why we let our son wear makeup

My son is fully aware of what mascara is used for, asks for a ponytail on the daily and says things like, "Mama, do you like my dress?"  Instead of correcting him or telling him what the "norm" is - we think nothing of it, encourage it, let him embrace it and here's why....

cheap thrills (free everyday things to do with your toddler)

While Fall brings on such warm fuzzies, what it doesn't offer is free outdoor entertainment for the little rascals.  One of the biggest challenges that we parents face in the Fall/Winter time is how to keep our kids busy/entertained without being confined to our homes AND without breaking the bank.   I love the aquarium as much as any other kid, but I don't love shelling out $80+ for every visit. The simplest solution?  Make every small outing into the biggest adventure.

throwback thought ~ i want to be the breadwinner

At one point in my life, I wanted to be the only full-time working parent and my husband would play a role similar to Michael Keaton in Mr. Mom. What was I thinking?

suburbia

I recently wrote a guest post for Crane USA  and I explained how having one child is perfect for our small, but mighty, family.  In that same post, I briefly eluded to my small fear of suburban  living.  It's interesting that when people have kids, the automatic thought is you need to "settle down" and move to the suburbs.  Yes, that tends to happen more often than not for many reasons, cost and school being the most common, but it's not the only option.  Living in the city is scary, even when you're single, but there are reasons why we want to raise a child in the city - probably the exact reasons why people want to move to the suburbs, but for us - it just works.

mom crush ~ dinah mclean

Name:  Dinah McLean

Stats: Mother to son Duncan, wife to husband Mac (who happens to be her partner not only in life, but in business as well) and a founding Partner of Click Communications - the entertainment industry's leading digital PR and marketing agency.

Why she's crush worthy:  Aside from working in an extremely cut throat industry and succeeding at helping to promote the release of films, she is a mother who not only talks to her son about the endless possibilities that life has to offer - but she leads by example.  Not everyone can live, work along side and parent with their husbands, but Dinah has proven that it can be done.  She has a very "one day at a time" approach to life and while it is stressful to be a business owner, she tries to find time to laugh with her husband and her son...not to mention throw amazing themed parties to celebrate annual events like the Oscars.  Dinah is the type of person you admire because she embraces individuality, teaches her son to do so and never loses sight of her dreams.

Learn how Dinah does it all and get her thoughts on....

mom crush ~ johanna grange

Name:  Johanna Grange

Stats:  Wife to husband Jack,  mom to two beautiful girls (Liv & Lola), Sr. Account Executive at ChowNow and blogger/founder of 101 Things I Love.

Why she's crush worthy:  In reading Johanna's blog you automatically gravitate towards her keen sense of style, witty sense of humor, love for interior design and willingness to share the many highs/lows of life.  In every word she writes you embrace her passion and immediately think, "How does she have time to do it all and look so put together doing it?".  While she seldom mentions her full-time job in posts - she has one and she's damn good at it.  She's a woman who has great sense of style, amazing taste for food and appreciates a good glass of wine any time of day.  She's a girl after my own heart!

Meet Johanna and read how she manages to juggle many things in life without breaking a sweat.