Octopus Mom

Mental Illness–Not Guns: The REAL Killer behind the Connecticut Tragedy

octopusmom — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 02:49:13 +0000

When I heard the horrific news coming out of Connecticut yesterday, I wept. I wept for those children who were gunned down, for those teachers who stood bravely to protect them, and for our nation who is once again mourning our own. It seems like every few months some type of horrible tragedy occurs in our schools, at our malls, or even in our movie theaters and it has me wondering why?

Facebook, Twitter, and the Media are all up in arms calling for more gun control and after examining the facts, I am not so sure they are identifying the real killer here.

Okay, so I personally have no problem with longer wait times for guns…after all, it should take you longer to buy a gun than a puppy; however, what concerns me is that people want to use “gun control” as the fix-all for this type of problem. I wish it were that easy. I wish we could ban guns or regulate them better and watch all of this madness disappear. Unfortunately, that is not going to happen.

No, Mental illness is the real killer here– and until we find a way to treat it, cure it, and diagnose it properly, these types of incidents will continue to occur. You say that better gun control will stop these types of mass killings?—-tell that to the people and children killed in the Oklahoma City bombing. Timothy McVeigh killed 168 people and injured 800 with a truck bomb, not a gun. And the people of 9/11: almost 3,000 were killed with an assortment of planes, box cutters and knives–not guns. Make no mistake– I am not a gun rights activist, but I want to put the emphasis where it needs to be…on fixing the alarming rate of mental illness in this country.

While we are at it…we need to do a better job of engaging our children and our friends with more FACE TIME–this way we can recognize when something is not right. How will be know when our children are struggling if we can’t get them to even look up from their iPhones?

We can fix this problem as a nation, but only with education and interaction—not government regulations.

Unique and Fun Baby Shower Games

octopusmom — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 02:36:38 +0000

If you are throwing a baby shower this year, you will want some unique and fun baby shower games. I’ve decided to compile a list of the best baby shower games and just recently posted it on my website.

Top 10 Unique Baby Shower Games

You can try “Oops my Water Broke” or “Baby Price is Right”! See–I told you there’d be some unique baby shower games there. While you’re at it…why not read up on Baby Shower Etiquette or check out unique infant gifts in our infant gift buying guide.

Sneak Peak of Life Inside the Womb

octopusmom — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 18:09:16 +0000

If you are pregnant, check out our Octopus Mom website. We have tons of full color photos of embryos and fetal development from Week 1 – Week 40, plus lots of helpful advice and pregnancy tips . Take a sneak peak at your unborn baby, every step of the way! You will want to bookmark this site I promise!

Fetal Development: Inside th e Womb from Week to Week

I DID IT! Making money from home!

octopusmom — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 19:20:57 +0000

For those of you that read my blog…it has been a while since I last posted. Since then, I have had another baby and gotten a rather successful freelance writing career off the ground. After learning I was pregnant with my 4th baby last February, I knew that I could no longer continue to work as a NICU nurse and stay sane! My family always comes first, so I decided to leave my job and stay at home full time to get the house and the children in order.

BUT….we did need a bit more money each month, so I decided to try and make money from home. Now for all of you stay at home mommies who are looking for a little extra cash each month..you know it isn’t easy. But it can be done. I decided to look inside of myself at my other talents and try to use them to make extra money. I was always a good writer and I loved to write, so it seemed natural that I would try to make money by writing. After I did some research, I realized that while magazine writing was certainly more glamorous, website writing was actually more in demand. I began by writing for Helium.com where I was able to make a little extra money selling articles to websites. After I got my feet wet, I began finding my own websites that needed web content. Soon, I had a little niche of 3-4 paying clients that was making me pretty nice money every month.

After blogging and opening up my own parenting website, a major Baby product manufacturer contacted me about managing their message boards. Now I do that as well. Within one year, I now make as much as a stay at home mommy as I did working as a nurse! Scary but true.

If you want to make extra money as a stay at home mommy…start by looking at your talents. Do you draw, write, play music…what do you enjoy doing? Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Start a pet sitting business. Offer to watch several cats and dogs at the owner’s house each week. You can take your children to let the dogs out, feed them and play with them while their owners are away. My sister did this and made several hundred dollars a month for just a few hours of work!
Watch a few of your friends’ children in your home each week. Instead of having your friends pay a sitter or a daycare, offer to watch their children in your house. You can make pretty good money and even save your friends a bit in the process.
If you like to draw or are an artist, try to start a small art business by offering your talents to small businesses in the area. Small businesses need help designing logos, creating dynamic letter heads and even painting murals on their walls. My doctor’s office hired a freelance artist to create unique pictures for his waiting room.
Start a freelance writing business by writing web content for businesses in your area. By charging a reasonable rate, you can get tons of work for your initial portfolio.
If you love to exercise, why not get certified to teach a spinning class at your favorite gym. Your kids can play in the kids room while you burn off some extra pounds and make a little extra cash in the process.

Share your success stories here…or give us your great idea!

You can check out my parenting website at www.octopusmom.com

Baseball… a 5 year old…and a Mommy’s day out!

octopusmom — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:31:14 +0000

With baby #4 due in October, I realized that I wanted to spend a little more time with my 2 older children. Aidan is starting Kindergarten next week, so I decided to take him to see the St. Louis Cardinals play baseball. It was his first game and BOY was it memorable. We took the Metro Link to the stadium and for all practical purposes, we took a TRAIN! He was soo excited. When we got to the stadium, I thought he was going to dance out of his shorts he was so excited. He bounced and bopped all the way up to the upper deck where our seats were. We bought peanuts, cracker jacks and lemonade and settled into our seats to watch Chris Carpenter pitch against the Cincinatti Reds. He was yelling and laughing the entire time and even had the people around us singing ” Take me OUt to the Ballgame” in the 5th inning!!! When Albert Pujols hit a homerun, I thought he was going to lose it! The fireworks went off and he turned to me and said..”Mommy, I don’t want to watch them on TV anymore…we are going to come here all the time instead!”

The night ended with a nice train ride back to the car and choruses of “Take me out to the Ballgame”!

2 tickets in the upper deck to see the Cardinals play…$40

Lemonade, cracker jacks and peanuts…$20

Mommy and Aidan Night Out at the Ballpark……Priceless!!!

Amazing Color Pictures of Fetal Development!!!!

octopusmom — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:22:43 +0000

If you are pregnant, considering getting pregnant or just downright curious, you NEED to check out this amazing website that has tons of full color photos of embryos and fetal development from Week 1 – Week 40. Take a sneak peak at your unborn baby, every step of the way! You will want to bookmark this site I promise!

Fetal Development: Inside th e Womb from Week to Week

Best Potty Training Tips

octopusmom — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 03:51:31 +0000

If you are trying to potty train your boy or girl, you absolutely must plan ahead.. Do your homework, come up with a potty training plan and put it into action. When we potty trained our little ones, it took a lot of planning and even more patience…but in the end it was worth it.

So many parents ask me how to begin potty training their boy or girl. There are so many great potty training tips, I couldn’t possibly know where to start. So….I created a few articles and other free resources for parents looking for answers on how to begin potty training their children. Is your child a stubborn potty trainer? Just not interested in potty training? Don’t worry, with these tips, your boy or girls is sure to be potty trained in no time.
Check them out….

Potty Training Girls: Everything you need to know about Potty Training
Potty Training Boys: Everything you need to know about Potty Training
Potty Training Tips: Books, Movies and more!!!
Potty Training 911

Octopus Mom Banner

octopusmom — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:54:04 +0000

Octopus Mom featured in MOMSENSE magazine

octopusmom — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:49:52 +0000

SO this month’s edition of MomSense Magazine features a personal essay written by Bonnie Ferrar….OctopusMOM. NO…not Octo Mom, but rather the editor and founder of Octopusmom.com, a parenting and pregnancy website designed for busy moms who have their hands full.
Check it out
Becoming Human- by Bonnie Ferrar

http://www.christianitytoday.com/momsense/2009/julaug/becominghuman.html

Potty Training Boys

octopusmom — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:17:40 +0000

Is your little boy giving you trouble about potty training? Don’t you wish there was a way to potty train him in less than a week? Well there is!!!! Little boys are notoriously more difficult to potty train than girls, but there are a few tricks to get them interested in potty training. From potty training books for boys to fun potty training pottys designed specifically with boys in mind, getting them excited about potty training is the first step towards potty training success!!

Check out these great resources:

Potty Training Boys: Everything you need to know

Potty Training 911