Carnival of Family Life #27

Thanks to all 37 contributors of this week's Carnival of Family Life. Here they are, broken down by topic:

Edited to add two more entries: Lori Cooperstein at Cosmopolitan Mom's Play and J at Thinking About(and I don't know how I could have missed her, she's one of my favorites). So check them out below:

Tips and A Few Good Things

Amy from MotherLoad: The MomAdvice Blog, who always has great tips and things to make my life easier including her Freebie Fridays, has a lead on some free organization software from Cozi.

Surfingmama has two submissions: first, a twist on the traditional baby shower, be the first to throw an online baby shower when guests live far away or moms are on bedrest. She gives all the details and links you'll need to host a fabulous cutting-edge-techno-shower for your favorite mum. Second, she has some suggestions for dealing with "nappy" rash--or diaper rash for those of us lacking such cool slang. Give her a peek and see what you think.

Erica Douglas at Littlemummy, another blog I love, has a toy for teaching pre-schoolers a second language and asks for your input on the topic of bilingual education. I myself figured the last thing my toddlers needed was a second word for "No!" but maybe I'm too close-minded.

Batya, posting all the way from Israel via her blog Me-ander, gives you a chance to sign up for a birthday wish from her when your birthday comes around. As she so succinctly says, "Doesn't everyone like receiving birthday cards?" Scroll down the page for the post.

Renata Vincoletto (what a beautiful name!) at Taking Nineteen to the Dozen will make you stop and enjoy the simple pleasures of childhood with her post, Things You Can Learn and Do with Your Child. Plenty of pictures and plenty of ideas, so give her a peek.

Lisa Mitchell at Let's Talk Babies, a must-read for those interested in infant development, has 4 great games to play with your infant in her post Playtime for Babies 9-12 Months.

Henry Cate, one of four Cate family contributors to Why Homeschool, takes a look at Borsellino's book Pinocchio Parenting: 21 Outrageous Lies We Tell Our Kids and writes about his experience with the subject which I found insightful. What lies? Go read his post Pinocchio Parenting to find out more.

Holly at Holly's Corner has a link for kids looking for a cyber-line to Santa. I know my daughter will love it. Give Holly's post, Santa Questions a glance.

Jennie von Eggers at Creative Homeschooling, a great place for teaching ideas, posts about a Customized Matching Game that would be fun for children of various ages, whether they're homeschooled or not.

Karen's blog Miscellaneous Adventures of An Aussie Mom offers you a chance to get onto her exclusive Christmas card list in her post Christmas Card Time Is Here (Again). I wonder if she'd consider sending one up here to Alaska?

Health and Nutrition

Heather at Everything Under the Moon--a great blog I regularly read--has put together a list of food products containing no fructose and suggests substitutes for popular items such as Oreos, ketchup and chicken nuggets. A good read not only for those dealing with food allergies, but those also trying to improve their diet. She even has a substitute for my beloved Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

Ruth's blog, Eating Fabulous, has an excerpt from a recent article, Disease-Proof Your Child: Feeding Kids Right, related to children's nutrition and eating habits. It's short, to the point and worth your time.

Ruth at Allergizer.com, posting on all things allergenic (lady bugs, potatoes, soybeans, sunshine, you name it), has the latest item to add to the allergen list. Curious? Click on her post here to find out what the Mystery Allergen is.

Lessons Learned and Other Thoughts

J at Thinking About has a well-written post called Fostering Resiliency where she describes the tools her daughter's school is using to give children the tools they need to face today's challenges. See what you think and leave her a comment.

Lori Cooperstein at Fun Playdates writes about a growing trend that might surprise you: the phenomenon called the Momtini, or a playdate where mothers socialize with alcohol while their children interact. Read what she has to say and leave her a comment.

Steve Olson at Steve-Olson.com shares a lesson learned at the swimming pool when his son has a meltdown. Close your eyes and concentrate on this link here. Just breathe deeply and click.

Jeremy Adam Smith, one of four contributors at Daddy Dialectic shares his year's journey and an example of fine writing in his post The Power of Magical Thinking. It's long but you'll savor every word.

John Buehler at Rebuilding Eden calls on all of us to make more of an impact in the world with small kindnesses in his post The Accomplishments of Life, a timely read for the Thanksgiving season.

Renee at fefymomanna is facing that inevitability of a child growing up in her post, My Baby Is Growing Up. If you can't relate yet, if your children are too young, just wait. You'll be there before you know it.

Kimberly Webb at Super-Mommy is up at 5 am watching her baby grow up. She may be sleep deprived but I'm glad she's finding time to blog about it. Her post says it all: Go to Sleep Already!

Julia Dorofeeva posts about dating, searching and loving after a weekend of French cinema. Her blog is called the Dating Blog.

Kailani herself joins us from the Pink Diary with her comments on motherhood v. childlessness in her post A Child-Full Life. As a mother of four I appreciate her words and agree with her absolutely on the subject.

Patricia from A Better You Blog writes about loneliness, particularly around the holiday season, its sources and symptoms. Her post How To Overcome Loneliness During the Holidays or Anytime gives four specific ways to combat this debilitating condition and it's worth a look.

Suzy at Tryin' to Imagine Bliss writes about the realization that she has grown to be like her mother in her post, We Are Our Mothers, After All, Aren't We?

Humor and a Few Chuckles

If you're looking for a smile, go to Surfer Sam and Friends and read his list of Dad quotes. My personal favorite? "Always carry your driver's license with you. It'll make it easier for police to identify the body." Yea, I know, scary but funny.

Madeleine Kane had me chuckling in her satire of time management techniques called Contending with Time. I laughed enough that I'll be visiting her blog, Mad Kane's Humor Blog, again but first I need to unplug my hairdryer from my surge protector and stop drying my hair while I blog.

Posting from The Common Room, the Headmistress herself gives us a peek into her day with Hectic (which may explain why UPS no longer delivers to her house).

Sherry at Chaos Theory writes about her new kitten and an encounter between her previous cat, Satan, and some visiting Jehovah's Witnesses that will make you smile in Angel vs. Devil. Her blog is definitely worth a look.

Check out Kid Faves, a blog you should be aware of if you're shopping for little ones, who has an anecdote entitled My Favorite Mistake about parental promises and what happens when the plans take a detour.

Mary at Almost Somewhat Positive gives us a "Profoundly Disturbing" look into her life with anecdotes from her day. Read it and laugh with her.

Supermom in New York writes about the joys of parenting children through chores in They REALLY HATE Washing Dishes. I was hoping she'd give me hope that it gets easier but I think I've got a long road ahead in the Chore Department.

Tired But Happy, a blog on family finance, writes about a small moment of satisfaction involving her husband, a bunch of carrots, and a $20 bill in her post Getting My Spouse Involved In Saving. It won't cost anything to click it and read.

Tricia at Blogging Away Debt has a high-profile celebrity interview with a mover in the world of finance--her four year-old son. Her post is aptly named A Very Special Interview

Miscellaneous Happenings

Kerri at Play Library, a great place to find parenting tips of all kinds, blogs about taking her three children to the Wiggles Concert in We Saw the Wiggles LIVE! If you don't know who the Wiggles are you must not have any preschoolers around, get thee to a video store ASAP and get your Wiggles on.

Kim at Blog Fabulous, a blog new to me but one that I think I'll be checking out in the future, has a kind word to say and some thanks to give her former boss, Evi Anne, in her post, Cheers To A Former Boss.

Marina Kuperman from BackpackerMom has cultural ties to Guatemala, Russia, Costa Rica and the United States. The result? Check out her post, Multicultural Mayhem, for her son's unique and creative assimilation of his heritage.

I knew I'd found a friend after reading Stephanie's post Stolen Moments from her blog Stop The Ride! Anyone who feels the same way I do about hanging out laundry has to be great--and I liked the photo too.

Linda Freedman at Everyone Needs Therapy should be writing her paper, packing for her trip, anything but blogging but her post Procrastination Paper makes a case for putting things off just a little longer . . . just one more post and then I promise I'll write that paper.

Chris Dolley from the journal of the same name posts about the last kitten of the litter to leave the house in The Last Tribble: And Then There Were None. Cute picture alert.

***

Congratulations to Stephanie at Stop The Ride! who is this week's winner of a box of chocolate-covered macadamia nuts or a bag of Kona coffee from Kailani at the Pink Dairy. Please email her to collect your prize.

You can vote on this week's edition of Carnival of Family Life at reddit.com.

Don't miss Carnival of Family Life #28 hosted by Thrifty Mommy on November 20th with the theme of Thanksgiving, gratitude and other topics apropo to the season. Entries should be submitted to Blog Carnivals no later than midnight Hawaii time on November 18th.

Technorati tags: Carnival of Family Life, humor, motherhood, parenting