Yay! Pomegranate Time - Score to Score

After Opening Hundreds, Here's my Findings on the Best Way to Open Pomegranates + two ways to store them
Nutritious, delicious, and seemingly exotic, pomegranate is my daughter's favorite fruit.  In the fall and winter when pomegranates are available fresh from California for as little as $1.50, we indulge, and like mixed-up squirrels with zip-lock bags and a freezer, we also pack the seeds away for summer and spring.  I have hence

Saline, Saline Over the Cold So Blue

Fighting the Common Cold
It’s back.   (Insert horror music).  Inevitably, with the return to school, my daughter brings home the dreaded snotty, stuffy, green gook cold.  One frustrating aspect of this common virus is that it seems there isn’t much you can do, especially for children who can't even get relief from decongestants anymore.   Here’s my checklist of the ways we fight colds in our family.  (Tip: If you're in a hurry skip to way #8)

Shake Your Pants

Wasp Stings
I never expected I'd want to pull down my pants in public.  Motherhood is full of surprises.
We had taken some friends and our daughters to the beautiful new outdoor pool facility at Ida Lee Recreation Center.  Soon into our visit, one of my friends was reprimanded by a lifeguard for changing her four-year-old into her bathing suit on the pool deck.  Even knowing this, when it was time to go, I was not in the mood to gather all the kids and all the stuff just to slip into something dry in the changing room.

Cradle Cap Treatment a la Cara'bout You

Effective Do-it-Yourself Home Remedy for Cradle Cap
Cradle cap is called a "cosmetic" problem.  By cosmetic, they mean that it should not hurt your baby and it is usually safe not to treat.  Thus, although my first child had sever cradle cap as a baby, after discussing options with my doctor, I decided to just accept her scaly head. I noticed, however, that when

Tick Talk - What's the best way to remove ticks?

A Journey of Discovery About Tick Removal

Quick update 2013: I've now removed ticks with the soap method.  Brilliant!  Even with one firmly embedded, the tick came off whole.  I'm sold on Whole Child Pediatric's method I questioned in  2009.   Here is more on their method and my journey...

Tell Those Birds: This Playset is Not a Potty!

Keeping Poop off the Playset

Our backyard playset used to be continually covered in bird droppings. Everyday I was using wipes before putting our kids on the swings or letting them down the slide. Two years ago my uncle offered an inexpensive, easy, environmentally friendly solution.

Picture Books Stories to build Vocabulary? Absolutely.

Words to consider: consider words too
If you thought that story books for children age 4 through 6 should have simpler word choices than age 7 through 9, think again.  As parents we're always trying to do what is best for our children. Sometimes it can be confusing.  Think of the Baby Einstein videos that ironically, research now indicates, lead to LESS vocabulary development.  In the same way, many people - even some authors, literary agents, and editors at publishing houses who consider words very carefully, operate under the misguided assumption that books we read to our kids should only contain the most commonly used words.  However, research suggests just the opposite.

"Nipping" the Nail Cutting Challenge

The Best Way To Cut My Baby's Nails
When my baby daughter removed one of my moles with her fingernails, I realized I was losing the nail clipping battle. This, despite the fact that I could have opened a salon with my assortment of nail cutting options.

How to get your baby (or children) to eat vegetables

Part 1: Think outside the Bag – try some less usual vegetables
That bag of frozen peas, carrots and beans has its place but your family may be wishing you'd leave it there. Here's some more uncommon choices that are packed with nutrients.

• NORI SEAWEED
Your child eats toilet paper but refuses their vegetables? Here's a great one for you: try seaweed, the kind that people use to wrap up sushi. It is paper thin, just like toilet paper, but it is so green it is almost black and so full of nutrients and antioxidants that many call it a "superfood". Some vitamins and minerals it contains include vitamin C, beta-carotene, calcium and iron.