Consideration was received for the editing and publishing of this guest article. I dropped out of college when I became pregnant with my daughter. I don’t regret the decision, but choosing mommy as a career over finishing my degree meant my career ambitions got put on a pause. A lengthy pause. Instead of the fast-paced, jetsetting businesswoman life I planned for myself, I settled for easy to schedule part-time retail positions in the evenings to bring extra cashflow into the house. With my daughter heading to school full time this fall, my part-time job could become more full-time. However, the [...]

Should You Commute to College? When getting ready to head off to college, you have a lot of decisions to make. Where will you go to school? Do you know what your major will be? Will you live in a dorm, an apartment or with your parents? Trying to answer the last question can be difficult for some students, especially if they choose a school close to home. To help make the decision, consider the pros and cons of commuting to college versus living in a dorm. Benefits of commuting to college: Save money on room and board. When pricing [...]

  This Mother’s Day, MetLife has created a movement called #SocialBlackout aimed to get people off their devices and give mom’s what they want most on mother’s day, our time and undivided attention. Social media is a huge part of everyone’s lives these days, but for just one day, we are given the challenge of not checking our Facebook or Twitter or Google+ etc. accounts while we are spending the day with mom. Personally, I am not going to be able to see my mom this year but I am going to be at a BBQ with a friend and [...]

I participated in a campaign for Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Wet Ones. I received product samples to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank you for participating. As my older kids, ages 15 and 10, are just about a month away from finishing the school year, I think back to how the year went, As in, how many bugs did they bring home? This year, they didn’t bring home any, they caught colds from their grandpa who drives a school bus and I am pretty sure doesn’t disinfect the seats as much as the handle [...]

I am not usually one to post about fashion. I generally wear t-shirts and jeans all the time. Not because I lack fashion sense, but usually because I lack money to buy lots of nice wardrobes. Still, I do find it fun to put together dream outfits online and this one is inspired by the Kentucky Derby. The derby is a spring tradition and has been for many years. Both horse racing lovers and socialites alike show up for this event, much like a star-studded movie premiere. If you ever wanted some fashion ideas for Spring, you can definitely bet [...]

It’s completely normal for an adult who has been out in the world for a while to realize that what he or she is doing just isn’t…right. Stay at home Moms go back to college (ahem). A business professional realizes that he wants to become a minister. The professional photographer realizes that her affinity for math is more than simple affection, it’s a passion. Or, maybe you don’t know what you want to do you just know that you don’t want to be doing what you’re doing anymore. If you’ve been toying with going back to school, there are a [...]

I am fortunate in that I don’t get sick often but when I do, its usually bad. Mom Central, on behalf of Vicks sent me some DayQuil and Nyquil to help keep me productive as I try to fight off the bugs! Ironically, as I type this. I am fighting off a weird bug, not a cold but it sure is acting like the flu. I generally do not take medicine at all unless I really need to because I think that medicines make our immune systems weaker but also my body has always had a low tolerance for medicine [...]

It wasn’t until December 2011 that the Environmental Protection Agency issued the first national limits (PDF) on mercury, arsenic and other toxic emissions from power plants. That may seem crazy considering the known toxic nature of those chemicals. As a parent, I’m well aware that mercury exposure, even in small quantities, can affect children’s brains and nervous systems. What took them so long? The process of teaching kids to be more environmentally responsible is a continuous one. Kids will be kids – so they need to be reminded and rewarded along the way. As a bonus for parents, enlisting the kids’ help [...]

I find it funny that every year, even though we are Christian, I end up buying three Easter baskets and filling them with little trinkets, bubbles, chalk and candy. I think it is the internal struggle to get the kids to really understand the reason we celebrate Easter but not let go of the fun little festivities that go along with the Easter Bunny. The problem here is we don’t stress mythical figures like Santa, Tooth Fairy, and Easter Bunny so there is never really any reason to tell the kids to be good or <insert mythical creature> won’t visit. [...]