Drive Thru Negotiations

Posted on by Mandy

It starts about 4 car lengths back.

ME: “E.B., do you want the Spiderman Happy Meal toy or The Littlest Pet Shop toy?”
E.B.: “Ummm…..Batman! Batman, Mama!”

ME: “That’s not one of the choices…it’s either Spiderman or The Littlest Pet Shop.”

E.B.: “Ummm…ok, Spidaman, Mama. Spidaman”.

Good. That’s settled. I smugly give myself a high five for remembering to ask before we are at the window and having to go through all of that at the order box. Then we wait to get to the first window. And we wait. And wait some more.

EB: “Mama, are we never gonna see Spidaman?”

ME: “Yes baby….we’re just having to wait. They must be plucking the chickens for your nuggets.” (Oh ok, I didn’t really say that last part….but I was thinking it.)

We finally get to the first window and then the second. We have food. We have Spidaman. We have a peaceful car. I fish out the Happy Meal toy and break open the plastic and hand it back to E.B.

EB: “Mama? Dis not Spidaman….dis not the red Spidaman! I WANT DA RED SPIDAMAN!!!!!!”

Sure enough, E.B. has an all black Swinging Spiderman, whatever the heck that is. He’s in hysterics and all I can do is roll my eyes heavenward and drive on.

I’m currently launching a Twitter campaign against Marvel Comics because Spiderman is supposed to be RED. I’m figuring if all of us moms unite just as they did against Motrin, we can save the sanity of driving moms who are too lazy to cook everywhere. Won’t you join me?

(And for anyone who doesn’t get my sarcasm, I am so kidding, people. Sort of.)

Burnout

Posted on by Mandy

Yesterday I posted a poll here on my blog. Lately I have been feeling very overwhelmed with blogging in general and have finally realized that I must let some things go in order to stop feeling so burned out. While I am NOT letting this blog go, there may be a few days between posts. I can no longer keep up with the 245 blogs in my feedreader and I can no longer review every product pitched to me through a PR rep. I do have a few more reviews to complete, but once these are done I will not be overextending myself to do more than I personally want to at a time.

My introduction to blogging a couple of years ago was simple. I read blogs I truly loved and appreciated for their content. Back then there were maybe a couple of major product review blogs (as opposed to the thousands you can find today) and being contacted by a PR rep wasn’t even in my blogging vocabulary. I could keep up with every blog I read because there were just a handful I loved and they were in my blogroll on my sidebar and I had no clue what a feedreader was. Blogging was deliciously simplistic, and I miss that.

I had no big plans when I first started blogging. I just knew wanted to write as well as those bloggers I admired. Not write exactly like them, but to have my content respected as much as theirs. Then there seemed to be a big push for advertising on blogs and link swapping was replaced with ads and I fell into that. We could make money from our blogs! We’d all be rich! And while I have made money from blogging, it is far from making me rich and being able to quit my day job. Then along came product reviews and I overextended myself even further. Quite simply, the effort to “market and brand” my blog just isn’t there for me. I don’t have time to “find my blogging tribe” and for all these many buzz words being pitched around in the mom blogosphere. I feel like my readers are my tribe, if anyone. It’s very humbling that people actually care enough to come in here and read on a daily basis and suddenly, this is enough. And it should have been enough from the very begining.

And also? The weather has been fantastic. I want to be outside playing with my son. I want to be taking walks with him and planting this garden he keeps talking about. There’s a bathroom that needs painting, a husband that will soon be on vacation, and books to be read. And I can’t enjoy all of those things sitting in front of a computer screen.

To sum it all up, I just want to read blogs for pleasure and I just want to write in mine when I have something to say.

Bella Sara Miniatures & Treasures Review and Giveaway

Posted on by Mandy

GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!!!
Bella Sara, the leading trading card ever created for girls has 2 new and exciting card products debuting this month. The Bella Sara Series 1 Collection features an actual velvety soft figurine perfect for collecting, displaying, or trading. This pack also features a random bonus code redeemable online and a full color checklist. It retails for $1.99 and is now available in stores.


The second exciting new product from Bella Sara is Bella Sara Treasures, the eighth series in the card line that retails for $2.99 and is now available. Trasures bring an exciting new element to the Bella Sara website with more printable activities including bonus codes, coloring pages, wallpapers, a poster, and jigsaw puzzles. And now through April 30, Bella Sara is offering kids the chance to win an exciting Treasure Hunt Party of their own! Be sure to visit the site and get full details on entering.

So, if you read here often you know I don’t have a little girl at home to share these with, but E.B. and I opened up a pack and checked them out. He was thrilled with the tiny horse figurine and thought the checklist was a game board. We had the little Bella Sara horse playing a “game” for quite a while. He was definitely more thrilled with the horse than the trading cards, but he’s a 4 year old boy, so I can’t begrudge him that preference, right?




In any case, the cards and figurine are just super cute and I know these would make little girls very happy. I have one pack of each of the Bella Sara Miniatures Series 1 and Bella Sara Treasures to give away to one lucky reader. To enter, just leave me a comment telling me what child in your life would love these. If you’re a Mommy Cracked subscriber OR you subscribe to my blog after reading this (just click the first orange button under the “Networking” section), you can let me know in the comment and you will receive an additional extra entry. U.S. only. This giveaway will end Thursday, March 12 at 11 PM Central.

GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!

Some Snow

Posted on by Mandy


We woke up Sunday morning to a light dusting of snow. We’re always excited to see snow down here in Mississippi so we gladly take what we can get, even though this time it was a little disappointing that so little fell.

E.B. was thrilled to be able to pull on his frog boots and stomp around a little while.

Even the top to his turtle sandbox looked like a little igloo all covered up.

It had all melted off by noon, but we did manage to get a little playing time in. Which made for good napping that afternoon.

Preacher Creature Strikes On Sunday- Review and Giveaway

Posted on by Mandy

GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!
Have you ever wondered what goes on in a child’s mind while sitting in “big church”? Can you remember your first experiences in church as a child…the big words, the songs, the way the sermon seemed to go on forever?

Mike Thaler, popular children’s author of the Black Lagoon Series, has come out with a fantastic and humorous new book for children about first experiences in church. Preacher Creature Strikes On Sunday is one of the first in Thaler’s new Tales From The Back Pew series. Children will love the funny illustrations and story and parents and adults will appreciate the way each page opens up a dialogue for answering the questions children have about church.

I have a copy of this fantastic new book to give away to one lucky reader! Just leave a comment in the comment section below and if you’d like to tell me a funny church service story, I’m all ears! If you click the subscribe button (the first orange button under the “networking” section) and subscribe in a reader OR if you are already a subscriber, let me know and you’ll get an extra entry! Giveaway will close on Friday, March 6 at 11 PM Central. U.S. only.
GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!

Get Your Foot In The Door With PR Reps

Posted on by Mandy

Do you ever wonder how some blogs always seem to have great product reviews going and wonder how they get noticed? Blogging has evolved in such a way that companies value YOUR opinion as a blogger and social media has become such a huge player as a way of getting the word out on new products and services.

One website that has been such a help to me as a blogger is MomDot and Trisha, an admin at the site, has compiled a list where bloggers can sign up. This list is distributed to public relations companies when requested by them and it’s just one of the many great ways to get your blog noticed.

Ready to sign up? Click here to get started.

Pretty Pink Sparkly Crap

Posted on by Mandy


Since starting preschool, E.B. has come home with birthday party invitations galore and the fact that my child has a more exciting social life than I do never fails to crack me up. We’re carting out the birthday gifts to parties at least twice a month, and as fun as that is for E.B., it causes his mom some major anxiety in the toy aisle while searching for just the right gift for him to take. Take this morning, for example. The party we are going to is for a little girl. I know nothing in the world about what little 4 year old girls like. I’m outnumbered in my home and only ever babysat and took care of little boys. I stop cold when I see pink and froo-froo. It’s such a foreign concept to me. If it’s not Thomas trains I pretty much draw a blank.

So I ponder while I scan the massive amounts of pink and sparkly stuff laid out in front of me. Dolls? Polly Pockets? Barbie? Hannah Montana? I’m half resigned to just go for the old standby (books), but try to remember what it was like growing up and being so excited over ALL THE NEW TOYS when I had a birthday party.

Then I begin to over analyze the situation. What if this child’s mom doesn’t want her to have anything Barbie because Barbie just clearly represents everything oppressive to women in modern day society? What if Mom doesn’t allow Disney Princesses in the home? Will the child choke on Polly’s tiny microscopic parts if she gets an uncontrollable urge to put a piece of it in her mouth? And the biggie…WHAT IF SHE ALREADY HAS ONE OF THESE?

I finally settled on a plastic pink Disney Princess lapdesk that comes with crayons and all manner of creative drawing materials. Not too many loose parts, she can be creative, and best of all….everything fits inside the pretty pink plastic lapdesk! It’s perfect! She will love it!

I think.

What if someone gets her one just like it? What if….what if….what if….