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Our Little Goth

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Baby Dracula
Our 2 year old boy is a mini goth. The strange thing is that our son looks absolutely angelic with a mop of light brown curls, milky skin, rosy round cheeks and a rosebud mouth – so it’s become somewhat of an ironic family joke.

His first word was “mask” – referring to the small collection of Balinese and Sri Lankan masks in my husband’s office, which I think terrified and fascinated him all at once. He’d always point at them and want to be carried up for a closer view, only to cling to us in terror (mock?) after he got a good look. Not one for Sesame Street, Barney or Thomas (unlike his 2 elder siblings) His went straight from Baby Einstein to Nightmare Before Christmas. Corpse Bride, Coraline…he just loves Tim Burton’s works, and can you guess what his all-time favorite song is? Not “The Wheels on the Bus” or “If You’re Happy and You Know it”…..but “Monster Mash”. Click here for his favourite version: Monster Mash. In fact, if he sees me on my laptop, he’ll crawl on my lap and say “watch Monster Mash” until I stop whatever I’m doing and log on to YouTube.

So you can imagine that Halloween came early to our house this year. The sheer delight on his face was precious as we unpacked our boxes of Halloween decorations and he pretty much took charge (directing his 8 and 5 year old siblings of course) of placing every pumpkin, ghoul or ghost in choice locations in and outside the house. “Its Halloween! Its Halloween!” he says excitedly every morning when he comes out of his bedroom and looks at our spider-webbed stairway and tall witch on the landing.

He’s also quite firmly told me that his costume is NOT going to be the Cat and the Hat his elder siblings both wore at his age. “I be Dracula, Mom”. Oh, and he has also demanded for his choice of Halloween cake several times a day, telling both me and his Daddy ” I want Dracula Cake”. It’s hard to say no with that angelic little face and his naturally affectionate disposition. So tonight, as I tucked him into bed (Jack Skellington stuffed toy in his arms), I just couldn’t resist but whisper that Mommy would indeed get him that Dracula cake for Halloween. Help!

Photo via nicandres

Originally posted on October 7, 2010 @ 1:58 pm

Green Mommy Loves Green Baby Contest

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Green Mommy Green Baby
Green Mommy Green Baby

I’m a review-nut. Well, I don’t know if that’s the right term, but what I mean to say is that before I go on a trip, buy a product, eat in a restaurant or see a film or show, I almost ALWAYS read the reviews FIRST. That little extra time spent on Trip Advisor for example, has made our recent family trips hugely successful – gone are the days where my husband and I would end up in places which were nothing like the “brochure” promised!

When it comes to things for my family, I tend to be even more careful, especially with the kids and baby Wills. Obviously, I’ve jumped on the “Green Bandwagon” so to speak, and support anything green for the family. So it was great finding a community like the Green Home Huddle, a place where you can read and give reviews for loads of eco-friendly products.

Right now, they have a great contest going, sweetly entitled Green Mommy Loves Green Baby where you can win some fantastic baby and Mommy care products – all of which are natural and organic of course! All you have to do is review products that you already use (or want to use), which I consider the fun part (is it obvious that I like giving my opinion?), and hey presto, you’re in the running.

Good luck!

Originally posted on December 3, 2008 @ 9:27 am

Blossom For Teens

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teen makeup
I do not have a teenager girl – yet – but I am sure that some of our readers do. I am actually a little bit anxious about having a teenager daughter as I can still recall clearly the headaches that I gave my mother when I was that age – literally. Yet I do believe that it could be a great time to create stronger bonds between mother and daughter, especially since the daughter is starting to come into her womanhood.

One of the ways by which mother and daughter can bond is by engaging in activities that relate to beauty and fashion. This is particularly true if mother and daughter have the same interests in regard to this topic. We received an e-mail from one of our readers who works for Blossom4Girls, a web site that offers a line of skin care products for teenagers.

I like their mission statement:

At Blossom we feel that girls should not ‘make up’ their face, but should care for their face. By using only natural, pure and gentle ingredients, Blossom is formulated to work with the delicate needs of blooming skin. With four unique collections, for skin, hair, bath and body, every product is personalized to work with a variety of complexions.

I have never tried their products but from their description, I think that it may be a good idea to check them out. They also currently have a contest:

To celebrate the beginning of summer vacation and school letting out, Blossom will be throwing a slumber party for one lucky winner and her friends. The slumber party attendees will receive a Pizza Hut gift certificate, Blockbuster gift
certificate and spa products from Blossom including Pure-Fection Cleanser, Get
Real Facial Mask, All Star SPF 30 and Sugar Bomb Body Mist. Tweens interested in entering the contest can visit http://www.blossom4girls.com/FunStuff/Contest.

Originally posted on May 16, 2008 @ 7:45 am

Best Mom Blog Nomination

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Mom
I got an e-mail the other day from Vanessa Van Petten of Teens Today With Vanessa Van Petten. As I was reading the e-mail, I felt like a little kid – I wanted to clap my hands together and do a bit of a jump while I was at it. (Ok, fine, I did clap my hands once.) Here is what she had to say:

I just wanted to write and let you know that your blog has been submitted to my
contest for the “Best Mom Blog!”

Hooray! I actually have already been reading your blog and love it, and have been RSSing for a few months so I am happy to add you to the list.

I wanted you to be aware that (I hope) you will be getting some more traffic from my site as I post the Top 50. I am actually 22 and write a parenting blog from the kids perspective to keep things exciting as a sort of expose on our generation of teens.

Hooray, indeed! I am glad that there are teens like Vanessa and that she sees the value in good parenting and communication between parents and children! Now let’s cross our fingers and hope that we win this one. Even if we don’t, the nomination is reason enough to celebrate, don’t you think?

Originally posted on March 5, 2008 @ 11:49 pm