And the winner is! The Knapp Family!! Congratulations!

There’s nothing placing a Christmas Wreath on your front door to get you into the spirit of giving that front door a fresh coat of paint — or maybe even a new color.

Home Depot introduced me to a new paint by Glidden,  Glidden Trim & Door, which is an industry-first paint that is specifically formulated for interior and exterior trim, doors, cabinetry and more, and amazingly leaves behind no drips or brush marks.

This paint has exceptional high gloss, no brush mark finish, that yields highly reflective surfaces that will help Christmas lights shine brighter and holiday accents stand out. As wreaths adorn doors, stockings hang above fireplaces, and lights decorate the interior and exterior of the home, Glidden Trim & Door provides a unique way to decorate for the holiday season.

Enter to win your own Home Depot $20 gift card by telling me what new color you would paint your front door.

How to Enter: Leave a comment with telling me what color you would paint your front door, if you were going to change it.

Earn Extra Entries – valid only after completing first mandatory entry. Leave a separate comment for each you do, please.

Write a post linking this post on your own blog.

Follow AND Susiej on Twitter and tweet this giveaway. Leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post. You may do this every day, just leave a link in the comments when you do.

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Share this post on your Facebook or comment on our Facebook wall  and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post.  You may do this every day, just leave a link in the comments when you do.

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Giveaway ends December 24, midnight PST. Open to US residents only.

This giveaway is open to US Residents.

Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.

You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

Busy little boys carry that hint of the fresh outdoors, mingled with the fresh, sweet smell of dirt. Then, there comes that inevitable day, when the sweet smell is overpowered by something much more omnipotent and sour smelling. Almost overnight, your little boy will take on the odor of a gym locker. With my first son, I found myself denying this first harbinger of puberty, by telling myself that my washing machine must need bleaching… or maybe it was simply time to switch laundry detergents.

While we can read books, and visit websites to find the proper words, the timing, and tact to use when telling our kids, that they basically “stink” – the truth is, we, as parents, need to get ourselves ready, emotionally, for the fact that our baby is just not a baby anymore. Before I could approach this subject with my child, I needed to get my heart and head wrapped around the fact I was now a mother of a teenager.

The second step, was to get my facts straight. How can I broach this subject without hurting my son’s feelings? What is the difference between antiperspirant, and deodorant? Is one harmful? Really? Can he get Alzheimer’s from the products I’m buying? To answer these questions, Unilever’s Don’t Fret The Sweat campaign has created an educational resource, with a panel of experts, accessible through their Facebook page, DontFretTheSweat, to not only answer our questions, but give us some tools that can help turn this into an opportunity to build confidence within our kids.

Unilever is ideally suited to arm us with the facts we’ll need to teach our kids about sweat. They are the leading manufacturer of deodorant and antiperspirants and maker of Degree®

Men, Degree® Women, Degree® Girl, Dove® and Suave®. The Don’t Fret The Sweat campaign’s mission is to ensure that parents and kids remain cool, calm and confident throughout the day – especially during life’s sweat-inducingmoments – like talking to your tween about Body Odor.

My husband is the one who eventually had the talk with our son – but together, our overriding concern was, how can we keep from hurting his self-esteem during this talk? Fortunately, peer pressure overrode all of our concerns. The boys in the class were already talking about their new deodorants. Suddenly, bottles of deodorants and brands became the latest “share” on the school yard. By then, my other “little boys” were asking when they could have their own deodorants. The turf wars over deodorant had started … brothers were stealing bottles off their dresser shelves and claiming them for their own. Suddenly, everyone in the house wanted to have a smell! The label, Degree® Men carried a lot of clout with my boys – I’m not a little boy anymore, Mom.

What my husband and I originally thought was going to turn out to be a sticky situation, actually turned out to be just one more “fun new discovery” for the kids. These are the kinds of stories real parents are sharing about the transition between tweens into self-reliant teens that you can find at Don’t Fret The Sweat’s Facebook page.

If you can remember that day when the sweet-smelling child of yours turned sour smelling – or if you’re dreading the day, share your story in the comments below. I’ll be giving away a $100 Visa gift card and a Don’t Fret The Sweat gift pack.

There are more chances to win. Visit the BlogHer Prizes & Promotions section. Please visit the Official Rules. Contest runs from 10/4–11/4/11.

Rules

• No duplicate comments.
• You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
• a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
• b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
• c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
• d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
• This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older
• Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.
• You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

I send my kid to fetch anything I need that is located on a different floor than the one I’m standing on. They’re young, right? They have all that energy, right? They do… yes they do… but spending energy, like money, makes energy. And I need more energy. Who doesn’t? Now, come to think of it, it burns far more calories to go up and down the stairs than it does to get sit and wait for it to be delivered, right? (Well, honestly, I don’t sit and wait for my kid to deliver me something – I’m productive… I get busy doing something else.) Stairs are a great way to keep the legs in shape…so, essentially, I have this entire gym at my disposal in my house, and I’m not even using it.

Such is the awareness that comes from joining the Degree Women “Get Into the Move” application on Facebook (facebook.com/degreewomen) Degree gives you points when you earn motionMILES, virtual currency redeemable towards chances to win thousands of prizes. These motionMILES are earned for various ways women move. Eligible activities include going to the gym, gardening, walking instead of driving to the store. Once earned, fans can use motionMILES for a shot at winning instant prizes by spinning the prize wheel or by entering weekly and grand prize sweepstakes.

Gone, also is my excuse that I just showered, and “I don’t want to break a sweat.” Degree with motionSENSE™ , is a new anti-perspirant & deodorant formula that I’m using that is activated directly by movement, not moisture, to help me stay ahead of perspiration. So, to avoid sounding like a cliché, Degree with motionSENSE™ is keeping me “fresh all day long.”

This is why, I decided to head out for a run in the afternoon… even after my shower. It was really, just a quick jog… but nevertheless, I moved. A storm knocked out our wifi at the lake, so I was unable to log my motionMILES directly into my account. Instead, I kept a log of my activities to enter

when I returned back home. Imagine my disappointment when I learned that you could only enter 3 activities per day… this means there are motionMILES I will never be able to enter. Yet, they are still calories burned.

If you haven’t joined the Get Into the Move” challenge on Facebook (facebook.com/degreewomen), you can sign up here. You’ll be able to earn points to win prizes like a surfing trip in Hawaii, designer shoes, gift certificates for Zumba classes and much more. Fans can also choose to donate motionMILES in a dollar amount to one of two charities: The Challenged Athletes Foundation and Girls in The Game. For more information, “Like” the Degree Women Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/DegreeWomen.
Win another chance to win a $ a $100 Visa Gift card by letting me know in the comments below, what kinds of activities you’ll be doing to participate in the “Get Into the Move Challenge.” Your comment will automatically enter you for a chance to win a $100 Visa Gift card until 7/19-8/15/2011: 5pm PST. There are more chances to win. Check out the BlogHer Round Up page here to enter.

Contest Rules:
· No duplicate comments.
· You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry
· methods:
· a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
· b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment
· on this post
· c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on
· this post
· d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about
· an alternate form of entry.
· This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older
· Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.
· You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be
· selected.
For the official rules, click here.

I’ve always been hesitant to sign my boys up for email addresses for fear of having one more thing to monitor in their lives. There’s been enough news about cyber bullying to make me “just say no” to kid email accounts. Yet, the boys do need email accounts for school, as their teachers use them to send homework details, for library cards, and there are a few friend who are already beginning to want to exchange messages. Instead, we use a family email account, so that I can filter all incoming mail. But this is becoming problematic too – now our inbox in inundated with junk, and list serves for everything that comes through the school.

Mouse Mail may be the answer I’m looking for. Mouse Mail is a free on-line web-filtering tool that allows kids to set up their own profiles (took them forever to pick out their very own profile picture) and email accounts that is automatically filtered for inappropriate content. I’m not sure how Mouse Mail is set up, but I was a bit disappointed when one of my son’s first name’s was already taken…I guess adding birth dates as suffixes to the name is another option.

The entire site headlines are written in a kid friendly font, and Mouse Mail gives your child the option from choosing and changing his own wall paper – or themes. (Forest Friends is my favorite, by the way.)

Mouse Mail also gives kids the ability to send me a text message from their own Mouse Mail account, via the computer, directly to my phone. While the text messaging feature can be sent to any phone, your child can only send a message to a parent-approved contact.

Once your child logs in, they are presented with a new kid-trivia question… state capitals, math, and geography are the topics. If they answer the question correctly, they can earn points. I’m not too keen on the points… I’ve never liked reward systems. Still, my son finds it rewarding enough to know how many lines of symmetry a square has. Thanks for asking…

Now, for the fun part. There are games! Approved games. Games that won’t end up locking up your computer with some kind of weird viruses. Games the kids really can’t wait to play, such as Dumbolf, Whack a Bully, and Flying Egg. All pre-approved and filtered by Mouse Mail.

Along with the email account, there is a calendar that allows the kids to enter their own sports schedules, and homework deadlines… and even a place for us, the parents, to enter chores that must be completed… before they sit down to play their game. Plus, this is the fun part – I can surprise them here by including a surprise lunch, or ice-cream date.

I signed my two boys up for Mouse Mail accounts. From the parent dashboard, I can monitor what they are doing on-line through Mouse Mail. There, I can see any messages to review – (none yet!) and add to their calendar. What will be really fun is sending them text messages when the hubby and me take off for a vacation.

I encourage you to check this free web-site out. Sign your kids up for an account this summer (so my kids can email your kids…) and try out the calendar. Leave me a comment to let me know how you have been monitoring your kid’s online activities, and what does or doesn’t work. Your comment will enter you to win a $100 Visa Gift Card. The contest runs from 7/18-8-15, 2011

Check out the BlogHer Round Up page here for more chances to enter.
Contest Rules:
· No duplicate comments.
· You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry
· methods:
· a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
· b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment
· on this post
· c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on
· this post
· d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about
· an alternate form of entry.
· This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older
· Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.
· You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be
· selected.
For the official rules, click here.

Yoga has always been my work-out of choice. As a busy mom, my schedule has never granted me the luxury of keeping a daily set time at a yoga studio, — so I do yoga, at least once a day, via the MP3 routines I’ve downloaded to my phone.  

My “studio” is on the third floor — quiet and a zone my kids rarely enter. Peace, and serentiy, in a house full of four boys is a rare luxury, that can find there.

Enter summer. My third floor yoga studio is now a fiery inferno that gets only a sprinkling of the fresh cold air from our air conditioner. Yet, I’m treating this “heat” as a bonus, I now have an instant “hot yoga studio.”

Just in time, Degree asked me to try their new Degree with motionSENSE™ . This new anti-perspirant & deodorant formula activated directly by movement, not moisture, to help me stay ahead of perspiration. This means, that while I’m walking up the three flights of stairs, Degree with motionSENSE™ has already sensed my movement, kicking in to keep me dry and fresh-smelling as I go through my hot routine. Other kinds of anti-perspirants and deodorants release fragrance upon contact with moisture.

In celebration of the launch of Degree with motionSENSE™, Degree is rewarding women for moving. The “Get into the Move” application on Facebook rewards users with a chance to win thousands of cool prizes for ways women already move – whether it’s running errands or running miles.

By registering for the Degree Women “Get Into the Move” application on Facebook (facebook.com/degreewomen) fans can start earning motionMILES, virtual currency redeemable towards chances to win thousands of prizes. These motionMILES are earned for various ways women move, including checking in with Facebook places and logging activities.

Earning motionMILES is easy – eligible activities include going to the gym, taking Zumba® or yoga classes and various other activities women already do, like grocery shopping or catching the bus. Fans can also earn motionMILES by answering daily trivia questions on the Facebook application, inviting friends to “Get into the Move,” and even logging in daily. Once earned, fans can use motionMILES for a shot at winning instant prizes by spinning the prize wheel or by entering weekly and grand prize sweepstakes.

Prizes include a surfing trip in Hawaii, designer shoes, gift certificates for Zumba classes and much more. Fans can also choose to donate motionMILES in a dollar amount to one of two charities: The Challenged Athletes Foundation and Girls in The Game. For more information, “Like” the Degree Women Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/DegreeWomen.

Leave a comment below to let me know what kinds of activities you’ll be doing to participate in the “Get Into the Move Challenge.” Leave a comment below to let me know what your fitness goals are, and your comment will automatically enter you for a chance to win a $100 Visa Gift card until 6/20-7/18: 5pm PST. There are more chances to win. Check out the BlogHer Round Up page here to enter. Contest Rules:

• No duplicate comments.
• You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry
• methods:
• a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
• b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment
• on this post
• c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on
• this post
• d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about
• an alternate form of entry.
• This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older
• Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.
• You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be
• selected.

For the official rules, click here.

While there is nothing I love more than watching my kids get out and stretch their legs, and run as if they had wings, it is with great sadness that spring break ends, and along with it, that tight familial bond of family time, togetherness and relaxation. The final session of school begins, and spring sports start. With each year, parents seem to dread spring a bit more each year, with some of us call now calling the month of May, with its unrelenting practice and game schedules, the new “December.”

As the weather warms, all of us are itching to get outside…and spring sports seems like the most logical solution to everyone’s needs. Yet, to a family with four active boys, the practice schedules make it almost impossible to provide the basic core elements to creating a healthy lifestyle. Late nights in the car pool can push homework into bedtime, and the balanced meal can mean grabbing unhealthy snacks on the run. To keep kids in top physical condition, they need optimum sleep, exercise and good nutrition.

Absolutely adorable…, I know…

Then, I had the opportunity to listen to Stephanie Hamm, mom to six, and mom to retired American soccer player and U.S. Olympian, Mia Hamm. All of Stephanie’s children played sports. They all had relentless schedules… and yet Stephanie looks back on those practices and games as the “best family time they ever had.” Please check out her inspiring video here. I participated in a conference call and some other mommy bloggers via BlogHer, and many of us were in awe at her enthusiasm, grace and ability to recall how she kept it all together despite the unrelenting practices. Each “strike-out” brought an opportunity to “talk it through and teach their child about values.” The games provided an opportunity for the family to cheer each other on, and build self-esteem. Long hours in hotel rooms were used to build family bonding times. They also watched lots of movies, after having family meetings about what was “appropriate.”

I am in awe of Stephanie Hamm. She inspired me to fill the crock-pot in the morning with all the ingredients for Sloppy Joes, and grabbing a pack of buns and loading the car with all the kids and eating a potluck, tailgate style, with my family at the soccer game’s parking lot.

Yet, in many ways, we have it easier than Stephanie did. For one thing, we know more about how our bodies work, we pay more attention to our health, and understand how critical hydration and fueling is to athletic performance. Fluid losses of as little as 2 percent of body weight (less than 4 pounds in a 200-pound athlete) can impair performance by increasing fatigue. It’s common for some athletes to lose between 5-8 pounds of sweat during a game, so it’s easy for athletes to become dehydrated if they don’t drink enough to replace what is lost in sweat.

To overcome dehydration, we have Gatorade’s G Series, specially designed to provide athletes with the sports nutrition and hydration their body needs before, during and after training and competition. The carbohydrates and electrolytes in sports drinks help refuel muscles and speed re-hydration. Specifically, here’s how the G Series breaks down. (You can find all this information from the research done by the Gatorade Sports Science Institute, GSSI):

01 Prime

• Pre-game fuel to help them start stronger.

02 Perform

• Performance hydration to help them last longer.

03 Recover

• Post-game protein to help them recover faster.

The G Series Natural

• Natural ingredients like sea salt, natural flavors and sweeteners.

Today, we understand the importance of nutrition, and the role protein plays in helping kids developing muscle to prevent injuries. The Gatorade Mom website is full of resourceful links to help busy moms incorporate the latest in scientific health research to help our kids. For example, check out this article on Post Workout Protein-Packed Breakfasts on the Gatorade site full of the things kids love.

While I certainly don’t miss the traveling this spring, thanks to the rain, my kids are still finding ways to stretch their legs by heading to the backyard to do some kind of kicking around.

We’ve had our share of basketball games spelling H-O-R-S-E, the soccer ball lands over the neighbor’s fence (almost daily), “ramps” are built along the sidewalk as ramps, and kick ball is always an all-time daily favorite. We may not be heading to the park for our daily dose of exercise this spring, the kids are still running, and Gatorade is keeping us fueled and hydrated.

Like Mia’s mom, I’m sure you’ve come up with some innovate solutions of creating “family time” in the midst of crazy sports schedules. For us, this year, family time came in the form of the rain. So, what are your tips to keep quality family time high, despite the crazy schedules? Leave a comment and you will be entered in a chance to win a $100 gift card to Dick’s Sporting Goods from BlogHer and Gatorade from 6/1/11 – 6/30/11. Here are the official rules for the contest:

• No duplicate comments.
• You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry
• methods:
• a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
• b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment
• on this post
• c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on
• this post
• d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about
• an alternate form of entry.
• This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older
• Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.
• You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be
• selected.

You can visit this page for other chances to win.

Our electricity consumption has been steadily rising, increasing 52% since 1980. Yet, our generation of electric power produces more pollution than any other single industry in the United States. You can read about the sulfur dioxide emissions that contribute to acid rain, and carbon emissions that contribute to global climate change and other hazards here.

What power do you really have to stop the impact of our lifestyle on Mother Earth? We can buy all the locally-grown produce we want, but if we want to reduce our carbon footprint, we need to begin now to teach our children that turning off the light switch does more than save money, it saves the earth. The message hits closer to our kid’s hearts if we tell them that conserving electricity can save a frog’s life. The analogy is really not that far off.

When we pull an electric current into our home through the flip of a switch, the generator that provides the power creates pollution that makes acid rain that allows mercury and aluminum to leach from rocks into our soil and lakes. As the mercury fills our waters, we have the danger of frogs, turtles and fish poisoned by mercury. While our soil and our lakes do have a natural ability to neutralize the acidity of rainwater, they do have their breaking points. If the pH reaches 5.5, plankton and certain insects begin to die. At a pH of 5.0, fish begin to die.

We’ve heard about the energy-efficient light bulbs before, but it bears repeating that if every American household replaced just one 40-watt incandescent light bulb with a 9-watt GE energy smart LED, it would prevent 5 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions and save almost $400 million in annual energy costs.
We can only count on our electricity consumption to increase. How many laptops do you have this year, versus five years ago? We are relying on electricity more and more everyday to run our lives. The small changes you’re making at home like unplugging unused appliances, washing clothes in cold water and carpooling will make a world of difference in the future.

Problem solving is part of your every day life and no one knows that better than you. You’ve probably thought of a million ways to make your home run more smoothly and now here is your chance to come up with and share big ideas — ideas that will change the way we use energy. Sharing your ideas could make a major difference, not only in your home, but also in homes across the country. Leave your ideas in the comments below for a chance to win two $50 GE energy smart LED light bulbs that live 20 years and saves you $85 in energy costs.

In GE’s ecomagination Challenge: Powering Your Home, GE is calling for your bright ideas to find a way to harness, conserve and manage the energy at home with practical ideas that families can put to use. The challenge is open to anyone with a bright idea, and so far, the program has received more than 1,000 ideas. One of my favorite ideas is the StemGrip that allows stemware to be safely washed in the dishwasher. (Hand washing stemware wastes a lot of water.) Or what about putting your home on Sleep Mode, a way to power your appliances down to minimum operating capacity, much like a computer does?

GE and it’s venture capital partners have committed $200MM to support viable ideas submitted to the challenge. More than $100MM can still be made available for this second phase of the challenge.

In addition to investment, commercial relationships and other partnership opportunities, five “Innovation Award” winners whose ideas represent pioneering entrepreneurship and innovation will be granted $100,000. The challenge is open through March 1, 2011, and already has hundreds of sophisticated and practical ideas, with over 1000 users commenting and supporting these ideas. A judging panel, comprised of GE executives, venture capital partners, and leading academics & technologists, will evaluate entries for exemplary entrepreneurship and innovation and select another round of five innovation award winners. You can browse through the ideas to discover more details about it, access videos, read comments and see related ideas on You Tube, the blog , Foursquare and Facebook.

The first phase of the ecomagination Challenge: Powering the Grid [July -- September 2010], resulted in one of the largest initiatives of its kind, generating more than 3,800 ideas and creating a community of 70,000 people across more than 150 countries. Browse through the ideas today, and share your own. Your idea could win a prize, but maybe, also save a frog’s life.

Share with me what your energy use challenges at home are, and your solutions for a chance to win two $50 GE energy smart LED light bulbs that last 20 years and saves you $85 in energy cost. One given away per week from 2/15/11 – 3/15/11. Check out the BlogHer Roundup page to see more chances to enter.

• Contest Rules
• No duplicate comments.
• You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
  1. Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post.
  2. Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

• For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
• This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.
• Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail
• You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
• The Official Rules are available here.

Like other group shopping sites, a deal on Gaggle of Chicks “hatches” after several Moms make the same purchase. Since deals expire after only 48 hours, speed matters! After making a purchase, buyers receive a referral code to send to friends so that they can buy it, too. You earn $10 every time someone you invite makes their first Gaggle purchase, and your friends instantly get a $10 credit as soon as they sign up.

Each day there is a new “deal,” with a sidebar deal from the previous day, “deals ending soon.” A box beside the featured items tells you the original price, savings, and your price — telling you (similar to E-bay) how long before the deal expires. Each deal expires after 48 hours.

This shopping experience is free, you only need to sign up via email to receive the daily deals. My “hatched deal” was an incredible space ship playhouse. The items was so popular that users had difficulty getting through the site to place orders. Gaggle of Chicks were overwhelmed with the response, and their system had trouble keeping up with the overload. Lessons were learned, and the staff at Gaggle of Chicks made every effort to ensure my order was fulfilled.

You can share the deals and learn about them on the Gaggle of Chicks Facebook and Twitter pages. Sign up here.

This post was part of a review with Mother Talk, and I received a gift in exchange for trying out the Gaggle of Chicks website.

This is sponsored content from
BlogHer and LG Text Ed

Here are the answers to the cell phone questions — if you haven’t done this little exercise with your kids, I highly recommend doing dthis. I was lucky to have all three age groups covered in my house. I was surprised at their answers… and I learned something from this exercise. Actually asking them the questions, was much more educational. I noticed that if they didn’t know the answer, and realized I wasn’t going to provide it, they were more likely to hear what I had to say. This is a great way to not only get a dialogue going with your child, but to actually get them to buy-into the decision making process and hopefully, internalize some valuable facts that could save a life.

Because this topic is so important for our kids and their futures, BlogHer really wants to get the conversation about texting, sexting and safety going – both with our kids and among parents. It will match LG’s donation of .50 to dosomething.org for every comment on this post, so please give me your insights. Dosomething.org will get a $1.00 for each and every one.

My 15-year old is quite aware of the issues of sexting and responsible driving. I want him to know the basic rules of cell phone usage  — but also engage him in an open conversation about sexting and responsible driving.

Do you know that sexting can be illegal?

A: “Yeah, I knew that. Dare officers came to our school and talked about that, along with illegal music.”

What would happen to you if you got caught with a sext message, or a nude photo on your phone?

A: “They have you suspended, from school, and confiscate your phone.”

Have you heard about the cases where kids have been prosecuted for sending or receiving sext messages? What do you think of that? Is it right?

A: “I heard a rumor that someone got a picture of her naked, everyone knew about it – but no one got caught.”

What would you do if you were in a car with a driver who talks or texts while driving?

A: “Tell them to watch the road. I think those voice-command thing would be great, so that you could talk, text and drive at the same time.”

What do you think about laws that will make cell phone use illegal while driving?

A: “Has anyone ever really died from that? I think they should make it legal, as long as you can watch the road at the same time.”

Do you need down time?

A:  “Actually, I love getting a text when I’m studying. It’s a great distraction.”

The little ones: Ages 7 and 8.

These kids are too young for cell phones. But, they are so full of imagination when it comes to them. Their answers are best viewed here:

My 12-year old.

We are starting to have a serious discussion about getting a cell phone for this child. My main concern for this child is responsibility – both socially and financially. To many boys in this age group, a cell phone is not just a convenient way to tell mom and dad it’s time to pick them up from soccer practice, but as a social toy. For example, a friend of his, who does have a cell phone, thought it was funny to *69 and call my oldest son’s cell phone over and over again. When I realized what was happening, I sat them both down and explained the “minutes” scenario, and how unnecessary calls like this could end up costing someone else a fortune. My questions include:

Do you know *67 calls can be traced?

A: “No,” followed by an uncomfortable scowl on face.

Do you understand the difference between anytime minutes, friends and family, and how much each minute costs?

A: “No. Did you know people could get a $500 phone bill?”

Are you aware that calls coming into your phone – calls you do not make yourself – are charged against your minutes? What would you do?

A: Turn off my phone.”

What would you do if someone sends you tag texts or continuous re-dials on your cell phone?

A: “Hit delete a bunch of times? Call the person up… or the parent?”

What if you received a mean text message?

A: “Report it to parent.”

Has anyone you know ever received one?

A: “No. “

The further he got into the questions, the more receptive he was to showing me how “responsible he is with a cell phone.”

This solution works great for meals like pasta or build-your-own burritos — but how can you de-construct a yummy meal like lasagna? Meatloaf? Or an omelet? Sometimes with kids, it’s more about the texture of a food rather than the taste. The slimy cooked onion in a soup, or a cellulose piece of celery is enough to turn some kids off for years. To account for these limitations, whenever I serve soup I’m counting on all of the vitamins from the vegetables permeating the broth and noodles. So, I give kids one of three options when they eat soup: 1. Soup straight with crackers. 2. Broth only. (A hand-held strainer is invaluable.) 3. Veggies only, no broth.

I am only dreaming of the day when I can finally put a meal on the table and the boys have appetites big enough that they are actually fighting over the food—and there are no leftovers (I’ll donate all of my Tupperware containers to charity at that point. I’ll have no use for them.)

For great tips from moms just like us, sharing experiences, ideas and advice on how to get kids to eat better, visit Chef Boyardee’s Club Mum. Club Mum is the perfect resource for moms to learn helpful hints on a variety of topics, which can be applied to their own family. Club Mum is also on Facebook with daily tips, recipes, articles, questions and a terrific and active community! Club Mum is an online community by moms, for moms.

Share your own best-kept parenting secrets, learn from other moms and connect with some of our great mom bloggers! Please list your meal-saving strategies for picky eaters in the comments below. Everyone who comments will be entered in a BlogHer giveaway for a $200 Visa gift card. There are more chances to win here:  BlogHer.com exclusive offers page. Rules: No duplicate comments. You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods: a)      Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post b)      Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post c)       Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post d)      Visit the official rules for additional forms of entry. This giveaway is open to US Residents aged 18 and older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected. The Official Rules are available here. Sweepstakes ends 5 PM PST, December 23, 2010.