Welcome
Welcome back!
Here's my top five from this week but make sure to check out all the great article in this issue!
Traveling this holiday season? Make sure you read, "5 Holiday Travel Baby Sleep Challenges and Lifesaver Solutions", and be prepared for those sleep challenges we often face when traveling with the little ones!
Worried about your children's privacy online? Make sure you check out this article, "At School And At Home, How Much Does The Internet Know About Kids?".
Everyone should do what feels right for them and works for their family but I love this one mom's honestly written piece, "I Hated Being a Stay-at-Home Mom". Thanks for being honest about your experience, staying at home is definitely not for everyone!
"8 Gift Ideas For Kids You Should Forget About This Holiday Season"... share this with everyone ASAP! :)
If you are looking for cute homemade gift ideas check out, "40+ Creative Handprint and Footprint Crafts for Christmas". There are some super cute ideas to make with your little ones handprints or footprints.
Best Reads
At School And At Home, How Much Does The Internet Know About Kids?
Children's personal information isn't supposed to be an online commodity. But whether kids are using Google apps at school or Internet-connected toys at home, they're generating a stream of data about themselves. And some advocates say that information can be collected too easily and sometimes, protected too poorly.
Teaching Children It’s OK to Fail
All parents want to see their kids succeed, but it’s just as important to teach your children how to fail. Failing can be reframed as trying, practicing, and putting in effort — and it’s nothing to be ashamed of.
Stop using crib bumpers, doctors say
The number of babies who have died because of this common crib bedding has tripled in the last seven years of data available. That's according to authors of a study that looked at infant deaths since 1985.
When it's the Best of Times and the Worst of Times Our Children Overhear Everything
Remember what you say around your children because they hear everything!
5 Holiday Travel Baby Sleep Challenges and Lifesaver Solutions
Traveling during the holidays can be strenuous enough without a baby – add a little one to the mix and you have a recipe for disaster! Trying to get from one family get-together to the next can wreak havoc on your baby’s sleep schedule, leading to less sleep for everyone in the family.
But, have no fear, your baby sleep travel tips are here! Read on to learn how to tackle the most common travel-related baby sleep issues including plane rides, road trips, time zones changes, family sleepovers, and hotel stays.
How parental anxiety impacts our kids
The fact that our children have to do these drills is anxiety-inducing. The reality that a mass shooting can conceivably happen anywhere and any time leaves many of us even more on edge. But how do we prevent passing along our own anxiety about this scary and uncertain world to our children?
Babies Should be Moved out of Infant Car Seats Earlier
Based on its latest tests, Consumer Reports is urging parents to move their children out of their infant carrier and into a rear-facing convertible seats at a younger age.
I Hated Being a Stay-at-Home Mom
I know I might regret saying this... but I hated being a stay-at-home mom.
Before you come after me with pitchforks, let me explain myself.
Mommy Approved
8 Gift Ideas For Kids You Should Forget About This Holiday Season
Please, pretty please, keep these kinds of gifts away from my kids:
Five Tips Friday: Being a calmer parent
Did you lose your cool with the kids today? Did you feel terribly guilty later, and then berate yourself over and over for it? Don't worry, it happens to the best of us. We're not perfect parents, because those don't exist. We're human beings and we let our emotions get the better of us sometimes.
Free Play
Smartest Kid on the Block
Here's how screen time is changing the way kids tell stories
My research shows that children are creating complex oral stories through the characters they see on screen.
Healthy and Happy

Decadent Brownie Recipes to Try This Holiday Season
Ok, might not be sooo healthy--but a perfect holiday treat! :)