Ultimate Blog Party 2010

Welcome visitors from the 5 Minutes for Mom's Ultimate Blog Party 2010! We are a pair of blogging mamas here. We call ourselves 'clever' because we feel we have to be clever to parent our kids. No, we are not more clever than you, in fact we love hearing how clever you all are too :o). Clever Mamas has been up and blogging for a year now (and you've stumbled upon us during our 1st birthday celebration, complete with giveaway that you can read about here. Jill and I (Kris) are 2 good friends who happen to live in different parts of the country. This wasn't always the case. We've found this blog to be a great place to be moms together. I look forward to visiting other mama blogs this week. Cheers!

There are lots of wonderful prizes this year at the Ultimate Blog Party, if I were to win I would prefer in order (all from the USC list): 22, 5, 6, 4, 12, 28, 23, 53, 63, 25, 8, 37, 36, 40, 44, 18 - but any prize would be a lovely treat :o)

Giveaway Alert - clarification *oops*

Like all good parents I can admit when I've made a mistake. Apparently, my writing about our giveaway wasn't very clear so...I'm sorry.
Here's what we're giving away:

-An 'Expectant Mama Package', tailored for you by Jill with a prenatal yoga DVD and homemade baby rattle. She's so ahead of me by posting a picture, (see the original post)

AND...

-A 'Mama deserves a break' package tailored by me, with a magazine, bubble bath and good chocolate (sorry no picture because Jill is more organized than me)

To enter (each of the following ways will earn you one entry making a grand total of 3 entries if you do all three) :

-leave a comment in our comments section (either on this post or the original celebration post) with your email address, let us know which package you'd like best

-be a follower of Clever Mamas and let us know in the comments

-link our contest in your blog and let us know in the comments

*make sure you leave us your email so we have a way to get in touch with you should you win :o)


Sorry if I wasn't clear the first time round about the 'let us know everything in the comment part of things'...we've noticed some new followers and will be entering them in the draw (which is what tipped us off)...this is our first giveaway, so we have some tweaking to do.

Happy Birthday Clever Mamas! We're celebrating with a give-away!

Clever Mamas turns 1 today! Time to sit back, reflect and celebrate! When Jill and I first started out on this blogging adventure, it was done so to give us an outlet to reflect on what we have learned as 'moms'. We didn't name ourselves Clever Mamas because we think that we are more clever than anyone else...not at all. We believe that all moms have to be clever in order to survive. We've learned as we go and we still stumble along the way. We blog in spurts because let's face it, parenting is a busy time. When we first started this blog we were both moms of 2 boys, we've both added daughters to the mix as the year went on. (It's an odd phenomenon that we both have given birth 3 times, within a couple months of each other). Our combined children are now 5, 5, 3, 3, almost 5 months and almost 3 months old. We blog on what we know which is why we rarely write about children older than our own. We love hearing from you! We know that all moms have great ideas and have found things that work for them, so thank you all for your advice that you've given us when we've asked for it. We'd love to know what is on your minds as parents. Are there any topics you'd like to hear our take on? We like being challenged and knowing what is on your mind as well.

Now, onto the contest! Well, since we are a partnership of mama bloggers we are having a double give-away.
Jill is offering a 'expectant mama package'

She has a pre-natal excersise DVD as well as a Jill-made baby rattle in the package. Jill is a very creative quilter/sewer. I am fortunate to have 2 Jill quilts and 1 frog beanbag toy in my home. You can check out many of her creations on her personal blog found here.
I am not as crafty a person as Jill so there is nothing Kris-made in my package.

I am offering a 'mama deserves a break package' complete with a magazine, bath bubbles, and good chocolate (not the cheap kind we give our kids, so hide it from them) .

How do you enter? You can earn yourselves multiple entries.

• First: make a comment (and tell us which package you'd prefer).
• Second: be a follower of Clever Mamas.
• Third: Blog about our little contest on your own blog and link it back to this post (put your link back in your comment to so we can find it - we will be checking).

Make sure you let us know all the ways you are entering, earning up to 3 entrires for yourself. Don't forget to include your email address when you enter so we can get a hold of you should you win. You don't have to be a parent to enter, you can enter with the idea of gifting someone you know in mind. You don't have to be a blogger to enter either. The give-away runs until Friday, April 9th, midnight EST. Winners will be announced on Saturday! Thank you for reading!

Having a Sensitive 5 Year Old Means . . .

. . . waiting three months before he'll decide his old worn in, comfortable hat is too small, then spending ten minutes before school trying on every winter hat in the house to find one that covers his forehead JUST RIGHT. Then adjusting said hat a hundred times because it is really too big and keeps falling in his eyes. And stopping every twenty steps on the way to school to adjust the hat again so it is JUST RIGHT. And finally getting a new hat that will cover his forehead but not fall in his eyes and doesn't pinch his ears and fits JUST RIGHT.

. . . making sure the soft pants are clean on school days so that he can feel JUST RIGHT at school.

. . . having to throw out socks before they have holes because they are wearing out unevenly and he can feel bumps on his feet. Then having to find new socks that feel JUST RIGHT, like the old ones did.

. . . having bread in the house with no seeds in it. And, if his preference is met, only eating the slices in the very middle of the loaf, because the other ones are slanted on the top.

. . . cutting the peels off fruit, the soft spots out of bananas and every single little shred of white stuff off the oranges so that they are JUST RIGHT.

. . . roughhousing gently.

. . . buying the same brand of toothpaste and jam and cereal.

. . . making sure bath soaps and laundry detergents aren't too smelly

. . . having the volume on the t.v. JUST RIGHT so he can hear it, but not too loud so it hurts his ears.

. . . having a lot of patience as a mom, and remembering that slowly, over time, he will either grow out of some of his sensitivities or learn to deal with them on his own.

. . . reminding myself that I hear, see, smell and feel the world in finer detail than most people also. And that when I allow it to affect me, I see subtle details that help me to enjoy beauty, creativity and nature more.

. . . being careful to guard my son's sensitivity. If he is taught to fight against it, he will feel irrational that little things irritate him and he can't explain why. If he learns to work with it, it will serve him well.

A Confession

As a mother I am really terrible at some things. I can't swaddle a baby very well (they always find their way out), I have a hard time remembering to give my babies vitamin D daily (thought I'm doing much better at this with my 3rd than I did my 1st) and I am terrible, terrible when it come to tummy time. I know it's important in their muscle development, but it pains me to watch my baby struggle and cry about it. I think, "oh, I'm doing something horrible to you" and then flip them over to give them some peace. There, I'm glad I got that out.

Just For Laughs

Some days we just need a little break and a moment to laugh. Here are a few clips of parents who found the humor in having and raising kids.

The Incredible Growing Baby and the Clothes that go with it

We recently moved from a small Canadian city to a big one, a very big one. We also just had our third baby, our first girl. Ah yes a girl. An invitation to all things cute and pink. I was out shopping the other day and I just happened to walk by the baby section of the Bay. Okay really, I'm loving being able to look at the little girl clothes, previously I could only do so when shopping for my niece. It's very rare that people do a double take in real life, but I really did have one of those double take moments. There was a plain pink outfit. Soft fleece pants and a matching shirt. The price was $70. That's right $70! Oh and yes, the shirt happened to have a little tiny logo of a polo player. Yes, I was looking at Ralph Lauren's baby layette collection. Now, if people want to spend $70 just to have that little logo on their baby I guess that's up to them. Personally, I think it's more than slightly ridiculous (no offense Ralph). As I said, this is my third baby. Babies, especially small babies, wear their clothing for no more than a few months. And let's not forget, "spit happens", so does baby poop. Diaper explosions are no secret among the mom community (the whole reason I'm a big fan of Shout). I know that I can spend a lot less money on something pretty much identical (minus the polo player logo). Maybe that's where I'm showing my colours of "hello, I am clearly not from the big city".
Big city living does have some shopping for baby advantages though. I have rediscovered the beauty that is an outlet mall. My sister in law is the expert at finding absolutely beautiful, quality clothing for her children (and mine) without spending a lot of money. She cued me back into some of this. I did a little googling and found a Children's Place outlet about half an hour from home. I took my kids in to have a look. I found a lovely long sleeved shirt for my daughter for $2.99, jeans for my 3 year old for $5.99 and pants for my 5 year old for $12.99. Both boys also got sunglasses for $4 and $5 respectively. I know it's not Ralph Lauren, but it is quality clothing for less.
I'm also a big fan of the Joe line (sold at Loblaw's/Superstores across the country). They are cute, well made clothes that don't cost a fortune.
Please Mum is also a big favorite of mine, they have the most incredible sales and when they do, look out! I love finding a good deal.
Let's face it, kids grow fast. They get clothes good and dirty as well. The average family needs to be able to find a good deal when dressing their kids. I would rather shop with the sales and get the quality that I like than cheaping out and buying clothes that aren't as great for the same price. I've made that mistake too. Bought clothes that had a great price but not a great quality, only to have them fall apart in the wash (you'll end up spending more money overall if you do that).
And yes, I do keep clothes my children have grown out of to save it for the next child growing up into that size. There's nothing wrong with hand me downs when you are budgeting (another good reason to find quality).
Where do you find your deals? How do you keep your kids well dressed while staying on budget? I'd love to know where the other deals are! Also, here's your moment to brag about a good deal...what was the best deal you remember finding?

*None of the above companies are giving me anything to endorse their clothes on my blog, but I'd love it if they would :o)