Parent Talk Today

Are You a Crafty Mom? Check This Out...

So many moms are enjoying rubber-stamp art, scrapbooking, cardmaking, etc. these days. So I wanted to share a wonderful new blog, Creative (Un)block, written by my buddy Roberta Wax.

Robi got lucky when talent was being handed out. She's a professional journalist AND she's very talented when it comes to all manner of paper crafting. She has written for crafting magazines and she knows her stuff.

I'm inspired by this blog, and I know you will be, too! See you there.

Feelin' Girly

I live in a house with men. My husband. My 13-year-old son. Even the dog is a guy. There aren't a lot of pink t-shirts, ballet shoes or Taylor Swift CDs laying around the house.

But every once in awhile, it's nice to think about girly stuff: chick flicks, awards shows complete with the red carpet — and make-up.

When I Interviewed Mally Roncal, makeup artist to the stars (including Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lopez and Beyoncé) for makinglifebetter.com, we hit it off right away. Mally is a (very) busy mom, and she knows what it's like to have crazy days with next to no time for yourself. (She even recently started wearing what she calls a "mom sweater," something she swore she'd never do after seeing her friend's mom wear the same sweater "day after day" when she was a kid. Sound familiar?)

"When I was growing up in upstate New York, as the only non-white kid, they called me 'Fish Lips,'" says Roncal in one of her how-to videos. Perhaps that's one of the things that helped her develop her current philosophy: "What makes you different makes you beautiful."

And beautiful she is, as you can see here. But what I love most about Mally is her personality. She's a hoot. Check out her videos on Mallybeauty.com or QVC (you can buy her makeup line on both) and you'll see how she gets everyday women. She's the kind of pal you'd want to take to martinis-and-manicures night. (You can even wear your mom sweaters.)

Mally sent me some items from her collection to try, and I've been having a ball playing with everything. The makeup comes in gorgeous cases, and it's fun to experiment with it all. The colors are natural and pretty. And it's a kick to know that I'm using a lipgloss shade that — who knows! — Mally may be using on J-Lo next week.

Here's my interview with Mally for makinglifebetter.com: "Pretty in Pink." She also shared some great tips with me for "Make a Tired Face Look Better — Instantly!" Nothing here requires 20 minutes in front of a mirror in the morning. Who has time for that when the kids need to get to school?

Have fun checking out Mally's how-to videos on QVC and on her website (see above). You'll get great tips, and I'm sure you'll find her to be just as much fun as I did.

After all, it's a kick to play with makeup and to look girly now and then — even if you're heading out to a Little League game.

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• How to put on your party face (cnn.com)

This Time of Year, Not All Flakes Are Snow Flakes

Today it's all about you, Mom. You deserve to take five minutes to read some great tips about taking care of your (dry? flaky?) winter skin...

And then you deserve to take 10 minutes to slather yourself with some sexy, soothing body cream!

(Yes, it's OK to lock the kids out of the bathroom for a few minutes — assuming no one's bleeding.)

Check out my family-health column, "Boo Boos, Germs & Pap Smears," over at mommasaid.net. You'll find everything you need for silky winter skin.

You know you deserve it!

A Little Ice Cream... And a Better Day Today

Several readers have e-mailed to suggest that the comment I left yesterday (in the comments section, not as a post) should be a post. So here goes: 

Today is a much better parenting day, and I even felt a bit (just a bit) bad about writing such a whining post yesterday. (Although in my "What's Parent Talk Today?" description, I do promise a bit of whining now and then!) I considered taking the (July 14) post down, but then I thought "Hey, this is real life. Some days we drive the people we love crazy, and we muddle through and move on to the next day and it all works out." That's probably a better thought to share with my fellow parents than all the hearts-and-flowers posts about mommyhood could ever be. (Although you'll find those here, too.) Because none of us is even close to perfect, and it helps, I think, to know that other moms have days when running to the grocery store, alone, feels like sweet relief. So the post stays. And the love for my son never disappears — even when I'm so frustrated with him that I want to take his video games and hold a big garage sale because he's driving me nuts. Today is a better day. But boy, that ice cream tasted good last night!

Energy Drinks: Is It Safe for Tired Moms to Get Buzzed?

Would you believe there are now are at least 200 different energy drinks on the market? Yep. It’s a billion-dollar industry. But is it a good idea to get an energy-drink buzz when the demands of parenthood are wearing you out?

“There was a time when we would get our caffeine intake from coffee and cola, but now there are a number of caffeine-containing beverages, and we need to be careful because over a period of 24 hours, that caffeine intake is cumulative,” says Dee Rollins, R.D., PhD, a dietitian with Baylor Regional Medical Center at Grapevine in Grapevine, Texas.

Experts say energy-drink consumers should keep careful track of the amount of caffeine they get in a day. “If you know that 400 milligrams a day is the upper limit, you can check the back of the labels and make sure that you don’t get more than that,” explains Rollins.

It may sound like a lot, but 400 milligrams is roughly the equivalent of just one energy drink and two cups of coffee. Getting more than that can lead to jitteriness, nausea, heart palpitations — and in extreme cases, more severe symptoms.

“It can be so bad that if you take too much caffeine you can end up in the hospital thinking you have flu-like symptoms and really it’s caffeine overdose,” says Rollins.

For most people — if they’re not getting more than around 400 milligrams of caffeine a day — these energy drinks are safe, says Rollins. But here are some important things to remember:

°    Don’t drink energy beverages while exercising. It can lead to severe dehydration.

°    Don’t ever mix these drinks with alcohol. Doing so can not only mask how intoxicated you really are, it can be extremely dehydrating.

°    Remember that, in addition to caffeine, most energy drinks contain very high amounts of sugar and sodium, which can be dangerous for diabetics or those with high blood pressure.

Parents Need Naps, Too!

The Boston Glob ran a terrific article recently on "How to Nap." My first thought, when I saw it, was "Come on. Who doesn't know how to nap?" But as I learned, there's a lot to know.

Are you a lark or an owl? When you go to bed and get up determines your optimal time for napping. The length of your nap determines whether you awake refreshed or groggy. (So set a timer.) And be sure to check out the great tips for "the perfect siesta," including suggestions for how to quiet your mind, calm your body and create the right environment for snoozing.

Whether you're at the "nap while the baby naps" stage (Forget the laundry and dishes!) or you're the slightly stressed mother of teens, a nap will do you a world of good.

Now I just need to stop blogging for 20 minutes and go take my own advice...

"Mommying Your Husband" Hits a Nerve

I was jazzed to see that my post yesterday, about a CNN.com article on "mommying your husband" is now #12 on the Hot List over at Cafemom.com. (See the Cafe Mom post and comments here.) The women commenting over there are talking about everything from making their husband's lunch to setting out his vitamins to making all his appointments.

But I really like Jen Singer's comments on yesterday's post here:

"Okay, that's insane. And it's ruining it for the rest of us. About 15 years ago, my husband wore too-casual shoes to a wedding. When his sister and her friends discovered he'd underdressed for the event, they blamed ME. Huh? He's a grown man. I don't dress him like a Ken doll to take him out."

Jessica Alba's Pregnancy Style

The folks over at SporkFashion.com scored a fun interview recently. They talked with Jessica Alba about how pregnancy changed her style.  Check out the interview here.

I have to admit that, looking at her, I don't feel all that stylish when I think back to my own maternity clothes. But I love how she talks about taking her skinny jeans (and these are skinny jeans; scroll down on the Spork blog page to see them) and turning them into maternity jeans. She also takes a mini dress and wears it as a top.

While we non-celebrity moms may not be wearing all the latest designer-label ($$$) maternity clothes, we can steal some great tips from this mom-to-be who always looks fabulous. (And I love that Alba mentions that her shoes no longer fit! Boy, can we all relate to that or what?)

High School Confidential

I thought I was the only mom on the planet who ever feels that motherhood is a lot like high school. Turns out I'm not alone.

My buddy Cynthia over at Sugar Mama says the only difference is that now you can't run to your room after school on particularly bad days. "You have to live in your own mistakes, fears, bad haircuts, every second of every day and learn to love it," she adds.

Humor definitely helps — and Sugar Mama has that in spades. And some days, you receive support from someone out of the blue that means so much. Click on the link above to hear the rest of the story.

How Many Balls Are You Juggling?

Edward M. Hallowell, M.D., author of Crazy Busy: Overstretched, Overbooked and About to Snap!, tells a wonderful story, over on his website, Crazy Busy Life, that every parent can appreciate:

"I once interviewed a professional juggler. He told me the greatest number of balls he could juggle was six. The greatest anyone had ever juggled, as far as he knew, was eleven... I asked him if he was working to get to seven balls. He told me he was not because in order to get to seven he would have to give up several hours a day for at least six months, and he didn't have time to spare to do that. 'I'm very good,' he told me. 'I put on a great show with six. No one has ever come up to me and told me they wish I had done seven. I can work many variations with six and make people's jaws drop. Six is enough. I don't need more.'

Hallowell then asks us to consider: "Are you juggling more balls than you NEED to juggle? What do you give up if you are?"

That's a tough one. I love my family. I love my job. I love volunteering at my church and my son's school. What tends to get lost in the shuffle are things like exercise, getting my hair trimmed, shaving my legs — you know, basic physical maintenance. Not good!

So this week I plan to visit the dentist, shave those hairy legs, and get on the treadmill (an actual treadmill, not the treadmill that is sometimes my life!) for some cardio work. (Maybe I'll work out during American Idol tonight. And if Jason Castro wins this thing in a few weeks, it will only be because every 11-year-old girl in America voted for him because of his eyes! My pick? David Cook.)