Tonight E.B. and I helped my aunt celebrate her birthday with a small gathering at her home. My aunt never married and she and my grandmother played a very key part in my upbringing. I spent everyday after school at their house, including summers when school was out. One of my very best friends lived next door and she and I spent many, many days playing around in their yard.

My favorite part of their yard was the tree I climbed nearly everyday, which had a branch that curved just so that it made a perfect sitting place without worry of falling out. It also had a branch that jutted straight out from one side that was perfect for swinging from. I climbed a lot of trees during my childhood, but that tree was the best. I even decorated it’s branches with pretty drawings with my crayons. My grandmother never got onto me about it, either.

In the backyard sat an awesome old grill which really resembled a short chimney. My friends and I pretended to cook on it and it even made a terrific spot sometimes for hide and go seek. Across the yard from the grill and down a small slope was a storm drain. We took great enjoyment in poking sticks down inside it and pretending to fish in it. There was also a tall tree near the fence in the backyard where my grandmother left table scraps for the stray cats I never saw.

After eating our cake and ice cream, E.B. was showing signs of meltdown so I took him for a walk outside around the yard. He loved the old brick “chimney grill”, he gravitated without prompting to the storm drain, and we even saw that elusive stray cat, although I know it’s not the same one from when I was a child.

My grandmother passed when I was 13 and the tree I spent so many hours decorating with my crayons is gone, but this walk with E.B. around her yard was a wonderful small trip back to my childhood, and one I felt proud to share with my son. It was a reminder that the very simplest things in life once made me so very happy and I wish that for him, too.

E.B.: “Hey Mama, why did dat man crash his car? Hey, Mama, Are we goin’ to da shoparama today? I want to buy some toys and you can go play golf with Pawpaw when you be good and Hey, Mama, we take a nap at school and I want a Lunchable because that’s what Riley has at school and you take a nap after lunch and Hey, Mama, you picked me up at carpool and why did it rain today and why we cant go out on the playground because it’s wet and you might get hurt and look, look at my boo-boo I fell down and I cried and Hey, Mama,……..”

This is a 4 year old thing, right? Right? Because my child….the child that is in speech therapy, the child who was a late talker, is talking my ears off! We’ve recently had a language explosion (Praise God!) and he hasn’t stopped to take a deep breath since. He talks from the minute we get up until he literally talks himself to sleep. It’s funny and exhausting all at the same time.

So, Hey Mama’s….can you relate? This is totally 4 year old little boy normal, right? Right?

Hello Internets,

It’s been almost 2 weeks since the Cracked House was graced with my presence. I immediately made the master’s bedroom my own private little getaway and have informed them that no, I most certainly will not be coming out of said bedroom (unless that big white male cat thing they call my brother…what was his name again? Cletus? Clumsy? Oh yes, Clyde! That’s it!) is outside. Therefore, all of my meals must be served in my private chambers.

I have also let it be known (by having an “oops”, of course) that I will most certainly not under any circumstances be sharing a litter box with that big white cat. I mean, let’s face it ladies…men are not the sharpest crayon in the box when it comes to bathroom cleanliness, am I right? Can I get a “meow”?

And as for that big white cat that these humans call my new brother…

Have you ever seen such a big lump of laziness? I mean, I know I stay under the bed all the live long day, but I’m doing important stuff under there…not yawning and sleeping. Anyway, I let him know straight-up when he’s getting too close to me by hissing and giving what I call “the growl”. He acts all big and stuff, but he’s learning that I am NOT here to play. I’m all about business…being aloof and looking pretty on this queen size bed that I let the humans sleep on at night. They just think it’s their bed.

So yes, I’m adjusting quite well in case you were wondering, and am taking much joy in seeing my owner scramble about to make me feel like a part of the family.

It’s good to be queen.

Love,
Pearl

Back-to-school time has already arrived for many of our families and as a parent I try to give my child the best start to the new school year as possible. There are supplies to purchase, forms to fill out, and lots of “talking it up” beforehand to prepare for this time.

There is now a new website geared toward moms to give you all the tools you’ll need to help make the school year as successful as possible for your child. From videos to tips and articles, Mom’s Homeroom (sponsored by Frosted Mini Wheats and MSN) is filled with great information.

I enjoyed the articles section the most, which included a plethora of informative articles featuring academic subjects such as reading and writing, but also focused on the whole well-being of the child by also including articles about attentiveness and giving back, just to name a few. Some of those lessons are sadly lost in the fast pace of teaching core objectives on a daily basis and I think it’s still important for those concepts to be taught to children.

Mom’s Homeroom also features quizzes to test your own knowledge of academics and other fun topics such as back-to-school fashion and the site also has an online community message board so that you can interract with other moms. It reminded me of an online recess!

Mom’s Homeroom is a very useful site in my opinion and I encourage you to check it out for yourself and see how the site can make the back-to-school process a little more fun this year.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Kellogg’s Frosted Mini-Wheats and received a sample to facilitate my candid review. In addition, Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate

One thing I quickly learned when I was dignosed with diabetes is that a diabetic not only has to watch their sugar intake but they must also cut back on carbs because carbs are processed by the body into sugar. Needless to say, cutting back on carbs and sugar is tough because most of the time it can mean compromising the taste of your food.

Atkins has introduced their new Cuisine line which includes some amazing products like Penne Pasta (just add your favorite sauce) and an All Purpose Baking Mix that can be used for breads, pancakes, biscuits, muffins and even cookies.
We all know that breads and pasta are the biggest carb culprits. Thanks to Atkins, they no longer have to be an off-limits food for those who have to be carb conscious.

Atkins is also sponsoring the Atkins Cuisine Recipe Contest with fabulous prizes in six categories awarded for the most creative recipes using the Atkins Cuisine product line.

If you have to watch carbs for diet or health reasons or you’re just looking to make better eating choices, consider giving the Atkins Cuisine products a try.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Atkins and received samples to facilitate my candid review. In addition, Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.

My son loves watching DVDs. His attention span for watching them isn’t very long at this age (which is totally healthy and normal), but we finally found the perfect set of educational DVDs that he enjoys watching and captures his attention while encouraging him to be an active participant and not just a couch potatoe.

We were recently given a copy of Rock ‘N Learns Getting Ready for Kindergarten DVD to try. With so many, many cartoon characters out there vying for our child’s attention, I really didn’t expect him to gravitate to the DVD quite like he has. He loves singing along with the songs AND he is learning some great basic self-care skills like dressing himself, tying shoelaces, and so much more. We watch this just about every morning before he sets off to preschool and we definitely plan on purchasing him more DVDs from this collection for Christmas.

Rock ‘n Learn has generously provided an extra copy of this DVD (Getting Ready for Kindergarten) as a giveaway to one lucky Mommy Cracked reader! To enter, just visit Rock ‘N Learn and leave a comment on this post telling me what other DVD you might be interested in. I’ll close comments on Friday, September 19 at 11 PM Central. U.S. Only.

Click here for more info.

I have to confess the most “not fun” part of my day is removing my makeup. I was recently given the opportunity to try Ponds Wet Cleansing Towelettes.

From Ponds:

POND’S Wet Cleansing Towelettes, the No. 1 brand of wet cleansing towelettes, gently remove make-up and even waterproof mascara. Clinical studies have shown that Pond’s towelettes remove the make-up that other brands leave behind – taking off up to 40 percent more than other leading towelettes.

Available in three varieties, they are ophthalmologist and dermatologist tested for a gentle face cleansing experience.

The Verdict:

Likes- I loved how simple and easy these were to use. These could definitely help with the mascara stains on my white washcloths! These cloths are much more gentle than my regular washcloth and seemed to cut the cleansing process time by almost half.

Dislikes- For some reason the towelettes did not agree well with my sensitive eye area. I wear contacts and have to be extremely careful about washing around my eyes and the towelettes just suds up too much for eye makeup removal.

I normally use Pond’s Deep Clenser and Makeup Removal in the jar, so I will most likely continue to do so. However, the towelettes would do in a pinch for me, so I was pleased with them otherwise.

Click here for more info.