I received product and compensation from Mead Johnson Nutrition to create this post written by me. All experiences and opinions expressed in this post are my own and not those of Mead Johnson Nutrition. You can contact Mead Johnson Nutrition with product related questions or comments toll free at 1-888-777-3395.

When my oldest child was not quite two years old, we took him for a train ride on a real-life Thomas the Tank Engine.

This is going to be so much fun! I remember thinking the morning of the trip. What a wonderful family excursion I’ve planned! He is going to love it! 

But he did not love it.

Quite the opposite, actually.

He spent most of the time whining to be held, then whining to be put down the moment I picked him up. He shied away from all the sights and sounds, but then cried when we took him away from the hustle and bustle.

He didn’t have any clue what he wanted, and we didn’t either.

That day my son was one unhappy child, which made me one frustrated mama. Come on, this was supposed to be FUN! I remember thinking.

After an hour and a half, we threw in the towel and headed to the car. We were all grouchy the rest of the day.

You know where this is heading, don’t you?

More →

This is a guest post from Patricia Dimick.

Getting our kids to eat healthy food is perhaps the single most common struggle of parenting.

“My son won’t touch vegetables,” one mom says.

“Well, my daughter is surviving on crackers alone right now!” another chimes in.

“I’m so sick of spending an hour making a healthy dinner that the kids refuse to even taste!” cries yet another frustrated parent.

For many families, dinnertime has become less about bonding and more about fighting over how many bites the kids will or will not take tonight.

And yet, you keep trying, don’t you? You keep making an effort to give the kids in your life nourishing, nutritious food. Because you know how important it is.

Here’s a new strategy to try: Stop the fighting. Stop the begging and the pleading for just one more bite. Instead, put that frustrated energy into infusing your family meals with a little more creativity and fun. 

One exciting (and educational!) way to do that is by drawing mealtime inspiration from cuisines around the world. Here are some ideas to get your kids eating and enjoying good, wholesome food from beyond their own borders. More →

I first caught it out of the corner of my eye: a flash of something white moving across the living room at an alarming speed.

I turned to see my 4-year-old spinning around as fast as he could while whipping a stuffed Dalmatian along with him—undoubtedly just winding up to throw it.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” I started to protest, but it was too late. “Puppy dog” (as my kids so creatively named the Dalmatian) slipped out of my son’s little grip and went flying across the room—and smacked my 1-year-old in the face.

She was fine, of course. More stunned than anything else.

I felt frustrated with my son for playing too rough indoors, and muttered something about how he could have really hurt his little sister or broken something expensive (like the TV—gasp!).

But I quickly softened when I considered the circumstances that led to the dog-spinning incident:

A few days of cold, winter weather that limited outdoor play.

Hours spent hanging out in the same 2 rooms of the house, with the same old toys.

Pent-up little kid energy that just had to get OUT. 

It was definitely time for mama to intervene. 

So I did, with a strategy I always keep in my back pocket for moments like these—moments when the kids are experiencing that dangerous combination of being too cooped up and too wound up at the same time: More →

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Tom’s of Maine . All opinions are 100% mine.

My first child was only a few days old, just home from the hospital, when I had what I’ll call my “ingredient list awakening.”

We were preparing to give him a sponge bath and pulled out the conventional baby soap we’d been gifted at my baby shower. I glanced at the back of the package and my eyes got huge. What the heck is in this stuff? What exactly am I about to put onto my newborn baby’s skin???

The next thing I knew I was in full-on panic mode, running around the house critically inspecting the packages of all our personal care products. I had always been pretty conscious about the ingredient lists on prepared food items, but hadn’t given a second thought to things like shampoos, deodorants, and toothpaste.

Now, admittedly, panic is probably not the best response. But I’d place bets that I’m not the only person who became a parent and suddenly grew hyper-aware of everything we as a family were putting in and on our bodies.

If your family is still hesitant about jumping on the natural personal care product train, here are 3 reasons you should strongly consider getting on board.

3 Reasons Families Should Switch to Natural Personal Care Products

1. Avoid the artificial onslaught.

The truth is that almost everything has something artificial in it these days. Artificial flavorings, artificial dyes, artificial ingredients, and on and on.

It’s almost impossible to avoid this stuff completely, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take precautions when we can—especially because the long-term effects of everything artificial are still widely unknown. I’d rather be on the safe side than look back a few decades from now and say, “If only we had known then what we do now.”

One the areas we’ve completely committed to going natural is toothpaste. Our personal favorite brand? Tom’s of Maine.

Tom’s of Maine products are free of artificial dyes, fragrances, flavors, and preservatives, so I feel peace of mind using them myself and on my children. The best part is that there’s a toothpaste for everyone in the family: We use Tom’s of Maine Toddler Training Toothpaste for my 1-year-old, Tom’s of Maine Children’s Toothpaste for my preschooler, and Tom’s of Maine Luminous White Toothpaste for us grown-ups. 

The Luminous White toothpaste is one of the new Made to Matter® products handpicked by (and sold exclusively at) Target. It’s Tom’s of Maine’s most advanced natural whitening toothpaste that’s safe for enamel, and gluten and paraben-free.

2. Steer clear of unnecessary irritation. 

There’s nothing quite like a newborn baby’s skin. The sweet smell, the perfect softness—it’s intoxicating!

But all that sweetness and softness means that babies and kids usually have extra sensitive skin. Skin that you can’t put just anything on.

Switching from conventional to natural personal care products means you lessen the chances of your kids’ skin getting irritated and having an adverse reaction. Same goes for the grown-ups! Even if you think you don’t have particularly sensitive skin, transitioning to natural products could make you realize you do. You just didn’t realize the impact harsh conventional products were having.

3. Protect the planet for your kids and grandkids.

For many, it’s all too easy to dismiss environmental concerns as someone else’s problem—that someone else being a future generation. But becoming a parent forces you to challenge the “me! me! me!” attitude and instead confront the problems our planet is facing.

I know that when I look at my kids, I desperately want them (and their kids) to have a beautiful earth to live on. Trashing the place is simply no longer an option for me. Yes, a whole lot of damage has already been done, but that doesn’t mean we should give up. Choosing to switch from conventional to natural products can make a big difference!

Tom’s of Maine believes in healthy, human, and environmental goodness. They don’t just respect the natural world—they love it. And that love shines through in how they select ingredients, manufacture their products, and package them for purchase. 

Be sure to check out the other Tom’s of Maine Made to Matter® products sold exclusively at Target: Wicked Cool! Deodorant for boys and girls and Men’s Naturally Dry Antiperspirant in North Woods. They’re a great way to start your family on the path to natural personal care products. 

Does your family use natural personal care products? 

This is a product-provided, sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of FeverAll® Acetaminophen Suppositories. The opinions and text are all mine.

I can remember it so clearly because it was one of my first “parenting fails.”

We’d taken our first child for a train ride on Thomas the Tank Engine. He was a few months shy of his second birthday and officially train-obsessed. I’d been planning the trip for weeks, we’d have to drive over an hour to get there, and I’d carefully arranged his nap times around the experience—so he could be well-rested for all the FUN I was certain we’d have.

So I was understandably exasperated when fun turned out to be in short supply.

My son was extra whiny from the moment we arrived, acted like he couldn’t care less about Thomas, and wailed at the top of his lungs on our way to visit Sir Topham Hatt. He kept asking to be held, but then squirmed uncomfortably in my arms whenever I picked him up. Nothing suited him. After a mere 90 minutes of this “fun,” we all decided enough was enough and packed up and left.

I’ll admit it: I felt very frustrated and annoyed with my child that day. Come on, buddy, we’ve been so excited for this day! Just have FUN, for pete’s sake! 

So I felt downright rotten when—you guessed it!—my son spiked a fever that night.  More →

Thanks to United Healthcare for sponsoring this conversation.

I stood in the produce aisle of the grocery store having a little debate with myself while my infant smiled at every shopper who walked past our cart.

Should I buy more than one package of the organic berries? I asked myself. 

On the one hand, I’m always encouraging my preschooler (and myself!) to snack on healthy foods like fresh fruits and veggies. So stocking up on those options is a must.

But on the other hand, I’d blown through my grocery budget the last few trips and was really trying to rein it in this time—and those berries were not cheap. 

It’s a struggle most parents can relate to.

We want to do the best for our children and families; we want them to be as healthy and happy as they can be.

But we also don’t have unlimited funds in our bank account to make it happen.

The good news is that getting and staying in tip-top shape doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Here are five little tricks that can boost your family’s health without breaking the bank. More →