Treatment for TMJ: The non-treatment that rid me of jaw pain

My three big reasons to re-prioritize and reduce stress

A few months ago my jaw suddenly started hurting.  It remained this way for weeks to the point when I finally called my dentist.  By the time I got in there, I could barely open my jaw far enough for one finger to slide between my upper and lower teeth.  My dentist diagnosed it as TMJ.  

"What is TMJ?" you ask.   Web MD describes it like this:

"Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) occur as a result of problems with the jaw, jaw joint and surrounding facial muscles that control chewing and moving the jaw. These disorders are often incorrectly called TMJ, which stands for  temporomandibular joint." Possible causes include:

• Grinding or clenching the teeth, which puts a lot of pressure on the TMJ
• Dislocation of the soft cushion or disc between the ball and socket
• Presence of osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis in the TMJ
• Stress, which can cause a person to tighten facial and jaw muscles or clench the teeth

Since, I don't grind my teeth, my dentist told me to try to identify points of stress, put on a hot compress on my jaw, and do a few jaw exercises.  I was not given any medication.   I knew it had to be stress related because the pressures of motherhood are tremendous.  In fact the condition is far more common in women than man and is ususally diagnosed between 20 and 40 years old.

As a 30-something SAHM with two little kids I was drowning under the pressure - much of it self imposed.  I had started out freelance writing "for fun" nearly five years ago after my daughter was born and I stopped working in the newsroom.  At times I made very good money.  Business was going so well for me that I had hired an assistant.  But the online writing freelance world isn't steady and shouldn't be relied on for consistent income.  

9 kids outdoor toys that save this mom's sanity in summer

With summer here I keep my kids outside as much as possible.  But to keep a 2 and almost 5 year old entertained for endless hours (and to keep my own sanity) the best outdoor toys are a necessity-- because a simple swing's not gonna cut it all.summer.long.

I rolled my eyes when my sister - aka childless aunt - gave my 4 year old this huge Crayola Inflatable Easel.  I am usually not a fan of blow up toys because they require so much time to inflate and deflate - but did you know you can use a nebulizer as an air pump?  OMG my friend just told me this trick instead of using the standard hot air or foot pump methods.

Turns out the giant easel is totally cool and the envy of my friends' kids (and their moms).  After the kids are done painting on it or drawing with chalk you can just squirt it down with the hose.  I actually threw the canvas in the washer and it came out like new.

Dear God pass the booze...and the lysol

Today is one of those days when I wish, just for maybe an hour or two or okay, maybe a day....okay a day like this makes me crave a week...that I could actually go back to work.  Ya know, with like adults!

The irony in today is partly what makes it so bad.  Blake - just 8 days shy of his two year old birthday - calling from his crib this morning that he had to go potty.  I pulled off his sopping wet pull up and he peed in the potty. 

From there it went down hill...and just about as fast and as furious my stress level went up....

Let's see...

• He smacked his 4 year old sister over the head with a metal tape measure. 
• Got timeout in his crib...
• My husband went to get him from timeout only to find he peed all over his clothes and the crib.  What do I hear from upstairs "T!!! He peed all over the crib....
• Hose him down in the shower.
• Went to the gym for a little stress relief since I haven't been there in 10 days because of my two sick kids...he had an accident there. 
• Get him in the car to take him home - he throws up (Go ahead...laugh.  At this point it was only 10 am)
• We're home...I put him on the bed so I can take a shower and he can watch a show.  Ahhh...10 uneventful minutes. 
• He hops off the bed as soon as I get out of the shower and pees all over the floor.  Somehow I thank him for this. 
• He asks for more milk.  I say "no" given all the accidents. He throws the cup at me.  
• More timeout in the crib. 
• He pees all over the crib....again
• Get home from picking up sister and he says he has to poop.  I try to put him on the nearest potty he refuses and says he wants to go upstairs fighting me all the way to the nearest potty that's when shit literally hits the fan. 
• He pooped all over the wall, all over the floor, pretty much everywhere except the potty. 
• When I finally get all that cleaned up he says he's done.  I go to wipe him and a full size turd literally comes out in my hand.  
• My daughter requests lunch because she's "starving." 
• As I wash my hands he pees on the floor...

 I mean in this moment, in this morning, I am beyond frustrated wondering how on earth USA Today's survey could find moms of 3 are the most stressed of us all...Apparently they didn't interview anyone with a Hurricane Blake.  I call my husband to vent but of course I get his office voice mail.

Next best thing...nap time.

I swear potty training can be the worst and best thing for a mom.  But on days like today when I know he's using it against m,  I can't help but wonder if he's mad I sold the half opened pack of diapers this morning or if it was that he is just showing me what 2 will be like.    He'll go a week without a single accident and then have days like today when I am seriously considering questioning my sanity. 

3 Day Potty Training for Boys: Days 3, 4, 5 and beyond

I HATE this potty (it was my daughter's)

So we're 6 days into Potty Training Boot Camp (PTBC) and my almost 22 month old cadet is basically potty trained. Can I tell you how freaking excited I am at the thought of NO MORE DIAPERS!!!  In case you haven't followed this potty training experiment from the beginning, may I suggest you read how Day 1 and Day 2 went with my little guy before continuing...

So as you can see after two successful days, Saturday marked Day 3.  I was looking forward to not being the only one around to make sure he didn't pee all over the house.  But the day quickly turned disastrous.  He peed one or two times in the potty early in the day, but after that it was a fight.  He seemed really resistant and distracted and I'm sure a lot of it had to do with my daughter being home.  What made my frustration even worse was my husband seeming to question if he was really ready.  Sure, he still hadn't pooped on the potty - heck, he barely had pooped at all.  But now it just seemed like he was being stubborn.

Working Online: My second stay at home mom job

It has to be one of the most asked questions to new moms: "Do you work?"  Of course, we all work...it's just a matter of where, who your boss is and if you earn a pay check.  Until recently, I always responded with 'no' (playing patient isn't work, is it?)  But there was always this little part of me that wanted to add 'but...'

From time to time my husband would be there during this line of questioning and would always pipe in and defend my working online as legit work. That got me thinking - actually I do work and I do earn a paycheck. Heck, there have been months I've earned more than him - working in corporate America. So now my answer is 'Yes, I stay home but I work part time as a freelance writer.'

Working online, I have found is one of the best stay at home mom jobs because I can make my own schedule (or should I say my kids make my schedules - let's be honest they're the real bosses here!). Then the next question - 'What do you write?'  Eek - I hate that question because I always feel like I'm leading some double life. I usually try to get by with saying I write an entertainment column for Examiner.com but sometimes that's not always enough to divert the conversation.

That's when my double life is exposed. Yes, this SAHM of two, this wife from Delaware, this former TV news producer who just three years ago was writing about city hall and the Flight 93 memorial - now writes about Jersey Shore.  Not only do I write about the MTV reality show about 8 20 and 30 somethings who pretty much get paid to drink, party, and have sex - but I think I know more about Jersey Shore than should be legal. That's when I have to tell myself - it's a business decision and let me tell you- business is booming.

I actually have five Examiner.com columns but it's Jersey Shore that pays the bills; it's Jersey Shore that's trumped my husband's paycheck from time to time; it's Jersey Shore that has helped rebuild our saving account to where it was pre-move; and it's Jersey Shore that has allowed me to stay home to raise my kids. 

Before Blake was born in May I had months that I made upwards of $4000-$5000 but time is money and I don't have nearly as much of it anymore. But that's the beauty of it and that's why writing online is one of the best stay at home mom jobs.  I write when I have time, when the kids are sleeping or when my husband takes full control of the remote. While we're always careful not to rely on the money I make - we quickly learned that when one of my other online writing ventures suddenly stopped paying its writers - it's nice to pad the savings, the kids' piggy banks, or do something fun.

For me, writing isn't working - it's something I enjoy.  And until I stop enjoying I'll continue to work online to make extra money and to satisfy my own feelings of needing to contribute financially. And when Jersey Shore runs its course I'll be on to something else...because I 'shore' won't be giving up my second job.

Click here to learn about working online for Examiner.com. Apply today and start writing about what you're passionate about.

Are you a closet Jersey Shore fan too? Subscribe to my Jersey Shore Examiner.com, friend the Jersey Shore Examiner on Facebook, or follow @JerseyShore411 on Twitter.

How I bought $40 worth of meat for $6

I just got back from what was supposed to be trip to the grocery store for milk, bread, and fruit. But as my ordered tallied up on the register passing the $140 mark, the man behind me looked at me and said, "It adds up quick, doesn't it?" What I felt like saying was mind your own business. But as I slid my club savings card and the price dropped to $107, I simply said to him, "I bought a few gift cards as gifts, as well." What I didn't tell that nosy man, but I am going to share with you, is that I also bought $39.93 worth of meat for a mere $6.  (And just to point out, that wasn't included in the $37 in savings from using my club savings card.)

A few weeks back I noticed this small little "Clearance" sign on a freezer hidden between the ground beef and the frozen chicken nuggets. I took a glance in and was shocked to find the same meat that's in all the other freezers (just with a fast approaching "sell by" date), but these were significantly marked down, plus they had an additional 30% off coupon that would be swiped at the register. I picked up some stuffed pork chops that were originally about $8. I'd never purchased anything like this before, but I figured for $3 they were worth a try especially on a busy night when all I had time to do was throw something in the oven. (Tip: There were no cooking directions on the package, so I asked the butcher and he told me exactly at what temperature and for how long to cook the chops.)  Since my money-saving meat find I've been checking out the clearance meat freezer ever since.

Tonight, I discovered a gold mine....well, at least I thought I had. (More on that in a minute.) The store circular said chicken breasts were buy one get on free, but when I looked in the chicken freezer I found a package originally marked $5 was now selling for "Clearance: $1.50." I swooped them into my cart as fast I could. Then I headed over to my trusty clearance meat freezer. There was a stack of steaks and ribs all of which were marked with the same "Clearance: $1.50" price. Seeing as how I'm no steak expert (all I really know is filet is good!) I went to call my husband to decipher the difference between a porter house, spare ribs, strip, t-bone, etc...but of course I didn't have my cell phone. So I did the next most logical thing.  Thinking that the "best" steaks would likely cost the most, I looked for the highest original prices and I bought those steaks, never mind that I had no idea how to prepare any of them. (That's what AllRecipes.com is for!) I think I got two porter house steaks and pork spare ribs (but to be honest, I'm still not exactly sure). They were marked $11.69, $10.85 and $12.39....but I got all three for a total of $4.50. Take that, nosy-man-behind-me-in-the-check-out-line!!!

When I got home, while we were unpacking the bags I told my husband, "I think I hit the motherload." He looked at me totally confused by my uncertain statement. Then I pulled out the cow (and pig and chicken) that I just bought.   He, who doesn't get excited over deals like I do, actually said out loud "This was $1.50??" And so was this, and this, and this! Yes, my friends, I hit the motherload and you can too if you know how and exactly when to shop your grocer's clearance meat freezer.

More money saving grocery tips

As a quick side note, another easy way I've found to save money on quality meat is to buy extremely discounted bulk meat from Omaha Steaks. Yes, their meats are gourmet and without a coupon are higher compared to prices that'd you'd find in the grocery store, but you can land huge discounts this time of year when Omaha Steaks is really trying to push their products as holiday gifts.  So stuck up NOW!

Why I love my 'J.O.B.'

I've said it before and I'll say it again I never planned to be SAHM, but oh how happy I am it worked out the way it did. As they say a picture is worth a thousand words...so here are my top five reasons why I love being a stay-at-home mom!

And last but not least...a baby free week where I didn't have to get request vaca!

Inexpensive playroom decorating ideas

My living room is thanking me right about now.  Our newly finished playroom has provided some much needed relief from the over abundance of toys, stuffed animals, and riding toys that were taking over the family room.

The way our home is set up the main floor is on the second level. The ground level is a large open room that has somewhat of an obvious divide. The front we've always used as a home office, the back...well...that's up for debate. It was a "craft room," a storage facility...okay, I'll admit it: it was wasted space. It was also the perfect spot for a playroom.

Not wanting to spend much money on updating the room, but knowing it needed some fixing up before it was suitable for a toddler, it became my most recent DIY project.  So I started looking for some playroom decorating ideas and here's what I came up with.

Using my daughter's toys brightly colored toys for inspiration I picked a cheery yellow color paint for the walls.

With limited space but still wanting to give my daughter a creative outlet, I opted to paint a chalkboard on the wall, rather than take up floor space with an easel. I have half a can of chalkboard paint leftover, and already have a few ideas how to use it!

We purchased a full size pull-out sleeper sofa off of Craiglist. It's no wonder it was for sale. Not only does the thing weigh what must be 100 pounds, it's ugly as anything.  The addition of the sofa provides seating and a much needed extra bed for overnight guests.

The arms of the sofa are such that I was unable to find a slip cover without getting it custom made. For a play room that was simply not an option for me.  Thus the DIYer in me got inspired by a set of sheets. I searched a online and bought two blue and white striped queen size flat sheets on clearance.  Over the next few weeks I crafted my own slip cover and I must say I'm pretty impressed with myself.

I had enough left over material to make three simple window treatments as well.

Surprisingly, the spare TV still works despite the inch of dust, dog hair and bugs it gathered over the past two years sitting in the corner. But without cable in the room, we moved our DVD player to the playroom (our newly purchased Play Station 3 doubles as a DVD player for the living room...I'd never admit it to my husband who had to have it...but I guess it turned out to be a useful buy) for my daughter to watch movies.

I purchased an inexpensive TV stand with adequate storage for toys, books, DVDs, and whatnot to further organize the space. 

To get even more stuff off the floor and to avoid taking up more floor space, my daughter will be getting a toy hammock to hang on the playroom wall for stuffed animals.

Can of paint: $25 (-$5 mail-in rebate)
Chalk Board Paint: $10
Sofa bed: $100
Sheets for sofa slip cover: $40
TV stand: $130 from Target, $125 on Amazon.com


Playroom Updates: $300


Have you created a designated play room in your home? Share your best playroom decorating ideas with us by leaving a comment below!

Easy Thanksgiving craft project for toddlers

There's no way I'm missing out on the fridge art that comes with having a child in daycare or pre-school. In the six weeks or so that my daughter was in daycare last year (it was around the holidays) my then three month old brought home at least three art projects. Don't ask me how a three month old makes an art project.

Now, while I'm not the artsiest person in the world...I am somewhat crafty.  And of course, as a mom, I want to display my daughter's master pieces.  My girlfriend, a former kindergarten teacher turned SAHM has thank goodness, come to the rescue and helped me spruce up my fridge.

She hosted our playgroup last week and had a little art project planned for six one year olds. Sounds brave, huh? (I just set out all the toys, she got out the paint!) Anyway, the idea was to make hand print turkeys.  It only took a few minutes (ideal for toddlers) and there wasn't much to it (ideal for moms).  They came out so cute. Take a look! 

For step-by-step directions on making handprint turkeys and for another easy toddler craft idea click here.

Hey, savings account, remember me???

"We're baaaaaack!" You have no idea how excited I am to report that that's exactly what I said to my savings account the other day. Yes, we've missed each other for the last 11 months. It's been that long...basically since I stopped working to become a SAHM...that my husband and I have actually been able to put money into the savings. Last month though, my online writing earnings (which totaled $604 and change) provided us with a surplus...and therefore "We're back!" The best part is, it isn't a small surplus it's several hundred dollars...$300 to be exact!

Let me explain how it all works out b/c this is possible for all stay-at-home moms to achieve. By looking at my monthly earnings you'll see it takes time (and all I have is nap time)...but a year isn't much, if you think about it. While I never thought I'd be where I am, less than year after leaving the workforce,  I'm so happy I've put the dedication in to give my family several online revenue streams.

The only two websites I write for are Examiner.com and eHow.com, each a little different, but each a great gig in its own right.

The last eHow article I wrote was on 9/3/09, the last one before that was on 7/31/09.  In other words: I've been on hiatis from eHow for awhile. However, I've continued to earn, and increase my monthly income, each month as you can see from screen grabs of my eHow earnings reports.  And this, my friends is the beauty of passive residual income!

So why I haven't I written for eHow lately if I continue to see such dramatic monthly earning increases? Well, I heard about this great little start-up writing site called Examiner.com. Perhaps you've heard of it. Perhaps you even write for it. I have to admit, when I first started on Examiner I wasn't too impressed with the earnings. The site pays what usually equals out to a little less than a penny a page view.   Doesn't sound like much, does it? Well, that's where a penny/page view can be deceiving.

 I have two "spots" on Examiner.  My original spot was as the Baltimore SAHMs Examiner. I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed in the payoff considering the time and effort I put into writing daily articles.  Since the site only lets you see earnings for the current and previous months, I'll just have to tell you that in July (my first month) I earned $33.95. In August, I did slightly better earning $44.24. And in September Examiner deposted $299.67 into my PayPal account.

So what happened in October? A few things:

• Started second spot as the Celebrity Kids Examiner (earning $160.00 from September 16-30)
  
• Two Examiner referrals at $50 each

So in actuality I made $199.67 for my writing efforts. (Clearly, the majority was from my new gig.) But look what happened in October with strictly writing and NO referrals. (Since I have two spots, I have two earnings reports.)

If you do the math you'll see that in just my third full month on Examiner I made almost $500! Combined with my monthly earnings from eHow, in October my grand total is just about $825!!!! And you know what that means..."Hey savings, we'll be back again, real soon!"

When I started this little thing I now call freelance writing my goal was to pay off one bill. I was so excited when I was able to do that with an ehow deposit of $26.75. Granted, it was a small bill. Now my goal is to pay the entire monthly credit card bill (which ranges between $1000-$1300 in a typical month) with just my freelance writing earnings. I hope to do it by March 2010.

I'll keep you posted!

PS. If you're wondering why I haven't been making as many blog posts as of late...now you know!

Related Links:

Earn Passive Residual Income on eHow.com (by a SAHM making $1300 a month...it's how I cracked the code)

Ehow's legit...Don't say I didn't tell you so

eHow pays moms for their expertise

Make real money writing for Examiner.com (part of my Make Money Monday series)

My eHow story...month by month

The Rainy Day Blues

Uh, I knew there was a reason I loved spring and summer more this year than ever before. The funny thing is I didn't realize it until just now.
I'm sitting here in my sweats, the rain's coming down, and I have my heat on. Oh, yeah and I've broken out the footie pj's for my daughter. You can see how bad it is for her: she's got her winter hat on, reading a picture-free book, and trying to figure this whole toddler thing out, too! Let's just say we have the rainy day blues.

In other words: we're bored out of our minds. Well, I can't speak for her, but I think that's what she's trying to tell me as she bangs on the sliding glass door and whines "ma-ma, ma-ma" over and over again. "Yeah, I know honey, I want to go out there too, but it's raining." She doesn't get it, she just looks at me and says "ba!"
Normally, I'd have a few tricks up my sleeve for a good ol' rainy day: the library, the indoor playground at the mall, the grocery store...knock out a chore at the same time, but the poor thing is sick too. I don't want to risk getting some other poor mom's child sick by selfishly taking her out of the house, just so I can get out of this boredom rut. So we're basically on home confinement for the next few days.
I mean how many times can I try to entice the girl to play with her babies, her bears, her balls? How many forts can you build with a 14 month old? How many Baby Einsteins can she watch (I normally have a limit of 1 per day)? How many times can she chase the dog around the coffee table? How many decks of cards can she play 52 pick up with?
So...it's official, we've got the rainy day blues.
I think I have it worse!
Please share your ideas with me for how I can entertain a runny-nosed 14 month old all day when it's rainy and cold outside!

Me and My Sewing Machine: New BFFs

I've spent more time with my sewing machine in the last few days than I have with my husband. It's partly his fault, he bought $12 suit pants and a $30 matching jacket at Target that need to be hemmed. For $12.99, I'll hem anything. But I've also had a date with the new playroom couch and a baby parrot.


A few weeks back while trying to figure out what my daughter would be for Halloween, I had the brilliant idea that we'd dress as a mom-baby duo...we opted to let dad in on the fun, too. I've seen lots of Halloween costume ideas for moms and babies, but when I remembered that my mom had a man and woman's pirate customs I settled on a parrot for my daughter.
If you've ever looked for a baby parrot costume you can stop...they're all pretty much lame-o. Sorry to be so blunt. So, I decided I'd make one. My mom made every single Halloween costume my sister and I ever wore so I thought I'd just follow in her tradition. (We'll see how long this lasts!) I looked online and found a homemade Halloween costume site that actually had about a dozen different versions of a parrot. I got some great ideas and went from there.
At first I started looking for a red fleece one piece to be the body, but I couldn't find what I was looking for. During a quick trip to the dollar store I spotted a red fleece shirt...for $1 that was right up my alley. But, no pants. I went across the street to Goodwill and what did I find but a .50 pair of red sweatpants...the only pair and they happen to be in Olivia's size! Then I went to Joann Fabrics and bought half a yard of half price fleece in red, blue, yellow and green. That's right I paid $7.53 for the entire costume. While I've been busy sewing my parrot, I informed my husband his job was to teach our 13 month old how to flap her wings...to which she picked up in about 5 minutes. (He always gets the easy jobs!) Here are a few pictures from a recent unfinished-costume fitting! The second one, you can see, features "The Flap."


The parrot project actually put a halt on a previous project...which I was happy to abandon, at least for the time being. Being thrifty, we bought a used sleeper couch off Craigslist for the playroom. Every intention was to cover it with a slip cover...it's U.G.L.Y. But silly me I didn't pay close enough attention to the arms and through my search for a slipcover only now realize I'd need a custom cover. Doesn't that defeat the purchase a thrifty purchase? So I went on my way making a cover out of two queen-size flat sheets that I bought for a total of $40...I was able to make three curtains out of extra material too. So while that project is about 80% done, the couch is now only half ugly and must wait for my little parrot!

Gee, I love my sewing machine...at least it's no longer covered with dust!

Where's your toes, your nose, you?

My kid is the smartest. No, seriously she is the smartest. She always turns her books right-side-up. She stabs the food with the fork (ok, so then she takes it off with the other hand and then feeds herself) and she even feeds the dog. She knew her tongue before any other body part. I like to quiz her non-stop just so I can see her stick it out as far as she can. But today she made me proudest for her hilarious answer to one simple question.

Where are your toes? Tickles her feet.
Where are your knees? Pats those chubby knees.
Where is your hair? Scratches her hair right above her ear.
Where is your nose? Points with one finger as if to say "shhh."
Where is Olivia? Turns both palms up, bends her elbows, and looks around the room looking for this Olivia person.

Classic!
And that's why I'm a stay-at-home mom!

Moms: Stop Helping Other Moms

As a SAHM, a once-working mom, and a mom with no family closer than an hour away sometimes I have to rely on a friend to help me out on the babysitting front. Is that so horrible? Am I a bad mom for that? If I lived in Michigan, my babysitting friend might just be breaking the law for the favor!


I posted this on my Baltimore SAHMs Examiner site, but the ridiculousness of it is more than I can take so I'm re-posting it here...to see what you all think. I hope you get a good laugh because it's actually quite comical (and sad all at the same time!)

SAHMs: Stop Helping Other SAHMs

That's the message from Michigan officials to a mom who's helping a neighbor by watching her kids for an hour a day between the time she needs to leave for work and when the school bus picks up her children.

While Baltimore stay-at-home moms obviously don't need to go to work, don't we all need a little babysitting help once in a while? A trip to the grocery store made easier without the toddler tagging along, a quick child-free haircut, a doctor's appointment without kids running around the office.

As stay-at-home moms our children aren't in daycare. Often times, our only source of childcare is other moms or a helpful neighbor. In Michigan, apparently that's against the law. The state recently sent Lisa Snyder a letter telling her she's operating an unlicensed daycare by caring for her neighbor's children - even if it is only 5 hours a week. Under the state's law no one can watch unrelated children for more than four weeks throughout the year. While the law is set up to prevent people, including Ms. Snyder, from acting as a daycare and to protect children, this is going a bit far. Would it be worse if the children's mother got to work late, got fired from her job, and couldn't clothe, feed, or provide shelter for her children? Would it be worse if she left them home alone for an hour until the school bus came to pick them up?

So from a stay at home mom in Baltimore to the hard working moms with office jobs in Michigan (and elsewhere) we're all in this together because if anyone is going to help us out in a time of need, it's another mom. And a message to the Michigan's Department of Human Services: thanks for caring about the children, but don't you have bigger fish to fry?

It should be noted that this case has (finally) prompted Michigan's governor to request the head of the Human Services agency to work with legislators to get the state law changed.

As for now, it's unclear who will watch the children so their mother can get to work on time.

Who do you get to watch your children when you need an hour or so of mommy-time during the day? To weigh, in click here and leave a comment in the comment box.

Read more from the Baltimore SAHM Examiner (yours truly)

Read more from the Celebrity Kids Examiner (also yours truly) and please take note of the nifty new widget on the side of this blog... and finally, if you enjoy celebrity kids news, gossip, and alerts become a fan on Facebook. (PUH-LEAZZZEE I need fans!)

The poor dog, horse snot, and Meetup.com

My daughter and my dog have had what I'd call an on-again-off-again relationship since she was born 13 months ago. At first my dog loved her..couldn't get enough...as is evident from this early picture. But once my dog figured out this little thing could get around, she realized the baby's not quite as cool any more! So at the moment they're taking a break...more like my dog keeps walking away, and my daughter is chasing after her.

So the other day I figured I'd have some mercy on the poor dog by giving her a (much deserved) break. I took my daughter to meet some new animals at a local farm and petting zoo. Now she wants a horse!


Seriously though Olivia had a ball at the farm. There was a pig which she couldn't really get a good look at because of the position of the fence. There were a half dozen or so billy goats which she thought were the best thing since...breastmilk and nilla wafers, and there were the horses. Which she adored, so much so that she put her little hand right up one of their nostrils. I guess she figured she had enough of her own snot, why not get some of his. Whatever, she loved it, giggled the entire time so it was totally worth it!

The farm is only a few minutes from my house and I never even realized it was there. I joined a mom and kids group on Meetup.com and this was one of the events. Joining the group is hands down the best thing I've done since staying home full time. Not only does my daughter get to meet and play with other kids, I've met lots of other local moms, all the activities are planned for us (I just RSVP) and most of them are free! There are meetup groups all over the country, so if you've over-done the library, the local park, and the playground at the local elementary school join a meetup group (and maybe you'll find yourself some horse slobber!).

How do you meet other SAHMs? Share your tips by leaving a comment below. But before you do...here are a few pictures from our farm adventure. Enjoy!

Extreme Play Date

Well I survived...and so did my poor dog! I don't think she quite knew what she was getting into when we adopted her only four months before my daughter was born. But I remind her, she picked us licking, jumping, even peeing and yes, pooping at our feet on the floor of the shelter. We took her anyway...25 pounds over weight and all. But I digress...because both of us survived our first extreme play date.


Technically, it was our first play group. Six one year olds, six moms, two baby pools, a water and sand table, lunch, and a lack of bathing suits. I have to admit it was pretty stinkin' fun (pun intended...at least three of the babies pooped during the two hour ordeal).

We've only lived in our city for two years and when we moved here we didn't know a soul. Since then we've grown to love it meeting lots of friends, many, I'm sure will be lifelong friends. Some have kids, some don't. Perhaps my dearest friend, Christie, lives just up the block. Olivia and I are so blessed to see them at least once at day. Christie and I have always said it's nice we have each other, and the kids have each other, but we'd like to form a play group. Quite frankly two kids isn't a play group, that's a play date. We've invited other moms we meet to get together, but for one reason or another it never works out. Then about two weeks ago I heard about meetup.com. Turns out it's a great place to meet people with similar interests. I joined a mom and kids group for toddlers. I took Olivia to our first meet up and she had a blast. So did I! We met lots of other moms and babies. Two of the moms expressed interest in starting a play group since our children were all born in the summer of 2008. One of them also knew a few other moms who might be interested and I invited Christie and her son. We planned our first weekly play group for yesterday and I volunteered to host it.

The beauty of it was all the kids are within about 3 months of each other (4 within 2 weeks), all are on the same nap schedule (making planning a time easier), all are walking (that was part of the criteria), three live on my side of town, three on the other side (we'll rotate week to week), most of the moms are SAHMs, one or two work from home part time, none of the moms knew all of the other moms, but everyone knew at least one other mom.

We had two baby pools set up, Olivia's sand and water table, and every toy imaginable displayed in the living room. The kids had a blast and the moms did too! I think we all felt great when we left knowing the kids were all going to take wonderful afternoon naps and being assured that yes, green chunky poop is normal and so is not being able to say "mama and daddy plus 3 words by 13 months" as some baby books set as a milestone.

As for the dog, I put her on crumb clean up duty and she was in her glory...

More Tips on Starting a Play Group
Meetup.com Helps Local Moms Meet
Easy Places to Meet Other SAHMs

If It's Not in the Diaper Bag, Forget It

This is my 100th post as New Mama and so I thought I'd share a special story, fit for all new mamas, with you! Now, don't laugh too hard because I'm warning you, this will be you one day. (While you're reading I want you to think about the fact that not too long ago I sold a lot of 11 purses on ebay...my description said something like "because I tote a diaper bag, instead of a purse 99% of the time.)


A few weeks back I was sitting with my girlfriend and her son (who's a week younger than my daughter) and I was noticing the enormity of my diaper bag. For God's sake I had my life in there....or at least the toy box, the changing table, my daughter's closet, the snack shelf of the pantry and my entire financial life aka "my wallet." Anyway, I looked at her said "Ya know, Christy, I'm so use to lugging around this diaper bag, that one of these days I'm going to go pay for something and not have my wallet." No sooner did the words come out of my mouth, did they come to fruition. And at the worst possible place.

Since we'd been on vacation, I hadn't been to the grocery store in nearly two weeks. So, as I do nearly every Friday, I ran around like a chicken with her head cut off after breakfast, but before the first nap, and tried to squeeze in my weekly shopping trip. There was no need to take the diaper bag...was I really going to plop my daughter down in the middle of the frozen food aisle to change a poop? So I grabbed a few toys, the sippy cup, and a binky (ya know, the essentials) and threw them in my purse. Olivia was very cooperative as I nearly filled the cart. When I went to the checkout lane I started loading up the conveyer belt. The receipt just kept getting longer and longer. Finally when the nice cashier was finished loading my groceries in my bags and into my cart she said something like $150. I weeded through the toys, the binky, the sippy cup, the keys, sunglasses, old receipts...I had the kitchensink but I didn't have my wallet. Through the mortified expression on my face I told the young woman I did not have my wallet. She politely looked at me and said, "You can run out to your car and get it." Apparently she didn't understand. I knew right where it was...at home in my diaper bag. (I just look at this picture and imagine my little girl saying "Here it is mommy."

So we left the cart at the end of the aisle, I put Olivia back in the car, drove the 5 minutes home (did I mention she fell asleep in those 5 stinkin' minutes) I grabbed my wallet and drove back to the store. Oh, and then I waited in line with no groceries behind a woman who had nearly two carts full so I could pay for my pre-carted groceries...which must have looked a little odd to the man behind me. I just look at him, smiled, and said "I'm a new mom."

H-E-L-L-O, Mommy-time!

I'm having mommy-time right now. I'm sitting at Panera baby, husband, and dog-free. I think mommy-time is essential to keep your mom-sanity. It's especially important for stay-at-home moms whose weeks and weekends tend to blur into one with anything resembling a real break from fulltime baby-land.

I enjoy writing, it's the way I used to make my living...until I had my daughter, of course. Now I do some freelance writing online when I have time, which is usually less than an hour or so a day. So for my mommy-time today I highjacked the laptop, waved bye-bye, and said I'd be back later. I'm happy to report I've accomplished one of my goals...successfully writting an article (interruption free and in one sitting!!!) for my Examiner gig...and and now, after more than a week of being MIA I'm updating my blog. As you can tell, I'm pretty much just wasting time by writing a blog post about writing a blog post.

Yeah, so what, I'm trying to extend mommy-time until it's back to reality. Which I guess is about now.

Examiner Review

As I've mentioned in passing, I've recently started a new online money making venture. After seven months plus of success on Ehow I decided it's time to start looking for a second online stream of passive residual income. That's where Examiner.com comes in.

I actually first heard of Examiner in the Ehow forums and decided to look into it. At first I didn't want to stretch myself too thin, but a few weeks ago I had a change of heart and realized if I want to make money online I need to have various streams of income in case something was to happen to one of them. So what do I think of Examiner so far?


Here's the basic premiss of Examiner.com: it's sort of like an online newspaper for cities across the US. Examiners (or writers) apply for a specific topic to write about and focus on relative issues in their city. For example, I'm the Baltimore Stay at Home Moms Examiner. So, I write about topics that Baltimore SAHMs would enjoy or find relative and hopefully search for the on the search engines, like Google. I've written about a unique and free Baltimore rainy day activity and published an article about being forced into becoming a SAHM because of the current state of the economy.
Some of my articles meerly mention Baltimore, but the content and information can be applied to any city. Such is the case for my articles on kid sun safety tips and teething pain relief.

What's it take to become an Examiner?

In order to become an Examiner for your city (there are also National Examiners) you must apply for an available position. There is a detailed application process that includes providing writing samples and story ideas. You must also agree to a background check. After all that, your application is reviewed and if Examiner.com likes what they see they may extend an invitation to you to become an Examiner. In most cases there is only one Examiner for a specific topic in each city. But in some cases, including mine, there are more than one which creates a little creative competition.

How does Examiner pay?

Examiner pays monthly as long as you pass the $25 minimum threshold, if not the money is carried over to the next month and so on until you make payout. Examiner pays you every time someone clicks on one of your articles. The current rate is about $10/1000 clicks which is 1 cent for every page view. I have to admit, the rate is low, but I'm trying to stick with it and if nothing else I am using some of my Examiner articles to drive traffic to my Ehow articles where the rate is usually much higher.

What are the benefits of Examiner

• Examiner articles can be and should be rather short - 300-500 words at most. The benefit to this is you can crank out an article in less than an hour.
  
• Examiner articles can be about anything that's relative to your topic.
  
• There's no minimum number of articles you must publish to remain an Examiner. If you have a busy week you don't have to publish anything, but if you have time, you can publish everyday or even more often than that.
  
• You can use your Examiner articles to drive traffic to your other web content such as blogs, ehow articles, and websites. The links must be relative to your article topic.
• The communication between the Examiner and the Examiners seems to be great. Every Examiner has a "channel manager" who they can directly contact about issues and with questions. Examiners are given feedback, suggestions, PR and marketing tools and ideas and as much support as they need in order to be successful.

What are the biggest differences between Examiner and Ehow?

• Examiner is PPC or Pay Per Click - Ehow pays writers when readers click on web ads
  
• Examiner is not in "how to format" - Ehow articles must be in "how to" format
  
• Examiner article titles can be search engine optimized - Ehow articles are limited to "how to" format
  
• Examiner communication with Examiners is strong - Ehow communication with writers struggles at times
  
• Examiner-Examiner interaction doesn't seem very strong - Ehow has very active forums
  
• Examiner focuses on local issues which limits your audience, but also your competition - Ehow articles appeal to anyone anywhere
  

Overall, I'd give Examiner a B+. I'm hoping to start making more money, but I realize Examiner has only been around since Fall 2008 and it takes time to get a website established and respected in the great big cyber world. I've made less than $2 with my five Examiner articles so far, but that's more that what I made when I had five articles on Ehow. I'll continue to keep you posted on my success on Examiner. In the meantime...

If you're interested in becoming an Examiner for your city or if you have any more questions email me at BaltimoreMoms@gmail.com and I'd be happy to help you.

Baby Book Moment #1 of Many (I'm sure)

Had a babybook moment the other day with my sweet baby girl. A babybook moment is one of those "incidents" you just have to write down so that years from now when Mommy and Daddy are being introduced to so-and-so prom date we can remember (not that we'd forget this one!) when...


Olivia flushed Daddy's entire keychain down the toilet an hour before we to leave for vacation. You read that right...all the keys, the keyless entry, the company car key, the house and mail keys...every last one of them.

Maybe you're wondering how this could possibly happen. But I'm guessing if you're a mom, you can probably more than understand (at least better than my husband when I tried to explain what happened to his keys)! As I said, we were getting ready to go for 10 days at the beach. It's a few hours in the car and a lot of stuff to pack. Everything was all set. My husband just had to load the stuff in the car. My daughter was wearing her crankypants (and I think she had the matching hat on that day, too). Anyway, in an attempt to stop the whining I thought I'd put her in her little push car and take her and the dog for a spin around the block. In my mind, I'm doing this to help give Daddy a little room to work, a few minutes of precious silence before the three hours in the car, a few minutes of solitude before a week surrounded by both our families. Before we left, for our walk, I needed to make a pit stop. I sat Olivia on the floor just outside the bathroom and left the door open so I could watch her from my perch. She immediately started whining. I grabbed Daddy's keys (his, b/c he asked that I grab something out of his car while on my walk) to keep her entertained for the 10 seconds (yes, I pee that fast) I needed to myself. By the time I had finished she'd crawled over to me, keys in hand, pulled herself up on my legs and was now standing. I held her one arm so I could stand up and get my self situated. I quickly turned around to flush and in that very second she leaned her chubby little hand over the toilet bowl and waved "bye-bye" to Daddy's keys. My hand shot into that toilet bowl faster than I'd like to admit, but they were gone. Bye-bye keys. ""%$^&*!!!" Why is it that my husband hadn't been there a minute before to pick her up when she was whining, but now that the keys were sitting square at the bottom of the sewer he was there questioning how in the he** this could have happened. He (and I'm sure most other Dads) wouldn't and couldn't understand, he's never peed with his daughter hanging off his leg.  

Immediately I called my father-in-law who said they couldn't have gone too far and to stick my hand down there further. By now my hand was nearly stuck. Great, that's all I needed. As I'm on the phone with him I think, "maybe a hanger" will work. A minute later he suggests the same thing. I must be onto something if we both thought of it. But five minutes later it's clear that won't work either. My husband then comes down with a magnet. I thought this was pretty good. But we quickly realized that wasn't the answer to our growing problem either. With an hour until we needed to leave we decided we had to call a plumber. "Yes, ma'am we can be there within an hour. It'll be $275." You've got to be kidding me! The only key we really needed was the key to my husband's company car. He finally found a spare and we decided the keys would have to remain in toilet bowl heaven.

We left for our vacation knowing when we get back we've got a different kind of fishing to do.

I hope your July 4th started better than mine.