Is it fun to pretend that you’re Naomi Campbell for a night? Of course. Is it cool to be photographed in gorgeous clothes that you could never afford? Sure. But you know what’s even cooler? This:

I get to raise awareness for a cause that I believe is truly important and deserves attention and support. One of the key principles behind #STRUT is its philanthropic commitment to improving lives. Each and every mom walking in the show is there to generate support and awareness on behalf of a worthy charity – they are moms on a mission.

So, what’s my mission? Well, it was hard to choose, as this is an opportunity of a lifetime and a unique chance to really spotlight an organization working hard to help those in need. Though I personally advocate and support several charities I sincerely believe in, I found it no small coincidence that I would be walking in a high-profile fashion show in the month of September. What’s significant about that? It’s significant because September is National Hunger Awareness Month, and it still boggles my mind that in a country of such prosperity and success, 1 in every 6 Americans still faces hunger each and everyday – millions of whom are children.

As a mom, nothing is more important to me than the safety, well being and health of my beloved two daughters. It is simply heartbreaking to me that many parents in this country are working hard, doing everything right, and still can’t earn enough to provide food for their children – let alone food containing adequate nutrients. It is absolutely unacceptable, and should be unacceptable to everyone, that so many Americans are without food. It’s beyond absurd that kids in this country go to bed hungry at night, wake up hungry in the morning and the only meal they may have is the food school or local pre/post care programs provide for them during the week day.

And this leads me to back to my charity of choice for #STRUT. What happens to all those children who don’t have food in the pantry or the fridge at home when school lets out for the weekend? How are they fed from Friday afternoon until Monday morning? And the answer, shamefully, is that many are not fed at all during the long weekend break. Too many go hungry and are starving and malnourished. It’s is incomprehensible to me that so many of our nation’s kids are all too often suffering from hunger.

So what can we do? Well, for starters, you can join me in fighting it. I am proud and honored to walk for Feeding America, which is the leading domestic hunger-relief charity. Its sole mission is to end hunger through their large, nationwide network of member food banks. But more specifically, I support something they have also done for the past 15 years, which is one of the reasons I’ve chosen to walk for Feeding America and make them my mission.  Their dedication toward the Back Pack Program is crucial. This program has been helping children have access to nutritious and easy-to-prepare food they desperately need over the course of the long weekend away from school. Today, bags of food assembled at more than 150 local food banks are distributed on Friday afternoons to nearly 230, 000 children every year. But it’s still not nearly enough. With your help, we can raise awareness, increase donations and provide much more.

Feeding America poses this question on their website: how can a child focus on solving a math problem or memorizing a new word when he or she is trying to ignore persistent pangs of hunger? The answer: they can’t. It’s impossible. And so, it is our moral imperative to help feed the hungry bellies of these helpless children so they, in turn, can feed their minds and learn and thrive. Feeding America also supports and facilitates other national programs for children at risk of hunger including: The Kids Cafe, The Summer Food Program, The School Pantry Program and the Child Hunger Corps.

I will be walking in #STRUT on Saturday September 7 to raise awareness for this vital cause.  For 1 in 6 Americans, hunger is an everyday reality. Many of these people are often hard-working adults, children and seniors who simply cannot make ends meet and are forced to go without food for several meals, or even days. And so I challenge each and everyone of you to simply give a meal. $1 provides 8 meals for a family at risk of hunger, $21 feeds a family for 2 weeks, $45 feeds a family for 1 month, $135 feeds a family for 3 months, $270 for six months and $540 feeds a family for an entire year. Surely all of us can afford to give at least $1, if not more. It will MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

1 in 5 children may not know where their next meal is coming from. Think about your own children suffering and do this with me! Together, we can provide hundreds, maybe even thousands of meals for someone who is hungry. Click on the link below and DONATE please:

www.feedingamerica.org 

Nothing would make me smile bigger or walk with more pride on that runway next Saturday night then knowing how many meals we’ve donated to those in need. This is definitely a reason to #STRUT!!!

Please follow me on Twitter @MeredithJohns1 or go to the PoopieMommy FB page for posts and announcements. Also, be sure to support #STRUT’s awesome sponsors #Whirlpool, #Vaseline and PoopieMommy’s favorite brand #Cottonelle. And of course #THEMOMS www.themoms.com for creating such a fantastic, worthwhile event.  *I will be live tweeting during the show hoping to get as many donations as possible. Don’t let me (and these families) down, Poopies!!!

STRUT: EMPOWERING WOMEN. EMPOWERING CHANGE. 

Photo Credit: www.nokidhungry.org

This year’s show at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week at Lincoln Center is shaping up to be even more fabulous, especially with such amazing sponsors like #Cottonelle, #Vaseline and #Whirlpool behind this wonderful event. Hope you’ll follow me on Twitter @MeredithJohns1 and The PoopieMommy Facebook Page for all the exciting details. The countdown has begun…11 days and I’ll be a #STRUT mom! Thanks for all the love and support, Poopies. xxoo.

STRUT: THE FASHIONABLE MOM SHOW. EMPOWERING WOMEN. EMPOWERING CHANGE. 

The Strut Fashionable MomShow presented on Saturday, September 7, at Lincoln Center, is all about raising awareness for important causes and organizations, as each beautiful woman who walks down that runway is a “Mom on a Mission.” What does this mean? I’ll tell you! It means that there is now, thankfully, a place during fashion week for real women to generate real exposure for crucial issues they believe in AND rock the runway at the same time. What could be a better combo than style AND substance? Each participant in #Strut represents a mission that impacts all of us. Stay tuned for details about PoopieMommy’s personal mission!

This year’s show is going to be bigger and more powerful than ever with prominent and prestigious sponsors behind it such as Whirpool, Vaseline and my own personal favorite, Cottonelle. It is certainly fitting that the most gentle, cleanest and reliable toilet paper and wipes out there get behind (wink wink) a project involving THE PoopieMommy. And what a fabulous project it is!

I am more than honored and thrilled to be a part of the fantastic, diverse and truly remarkable group of women assembled to strut their stuff and share their desire to change the world. We can all have a positive impact when we work together, raise awareness for worthy causes that deserve support AND look phenomenal all at the same time!

STRUT THE FASHIONABLE MOM SHOW: EMPOWERING WOMEN. EMPOWERING CHANGE. 

To keep up with all the exciting news about #Strut follow me on Twitter: @MeredithJohns1  and be sure to stop by the PoopieMommy Facebook page, as I will be posting all the latest information about the show :  https://www.facebook.com/pages/PoopieMommy/247398362014408

Many exciting announcements in the days leading up to the big show to come!  See flyer below or go to www.themoms.com more information:

http://www.examiner.com/article/talking-to-young-kids-about-sex

Much love to you always! PoopieMommy hopes to get back online more often in the very near future. Thanks for your patience, lovely Poopies. xxoo.

One major Poopie resolution for 2013: get back to blogging! It’s taking me some time to balance all the other writing work I’m currently doing while raising these PoopieGirls at the same time. However, some of my articles are basically blogs. They’re published by other outlets, but they are still in my voice and can still benefits my Poopies. So until I get back in the bloggy saddle, I’ll be sending you links to the pieces I’ve written that are most Poopie-licious. Here’s one I just wrote regarding the recent family road trip we just took over winter break. I hope you will benefit from my newly formed road trip wisdom.

Enjoy my friends!

http://www.examiner.com/article/ten-rules-of-the-family-road-trip

In lieu of a blog post, here’s the link to my latest Parenting Article for Examiner.com. We must do better. Be better. Our children’s lives are literally at stake.

Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season filled with hugs, kisses, snuggles, tickles, small, tender moments and loud, gregarious laughter. We could all use a little more of that right now. Much love, PoopieMommy.

Well, Poopies, it’s true. My lovely blogging life has been shelved. Put on hold. Paused. Life and work and kids and deadlines and so many other factors have taken over and there just weren’t enough hours in the day to devote to PoopieMommy. Perhaps she’ll make a triumphant return during her semester break. She does have a few tricks up her sleeves and a new little name she’s playing around with. I wouldn’t count her out just yet. It’s all about finding balance, and Poopie lost hers for awhile so the bloggy blog had to take a backseat. It’s not because she doesn’t want to do it or because she’s not still inspired to reach out, it’s simply a matter of timing. And for now, the timing is off. BUT….

…something very important has prompted PoopieMommy to temporarily come out of retirement: Hurricane Sandy. Her heart is aching and breaking for all those poor people along the east coast who’s homes have been destroyed and who’s lives have been completely shattered by this catastrophic storm. Poopie knows that one of her greatest gifts is her voice and her writing and her ability to reach people through her words. So, please, please take a moment to read Poopie’s latest Examiner article. Click on the link below and find out how you really can make a difference. It’s never too early to teach our children how to give back. With the temperatures getting even colder, a new storm descending as we speak and so many people still without power or permanent shelter, your small effort and tiny contribution can actually provide many things needed by victims of the hurricane during this slow, painful recovery.

http://www.examiner.com/article/ways-you-and-your-kids-can-help-victims-of-hurricane-sandy

Poopie will be back with her new name & design in 2013. Until then, may you all stay healthy, happy, balanced and full of compassion. She misses you terribly and thinks of all her Poopies often. Much love, xxoo.

Actually, I get by with A LOT of help from my friends and today’s MOMtra is dedicated to them. My beloved girlfriends, they all know who they are, literally save me sometimes. Batman and Spiderman are pretty cool dudes, but they got nuthin’ on my girlfriends. They are my superheroes…often coming to my rescue just in the nick of time! They save me from sinking, from stressing…save me from my crazy self!

As I get older and life gets more complicated, I have come to rely on these beautiful women in my life and treasure their support, generosity and kind, open hearts. Always there to lend me an ear, just like the song says. I am so grateful to have an incredible circle of friends around me who keep me centered and anchored when I need them. They share my ups, my downs, my ridiculous, my neurotic, my joy, my sadness, my insanity…they share me. All of me. Accepting me unconditionally, flaws and all, my friends love me. It is a priceless thing in this world to be loved just for being who you are. And I feel the same toward them.

These fabulous women lift me up, brighten my day, make me smile and often crack me up with their hilariousness. We are pals for life and I wouldn’t trade any of them for anything in the world. I tell them often how much I love them…actually it’s one of my favorite things about us. We always end our conversations like that. It’s important to tell the people in your life how much they mean to you. If you haven’t done it today, Poopies, tell your besties you love them. You will never regret it and it will always feel good.

So today’s MOMtra is for you…my girls, my ladies, my pals and even sometimes my partners in crime…I thank you with all my heart for helping me get by! Instead of a mantra to repeat, click on the link below and let the enduring and one-of-a-kind Mr. Joe Cocker belt out one of my favorite renditions of all time. This one is just for you!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wG6Cgmgn5U

I think it would be awesome to set-up some kind of g-rated, kid-friendly version of Thunderdome. We could call it “Kinder-Dome” and instead of a barbed wire, steel cage it could be like one of those bouncy-house, jumping structures in its design.  You know, you still lock ‘em in, only it looks awesome so they don’t know you’re leading them into a trap for sparring ’til the last kid is standing. My girls have been fighting and bickering and squabbling and name-calling soooo much this weekend that if one of these “Kinder-Domes” existed, I would happily put the two of them inside and let them duke it out until only one victor emerged. What do you think?

Screw time-out. Forget teaching lessons patiently and repetitively only to have them fall upon deaf, stubborn and highly emotional 4 and 5 year-old ears. Let’s do this old-school style. They wanna act like Mad Max all day long, then I’m gonna let them solve their issues in the Mad Max tradition. Of course the original Thunderdome didn’t have any rules. That’s what made it so scary for the opponents. Anything goes in Thunderdome.  For two girls in the Pre-K and Kindergarten we’d probably have to follow a few basic guidelines. Here’s the rules I’ve come up with so far:

- no hair-pulling

- no punching

- no pushing/shoving

- no biting

- no slapping

- no name calling

- no teasing of any sort

- no deliberate remarks to hurt the other’s feelings

Wait. These rules suck. This isn’t any fun. What’s the point of “Kinder-Dome” if they can’t duke it out? A-ha. I get it. Oh PoopieMommy, you’re so stealth and smart with your reverse psychologizing. Ok, ok, ok…let me get this straight…you get them all excited about the notion of actually getting to tear each other apart in daughter to daughter combat but then steal their thunder (no pun intended) by setting so many rules and parameters? Hence, taking the wind out of their sails, sucking the joy out of their seemingly innate desire to wanna slap each other silly and basically ruin the whole idea by rendering the whole combat thing useless with the strict, responsible guidelines?

Oh, you’re good, PoopieMommy, you’re good. You get them all pumped-up about it. Ok, gals, you act like little heathens who wanna go twelve rounds over who has which headband and who took Barbie’s legwarmers? Fine. Then let’s settle these scores the way nature intended. Let’s head over to “Kinder-Dome” and may the best daughter win. I can only imagine the looks on their faces if I actually proposed such an idea, if they knew such a place even existed. I’m sure at first they would be on board…wait, mom is actually going to ALLOW us to fight? She’s not going to prevent us from scrapping? Too cool. Let’s do this!

Oh but then we get to “Kinder-Dome” and reality sets in. They are faced with the prospect of having to seriously fight it out in front of PoopieDaddy and me. Suddenly, it’s not sounding so enticing. Now it’s kind of sounding awful. I don’t really want to hurt my sister, do I? I don’t really want to get inside the scary “Kinder-Dome” and have only one of us come out the winner? Wait. This is nuts. Mom is nuts! We can’t do this! This isn’t right! I know we’re only 4 and 5, but we know better, don’t we? Fighting isn’t ok. It’s not the way to solve our problems! We need to find a better solution to work this out and resolve our issues more peacefully. We should learn to get along and be respectful and stop all this nonesense and fighting that never makes us feel better anyway. I mean, after all, I love my sister more than anything. She’s my best friend. I don’t want to take her down in that crazy, bouncy cage thing. I don’t ever want to see or think about that awful “Kinder-Dome” again.  Mom, please take us home! We don’t want to fight anymore! We promise. We’ll be good. We’ll get along. We’ll stop fighting!

Whew.