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Sh!t, I just cursed in front of the kids AGAIN

July 14, 2010 by

Eligible for a Best Parenting Award I am NOT. For as long as I can remember I have been a cursing fool. Unfortunately I don’t tame it down as well as I should in front of the kids. I recently watched a webisode from Evenflo’s “Are You a Savvy Parent” series titled “How to Recover from a Potty Mouth moment”. I thought it was hysterical and a true representation of how Rob and I parent and occasionally screw up at it.

We always think the kids aren’t listening especially in the car. With the distractions of the DVD player, handheld games, iPods, music and more Rob and I think we can just chat about whatever we want. I usually comes back to bite up is the rear when Shaun speaks up with “What does #@$* mean?”
“Um, nothing!” “That’s not what we said.” “Dad and I were talking about something else.” “Mind your business.” “Watch your movie or I’m turning it off.” Pick any of those phrases, that’s usually how we respond.

With Sabreena we discuss anything and everything. With Shaun we try to explain some things so he can mildly understand but also let him know that it isn’t to be repeated. Shae is a monkey and will do and say anything Rob does, she’s at the mimic Daddy cursing stage. We hide our giggle, let her say it once or twice then say that’s enough, it’s a bad word, don’t say it anymore.

When you are caught in a potty mouth moment how do you recover? What topics are off limits when the kids are within earshot or even in the same house? How do you explain to your kids that just because they hear certain words or discussions they aren’t to be repeated?

Evenflo has just released the Momentum 65 DLX Convertible Car Seat, with features that help make safety, installation and use as easy as possible for parents. Evenflo andJuiceBoxJungle sponsored me to write this post.




All I want is 10 minutes!

June 10, 2010 by

How many times has that been yelled through a bathroom door, while leafing through a magazine, on a phone call or catching up on a fave show? Parents are always on the move whether in the office or at home; due-dates looming, kids rough-housing, phones ringing, dinner cooking, dirty floors, laundry piling up or in our case a whole house that needs to be packed. We all need to carve out some time for ourselves. We all need a recharge, a moment of reflection, a reality check.

But is 10 minutes really enough? What can you do with 10 minutes?

  • Take a shower
  • Paint your nails
  • Watch a sunset/sunrise
  • Snap some nature photos in the yard
  • Peruse through old baby photos
  • Read a newspaper/internet article you bookmarked a week ago
  • Make haircut, dentist, doctor, massage and pedicure appointments.

How do you get your “me” time? Do you and your partner get equal “me” time? I’m lucky; Shae takes a great nap each day where I get about 1-2 hours of quiet time. Maybe it’s not all “me” time but it’s relaxed so I can fold laundry, prep dinner or watch a show without interruption. I use this time each day differently but I love every minute of it!




Always have a video camera handy

May 8, 2010 by

With 3 kids there is something monumental going on at all times. It could be Sabreena cutting her own hair because it’s not looking the way it should, Shaun flying over the handlebars of his bike because his brakes failed or Shae drinking toilet water saying, “Mmmm good soup”. Unless we are armed with a video camera at all times we will miss a lot of things.

One thing we did miss recently was Shae completely being a toddler. Rob and I were away for a few hours and my parents were watching the children. Shaun and Shae were in the TV room; Shae has her back to Shaun, he doesn’t pay much attention to her anyway so she goes along doing what she was doing.
She goes up to show Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop her pretty new nails. She has painted them black with a giant permanent marker, skin and all. They panic, wash her up and then wonder where she got a marker. The utility room door is open, there is marker on the green leather sofa and on Shae’ s pants. The bulk of the ink washed off in the bath, by the next day there was just a faint reminder of her lovely artwork.

It doesn’t matter where kids are, home, friends, school or with the trusty grandparents kids WILL do something that is video camera worthy to be shared with EVERYONE and cherished for years to come, as well as used as embarrassing moments for their teen years.

The opinions and descriptions presented belong solely to LookWhatMomFound…and Dad too! Canon has released the PowerShot SX210 IS, which combines the ability to take great photos & also shoot high definition video. Canon and JuiceBoxJungle sponsored me to write this post, and talk about what shooting video means to my family Your experiences and reactions may differ from ours.




My Perfect Mother’s Day would be……

April 28, 2010 by

lying on a chaise lounge watching the kids frolic in the sand and surf with a fruity drink in my hand

In a perfect world my perfect Mother’s Day would be a surprise trip to Hawaii for 2 weeks where our plans consisted of pure indulgent laziness with an occasional excursion and massage thrown in. This dream is free of time commitments and financial burden so I’m free to imagine anything I want.

In reality I expect breakfast and a day of hanging around the house, maybe some yard work, flowers and handmade cards. Not a complaint from me at all. This is my life, the life I choose, the life I wouldn’t trade.

I’m a mom, I don’t know anything else. I have friends and family and the blog and other hobbies but mommyhood comes first. If given the chance to give it all up and do something else without any guilt I wouldn’t. What else is there? I suppose I could answer with securing a promising career or traveling the world first but without my babies what is the point.

I’m not the best mom in the world hell sometimes I’m not the best mom I could be but I embrace it completely and don’t regret a single moment, a single decision and single tear or a single gray hair.




Hi, my name is Melinda and I’m a Blackberry addict

February 10, 2010 by

I’m addicted to my crackberry….er, Blackberry. I love having immediate access to email, internet, calendars, Twitter and even Facebook. My Blackberry is my lifeline to the world around me. No more trying to juggle who has a dentist appointment, what time the soccer game is and whose birthday is coming up. I’m able to adjust my calendar online and the reminders will be emailed to Rob too. This helps immensely in situations like if I forget to “tell” Rob about Sabreena staying after school next Thursday for National Junior Honor Society. Even down to our blog post scheduling, I can send him notes or alerts for when I would like to schedule something to go up.

We have Blackberrys because we are on the Verizon network and as much as an iPhone sounds appealing with their many many apps I can’t bear to leave the reliability of Verizon. We have little to no dropped calls and I can make calls from inside my home, at the park, inside the mall and library and just about anywhere we go. Smart phones like the Blackberry are a great tool for everyone on the go. Parents who are over scheduled, business people who have a full calendar and bloggers who need to keep track of important relationships all benefit from the organizational advantages that smartphones offer.

Verizon and JuiceBoxJungle sponsored me to write this post, and they asked me to talk about the ways my smart phone affects my life as a parent.




Here’s $100, What Are You Going To Do With It?

February 2, 2010 by

My first thought is always something indulgent like a massage or pedicure or new clothes but then I look around at the rugrats and realize they come first. If I was handed $100 next month it would definitely go towards Sabreena’s trip to NYC. You see, her chorus was invited to sing in NYC over a 3 day event but the cost is $400 per student. She was able to do some fundraising but let’s be serious people aren’t as generous these days as they once were. I really want Sabreena to go, she’s excited about it and it’s great opportunity and achievement for this class to be invited.  I really want her to go and am trying my best to get her there and and extra Benjamin would do the trick!

Maybe it’s the mom in me but anything “extra” whether it’s money or a slice of pizza will end up going to someone else besides me. That’s not saying I don’t think I deserve it but I wouldn’t want someone else going without because I wanted more.

What would you do with an extra $100 next month? Would you splurge on yourself or invest in something practical or just add to bank account for things like bills?

Kodak and JuiceBoxJungle sponsored me to write this fun post, about what I’d do with a surprise extra $100 if someone handed it to me next month. The opinion is mine but I was compensated for sharing it with my readers.