we found ourselves with a truly terrible problem. A problem that about flipped my little prissy heart out of my body….we had ants. Little tiny baby ants had somehow crawled through our window and were now trying to make a home in my kitchen. Well, I freaked out (just a little bit) about these stupid ants and started pouring salt all over our kitchen amid my sobs about how we were such clean people, how do these things happen to us, and a few curse words here and there. My husband just kept looking at me like I was crazy and then finally asked me what the purpose of the salt is….”To deter their sense of smell, until I can take care of this problem.” Let’s just say I felt a little bit taller after that because my husband thought I was the smartest woman alive as we watched the ants running around in a frantic circle. All I can say is that it sometimes DOES help you to read those stupid forwards people send you.

After pouring the salt, I headed over to Walmart to get some ant killer to spray all over our kitchen to rid ourselves of our pest problem. I grabbed the only type of indoor killing spray that they had and made a mad dash up to the cash register. Of course we are talking about WALMART here, so obviously I had to do a lot of waiting in line for my turn to get the heck out of there. While I waited, I people-watched and that is when I saw this guy looking at me. Considering I couldn’t even remember what I was wearing, I looked behind me to see who he was staring at….Yup, it was me! I started to gain back some of my old confidence in myself that had been lacking a little bit. I paid for my purchases and shook my tail feather all the way back to my car. All the while I am thinking, “OH YEAH! I still got it! I am still hot! I am not even TRYIN’ and this guy is looking at me.” I just couldn’t wait to run home and tell my husband just what a lucky man he was….that is when I flipped down the mirror just to take another look at my hot-self and I realized the humiliating truth. The truth that I can share with only a few people was…..I had black mascara trails running all down my face- I looked just like Tammy Faye Baker. I had mascara everywhere from my little prissy-soap-opera drama, which I apply to just about everything in my life, and that was why the guy was looking at me. Black streaks all down my pale face made me look like I was a goth-chick-wannabe- it was, to say the least, a teeny bit embarrassing.

Oh yes, my tail feather was between my legs when I arrived home to tackle those dang ants….all the while trying to chant to myself, “OH YEAH! I still got it! I am still hot!” as I spray the heck out of our kitchen.

Now how pathetic was THAT story??

Today is Ethan’s third birthday! I can hardly believe that he is that big!

This morning I was going to make some cinnamon rolls for him & put a candle in them, but discovered that I never had any cinnamon rolls in our fridge. Hmmm…wonder why I thought I had those? I decided instead to put his candle in his bagel with peanut butter. Heck, he’s three! He could care less what I am putting the candle in because the candle is the most exciting part!

I brought his bagel down to him and he looked so precious in his Superman pj’s (complete with cape), waiting very impatiently for breakfast to be served. I took a picture of him as he attempted to blow out the candle from six feet away. You can tell we have scared the crap out of him about fire- ha!

It is moments like these where I don’t want him to get big. I know he is never going to be this little again and we will never celebrate another third birthday with him. Each year he will get bigger & older….it is all so depressing. Why must our children grow up and need you less and less?

Please allow me to weep a little bit- I think my pregnancy hormones are making me a bit more sappy than usual….

Happy Birthday, precious boy!

Let me just say, before I begin my little ranting-mantra, that using the word s-u-c-k & the word mom brings some nasties to my blog & my website. From now on, I will not be using that word. Can ya believe that the most frequently found phrase when searching has been those two words together in my little MomAdvice reports? Come on, peeps, this is a FAMILY site, ya heard? I am just a mom with a bad vocabulary. I guess what I am trying to say is be very careful of what you say because you never know what keywords people will put together- lesson learned, ya’ll.

Moving on to the real scoop on our family- we are in final preparations for mission impossible (aka- my son’s third birthday party). Am I the ONLY one who thinks that birthday parties have gotten way out of hand, or what? Can I get an “Amen!”?? I mean, who exactly was the mom who started this whole party favor thing and why in the world would someone start doing that? It is a birthday party and that translates into the birthday kid getting the presents, not all of their friends, am I right?

Let’s go back to the olden days when I walked uphill both ways to school, taught myself, and held (at least) two jobs….So…. back in those days, my birthday parties consisted of me, my family, and possibly one friend. I got to pick my favorite dinner dish and I got a couple of presents & a cake. Here are some examples of a few things that I did not get at my birthday party….

1. A clown, juggling man, mime, magician, or circus freak
2. A pony ride for each of my friends
3. A jumbo jumpee thing-a-ma-bob
4. A gazillion presents
5. Party favors for everyone who attended

I didn’t have any of those things and, ironically, my birthday was still special and it was still my day! I would just like to talk to the yahoo who originated the idea of needing these types of things at a party because now I have now become part of this sick birthday cycle…..

Here is how the cycle works (in case you haven’t gotten to be part of it)…Little Johnny invites Suzie to his birthday party. Suzie buys him a nice gift (in the ten dollar range) and comes to the amazing “Two Year Old Bash.” This two year old bash involves a full orchestra, treats made for each individual child, and a goodie bag of more treats to take home.

Then Suzie has her birthday party and, because Little Johnny invited her to his birthday party, she invites him even though Suzie and her mom think Little Johnny is..well… a brat. So Little Johnny comes and brings a nice gift (in the fifty dollar range) and Suzie’s mommy starts to panic. “Wait! We only gave Little Johnny a ten dollar gift!” Suzie’s mom feels super-guilty, but proud because this year she has party favors for each child. In each child’s bag is a few small trinkets and candy for each kid.

Little Johnny invites Suzie (because it is only fair!) to his annual birthday party the next year. Now Suzie’s mom has to buy a fifty dollar gift (because it is only fair!) and Little Johnny’s mom has to have even more fun trinkets and candy (because it is only fair!) in each child’s goodie bag.

This scenario persists until Little Johnny’s mom & Suzie’s mom either end up having mental breakdowns or each kid ends up coming home with iPods and midsize SUV’s…..

Do I make myself clear? This is just getting out of hand, people! Why do we all have to compete? Why can’t we just love each other? Let’s break the cycle! Let’s stop the insanity! Let’s say NO to party favors and all of this silliness….

Well, I must run though and work on wrapping my party favors for Ethan’s party, but I swear this is the last year I am doing this, and no one has to compete with us anymore! We lose!! You win!!

The cycle is broken- you are released from giving my kid party favors….Can I get an, “Amen!”?

Have you all had the opportunity to catch the show, “Sports Kids Moms & Dads?” Before this show was featured on Oprah, I had already set my Tivo for it. I thought it would be great to see just how talented these kiddos were and how their parents dealt with their talent. Sounds like a fun show about kids and their parents, doesn’t it? Ummm….not exactly!

So here are the parenting lessons I learned just from the very first episode- I feel like my parenting has GREATLY improved by just observing these fantastic parents.

1) Tell your kid that they suck….repeatedly. In case they didn’t pick up on your rude tone make sure to truly emphasize the word SUCK. Tell them that they will never amount to anything and ask them what they thought they were doing when they decided to ruin their game ON PURPOSE and let everyone in their lives down. Then give them a hug and tell them you love them.

2) If they cry, give them ten seconds. If they cry for fifteen- kick them in the groin and tell them to BUCK UP! Tell them that this is the game of life and currently they are playing like a loser. Then refer again to step one just in case they forgot the part about sucking.

3) Tell them that they do such a crappy job at their practices that to watch them makes you, “Feel like you are going to throw up and be physically ill.” Make sure to remind them that just seeing how lousy they do at practice brings you physical pain & torture. Don’t forget to let them know that it is their fault that you can’t keep your food down.

4) Remind them every single day how much their practices cost you- time, money, gas, whatever. Make sure that you add five thousand dollars to that number just to make sure that they feel extra guilty about all of the money that you are basically wasting just hoping that SOMEDAY they might show some stinking talent.

5) Tell them they suck….wait! Did we already cover that one?

Seriously, the show was just unbelievable and the parents on it made me cringe. The parents reminded me of a few not-so-fun mommies that I got the pleasure of dealing with when I was enrolled in dance (I am sure that you know what type of mommy I am talking about).

I am hoping, in my heart of hearts, that my son wants to play sports because I have always envisioned myself as one of those happy little soccer moms sitting up in the bleachers cheering my little heart out for my little guy. The first year he was born, jokingly, I bought a t-shirt from Old Navy that said, “Soccer Mom Car Services.”

Hopefully he will want to play soccer because I was never athletic and all we want for him is the best in the world. We will, of course, give our little one the choice of playing soccer or living with a homeless man on the street corner begging for money. We would never want to put pressure on him, but living a life on the streets versus playing ball….well, I think you all can see my point…I am hoping that Ethan will see our point too.

So with all of the cheerleader spirit that this preggo mom can muster, I am throwing out a good ol’……Gooooo Team!!

Well, I finally have some good news to share with our readers- we are expecting another baby! It only took almost two years, a lot of crying, and a (near) trip to the mental hospital, but I am happy to report that we will be expecting another little bundle of joy sometime at the end of December.

I couldn’t blog because this pregnancy has consumed every last waking thought for me these days. In January, I had suffered a miscarriage, so the news that we were finally expecting was met with some apprehension and VERY nervous happiness.

We have already got to see our baby twice through ultrasound so having a “higher risk” pregnancy definitely gets you in for ultrasounds, appointments, and blood work a lot quicker. It is comforting to see the little heart beating and to know that all is right in our little one’s world this time. I had never realized how blessed I was with such a perfect pregnancy as I had with our Ethan, but I will never take that for granted again.

Thank you to those of you who prayed for us and cared for us during these past two years- we couldn’t have gotten to this point without your support & love. Cheers to another little bundle of joy & another source of inspiration for the site & the blog!!!! None of this would be possible without this whole motherhood thang.

It has been awhile since I have blogged about my personal life and I am sure you are all dying to get a little glimpse into my real life so I am going to do a “real” blog today.

Can I just say, where the heck did all of my time go? I am running around like a chicken with its head cut off and am accomplishing very little these days.

When I started my website I thought to myself, “Wow! Wouldn’t it be great if like two of my friends came on my site and we pretended like I was a writer? Wouldn’t that be so much fun?” I started my website and thought what a nice little release it would be for me to feel like I had a little place in the internet world.

This began as my little great idea that would take a little bit of my valuable time and it has turned into a monster in time suckage.

Here was my typical day…

Eat breakfast with Ethan
Watch cartoons
Play with toys
Take a nap
Work on errands/cleaning house/paying bills
Make dinner
Watch Tivo
Eat snack
Hit the sack

Now here is my typical day…

Wake up groggy because I spent the whole night thinking about what I should have been doing while sleeping and coming up with brilliant ideas that I want to write about when I have “free time”
Have coffee- skip breakfast because who the heck has time for that?
Check email, check email, check email
Check site for latest posts- come up with something great for the forum
Check Google to see if we made any money
Check the statistics of the site to make sure we had visitors
Get quoted for magazines (yes, as unbelievable as that is….)
Answer phone all morning from friends that I have neglected and generally feel like crap
Apologize to family for not keeping in better touch and never letting them see our family
Feel like crap because I can’t get everything done
Check my email!
Answer phone to people who have confused voices thinking that they are calling a company and realize that I really am a mom who stays home as they try to listen to me over the sound of my child laughing/screaming/crying as I change him. Then hear disappointment in their voices as they realize that I am what I say I am.
Play with my son and feel guilty as he watches television while I run around trying to clean house/pay bills/grumble to myself about not enough time.
Check email, check Google, check statistics
Ethan takes a nap- I write
Make a pathetic attempt at dinner and apologize as I am too tired to be more inventive
Check email, check Google, check statistics.
Watch ten minutes of television with hubby on respective couches.
Try to read for ten minutes, but realize that I am too distracted to devote more than three minutes to any one thing.
Collapse.

I now realize why I see websites shutting down all the time because people just don’t have time anymore. I also see the potential in outsourcing help from China and the potential in child-slave labor- I feel like they can write about menu-planning just as well as I can, right??

So when you see me and I am a scattered ball of nerves and you feel like I have no time for you, please understand and don’t make me feel more guilty than I already do- I am just a mom who stays at home and wants more than anything to relax the way I once did.

So…um, I guess that gas is not going down? What in the world, people! I won’t get political on this or anything, but I thought as an American that I was entitled to blame everything on our lovely President?? Just kidding…but seriously! This is unbelievable….

1) Head to your local Sam’s or B.J.’s Warehouse for filling up your gas tank- these warehouse clubs typically offer four to ten cents cheaper per gallon on their gas.

2) Another great site to check out (besides Gas Buddy) is Gas Price Watch for finding more. This site boasts to be the world’s largest consumer advocacy site for gas prices. They have a gazillion volunteer price spotters who track the pricing of gas for you. Be sure to join their email newsletter for all of the latest news on the crazy gas prices.

3) Local supermarkets might also offer discounts if you purchase your gas through them. Some supermarkets also offer gas savings if you purchase certain items at their store and give you this savings at the end of your receipt. Take the savings where you can!!

4) Become friends with the folks at the gas stations….no, seriously! While we got gas yesterday, my husband struck up a conversation with the gal who worked there. He discovered (through their conversation) that the reason their gas was so low was to keep up with the gas station so-and-so on such-and-such a street. So guess who is going to gas station so-and-so on such-and-such a street? ME! I am starting to think that I am rubbing off on my husband (who looked like the cat who swallowed the canary when he climbed in the car). Who would have thought that he would have been the one hopping in the car saying, “Guess who got the scoop on the cheapest gas?” Tell me who doesn’t love a deal??

Here are a few tips from Health Recipes for even more ways to survive this gas hike…

Save on your gas price!

The surest way you can improve your fuel cost problem is to change your motoring habits. Listed below under four categories are 30 effective methods of doing so… no need to buy expensive add-on equipment.

ENGINE WARM-UP

1. Avoid prolonged warming up of engine, even on cold mornings – 30 to 45 seconds is plenty of time.

2. Be sure the automatic choke is disengaged after engine warm up… chokes often get stuck, resulting in bad gas/air mixture.

3. Don’t start and stop engine needlessly. Idling your engine for one minute consumes the gas amount equivalent to when you start the engine.

4. Avoid “revving” the engine, especially just before you switch the engine off; this wastes fuel needlessly and washes oil down from the inside cylinder walls, owing to loss of oil pressure.

5. Eliminate jack-rabbit starts. Accelerate slowly when starting from dead stop. Don’t push pedal down more than 1/4 of the total foot travel. This allows carburetor to function at peak efficiency.

HOW TO BUY GASOLINE

6. Buy gasoline during coolest time of day – early morning or late evening is best. During these times gasoline is densest. Keep in mind – gas pumps measure volumes of gasoline, not densities of fuel concentration. You are charged according to “volume of measurement”.

7. Choose type and brand of gasoline carefully. Certain brands provide you with greater economy because of better quality. Use the brands which “seem” most beneficial.

8. Avoid filling gas tank to top. Overfilling results in sloshing over and out of tank. Never fill gas tank past the first “click” of fuel nozzle, if nozzle is automatic.

HOW TO DRIVE ECONOMICALLY

9. Exceeding 40 mph forces your auto to overcome tremendous wind resistance.

10. Never exceed legal speed limit. Primarily they are set for your traveling safety, however better gas efficiency also occurs. Traveling at 55 mph gives you up to 21% better mileage when compared to former legal speed limits of 65 mph and 70 mph.

11. Traveling at fast rates in low gears can consume up to 45% more fuel than is needed.

12. Manual shift driven cars allow you to change to highest gear as soon as possible, thereby letting you save gas if you “nurse it along”. However, if you cause the engine to “bog down”, premature wearing of engine parts occurs.

13. Keep windows closed when traveling at highway speeds. Open windows cause air drag, reducing your mileage by 10%.

14. Drive steadily. Slowing down or speeding up wastes fuel. Also avoid tailgating – the driver in front of you is unpredictable. Not only is it unsafe, but if affects your economy, if he slows down unexpectedly.

15. Think ahead when approaching hills. If you accelerate, do it before you reach the hill, not while you’re on it.

GENERAL ADVICE

16. Do not rest left foot on floor board pedals while driving. The slightest pressure puts “mechanical drag” on components, wearing them down prematurely. This “dragging” also demands additional fuel usage.

17. Avoid rough roads whenever possible, because dirt or gravel rob you of up to 30% of your gas mileage.

18. Use alternate roads when safer, shorter, straighter. Compare traveling distance differences – remember that corners, curves and lane jumping requires extra gas. The shortest distance between two points is always straight.


19. Stoplights are usually timed for your motoring advantage. By traveling steadily at the legal speed limit you boost your chances of having the “green light” all the way.

20. Automatic transmissions should be allowed to cool down when your car is idling at a standstill, e.g. railroad crossings, long traffic lights, etc. Place gear into neutral position. This reduces transmission strain and allows transmission to cool.

21. Park car so that you can later begin to travel in forward gear; avoid reverse gear maneuvers to save gas.

22. Regular tune-ups ensure best economy; check owner’s manual for recommended maintenance intervals.

Special attention should be given to maintaining clean air filters… diminished air flow increases gas waste.

23. Inspect suspension and chassis parts for occasional misalignment. Bent wheels, axles, bad shocks, broken springs, etc. create engine drag and are unsafe at high traveling speeds.

24. Remove snow tires during good weather seasons; traveling on deep tire tread really robs fuel!

25. Inflate all tires to maximum limit. Each tire should be periodically spun, balanced and checked for out-of-round.

When shopping for new tires, get large diameter tires for rear wheels. Radial designs are the recognized fuel-savers; check manufacturer’s specifications for maximum tire pressures.

26. Remove vinyl tops – they cause air drag. Rough surfaces disturb otherwise smooth air flow around a car’s body.

Bear in mind when buying new cars that a fancy sun roof helps disturb smooth air flow (and mileage).

27. Auto air conditioners can reduce fuel economy by 10% to 20%. Heater fan, power windows and seats increase engine load; the more load on your engine, the less miles per gallon.

28. Remove excess weight from trunk or inside of car – extra tires, back seats, unnecessary heavy parts. Extra weight reduces mileage, especially when driving up inclines.

29. Car pools reduce travel monotony and gas expense – all riders chip in to help you buy. Conversation helps to keep the driver alert. Pooling also reduces traffic congestion, gives the driver easier maneuverability and greater “steady speed” economy. For best results, distribute passenger weight evenly throughout car.

30. During cold weather watch for icicles frozen to car frame. Up to 100 lbs. can be quickly accumulated!

Unremoved snow and ice cause tremendous wind resistance. Warm water thrown on (or hosed on) will eliminate it fast.

EXTRA TIPS

Install pressure regulator valve (sold in auto parts stores)… Use graphite motor oil… Beware of oil additives, regardless of advertising claims… Add Marvel Mystery Oil into gas fill-ups… Investigate fuel/water injection methods and products… combine short errands into one trip… Use special gas additives to prevent winter freezing of gas lines!

Dr. Beth, who writes for our website (check the parenting section), is involved in a great new series of books for girls between the ages of 9-13. These books are called, “The Beacon Street Girls” series published by the B*tween Productions, Inc. These books have been featured in Working Woman’s magazine, Inc. Magazine, Publishers Weekly, Teen Magazine, and the Boston Globe.

The author was frustrated by a lack of books, products, and places where her daughters and friends could celebrate those frustrating (and complicated) times of life. She wanted to create a series of books that would be fun and also create empowering and upbeat messages that would teach tweens that values, friendships, and community service can all be fun & rewarding.

As a child, I was drawn to books like Sweet Valley Twins & Babysitter’s Club which, at the time, addressed the issues of my generation. It seems like these types of books are difficult to find anymore and there are few positive influences in our child’s life. Think of these books as a great way to have an even more positive influence on your child.

I always love a freebie, and The Beacon Street Girls website also offers fun no-sew crafts & party snacks for the tween in your life.