How to keep your kids safe this Halloween

When you were child, the idea of dressing up, roaming the neighborhood, and begging for candy seemed too good to be true. As an adult, the thought of your children doing that is kind of scary. Halloween is supposed to be a time full of fun and laughter, but this is also a time where safety precautions must be followed to avoid tragedy.



The scariest thing about Halloween is not the candy, as many parents think, but the traffic. According to the Centers for Disease Control, there were 89 children killed as a result of Halloween traffic incidents between 1975 and 1996.



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How to spend quality time with your children when you work outside the home

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When you work outside the home, it can be quite difficult to find a balance between work and family. Quite often, your job will interfere with the quality time you should have with your family, your children in particular. For a working mother, obtaining a work-life balance can mean sacrificing your quality time with your children, but it does not have to be that way. Let's face it; you can never get that lost time back and your children will not be young forever. It is important to take the time to know your children because before long, they will be teenagers and as teenagers, they won’t want anything to do with you.



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When a working mother lives with an arthritis-related condition

More than 130 million Americans suffer from chronic pain conditions. Women are more likely to suffer from a chronic arthritis-related condition such as rheumatoid arthritis or fibromyalgia. Rheumatoid arthritis is 2 to 3 times more common in women than men, and usually strikes women between the ages of ages of 40 and 60, but can develop as early as their 20s and 30s. Fibromyalgia also affects women in the same age group and usually peaks around age 35, striking a huge group of working mothers with young children.



Arthritis-related conditions can affect individuals of all ages, but often they strike women who are in their 30s and 40s who have heavy work and home responsibilities, this according to Androniki Bili, MD, MPH, of Geisinger Health System in Danville, Pa. "We are looking at women who have young children and who are bread winners or equal partners in bringing in income."



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Ah Shucks! I won an award!

Kelly over at A Day in the Crazy Life has given me an award! She must know how much I love awards. Well, I promised that I would display the award proudly and in order to do that, I must tell my readers ten things that they may not know about me, and I apologize, if at times, my life is sappy and sentimental. So, without further ado:



Ten Things You May Not Know About Me (Next time, don’t ask!)


1) I cry way too much! I cry when I watch commercials, the news, and even cartoons. Anything sweet, sad or emotional sends out the waterworks.
2) I love ribs (baby back beef ribs to be exact) – never mind I need to lose a few pounds and I should eat healthier. I love ribs and I eat them at least once a month.  I have even found some creative recipes so I don't get bored.

3) I hate when I watch my DVR’ed episode of Days of Our Lives and people try to talk to me. By this I mean – call me on the phone, come to visit and ring my doorbell, or even simply talk to me.

4) I hate doing dishes. That is why I own a dishwasher.

5) I am brutally honest.

6) I have not talked to my brother in over a year and I don't want to.

7) I am quite the romantic.

8) I hate dwelling on the past and I hate people who do (minus not talking to my brother).

9) The hardest thing for me being is working mom is how much I miss my children. Sometimes, I cry on the way to work because I miss them so much.

10) I have in the recent year learned that the value of money is overrated, and that there are things that are far more important than money. Many of us say that we feel that money isn’t important, but we don’t really mean it or understand that until we are tested.



I would like to pass on the award to:

RA Guy

Lana over at the Kids Did WHAT?

Overwhelmed Mom

Mallen over at Making Lemonade

Alica over at YaYa Stuff



Don’t forget to check out my latest Examiner Cleveland post about Working Moms Surviving the 9 to 5 routine.

Surviving the 9 to 5 as a working mom

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More than 50% of mothers with small children work outside the home, and the main reason that these mothers work outside the home is financial need. For every mother, the decision to work is not an easy one nor is there a correct answer to whether a mother should or should not work outside the home. Every mother does what is best for her family, and deciding to work outside of the home brings with it issues of guilt, prioritization, and time management that can make the nine to five lifestyle difficult and stressful.

Working moms always feel like they are running two different races at the same time. When you are at work, you worry about the workload, meetings, and deadlines; when you are at home, you worry about balancing the family’s checkbook, tonight’s dinner, checking the children’s homework, and planning a weekend visit with your in-laws. While both worlds are not supposed to collide, they quite often do, and while you are at work, you will realize that you have missed the baby’s well-check appointment or while you are at home, you wonder how you will make the latest project deadline since you are unable to work any overtime this week.



From this working mother’s viewpoint, juggling and struggling involves both laughing and crying. Quite often, it can be exhausting, stressful and confusing. You will forget your mom’s birthday, or your child’s costume for the school play, or, that ever-important deadline at the office that ended up being handled at the very last minute. Moreover, you will eventually realize that supermom is myth and trying to make that myth reality will only further exhaust, stress and confuse you.



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Wal-Mart to offer some relief during the upcoming holiday shopping season

The current state of our economy has forced many to start our Christmas shopping early and it is estimated that 70% of consumers will start their holiday shopping before Halloween. It is always a good idea during stressful economic times to plan especially for the holidays - a time where you do not want to be strapped for money. Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer is now giving consumers some relief by offering 100 toys for $10 a piece during the upcoming holiday shopping season.



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Lack of common sense or zero tolerance?

A first grader who brings a camping utensil to school to use at lunch gets suspended for 45 days due to his school’s zero tolerance policy. Zero tolerance policies are being utilized by school districts all over the country as a result of the violence that came of Columbine and Virginia Tech in recent years.



According to USA Today, the purpose of zero tolerance policies is to eradicate prejudice and discrimination on the part of school officials. There is a strong consensus of parents, educators, and even legislators who feel that zero tolerance policies only promote inequality and injustice leading to much criticism and debate. The decision and policy that led to the suspension of six year old Zachary Christie of Delaware required that school officials practice zero tolerance “regardless of intent” and “not take into consideration a child’s age,” this according to CBS News correspondent Jim Axelrod.

 

Read more at the Examiner Cleveland.