I lived in Chicago around the turn of the millennium. At that time, Wheaton College (in Chicago burb) was looking for a new name for their sports team. Their current mascot was "The Crusaders." Since the Pope had apologized for the conflicts of a religious character which occurred in the years 1095-1291, know as the Crusades, Wheaton College felt their team name was less honorable.

A Chicago radio personality suggested they rename their team, Lent. "That way," he added, "at the games, fans can cheer 'Give it up for Lent!'"

I always struggle to think of something realistic that I can give up for Lent. Honestly, chocolate and ice cream is not going to happen.

This year was an exception. I knew exactly what I was going to give up: this black box that I'm hunched over right now. From the hours of 6:30 - 8:30 pm, I have committed to doing something other than Googling, e-mailing, blogging and the worst of the worst, obsessively hitting "get Mail."

I've filled my two hours playing Wii with the kids, sending "thinking of you" cards and housework. I feel so organized and much less stressed. Come to think of it, it's the opposite of a sacrifice, it's a relief I've given myself.

Think of how you'd feel if you cut back on something. I know too many people who give up sweets - and that's great, if you need nutrition help, but really think where you need help. For me, it's time, and I've just given it to myself. Identify the need...arrive at the solution.

Cheers! Let's give it up for Lent life now.

Yesterday was the WNY Baby Expo! My boys spent most of the day jumping in the huge bounce house (except for the seconds it took Dad to snap this photo) while I talked up the great features of the Cargot organizers. We received such positive feedback on the look of the Cargot from Moms, and Dads love the functionality. The overwhelming interest from Dads has put a Dad-Style Cargot at the top of our new product list. I even had a woman tell me she wanted one for her mother's Depends.

Other exciting news for our up and coming brand is that we will be sold at Discover Organization in Pittsburgh. For those of you in the Buffalo area, you can pick up both the Diaper Changing Cargot and Toiletry Cargot at USA Baby on Sheridan in Amherst.

I recently contributed to an article for SheKnows.com on how to wow people with your organization skills. Since I left out a really good idea in their story, I thought it best to at least share it with my readers - sorry, SheKnows!
So the totally great idea is pretty simple and many of you may use this or at least have intentions to. Alright, alright, I'll just say it already! E-Vites.

Sending invitations to guests, even if it's just a dinner party, this sets guidelines and expectations that sets the event up for success.

We had a party once and my husband verbally invited his brother. My brother-in-law got only part of the message - our house at 4pm. When he an his family showed up to see it was a birthday party for our youngest son, and he didn't have a toy in his back pocket, it was awkward for everyone.

As a hostess, invitations can include an ending time, too. This way guest understand when it's appropriate to leave. Win, win.

After going through the pain of hundreds of wedding invites, most of which I needed to manually contact to get a response from, I love E-vites for their ease of RSVP. One might even use the expression, "click of a button!"

And lastly, something dear to me, it's paperless. Nothing is printed, packages, shipped, stocked, or mailed (that boils down mainly to paper, time and gas savings).

If you have not used this free service, try it out. They have really cute graphics to choose from and hey, they might even inspire a party!
Cheers!!

Today's special entry is from Dr. Donna J. Hedgepeth, DC, DACCP
            Diplomate in Pregnancy and Pediatric Chiropractic
            Raleigh, NC

Pregnancy is like an Olympic event for your body – at least that is what I always tell my patients.  This incredible transformation places a lot of stress on your spine and muscles from all the changes that occur in such a short period. Changes in weight and center of gravity cause your posture to shift and therefore your joint and muscles must work differently to compensate.  Also the hormonal changes, both during pregnancy and after delivery, cause the ligaments in your body to soften and therefore loosen or make the joints more pliant which leads to a greater potential for injury or aches. With all that going on; even simple activities such as getting dressed, getting in and out of chairs, and even reaching for an item off the cabinet shelf can become an exercise in patience and creativity.  

And after your little bundle of joy is here, a different set of postural stresses arise.
Even though the handling of a child could be considered “light” lifting by some, the repetitive nature of these challenges on the body can result in various difficulties and pains. It is important to protect your back while caring for your child.  A few simple ways you can help yourself is to learn to organize your must have items and keep your carrying load to a minimum.  Consider the strains of feeding positions, use pillows to protect your back and don’t slouch or slump forward. Also, be mindful of a heavy, oversized diaper bag; learn to use baby carriers and slings to distribute the weight of the baby evenly and to decrease the time lugging around the awkward car seat.  Please shop around and know that there are organic and eco friendly options for all of these products; so you can be kind to the environment and kind to your body all at the same time.  

Considering the situations mentioned above; Chiropractic care is a logical place to receive help for such strains and stresses on your posture during pregnancy and for both mom and dad after the baby is born.  Some common complaints Chiropractors work to get relief from are neck and shoulder tension and burning, numbness into the arms or legs (sciatica), pubic symphysis pain and round ligament pain.  The techniques may vary with different chiropractors and whether or not you are pregnant during care.  But the purpose and outcome is always improved function and spinal placement through the chiropractic adjustment which in turn relates to pain relief and improved movement and energy for you.  Chiropractic has long been studied as effective and safe for pain relief and is a wonderful option for many people to find help with their health concerns.

 Chiropractic is an ultimate all natural, holistic, and even eco-friendly treatment; since we treat the body as a whole with no medications, surgeries or other invasive procedures and produce practically no waste products (in my office we are recycling maniacs from run of the mill non-confidential paper, toilet paper and paper towel rolls on up to the face paper we use!).  So it is great for the person that wants to do good while feeling good!

    Contributed by Donna J. Hedgepeth, DC, DACCP
            Diplomate in Pregnancy and Pediatric Chiropractic
            Raleigh, NC
      
        www.CarryMeClosely.com

Where I live, the ground is still frozen, the snow is mostly melted and the litter that's been trapped underneath is exposing itself. A couple times I've put on my polka-dot rain boots to pick up sticks and trash in the yard. I've visited the plot where we buried our pumpkin last fall and the soggy parsley and strawberry plant remains.

Last summer we had a very robust garden. If you recall, it was at the time that gas was $4/gallon and food prices were on the rise. I read an article that interviewed a woman who said she would shoot a turkey to keep food on the table for her family. I thought, "Is this the new meaning of 'survival of the fittest?'" Me and my overzealous children went to the farmers market and bought two carts full of starter vegetables, herbs and fruits.

We were picking cucumbers and hot peppers well into September. At Halloween, we used our dried up corn stalks as a porch decoration.

We are so anxious to get the garden going again that we recently planted cucumbers and tomatoes with the Backyardigan indoor garden set. I've never experienced such instant gratification with growing! The cucs sprouted in 3 days and the tomatoes not much more after that. We also planted Christmas wheat from seeds my mother had been carrying in her purse since before Christmas.

Every morning we "make the rounds," which it a summertime term we used when referring to checking on our garden progress. Now we visit the vegetables at the living room window then move through to the dining room to check on the wheat.

For something that took less than an hour to plant, it gives us a little something to look forward to each morning.

I recently corresponded with a Redbook Magazine contributor who is working on an article about Helicopter Moms. I just get a kick out of that expression because in the younger years, I can physically spot these mothers, hunched, waving their arms above wobbely toddlers. Much later in life these are the mothers who are balancing their kids checkbooks. My aunt used to handle my cousin's "books." A day came when she noticed thousands of dollars had been pulled from his account. Her natural conclusion was drugs, of course. He's a professional hockey player. She hysterically called him to confront his drug addiction.
"Ma, I'm marrying Julie. Thanks for ruining our surprise!" he fired back.

I have no problem losening schedules and allowing independent choices. I have no plans to do their homework, write their checks or pick their college. However, I cannot help myself when it comes to hurt feelings. When my son made straw-bead necklaces for the older boys on the bus in hopes that they would sit with him, I walked him to their house and stood there, knowing they wouldn't be cruel in front of me.
I've called PTA members to solicite phone numbers of kids in my son's class to arrange play dates to help build his friendships. One friend is a girl. I debated whether it was appropriate or not. Her parents accepted on the condition that the date had to be at their house. During the drop-offt, her dad pulled me aside to let me know that my son has repeated tried to kiss his daughter. She even told her parents that he is in love with her and wants to marry her.

The helicopter has landed. No matter how much I hover and stay in site his heart will go in whatever direction it wants.

When people ask me for my opinion on the clicking noise in their jaw or the subtle swelling in their left thumb, I kindly remind them that I went to art school. And though I cannot assess fractures or growth milestones, I can offer my artistic eye. This comes in handy when my kindergartner brings home a disheveled folder full of work. Anything that is simply colored in or has no color at all, goes neatly into the recycling bin. The rest finds a spot on the frig for the 30 seconds it takes me to critique and choose the best work. Many items find their way into a portfolio I keep for him, but others - a very, very select few - actually get framed.

I had the privilege of eating at a new restaurant in Chicago before it opened to the public. It was one of those trial run events where everything's free and you get to talk to the owners and give your opinion. Yes, free food and soliciting opinions, "Right this way, Mrs. Frank."

I cannot tell you what I ate, who brought it to me or even the friends I sat with. I will tell you that every piece of art on the walls of that restaurant was original. I spoke to the owner at length about the scout who purchased them. The pieces were found everywhere from galleries to garage sales. And regardless of origin, they were all beautifully framed.

I think it is so important to recognize what is truly good, empower the artisan inside our little ones and not to clutter our homes with coloring book pages. Try it. When you save everything, it all seems mediocre. When you highlight one - even if it looks like another storm cloud of blue paint - there is genuine recognition.

PS. I did get rid of a boyfriend because in his bedroom he'd framed 1) money (from other countries, but still!)  and 2) a huge map. What is more unoriginal and mass produced that those?!

My especially green sister (think cloth diapers) hosted a party for her son's first birthday this weekend. She specified that no gifts could be made in China, and spent the previous day making three cakes from scratch.

I took a chunk of cake home, taking the risk of my husband throwing it in the garbage because he does that when he sees excessive sweets sitting around the kitchen. This cake, however, lasted through the night. When the junk food Nazi came home he pulled out the cake plate and a fork. "That cake is actually all natural," I added hoping to preserve the remains for another day.

It worked. The man who lined up all the sweets in our house on New Year's Day, before throwing them all in the garbage, let the homemade cake "live."

I had a thought, I should make cake from scratch, how hard could it be? So I cracked open good 'ol Betty Crocker and had a looksee:
flour- sugar- butter (I totally have all of you) - milk - baking powder - salt - (yep, got it) - vanilla & eggs (yeah, covered there)
So what I'm saying is I basically could whip up an "all natural" cake any day of the week. There's no search for vanilla beans, crème fraîche or figuring out yeast packets.

See, scratch just sounds difficult. Try it. It'll look good on you.

So last night I had a dream where I was in a store looking at rain boots. I saw a pair of pink ones on sale for $2.50 - like that would ever happen. These are my most disappointing, reoccurring dreams: mega sales on clothes I'm in love with, only to wake up without them.

Later in the dream I not only have pink boots, I have yellow Converse sneakers and green, knit clogs. I'm digging through a suitcase to find clothes that will match all these crazy shoes I bought. Do you know how hard it is to match yellows? On top of that, I'm pulling this stuff out from under my bed because, what, my closet is full of other thrifty items I don't need.

This dream is a repressed issue I've recently overcome in my "real" life: Cristin, don't buy it just because it's on sale. Cristin, when you buy someone a birthday gift, don't buy a duplicate for yourself.

I once bought a Liz Claiborne sweater for ten dollars and wore it to paint a room. Where's the respect?

I've found that items that I want no matter the cost or inconvenience are the ones that I wear the most. The fastest way to clutter your home is overbuying - I can't part with it because I paid money for it. I can't give it away because I haven't worn it yet - or there's a chance I might wear it to that Mary Kay party I don't want to go to.

Stop it. Don't do it. Be selective.

My doctor told me today, "You have too much on your plate."
The more I thought about this in a non metaphorical sense, it made me remember the dream I had last night.

I was at a buffet and I reached for a plate. Instead of taking one from the stack of wet, ceramic ovals, I leaned down and pulled out a huge platter in the shape of a fish. Another customer protested that I couldn't use that as a plate. I reminded them that I was at a buffet and I could take as much food as I wanted. When I sat down to eat, all that was in front of me was a small bowl of salad.

As overachievers, moms have the availability take on endless amounts of causes or work within those causes.

I think we all can portion control when it comes to the environment (for our own sanity): the light bulbs, hormones, chemicals, gas emissions, etc. It can be overwhelming.

My thought for today is to think about what you can realistically do, write it down and actually do it. I'm not asking that you go all Ashton/Demi on me and make some righteous pledge. No one has to hear about it or see it. Just you will know you're doing what you can for our earth, your family and yourself.

For those of you who are also feeling a bit overwhelmed, my doctor assured me, "this is a problem that smart people have. Dumb people get hit by cars, smart people have too much on their plate."