Been there, done that. Wrote a book.

Four years ago, yes, four years because I remember Little L sleeping the innocent sleep of the truly infant in her car seat as I worked next to her, I started writing a book.

It was a little story about three girls and it petered out pretty fast. In retrospect it would make a pretty good short story, but as a novel, it didn't stand up.

Still, I worked on it every day through my maternity leave, heading to a coffee shop as soon as C was dropped off at daycare and working until the baby needed to eat.

And then I went back to work and life went to pot. I wasn't sleeping, I was working insane hours, and my stress level was through the roof. The book died in my computer.

A year later I quit that job and decided to become a freelance writer so I could focus on my writing... and on my book. Only when I opened up the file that story no longer called to me. Instead another trio of friends wanted their story told.

So I did.

For a year I juggled freelance writing gigs and novel writing. The story came together seamlessly, story lines weaving in and out of each other perfectly, characters coming to life as my fingers danced over the keyboard.

I laughed the day I typed The End at the close of the epilogue. I had written a book. A whole book. one with a story that made sense and characters that grew on the reader.

And then two year and a month passed.

Two years of dipping in and editing a chapter here, a story line there. Two years of lugging my manuscript around with me everywhere I went. Two years of not working on the book actively and yet still getting through two rounds of editing.

Last month I got mad at myself and gave myself an ultimatum. One month to finish the last round of editing, to pull together loose ends, to cross Ts and dot Is.

The first day I edited 60 pages. The second I did 30. And I chugged through day after day. It wasn't easy; I hate editing. I had to bully myself and bribe myself into it. I assigned myself taskmasters and put my ultimatum out for the world to see so they could hold me accountable.

Two days ago my sister and mother came into town and I worried that I wouldn't get the last 50 pages done before midnight September 30th. My heart sank at the thought, which made me realize that for the first time in two years I was really serious about my goal.

Last night I came home after a dinner out with the family and I sat myself down at the kitchen table. I resisted the urge to dabble in email and play on Facebook and I just plowed through.

I finished reworking the epilogue at 11:58, a full 24 hours and two minutes before deadline. I went to bed with a smile on my face.

For sure, my head is howling that it's not ready, that it could use more work. I'm ignoring it.

I'm spending October researching agents and crafting my letter. This will happen, and it's not going to take another two years.

What is your take-away?

When I got home from BlogHer I came across a blog post written by the lovely Rachael H. about what brands should do to prep for conferences.

I know she meant it for brands and brand reps (It's in the title. I'm smart like that.), but really, what Rachael had to say would work equally well for bloggers.

What struck me the most about her post was this notion that we should prep for conferences.

I mean, duh, we all prep, but I tend to feel good and ready if I've printed out the schedule, vaguely know what I'll be wearing each day, and have some sense of who I'll be seeing.

At coffee a few days ago a friend asked me what my take-away was from BlogHer.

I blanked.


My BlogHer was wrapped up in turmoil, in make-overs, in speaking, in spending too little time with close friends, with walking, lots and lots of walking, in chaos and excitement, and yes, in some learning.

But I really had to stop and think about what I had learned. What I had taken away.

I looked up at him and shared that I had attended a photography session and been struck with the way photographers tell stories with pictures in the exact same way I tell stories with words. Everything boils down to the point of view they chose to share.

Then I shared what I had learned from my session. That bloggers are excited and motivated to be the best professional bloggers they can be. That brand reps are excited and motivated to work well with professional bloggers.

And finally I shared what I had learned in the session about blogging with vulnerability. That it can be scary and downright dangerous, but that the rewards are more than worth the risks.

It seemed a... paltry... amount of learning for being at a conference for four days.

I know there was more. There were countless conversations. Innumerable interactions. And yet, I'm blanking about it all.

Yes, if I'd been in a better mental place, I could have gotten more out of it. But really, I think I just didn't go into it (or really any of the conferences I attended this summer) prepared properly.

I should have gone in asking myself "What are my expectations for this weekend? What am I hoping to walk away with?" And I should have come out asking myself "What are the take-aways from this?"

My usual MO is to just be open to whatever comes along. To take life as it comes. And for the most part, this attitude has served me well. And definitely is less stressful than other options. But in certain instances, it might be a wiser use of my time and money to at least tentatively guide my analytical brain down a specific path.

Definitely can't hurt to try.

Happy go lucky go I! (At least it's fun!)

Living Vicariously Through Friends

I have a friend who routinely throws herself off cliffs with skis strapped to her feet, climbs insane mountains on bicycles, hikes for miles just for the fun of it.

I have another friend who rushes home from work to take a nap so she can go listen to live music late into the night multiple times a week.

And I... spend my days carpooling my girls to school, daycare, art class, preschool, shopping, and birthday parties.

I live vicariously through these two friends. When my life starts to feel a little too tame, a little too routine, I pop over to their Facebook pages to see what new excitement is filling their days. It makes my heart beat faster, my palms sweat a little to imagine myself living their lives.

Sometimes, when the stars align, I actually get to see these friends in person. They spend an excited moment catching me up on trips across the world, parties they went too, adventures they took. And inevitably, at some point they turn to me and say

"What about you? What have you been up to lately?"

And I freeze. Because really, if you'd just spent your last weekend going to a film festival with an award winning producer, would you really want to hear about the school's latest lice outbreak? The traffic jam that made us an hour late for school last week? The triple birthday party weekend we have coming up?

I think not.

I love my life. Don't get me wrong. When I was a child and people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up I always answered "I want to be happy and I want to be a mom." Frankly I am both. My life is almost exactly as I had always pictured it. (Wrong continent... wrong religion... but close enough.)

For the most part, not only is my life lovely, but it is enough. I have an incredible husband and two delightful children. I have a lovely home and the best friends a girl could ask for.

It is definitely enough.

And yet in the face of all that living that they do, it sometimes doesn't quite compare. Or at the very least, I wonder if by talking about what really fills my days, I'll just elicit pity from these adventure seekers.

Yesterday at lunch, one of these two friends leaned across the table and eagerly asked me the dreaded question.

I started slow, with C's ankle incident, then some work stuff, and then I ventured into the more mundane. Park playdates, coffee with friends, afternoons spent playing boardgames. I expected her eyes to glaze over as my humdrum list went on, but she drank in my words.

To someone whose days are filled with extreme sports and adventures, my routine wasn't so routine.

We laughed a lot yesterday and I realized that sometimes living vicariously might go both ways. For all I know, those two friends visit my Facebook pages some days to experience the more staid life of a working mom of two and to catch their breath after all the excitement.

Who am I? And what do I want?

After the spring and the summer that we've had it's little surprise that I feel a little bit like I've lost myself.

I've been mom, caregiver, wife, friend, shrink, coach, cook, chauffeur, cleaner, and played a million other roles including social media marketer and professional blogger. I've divided up my time and my energy among the people who needed me and the people who were paying me.

All you have to do is look back through two months worth of blog archives to see the effect of all that division.

Sponsored post after sponsored post. Posts that say "I don't know what to say." And silence, long stretches of silence.

I kinda lost my voice in the chaos.

Worse, I think I lost my focus.

Back in April I was so sure of where I was going and what I wanted to do. Then, life intervened as it is wont to do. And I rallied. I really, really did.

But back then my goal was survival. Pure and simple. Get through the days, the weeks, the months. Pick up my head and keep moving forward.

I did it, we did it. Survival happened.

So now what?

Do I go back to what I thought I wanted to do? Do I consider other prospects that have surfaced?

What do I want?

Which leads me to the question: Who am I? Who am I now?

Because some days I have to admit I no longer know.

A few weeks ago I think I saw the light at the end of the tunnel grow a bit brighter and I started to feel the need to clear my plate. I'm pretty sure my subconscious knew that I'd be facing this dilemma sooner rather than later.

I set myself one goal for September: finish the edits to the book.

And then I forgot how atrociously boring editing can be. Yes, I could probably get through the whole book in a couple of days, but my focus is so fried that I've only been able to get through an hour or two every day this week. Then I get bored and let myself get sidetracked.

So new goal for September:
Finish editing the book and figure out again who I am.
(Just remind me every so often that I'm not going to figure it out on Facebook. K? Thanks.)


On Tuesday I attended a great session on personal branding given by Laura Lowell. She covered the usual truism about how your personal brand is you and how it carries over wherever you go, be it online or off. But then she rocked my socks by explaining the best way to actually define what that brand should be.

1) What do you do?
2) What is important to you that you care about?
3) What do your customers need from you? 

Answer those three questions. You'll find your personal brand at the intersection of the answers.

Things change. That's the only constant in life. I know I can't answer any of those questions in a way that will be true forever. But for now, I can work on figuring out who I am and how I turn that into what's next.

At least I think I can. Facebook and Pinterest are pretty distracting.

Have you discovered my new writing prompt blog, Kick in the Blog? This post is a response to the latest prompt. Who are you? Come link up your answer!

Back to 80/20 and proud of it

This morning I dropped C off at school wearing a cute black t-shirt, nice tan shorts, and a stunning pink boa tiara.

She's 6. If she wants to be princess for a day, who am I to stop her?

Three blocks away from the school I finally remembered that it was school picture day.

That's when I started laughing. Because really? I can't make this stuff up.

10 days ago I  missed the first day of school. Today I blanked on picture day. I'm officially that mom, the one who loses papers, misses appointments, needs that extra phone call to be reminded about the special event.

Last week I was mortified about having missed the first day of school. Today I'm shrugging it all off and laughing about the tiara.

Seriously. How awesome are those photos going to be?

My kids are fed, clean, rested. C brings with her a well packed (if somewhat unoriginal and uninspired) lunch and snack. We're working homework into our schedule and I might even get everyone to one of the birthday parties we've been invited to this weekend.

So fine, we pull into the school yard at the very last second before being late every day. Fine, I serve a lot of dinners out of the freezer. And yes, I'm skating by on about a million other things. But whatever. I'm pretty sure I'm not being graded on what my house looks like.

Two mornings ago, as I bustled around putting together C's lunch and figuring out what the girls would wear, all while snatching quick sips of my rapidly cooling tea, C looked up from the breakfast table where she sat with Little L and M.

"I think we have the best family in the whole world." She said in a quiet, very satisfied voice.

We'd just been talking about our day and making jokes. There had been kisses and hugs and it was just a low key, easy morning. It wasn't anything special or memorable. It just felt like home. Like love.

The floors are sticky and I keep forgetting important dates, but as long as the people who matter are happy, I'm fine with how we're doing. I'm eschewing perfection and embracing the 80/20 rule.

I can't wait to see the school photo of C with her tiara and Girls Rock t-shirt. It might be the only school photo I ever get framed.

Created by Simply Designing, inspired by a Catching Fireflies creation.

Wrapping it up with a hit and a miss

Back-to-school season is notoriously insane and overwhelming, but I really thought I had it all together.

School supplies were ordered in time for the start of the year. I had a fridge full of good lunch-packing materials. The girls were starting to go back to bed nice and early.

And to make sure that the first day started nice and smoothly I emailed the teacher last Tuesday night to warn her that C would be coming in on crutches when school opened on Thursday.

She wrote back, mid-day Wednesday, just as I was taking Little L into school for her first day of school.

"Thank you for letting me know about C, but, uh... school started today. It would be nice if you could bring C, even if just for a couple of hours."

EEEEEPS.

My brain froze. My palms sprung leaks. I looked at Little L, timidly making her way around her new classroom. I had planned to stay with her for the first day, to sit by her as she learned the new routine. But now I had C sitting at daycare, missing her first day of First Grade.

Oh the choices parents have to make...

I spent an hour with Little L and then I ducked out. I ran to daycare, grabbed C, threw her in the car -- crutches and all -- and hightailed it to her school where I was able to drop her off for the last hour of class.

I spent the day berating myself for being the worst, most neglectful mom in town, and then I lightened up.

She missed a morning of classroom settling in and in doing so, we skipped the night-before-school-starts bout of anxiety. The next morning, she had her first "real" first day and she crutched her way into class with a huge smile on her face. I worried that, little miss perfection that she is, she'd be mad at me for goofing up, but, much to my relief, really she was fine with the way things worked out.

I'm thinking this incident might set the tone for the year. I'm going to relax my standards and try to go with the flow. She's going to have to forgive me my parenting foibles. Together we're just going to do our best to get through it all with some smiles and some giggles.

This week the routine is in place and last week's snafu is the stuff of hilarity inducing legend. I'm ready to turn the page on the back-to-school chapter. Fittingly, yesterday marked the end of the month-long Fill the Backpack campaign.

We've navigated an interesting month with amazing sponsors and friends. We've raised awareness and cash for an incredible cause. And we're going to make a handful of contest entrants really, really happy.

Thank you to the sponsors who traveled this road with us, it's been a lot of fun!

• Eventbrite
• Leapfrog
• Sleep Innovations
• Etymotic
• Snapfish
• AVG
• Mabels Labels
• Marble Jar
• ChicaLogic
• Lands' End
• Microsoft Office
• California Innovations
• Stonyfield
• Carolina Pad
• Scholastic
• P&G
• Johnson’s & Johnson's
• Playful Planet

 And thank you to everyone who participated in the Twitter party and the contest! The winner will be announced in this post this weekend.


And so the Splash Creative Media Fill the Backpack campaign comes to a close. We''ll be back in a few months with more fun and learning!

Community In Schools Helping Where They Can

Last night M and I dragged the kids to our school's first parent meeting of the year. While we sat in our daughter's adorable little classroom surrounded by bright wall decorations, children's art, books, and everything else a classroom should have, our kids played outside with the other school kids, supervised by paid staff.

Oh. And the kids got snacks.

Granted, it's a private school. But still, in this area, this is the norm.

Kids have books, staff, resources. They have sturdy and safe buildings. They have teachers who spot and recognize issues and know how to help parents get help.

These kids don't drop out. They finish school and go on to live their dreams. 

And on the flip side of the coin, I have friends whose kids sit in classrooms hosted in prefabs because the school has no money to build real buildings. I have friends whose kids have to eat lunch or breakfast at school. Not because they don't have food at home, but because so many of their classmates don't and the school has found that making at least one school meal mandatory is the only way to get the kids to focus.

30 kids to a class.

Not enough books.

Not enough to eat.

Not enough resources for children with special needs.

Schools that don't know what to do with the resources they have.

So many rampant issues in our schools.

So many kids who drop out because the things necessary to keep them in school and on track just aren't available. 

The public school situation in America makes my blood boil and my heart ache. I WANT to reach in and fix it all. Our kids deserve to be educated in a way that makes them want to learn, makes them see how amazing acquiring knowledge can be.

But I'm one person. One already overwhelmed person.

Community In Schools is an organization working to right the wrongs and help the kids. They're the proverbial village working to build a community of support for children by embedding needed resources inside their school.

They're giving us the push and the tools we need so we can all start helping too.

How can you help?

Donate - Your dollars can help keep kids in schools and on track. It doesn't take much to make a difference.

Volunteer - There are countless ways you can volunteer and help a child. Even if you can only help one child. To that child, that will mean the world.

Advocate - You have a voice and an opinion. Raise it. Speak up. Share information. The kids need us. They need you.

Communities in Schools is Fill the Backpack’s not for profit benefactor. We’re donating 10% of our net profits from our Back-to-school campaign to the organization. We’re been so proud to share information about this fabulous outreach. To learn more about the organization and what aspects of their work has the Splash Creative Media bloggers all fired up, check out everyone's blog this week.

• TechSavvyMama by Leticia Barr @TechSavvyMama
• Guessing All the Way by Laurie Cooper, @CluelessMama
• Formerly Gracie by Grace Duffy, @GraceDuffy
• Savvy Sassy Moms by Andrea Fellman, @SavvySassyMoms
• Just Precious by Julie Meyers Pron, @JustPrecious
• Sassy Moms in the City by Alison Ray @SassyMomChicago
• It’s My Life by Jessica Rosenberg, @Kikarose
• The Centsible Life by Kelly Whalen, @CentsibleLife

Still haven't entered the big Fill the Backpack giveaway on each blog? Get on that! Each giveaway is worth $750+ and ends in two days!

Just Not Ready To Be Dry

When I started this series of posts on bedwetting two months ago, I thought for sure that by the time it ended we'd have kissed our last GoodNites® goodbye and have moved on to a lifetime of dry nights.

I had faith that Little L would have mastered her bladder and her nights.

Instead it's been just another lesson in the fact that we as parents don't control quite as much as we think we do.

Our longest stretch of dry nights happened while we were in Chicago a few weeks ago. We made it six whole nights without a drop.

Since then? There hasn't been a single dry night.

When I asked Little L this morning why she was wetting all her GoodNites® now, she quietly replied that it was because she “couldn't think about it” while she was sleeping.

Wise words if I've ever heard of them.

In Chicago the kids were going to be later and waking up earlier. With shorter nights there was less time for peeing. Now that we're home, we're back to 12 hour nights, which are great for growth and mommy's sanity, but not so great for bed wetting.

I'd try waking her up in the middle of the night to make her pee, but it's taken us four years to get her to sleep through the night and I'm really not willing to open that can of worms again. She's a creature of habit, if I get her used to waking up at midnight to pee, she'll always be waking up and peeing at midnight. I'd rather just wait out her bladder maturity and let her sleep easy.

Two months ago I was convinced that with the right incentives, Little L could overcome her own nighttime incontinence. (Chocolate bribes are what got her sleeping through the night! Don't knock it.) She was dry during the day and could demonstrate good bladder control all day long. It seemed to me that she was just being willful about the night stuff.

Now I know better.

Little L is one of the 6 million 4+ year-old kids in the US who aren't physically mature enough to be dry at night. It's who she is. It's not a personality flaw. It's not an attitude that needs adjusting. It's who she is physically. Blond, blue-eyed, with a slightly immature bladder.

I hugged her after we talked this morning and told her it was no big deal. When her body is good and ready her GoodNites® will be dry. In the meantime we just won't worry about it any more. 

This post is the last of a series of posts sponsored and inspired by GoodNites®. I hope you've learned as much as me about getting through the ups and downs of parenting preschoolers and nighttime accidents. For more help please check out the NiteLite™ Panel, hosted by GoodNites®, where professionals share invaluable information about bedwetting.

I am a GoodNites® Blogger Ambassador and I am being compensated for this series of posts, but, as always, the stories, thoughts, and opinions featured in these posts are mine and mine alone.

5 Tips I Learned from Labeling My Life with Mabel

So, I might have an addiction to confess to.

OK. If we count my addiction to sticky hanging hooks, I have two, but I'm not ready to talk about that one yet.

Instead, I shall spill all about my label addiction.

More specifically my Mabel's Labels addiction.

Love.

My love affair started with Mabel years ago when I got my first set of  labels for C. Suddenly instead of sloppy Sharpie markings in all her sweaters she had nicely labeled clothing.

I might have gone a little label happy. Pretty sure I labeled a Happy Meal toy once.

With two kids in two different schools and one daycare, a mom who travels more and more, and an out of control chaotic life, my labels (and yes, my sticky hanging hooks) are the only things that make me feel like I'm a little in control.

We have labels on:
 
- Anything techy - phone, iPad, DS, Mobigo, cameras, computers, chargers... you name it, it's labeled.
- Medication - the kids have asthma inhalers and spacers. All labeled.
- Toys - stuffies, dolls... anything that might be snuck into backpacks and taken to school or daycare.
- Games and movies... - again, anything that might be snuck into backpacks and taken to school or daycare.
- Clothing. - All clothing that goes to school has a label on the tag.
- Big stuff. - I put a label on C's booster seat this morning. Enough said.

OK, so I haven't labeled the cat yet. Maybe I can still be saved. (Though now that I think about it... he does hate wearing a collar...) Oh, and the car. The new car doesn't have a label.

Since that first label-fest I've learned a few tips that I'll gladly pass on to you. Then you can join me in my obsession passion.

1) Make yourself "family" labels. Your eldest will outgrow that jacket and your next child will spend all year explaining why it has a label with the right last name and wrong first name. Labels with just the last name or the words "The So and So Family" are perfect for big ticket items everyone shares or things that will definitely get handed down.

2) Put your shoe labels in the shoes sideways - cute icons towards the inside. Kids can learn to put shoes on the right foot by making the icons "touch."

3) Keep your labels in the car. Seriously. I know I live in my car, but I'm 99% more likely to remember to label a new jacket/toy/etc just as I'm dropping off the kids rather than in the chaos of leaving the house.

4) Think longevity. Sure your 2-year-old loves princesses today, but that camera/bag/game is going to be around for a while. You're also not going to use up all your labels right away. So, when she's 4 and pink princesses are no longer all the rage, she's not going to be as thrilled with those labels any more.

5) Label all the pieces. The top and bottom of that lunchbox container. The case and the device. Both mittens. Really. Kids don't misplace things logically.

Now go forth and label. You can thank me when your kid is the only one who doesn't lose fourteen sweatshirts this year.

This is a sponsored post written as part of Fill the Backpack '11, a Splash Creative Media campaign co-hosted by 8 amazing bloggers. Have you entered the giveaway of the year yet? - $750 worth of amazing goodies that will make the start of the year a little sweeter!

Want to check out other Fill the Backpack posts? Visit the Splash Creative Media bloggers. They'll be thrilled to have you!

• TechSavvyMama by Leticia Barr @TechSavvyMama
• Guessing All the Way by Laurie Cooper, @CluelessMama
• Formerly Gracie by Grace Duffy, @GraceDuffy
• Savvy Sassy Moms by Andrea Fellman, @SavvySassyMoms
• Just Precious by Julie Meyers Pron, @JustPrecious
• Sassy Moms in the City by Alison Ray @SassyMomChicago
• It’s My Life by Jessica Rosenberg, @Kikarose
• The Centsible Life by Kelly Whalen, @CentsibleLife

Open Letter To My Friends

So, uh... hi!

Yeah, it's been a while.

I'm sorry.

Since the month of April I've had to turn my focus entirely inward. Inward to my family. Inward to me. Inward to work.

So, uh... sorry.

I know I missed birthdays. I know I missed milestone events. Heck, I even know I missed a lot of non-milestone events.

I suck.

But really. I can't feel guilty.

And if you love me as much as you say you do, you won't hold it against me.

For almost 6 months now my entire focus has been on keeping my head above water as the hits and challenges keep on coming. One foot in front of the other. Everyone clean and fed. Everyone's sense of normalcy maintained to the best of my abilities.

I'd love to say that I'm managing it all, but uh...

C missed her first day of school. Because I put it on the wrong date on my calendar.

So clearly, I'm not doing a stellar job. (We all think it's a hoot today, so all isn't lost.)

With luck 2011 will start cutting us a break soon and I'll be able to do more than just listen to your voice mail two weeks after you leave it or read your Facebook wall. Hopefully soon I'll have the bandwidth to call you and ask you how you're doing. How your kids are faring. What's going on with you.

And the energy to listen to the answers.

In the meantime, please just know that I miss you. That I'm sorry if things suck for you too. That I'm thrilled if things are going well.

And that I'll be back...

I promise.

Love,
Me

Epic card by the awesome Robyn Plemmons

Study in the kitchen to foster a love of learning

I always had a desk in my room when I was a kid. It was a handy place to store everything that didn't fit on the shelves. Oh, and to hold folded laundry.

As for my homework, well, I liked to do that at the kitchen table, near the bustle of dinner prep.

I'd drag my heavy backpack in there, sit down at the table, and work to the sounds of chopping, pouring, stirring and the radio playing whatever my mom was listening to at the time.

If I close my eyes I can still imagine being there. Warm, happy, safe. Tantalizing smells. And even the feel of the paper under my wrist and the pen in my hand.

I can even bring myself back to the day when my mom, ever the jokester, pretended to throw me an egg... which flew out of her wet hand and landed with a splat into my open backpack. 20 years later and I still crack up when I remember the shocked look on her face and then the laughter that erupted out of both of us.

C starts 1st grade tomorrow, and while she does have a work station in her room -- a cute little Ikea table with fun stools -- whenever I picture her doing her homework (rumor has it that there's homework in 1st grade at her school.) I see her sitting at our wooden kitchen table, feet wrapped around the chair legs, tongue sticking out in concentration as she figures out her math problems or does whatever else her teacher has sent home with her.

I'll try not to throw eggs at her, but it's my hope that by setting up a warm, cozy, loving study area set in the middle of the family activity rather than away from it, I'll foster in her the same love of learning that my mother fostered in me. To this day, picking up a book makes me feel warm and safe and learning something new makes me want to look up and share it with those around me.

A friend of mine told me just the other day that I'm an academic. I get excited about learning something new. If putting studying and schoolwork at the center of our lives helps my children adopt that trait then it's well worth risking having an egg or two land in the wrong place.

Love this egg shot by Kiss My Spatula!

This is a sponsored post written as part of Fill the Backpack '11, a Splash Creative Media campaign co-hosted by 8 amazing bloggers. Have you entered the giveaway of the year yet? - $750 worth of amazing goodies that will make the start of the year a little sweeter!

Want to check out other Fill the Backpack posts? Visit the Splash Creative Media bloggers. They'll be thrilled to have you!

• TechSavvyMama by Leticia Barr @TechSavvyMama
• Guessing All the Way by Laurie Cooper, @CluelessMama
• Formerly Gracie by Grace Duffy, @GraceDuffy
• Savvy Sassy Moms by Andrea Fellman, @SavvySassyMoms
• Just Precious by Julie Meyers Pron, @JustPrecious
• Sassy Moms in the City by Alison Ray @SassyMomChicago
• It’s My Life by Jessica Rosenberg, @Kikarose
• The Centsible Life by Kelly Whalen, @CentsibleLife

Let's kick off the school year with a PARTY!

Ok, I'm not having a party at home. Are you kidding? Have you gleaned yet how overwhelmed we are here?

No, a virtual party! With prizes! Because what could be better? A back-to-school party where you don't have to get dressed up, put on make-up, or get anyone ready and out of the house for!

On Wednesday morning I have to get up hours earlier than I have since June. I have to hustle two reluctant little girls into presentable clothes, feed them breakfast long before they'll be hungry for it, and shuttle them to various towns for school.

So, tomorrow night, help me forget by partying virtually with me. Please?

How about if I tell you that we're giving away over $2000 in prizes? There'll be back packs, printers, snacks, and a host of other things you probably need, or at least want, to kick off the school year with a bang.

Admit, you're intrigued! The details and RSVP information are below. Also, if you haven’t entered yet, enter to win a #backpack11 prize package from It's my life..., worth over $750.

Twitter Party Details:

When: September 6th 9-11pm EST.
Hashtag: #Backpack11
Hosts: @JustPrecious @CentsibleLife
Panelists: @TechSavvyMama @kikarose @GraceDuffy @Clueless_Mama @SavvySassyMoms @SassyMomChicago @Splash_Creative @FilltheBackpack
Sponsors handles are listed below.

Twitter Party Prizes:

We’ll be giving away over $2,000 in prizes for our twitter party! Here’s a complete list of all prizes.
4 $50 credits to Eventbrite (@Eventbrite)
8 copies of AVG Internet Security (@AVGfree)
4 copies of ChicaLogic ChicaPCShield (@ChicaLogic)
2 $50 Snapfish gift cards (@Snapfish)
2 HP Photosmart e-All-in-One printer (@HPDeals)
Ultimate Back-to-School Combo & set of Bag Tags (value $60) from Mabel’s Labels (@Mabelhood)
4 Sleep Innovations REMedy Twin XL bundles (@ChooseSI)
4 LeapFrog Leapster Explorer (@Leapfrog)
4 Stonyfield gift packs including coupons, activity book and more! (@Stonyfield)
8 Land’s End backpacks (@LandsEndChat)
4 copies of the Marble Jar app (@MarbJar)
4 copies of the Storyland Yoga: Yoga for Families DVD (@PlayfulPlanet)
P&G gift basket (@PGmyGIVE)
4 copies of Microsoft Office for Windows or Mac (@Office)
4 Scholastic book packs, will include age-appropriate books for your kids! (@Scholastic)
4 Carolina Pad gift set including a variety of notebooks, folders & other supplies (@CarolinaPad)
4 Lunch bags from California Innovations
4 Johnson & Johnson gift packs including BandAids, Neosporin, and more. (@JnJStories)

Grand prize winner will receive one of each of the prizes. Additional prizes will be awarded throughout the evening.

RSVP Here:

RSVP below for a chance to win! Enter your name, and twitter handle. To be eligible to win you must participate in the party using #Backpack11. All winners will be chosen by random drawing.

Leaping Into Learning to Read with LeapFrog

When my daughter was about to start school for the first time I softened the blog with a fun DVD featuring Tad's first day of school. You know, Tad, the cute LeapFrog frog? He and his friend Lily bounced around a classroom showing off all the things my baby would be discovering for herself in just a few days.

That video was a staple in our house for weeks. I already loved LeapFrog, but this only cemented my belief that they really knew what kids need.

Later I learned that LeapFrog builds toys backwards. Instead of starting with a cool concept and manipulating it to tie in an educational component, they start with the educational component and, with the help of educators, grow it into an awesome concept. Neat, right?

This year LeapFrog is jumping into the learning-to-read arena.

Well, no, that's not true. LeapFrog has been in that arena forever - impressively so, but they are mixing it up a bit with a fun new game for their Explorer, their newest hand-held game console.

LeapSchool Reading innovates in that it allows a custom path to reading. Instead of serving up a "one-size fits all" game, this game allows the child to focus on areas that they're passionate about (or at the very least interested in). Five friends -- each with a different interest from music to cooking - guide the games and make learning to read fun. And as we all know, they don't even realize they're learning when they're having fun! (Learn more about the game and get to know the friends on the LeapFrog LeapSchool site!)

My 6-year-old is a pretty good reader already, but the 4-year-old is desperate to teach herself so she can catch up. She latches on to any reading game we give her and keeps impressing us with her ability to sound out letters and words. With LeapFrog and LeapSchool we might be a step closer to having a really early reader in the house!

This post was sponsored by LeapFrog as part of the Fill the Backpack campaign. As always the thoughts, opinions, and stories contained in the post are mine and mine alone.

If you missed it, check out the Fill the Backpack giveaway of the year - $750 worth of awesome back-to-school goodies to make your year sweeter.
Want to check out other Fill the Backpack posts? Visit the Splash Creative Media bloggers. They'll be thrilled to have you!

• TechSavvyMama by Leticia Barr @TechSavvyMama
• Guessing All the Way by Laurie Cooper, @CluelessMama
• Formerly Gracie by Grace Duffy, @GraceDuffy
• Savvy Sassy Moms by Andrea Fellman, @SavvySassyMoms
• Just Precious by Julie Meyers Pron, @JustPrecious
• Sassy Moms in the City by Alison Ray @SassyMomChicago
• It’s My Life by Jessica Rosenberg, @Kikarose
• The Centsible Life by Kelly Whalen, @CentsibleLife

I have a dream...

In my dream there is a house.

It sits on a bit of a hill. With a view.

That's not the best part of the house though.

This house it has a room. A spacious room with a low ceiling. Maybe a slanted one. The walls are wood painted white. The carpet is plush, almost shaggy, jazz blue. One wall is all bookshelves bursting with books. The other wall has dormer windows that look out onto the view.

The room is quite bare beyond a desk and a navy blue, overstuffed, and incredibly inviting love-seat.

The whole room screams "come curl up with a good book or a nice journal!" This space is mine. Beyond the door to this room is the rest of the house where the family rules. Their chaos, their lives. In my space it's all about me. It's where I can be creative. Where I can come find myself again when the needs and wants of the others become too much.

It's all a dream.

In reality there is no such house. There is no such room.

In reality there is a house that sits 30 minutes away from the heart of my community. 30 minutes away from a quick cup of tea with a friend. 45 minutes away from the 6-year-old's school. 30 minutes away from the 4-year-old's daycare.

In reality there is a house that is bursting at the seams.

Literally. Walls cracking in every room. Foundation threatening to crumble.

Figuratively. Stuff in every room. Shelves overflowing. Chaos ruling the roost.

In reality I have no sanctuary where I can escape the demands of all these lives I've taken on as my own. Nowhere I can go to remember who I am, what I dream, what I want.

For a time this year there was hope of moving. Of coming closer to the community. Of finding a bit more space. Of giving me a room.

Then 2011 decided to teach me a little lesson on living in the future instead of being fully present in the now. It stripped me of that hope and keeps kicking me down whenever I start to get back up.

2011 is a mean teacher.

I have it good. We have a house. We have money to pay our bills. We have laughter and hugs. We have medical insurance and great medical care. We have family. We have friends.

In the grand scheme of things, things could be worse.

Things could be so. much. worse.

It's good for me to stop and remember all the good things that fill the cracks between the heartache and challenges 2011 keeps throwing at us. It is good for me to remember that what doesn't break us makes us stronger.

And this will make us stronger.

One day I will write about it. I might be in that room, in that house. Or I might be here, at a coffee shop, pretending that I'm in that room. Because as long as I carry it in my heart, maybe I never actually have to have that house with the view.

What's your dream? Come share on Kick In the Blog!