I am ignoring my husband as he tries for about the hundredth time to explain the flaw in the logic of the movie The Terminator. I don’t give a crap besides I have heard enough of this story that I know what his theory is.

Still as he tries to explain it to me for seriously the hundredth time, he looks at me in the middle of talking and says, “You know what I mean?” And I in yet another, most likely vain attempt to get him to stop telling me this story say to him, “Honey, really I am not listening. I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.” Now he is not speaking to me.

Ok wait, UPDATE UPDATE – he just read this over my shoulder and yelled, “YOU WEREN’T EVEN TRYING TO LISTEN” and then launches yet again into the story. So I start yelling “PLEASE NOOOOOO. PLEASE NOOOOOO.”

He will not stop yapping. Good God.

But damn in the middle of all this I think to myself that his bizarre movie conspiracy theories cracked me up from the moment that I met up. Who thinks about crap like this that much? When I realized that I did too, I knew that I would marry him. That was only two weeks after I met him and that was over twelve years ago.

P.S. We are watching The Terminator right now and I am covering my eyes over the nasty eyeball scene and husband is laughing.

P.P.S. He just asked me to type that he would be very interested in having me type up his Terminator flaw thing.

P.P.P.S Did you know that there was supposedly a catch phrase from this movie besides the Arnold one? I had no clue. I just saw that part too!

With my first two children, I waited until they really showed signs of wanting to be potty trained and possibly caring a little more about sitting in a pile of poop for a while or rather the not wanting to sit in said pile. Each child was around 3.

The worst part is that from ages 2 to 3 (for both children) I had to answer the exact the same question from my father, who asked this question the exact same way every stinkin’ week:

Soooooooooo? When do you think that you are going to get around to potty training that child of yours?

Kind of said in the tone like potty training was on my list of “To Do” items but that I just had not gotten around it. I resented it a lot a little ok a lot. It always made me feel like I wasn’t doing enough as a parent. It bothered me. Until one day I came to the realization that he really wasn’t being condescending, I was just doing things different from the way that he did them back in the day. So I promised myself that I would be more assertive next time which definitely not one of my strong suits.

Fast forward to second baby, the same thing started happening again:

Soooooooooo? When do you think that you are going to get around to potty training that child of yours?

I had to stop and think this time ‘what could I say here to change the course of where this conversation may be heading?’ ‘Be assertive,’ I thought to myself for about the hundredth time.

I replied “Hey Dad, that kind of hurts my feelings. I know that I was potty trained in the womb but I am just a different kind of parent than you were. [Ok that was maybe a little passive aggressive but I tried] Annabella (second baby) is pretty assertive and I bet that she is going to let us know when she is ready. So I am going to let her.”

I waited and about 2 years, 10 months she told me one day in the store that she wanted princess panties (you know the brand but I don’t want to say it because I really don’t want one of my first posts about that company to be about my kid pooping in her princess panties). And that was that.

Now with baby number three it has come around to potty training time or at least the time to start seriously thinking about it. She has two older siblings and she aspires everyday to be their shadow. This kid will be the champ, I think. She is ready at almost a year earlier than the other two. A year less of diapers? I would save 10 minutes a day changing diapers. Cool! I mean we will still do the obligatory heiney wiping for another year or so or six but this is a start.

***Thanks to cool ladies at The Parent Bloggers Network and The Potty Project for giving me the inspiration to start potty training. I just ordered my FREE Potty Training Success DVD here. ***

Make sure to check back with my starting June 1st as I begin potty training my third child. There will be some laughter, some tears, some vlogging and some cool reviews of the ‘must have’ potty training products out there. Check back often for your chance to win some of these items.

*Thank you to New Baby for donating this VADO camera from Creative Labs to our fun event. Please check out New Baby and consider adding your own vlog!

Last weekend we had the opportunity to meet a wonderful new parenting advice search engine, Mamapedia, and now we’d like you to try the site out for yourself with our new contest, “What Can I Learn Today?” One grand prize winner will win a VADO digital video camera!

To Enter:
1. Visit Mamapedia and ask any parenting question.
2. Choose how you want to enter – or choose all three for more chances to win:

• Comment to this post with your question and the answer you found
• Blog about Mamapedia on your own site sharing the question you asked and the answer you found
• Vlog about Mamapedia and your question/answer at New Baby.

3. Fill out this secure form to let us know that you entered.

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It’s that easy! Then join us for another SiteWarming Party on Twitter Saturday, May 23rd from 9:00 to 10:00 p.m eastern time to find out who won! There will also be several great door prizes.

Good luck!

*This contest is open to all U. S. residents 18 years or older and ends May 23rd at 9:00 p.m. eastern.

*This contest courtesy of Momfluence – Rocking the Cradle and Shaping the World.

The fabulous folks from Frigidaire and Mom Central have just made my life a little easier and are giving me a little more time to practice being divine. How? Well I have just been invited to be on Team Fridge. This awesome refrigerator below will be making its way to our household in just a few, short weeks courtesy of Frigidaire.

This month Frigidaire rolls out a brilliant new collection with more than 250 kitchen and laundry appliances, just in time for Mother’s Day! They designed these high-performance products with easy-to-use, time-saving features to give Moms more free time away from the kitchen and laundry room.

Frigidaire recently conducted a survey to get a window into moms’ lives. The Frigidaire Motherload Index revealed that Moms log more overtime than most Americans. The index found that moms spend most of their waking lives – 200 hours each month, in fact – doing the activities we least enjoy rather than the things we love. And yet the majority of us say we “rarely” or “never” feel caught up on our household tasks.

Frigidaire kept all of this in mind when designing their new appliances.  With new features such as a six-minute PowerPlus™ preheat time on their ovens, a Quick Clean dishwashing cycle that cuts the time it takes in half to clean our dishes, the Fits-More™ Dryer that allows us to dry the whole family’s clothes at once, and TimeWise™ technology to make the dryer and washing cycle equal, we can have enough time to watch our favorite shows—or even better—get a manicure!

Frigidaire has so much confidence in the efficiency of these products that they are offering a “More Me-Time” Guarantee: Moms will reduce the amount of time they typically spend on housework by at least 8 hours a month using a combination of three or more select Frigidaire appliances or they can return the appliances to their place of purchase within 30 days and get their money back!

Frigidaire also wants to know what you would do if you had an extra hour of blissful “me-time”.  Starting today, moms can go to Frigdaire.com or to the Frigidaire Facebook page to report the five things they would do with an extra hour each day.   All participants will be entered for a chance to win an entire suite of NEW Frigidaire appliances.  Plus, check out other prizes you can win – like a gorgeous new Frigidaire Affinity washer/dryer.

Follow me here and on Twitter for the next few months as I introduce you to this cool new line of Frigidaire appliances and give you a further glimpse into our lives.

I am a Frigidaire Test Drive Mom and a long time Frigidaire customer.

There are many things that I got from my mother. Some I wish that I hadn’t and others…well you can definitely tell that they came from my mother. I don’t have her eyes. I don’t have her smile. I don’t even have her coloring. In fact, I look nothing like her. I sure wish that I had her legs but apparently I have some Russian bodybuilder in me those came from my dad’s side of the family.

For a long time, there is not much that I would claim came from my mother because for over 30 years, we had a pretty rocky relationship. She was (and still is) depressed. She has suffered from depression ever since I can remember and refuses to acknowledge it or take medicine for it. Although it is her choice, she has tumultuous relationships with pretty much everyone in her life.  She and my sister haven’t really been close in years.

I suffer from depression too. I have had it for years but I take medicine daily and it has changed my life for the better. The medicine puts me on a more even keel. What would before be tumultuous or turbulent is now channeled into passion. Passion for my children. Passion for my husband (we do have three kids). Passion for life. So I thank my mother for that. It is ok that I have depression. I am a normal person and I have learned how to successfully manage it. I like my passion!

Both of my parents have dark coloring with brown eyes and dark brown hair. I have none of these things. I am fair skinned and look almost Irish (which makes sense because we are Scottish). My hair is reddish, blondish brown and my eyes are blue. My sister used to tell me that I was the mailman’s kid when we were young but I always knew that was untrue because the mailman was a female. I actually look like both of my grandmother’s.

My mother is a dreamer and she is always going from one plan to another, one trip to another, etc. My father (they divorced after 30 years of marriage a few years ago) and I used to refer to it as flighty.  She has so many interests that we could never keep anything straight. I am often the same way. I always refer to myself as a serial hobbyist because I go from craft to craft or hobby to hobby and never really finish anything. But I thank her for this because it is this serial hobbyist mentality that caused me to really focus on my writing which then led me to blogging.

My mother is artsy and kind of funky. She and I have very different ideas about fashion but we are from different generations. But it is because of these differences that led to my interest in beauty & fashion and I now write about it.

She has a dream catcher hanging from the rear view mirror of her car. It is teal and huge with a bunch of feathers. I hate this dreamcatcher, I find it embarrassing and I used to always take it down whenever I drive her car. Lately I leave it up because it reminds me of her and makes me smile at how ‘out there’ she is.

I learned a long time ago that she would not change and if I wanted to have a good relationship with her, I would have to change or adapt to the person that she is. Because of this, I am probably closer to her than most people and this ability to adapt has also served me well in the business because I could work successfully with any type of boss.

My mother has handed down many things to me. Although I don’t have her eyes, her smile or even her coloring, I have a piece of her heart. She would do anything in the world for my children and loves them so much. This is one of the things that I really love about her.

So to my not-so-perfect, depressed, flighty, artsy, funky, dreamer mother, I say thank you and that I love you. Happy Mother’s Day! A big part of the person that I am today is because of you and I wouldn’t change a thing.

Blogging Moms-

Are you interested in joining our new Panel of Moms at PTPA Media? I am the Chief Mom Panel Member and there are a lot of exciting things going on at PTPA Media.

Based on incredible demand from our Mom network, PTPA has put together the first Parent Tested Parent Approved Mom Panel and we are now accepting applications!

As a part of a community of uniquely qualified women known as “parent tested parent approved moms,” your experience and recommendations could have a significant impact on manufacturers, the quality of family products and on consumer purchasing choices.

Qualifications for Applicants include the following:

1) An online presence including a blog, and either a facebook or twitter account.

2) Availability to answer emails from interested parents on a weekly basis and participate in product testing and online surveys.

3) Applicant must be willing to commit to the following:

• Monthly surveys regarding products

• Product Evaluations (you get to keep the products in exchange for your honest opinion)

• Blogging about PTPA to help bring awareness of our program and our winning products

• Willingness to display the PTPA Mom Panel button on your site

• Posting the latest and greatest PTPA winners (content and images provided by PTPA)

PTPA WILL PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING:   • Products for you to test • Content for your blog on the latest and greatest products including images • Giveaways for contests which you can offer through your blog to visitors • PTPA button for you to use on your website • PTPA will post your profile including a link to your blog on our Parent Tested Parent Approved Mommy panel page and will announce you as a new member of our panel to our database of 12,000 parents.

INTERESTED? Click here to sign up and leave your email address below so that I can make certain to find your application. Thanks!

The people at Protect-A-Bed have joined forces with bloggers What’s That Smell? and 3 P’s in a Pod to host a pretty cool contest. They are giving away $300 to help with expenses to BlogHer.

I could really use this $300 as I don’t have a plane ticket yet and have been waiting for the fares to go down a little more. Now that the plane fares are down, I don’t have the money.

Since I am fairly new to blogging for myself, there is so much that I need to learn and want to learn. There are many bloggers that I want to meet and most of them will be at BlogHer.

My husband suggested that I sell my ticket toBlogHer but being the eternal optimist that I am, I think that there is still hope to grab a sponsor, donate some plasma or to win this contest.

My entry is a scavenger hunt of sorts. I have hidden it around my blog and to get to the first spot, please go here.

It’s 2:00 a.m. and your three month old is crying…a lot. You’re a first time mother, and while you’ve got a ton of questions, you called your mom at 2:00 in the morning last night about that crazy looking diaper, so you’d really like to get through this one on your own.

“Why does my baby cry so much at night?”

Did you know that there are 8.8 million children (about 11 % of all children) who are not insured in the United States? It is this staggering, sad and scary statistic that gave me a kick in the butt motivated me to become involved with the Speak Now for Kids grassroots movement.

Speak Now for Kids is a grassroots movements to ensure that children’s needs are included in health care reform. We must be their voice to let Congress know that children’s health care is just as important as Medicare reform and other adult care issues.

Health care reform in this country is inevitable. It has been alluded to by government for decades, and the current administration is moving quickly to bring about change.

But will that change benefit our children?

The Facts:

• 8.8 million children in the U.S. do not have health insurance
• Insured children are more likely to receive preventative care, and therefore they get sick less often.
• Many adult chronic conditions have their origins in childhood.
• Even with insurance, children currently receive only 41% of preventative medical care.

What even further motivates me is imagining if my own family had not been covered during the past several years. Just my youngest child’s open heart surgery alone in an unfathomable amount. Her first year of life, in terms of medical dollars has surpassed the $300,000 mark. Can you imagine? We were covered but not for the entire amount and my family struggles every day to pay medical bills that are still due. We are the lucky ones.

You can help! We all can. Visit Speak Now for Kids:

1. Learn about the campaign. Grab the Fact Sheet here.
   
2. Speak to Congress about the importance of children’s health care.
3. Share the message through your own blog, Facebook, Twitter, and e-mail.
4. Follow Speak Now for Kids on Twitter.

To learn more about the campaign and tweet with a representative from the National Association of Children’s Hospitals, join us this Wednesday, May 6th, from 9 to 10 p.m. eastern time on Twitter for a #SpeakNowforKids SiteWarming.

RSVP here for the Twitter party and spread the word! Together we can make a difference.

Featured Products

Chic and Carry Wristlet – Make mom’s quick trips out with baby much easier with this great product.

Miessence Organics Mothers Day Set - Every mom deserves to be pampered once in awhile, and these organic body products allow her to do just that.

Sara Lee Simply Sweets Pies – Sara Lee’s Simply Sweets line gives you a delicious way to treat Mom this Mother’s Day with a fast, easy and delicious dessert.

Children Should Come With Warning Labels – Patti McKenna offers a humorous take on motherhood, giving mom a chance to laugh, cry, and identify with her tales.

Roundhouse Designs Desktop Mobile – Roundhouse Designs origami mobiles and wall art are handcrafted creations that make a unique Mothers Day gift.

Roundhouse Designs Jewelry – Roundhouse offers a wonderful selection of handmade jewelry, with styles that are perfect for every mother on your list this Mother’s Day.

Heart of A Mother – Heart of a Mother is a gift book filled with touching tributes to Mothers and Grandmothers, inspirational short stories, poems, proverbs and quotations.

Protect-A-Bed – Protect-a-Bed waterproof mattress covers provide protection from allergens, dust mites, and bedbugs, helping to extend the life of your mattress and mom to sleep a little sweeter.

Ultimate Woman Vitamins- Make sure that mom is getting everything she needs to stay healthy and active with the Vitamin Shoppe’s Ultimate Woman vitamins.

More Great Gift Ideas

April Cornell Shoulder Bag

BabyPlus System

Not Just Any Old Day Keyrings

Menu For The Week Subscription

For My Mother Reflection Journal

Vintage Body Spa

No Throw

Me Time Sportswear

Peek-A-Boobs

Kind Notes

Aventine Hill Bath Products

Treadlight Eco Snack Kit

Name Your Tune CDs

Things Remembered Charm Stories

Diaper Clutch

Pedometer

Lia Sophia Riverside Necklace

Lia Sophia Beaujolais Necklace

Lia Sophia Mandalay Bay Necklace

Lia Sophia Athena Necklace

Lia Sophia Love Dust Set

More Great Gift Guides

The Mom Maven

MomECentric

All reviews listed in the Momfluence gift guide were product provided. 

Featured positions were purchased by sponsors.  Member gift guides are not affiliated with Momfluence.