In drawing game, fun doesn’t take backseat

Have you played “Backseat Drawing”? ($24.99, all ages, 4-10 players) In this goofy game that turns Pictionary on its ear, two teams race to identify sketches drawn by teammates — only problem is, the artists don’t know what they’re doing. No, we don’t mean they’re lousy artists, but every stroke of the marker is directed by a teammate who holds the card. It’s kind of like those “Survivor” challenges where a blindfolded player is guided through an obstacle course by a teammate’s verbal instructions. Only with whiteboards and markers and no blindfold. Very fun, which is what you’d expect from the company that makes Apples to Apples. The regular version’s cards spell out the object to be drawn. The junior version has a picture of the object. We...

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Distracted drivers? Moms are guilty, too

The moms I know can usually rattle of toddler car seat statistics, and know the importance of our older kids wearing seat belts.

But do we give enough attention to the biggest safety hazard in the vehicle — ourselves?

Motherproof.com released the 10 safest cities for Mom-drivers. The site also provides tips on simple ways for parents to up the safety when shuttling the kids around.

— Find a distraction for your kids: 32 percent of moms admitted that their child’s activity in the backseat causes them to drift between lanes, miss a turn or get into an accident (only 32 percent?). Bringing books, MP3 players and educational hand-held video games are just a few ways to keep them busy while you...

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Dad’s story: The decision

I tried not to let my irritation show as he strode toward the front door that late summer afternoon.

I’d asked him countless times since we’d separated last April to call first instead of just showing up. He took that as a sign that there was “someone else.” I only wanted to cut down on the chaos that at times left us hissing at each other and the guys in tears.

He waved his hands as he approached. “I know, I know,” he said. “But it’s important. I made a decision. A big one.”

I tried not to react, because I’d sworn off reacting after a loud argument had drawn a nosy neighbor to charge over a few months earlier. I mentally rolled my eyes, though. I’d endured seven years of...

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Spring! Spring! Spring! Clean?

I couldn’t stand it anymore. For any of you who have been happily afflicted by the knitting bug, you will understand that yarn begins to take over everything — your under-bed areas, your ottomen (that’s plural of ottoman in our house), your window seats and attics and worst of all, the office.

I’m a writer, and I have a (half) room of my own, but mostly I find I must run to the library, the Barnes & Noble with a cafe, the relative privacy of the kids’ swing-set platform to write new things. I need to be away from all those paper, plastic and tchotchke reminders of who I am and what I need to do — the $2 check for school pencils, the 16,000 camp forms, the Burt’s Bees hand cream, the tiny wooden house my husband gave me when we...

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I hate daylight savings time

I know, I know, it’s a much beloved tradition and all that, but really, it aggravates my parental life.

I hate waking up in the dark. My body knows it’s not supposed to get up yet. It gets revenge on me by refusing to allow coherent thought for at least an hour.

The worst thing, though, is the way it affects my kids, who normally go to bed at 8 p.m.

Neither child wants to come in for dinner while it’s still light outside. Intuitively, they understand that daylight is supposed to mean Time To Play Outside.

And it’s sheer torture for them to go to bed when the sun is still shining.

Cheetah Boy pounds his body so hard every day, playing sports,...

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Before I was a mommy, pampering was the norm

Before I became a mommy, I loved few things more than a massage and a facial. Or a pedicure. Or a manicure. Or getting my hair done. Hell, even getting waxed. Pretty much any kind of pampering was right up my alley and an afternoon at the spa was exceptionally high on my list of favorite activities. And why not? What else did I have to do? I look back on those days, when I was young and naive and essentially without obligations, and it often feels like I’m looking back on the life of a completely different person.

That isn’t to say I’d trade what I have now for the treats I enjoyed then — as cliched as it can sound, my little boy is the best thing that has ever happened to me. The way my life has changed is for the better, but I’d be...

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Making tooth-brushing more fun

If there’s a little one in your life who just hates to brush her teeth, try these tips from Oral-B to make the daily routine a little more fun:

— Brush your teeth with your child to set a good example. This also helps your child to learn by watching and imitating you.

— Choose toothbrushes and toothpaste with popular kids’ characters, like Oral-B Stages, to help establish positive oral care routines with familiar friends like Winnie the Pooh or Disney Princesses.

— Sing your child’s favorite song, such as “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” for two minutes to encourage brushing for the dentist-recommended time. For older children, play a song from their favorite pop singer for two...

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Bath time, five years later

My oldest child will be turning five next week. She will leave what I consider to be a preschool phase and begin a whole new phase of being a child, a kindergartener. She believes that being 5 means being a “big girl” and she’ll soon discover, in her own way, exactly what that means. Thinking about her upcoming birthday has caused me to reflect on the past years and how much she has changed and how much my mothering has adapted.

She was born in spring 2004 and became the center of my world. I was suddenly a new mother struggling to understand and care for another helpless human being. I was also new at being a stay-at-home mom and trying to find all the necessary fulfillment from that job. I was trying to develop my style of parenting while...

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Mecca is no spa vacation

This past Thanksgiving, we were visiting my family in Texas and started talking about where we could take a family vacation with the whole clan. We’ve never attempted traveling as a complete group before given that we have enough family members to populate a small town, and we would probably kill one another before our return flight home.

While discussing the pros and cons of resorts ranging from Lake Tahoe to Hot Springs, we started talking about our past travels.

One of my sisters had visited Saudi Arabia a few years back and mentioned how amazing it had been to see the historic Islamic sites, like the Kaaba in Mecca. Somehow, the vacation conversation got hijacked from my dreams about a spa retreat into a religious...

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Blogging moms … what’s being said on the Internet

A weekly glimpse of what moms are saying on the Web as compiled by McClatchy-Tribune

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“Before I leave on a trip I try my best to pick up the house, make beds, get the laundry done, wipe down the counters and generally make things look good. It makes coming home from a beautiful sunny beach a little easier when your house is clean (I am being generous with the word clean). We came today from upper 80s and sunny to rainy and 40 degrees. Yuck. Still I look around my little old house and think it looks pretty good. It does feel good to be home regardless of the weather.”

— Susan B. Anderson, on susanbanderson.blogspot.com...

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