A new TIME report discusses the health benefits of having a dog or cat in the home with infants to reduce allergies.
Based on what I read, a study found babies – well, boys anyway – are less likely to have animal allergies later in life if they grow up in a home with a cat or a dog.
Our 10-year-old dog – a lazy pug named Jasmine – was our first “child.” She arrived about two years before the kids, so all three of them have had her to love on …

Welcome to parenting, momma.
Now the real texts arrive.
I haven’t tested this, but it caught my attention, so I decided to pass along the information.
The National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition is offering free, health education via cell phones. When parents sign up for Text4baby, they will receive a weekly message timed to their child’s due date or birth date for their child’s first year. Topics will range from nutrition to immunizations to birth defect prevention.
The texts are offered for free through a partnership with many cell phone plans.
When phone users …

“Bad day! Bad day! Bad day!”
Jackie Chan’s animated character says this often as he’s chased by demons and enemies in a show my children love to watch on Netflix.
I found myself repeating those words all morning.
It started with a poke in the eye and continued with late appointments, major irritations (that are really minor inconveniences) and a long conversation about my children.
(I’ll spare you the details but wouldn’t you be annoyed if you went to see a doc that took six weeks to schedule only to find out test …

How is it that October is just around the corner? It seems like yesterday the kids started school – but in reality it was weeks ago. It’s all a blur as our lives transform with the new baby and my return to work!
I attended back-to-school night in August and discovered just what a challenge this year will be for my older kids (kindergarten and second grade). Letters to learn, math facts, phonics, reading requirements and real letter grades for my son.
I was overwhelmed. How am I going to be able …

As a new mom 8 years ago, I took in lots of advice from friends and books. One book suggested putting the infant on a schedule fairly quickly. Another recommended holding the child a great deal and co-sleeping. Friends suggested “attachment parenting,” Dr.Sears, “Babywise” and more. Eventually I adopted a pretty attachment form of parenting (if we want to classify things).
My baby boy most often shared our bed until we moved and he had his own room. But since he was 10 months by then, to transition him he used …

I love crafting. Or should I say, I love the IDEA of crafting. In my busy schedule – working full time as a journalist, raising two kids and preparing for a third – my crafting hours a numbered each week. My 5 year old loves to craft also, but her desire to work side-by-side often ends up with her sitting on my lap, leaving me unable to accomplish my own goals.
I saw this idea on a blog and thought we would try it: 5 Ways to Make Summer Memories Last
I’m …

While checking my Yahoo e-mail, I came across this story about families and happiness and I thought it was worth sharing.
It made me think about how I am doing “raising happiness” in my own house. So far, I think I have pretty happy kids. They love to be home. They love to read. They love to play outdoors.
I think they’re happy.
Then there were two questions posed in the story:
1. When are you happiest with your kids?
2. What part of the normal day with your family routinely causes suffering?
So I thought …

Alright moms out there. I have a few “questions of the week” to throw out there. Yes, these are challenges at home (though I don’t necessarily fight them….)
I’ve written before that my daughter and I battle over her hair. It’s long and very pretty, but for a while she’s challenged me when it comes time to brush it. The same issue comes up with hair washing! She’ll bathe nightly (or ever other night) but when it comes to showering or throwing shampoo on her hair, I don’t always get it …

I’m seeking a few more moms and dads (and grandparents) to share their ideas of how they’re making “a more meaningful and simple Christmas.” Ideas may be used for an upcoming story.
I’ve heard from one family that has asked all members not to buy any gifts – but make them. Another family is only buying gifts that can be used to enhance their time together – games and ice skating passes.
Thoughts? E-mail me at mreese@evtrib.com.

I found a new online resource for moms (well, new to me!). It’s called Mamapedia. I just spent a few minutes browsing through it. Users can post questions (such as, “How do I keep a house with five children clean?”) and other users give advice.
It was fairly easy to use. There are some areas that require registration, but it looked like you could search through reader/user content easily without doing that.  Anyone who has the time might find fun and useful ideas at this Web site.