Just wanted to send out a huge thank you to Southern Living for naming me Mama Blogger of the Week. If you’re visiting for the first time, thanks for stopping by!

My son’s teacher keeps a “treasure chest” full of inexpensive trinkets in the classroom that the children are allowed to dip into once a week for good behavior. E.B. had a stellar day this past Tuesday and was allowed to choose two items from the treasure chest.

When I picked him up in the carpool line that day he ran out excitedly telling me to look in his backpack. “It’s for you, Mama!”, he said as I pulled out a large plastic pink heart attatched to a pink fabric chain. He couldn’t contain his smile or his pleasure at presenting me with this gift.

Out of all of the great little toys in that treasure chest, he wanted his Mama to have a necklace. He chose a plastic pair of sunglasses for himself as the other choice, but he looked beyond himself to choose something to make his Mama happy. My heart nearly burst from this sweet gesture.

And now? If I am so much caught without wearing it he promptly brings it to me reminding me that I forgot it. Since Tuesday I have even had to sleep with this necklace on (yes, really), wear it to school drop-off and promptly remember to put it back on when I pick him up in the afternoon, nevermind if it completely clashes with the day’s outifit (which is pretty much everyday).

So, if you happen to see me sporting a rather large plastic hot pink glittery heart necklace, just know I am rockin’ this blingin’ necklace as a labor of love…and loving every messed-up look I get from it.

Sometimes I catch our cats doing the strangest things. I have no explanation for this other than it looks like Clyde is doing kitty yoga.

Perhaps your children have already started back to school, but for those still preparing for the big day to arrive, Charlotte Reznick, PhD, has come up with six creative ways to help you help your child ease their fears and anxieties about the upcoming new school year.

1. Teach her to balloon breathe. With her hands around her navel, have her breathe slowly and deeply into her lower belly so it presses into her hands like an inflating balloon. The Balloon Breath has dramatic calming effects and facilitates a waking state of focused concentration and receptivity to positive suggestions. This one tool makes all the other ones easier.

2. Visit his special place. This is a safe private place within your child’s inner world where he can work out problems or take a mini-vacation from stress and worry. He can invite a wise Animal Friend into his special place to talk to and help him, or he can even dig for a treasure box there that contains the antidote to his fear.

3. Draw the fear. Putting an image on paper: (1) makes her fear of separation realer and less frightening than keeping it inside, and (2) makes her fear less likely to grow because there is a concrete picture to work with. Once she has a picture, she can talk to it, find out why it’s trying to scare her, strike a bargain with it, surround it with a soothing color bubble, and so on.

4. Talk to his symptom. When a child suffers from a worry headache or stomachache, these three questions can help eliminate the pain. Have him do deep balloon breathing (diaphragmatic breathing), then ask: (1) What color is it? (2) What shape is it? (3) How heavy is it? After more breaths, ask him again. Continue to breathe and question in rounds. His pain will likely change or disappear. If it doesn’t completely go away, ask the ache what it wants him to know, do, or understand to release any more bits of pain.

5. Picture the future. Artwork is also an effective starting point when you’re working with clear end-goals, like getting a good night’s sleep or reducing a fear. Have your child draw two drawings–how things are now and how she’d like them to be. Hang the picture in her bedroom; this is a great reminder of her desired goal and the first step toward getting there.

6. Encourage drama. For kids whose nature tends toward drama, acting out their worries and troubles is a wonderful way to release them. Let them play it out–with puppets, with their bodies, with anything their imagination suggests. It’s amazing what creative solutions come up when given free reign.

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Charlotte Reznick is a child educational psychologist, an associate clinical professor of psychology at UCLA, and author of a new book, The Power of Your Child’s Imagination: How to Transform Stress and Anxiety into Joy and Success (Perigee, 2009, $14.95)

This is Mommy Cracked reporting to you live from the Cracked House where conditions are rapidly deteriorating. A dust storm has settled over the entire house and the emergency Pledge Dusting team has been called in for reinforcements. A bystander who wishes to remain annonymous reported earlier in the day that one could actually write their name on top of the TV armoire in the dust that had settled.

A tornado also passed through earlier yesterday evening and scattered many toys about the home. It’s rumored that small children (*cough*E.B.*cough*) were involved in this storm also but that no injuries were reported…just a lot of debris (toys) that will have to be cleared away before the cyclone (vacuum) that is on the way arrives.

And lastly, a flash flood also passed through the area via the bathroom where a happy preschooler sloshed water about carelessly last night. We’re hearing reports that only a bathroom rug was drenched and that no major water damage has been reported. This is certainly good news as we hear the homeowner (me) had just about reached her breaking point with the clean-up jobs, as she had no insurance (housekeeper) to turn to to make things right.

Live from the Cracked House, this is Mommy Cracked for the Cracked House Reality Television Network.

The first time we traveled with our son, looking back, was almost comical. We had to take the Pack ‘n Play, crib sheets, the stroller, and a partridge in a pear tree. We were only gone one night and many of the things we thought we had to take were not so necessary. The hotel? Had free cribs available. But how could I be sure those cribs were up to safety standards? Back then, I couldn’t, so we didn’t take our chances. That’s just for starters.

I was recently introduced to BabySafeTravel.com, a website dedicated to making safe travels with your baby a breeze by offering comprehensive ratings (by parents) of hotels based on how safe and sanitary they are for your children. These hotel ratings are not just limited to the United States as the website has ratings for places in Canada, Australia, Europe, and other international destinations.

BabySafeTravel.com also features a Baby Boutique area where items that make traveling with your child easier can be purchased as well a section filled with travel tips to help you make preparations before you start your trip. Popular questions about air travel with children are also answered on the site.

If you’ve traveled this summer or are still making preparations for traveling, stop over at BabySafeTravel and leave your ratings based on your experiences or simply discover how easy it can be to make traveling with your child a more enjoyable experience.

The big Kroger Mega Savings Event is currently underway now through September 2nd and courtesy of General Mills and Pepsico, I was given a $30 Kroger Family of Stores Gift Card to see just how much I could save on my groceries. I do all of my weekly grocery shopping on Friday mornings, so I set out yesterday with my gift card excited about the possibility of some great deals.

If you are not familiar with this promotional offer, here is how it works: when you buy 10 participating brands (see list below) and use your Shopper Card at check out you instantly save $5. And there is no limit on the number of rewards per transaction! Look for the double yellow tags in-store.

Participating brands include: AMP Energy, Aquafina, Betty Crocker Baking Mixes, Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks, Cascadian Farms Cereals and Bars, Cap’n Crunch, Cheerios, Cheetos, Chex Mix, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Dole Juices and Juice Drinks, Fiber One, Fritos, Gatorade, Golden Grahams, Green Giant, Hamburger Helper, Life , Lipton Tea, Nature Valley, Old El Paso, Pepsi family of 2 Liters, Pillsbury, Progresso, Propel, Quaker Instant Oatmeal, Quaker Chewy Bars, Starbucks, Sobe Life Water, Totino’s, Trix, Tropicana, Yoplait and MORE!

I saved over $24 during this shopping trip, which is pretty amazing. I was particularly excited about the following products:

Old El Paso Taco Dinner Kits- 2 for $5. (orgiginally $3.29 each)
Baby Carrots (washed and peeled) – 2 for $3 (originally $1.99 each)
Kroger brand Yogurts 3 for $1
Tyson Frozen Chicken Nuggets-$5.99 a bag

While not every item on my list was included in the sale, the prices were still reasonable or on Kroger Plus Card special, so I feel very pleased overall. And since the Mega Savings Event runs through September 2nd, I know I’ll save again on future trips in the next couple of weeks. Kroger also has some fabulous coupons on their site that you can be added to your shopper’s card before you go to the store and some that can be printed out.

GIVEAWAY: General Mills, MyBlogSpark and Pepsico have generously offered one of my readers a $30 gift card to any Kroger Family of Stores. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment telling me how much you think you could save on your next shopping trip if you won it. I will close comments at 11 PM Central Wednesday, August 26. U.S. residents only.

*Shoppers should also see stores or website for exact dates since the sales dates may vary by area.