Getting my boys to brush their teeth isn’t really a problem. They understand that “sugar bugs” can hurt their teeth if they don’t brush. But getting them to brush for long enough has been an issue.

Honestly, I probably don’t brush for the full dentist-recommended two minutes, either. Bad mommy.

But that’s why ARM & HAMMER™ Tooth Tunes™ toothbrushes are so great: the music keeps my boys brushing. They know they can’t stop until the song is over.

There are two new ARM & HAMMER™ Tooth Tunes™ toothbrushes each feature a single from One Direction: either “What Makes You Beautiful” or “One Thing.”

The brushes have a suggested retail price of $9.99 and are available at mass, drug, and food retailers nationwide. Thankfully, not too expensive, since my other two boys insisted they needed them, too, so I did buy Tooth Tunes™ for them.

We were sent “What Makes You Beautiful.” I have to admit that at first, I had to stay on my son to remind him that he wasn’t just supposed to dance and sing along with the music, but he actually has to brush, too. He’s pretty much got the hang of it now- though as you’ll see in the video below, he occasionally belts out a few lyrics and can’t resist dancing some of the time.

Brush with Tooth Tunes™, Rock with One Direction Sweepstakes

Church & Dwight Co., Inc., is excited to announce the Brush with Tooth Tunes™, Rock with One Direction Sweepstakes! Enter for a chance to win the Grand Prize, four tickets to a One Direction concert in August 2013.

• 100 First Prize Winners will receive One Direction prize packs, with One Direction merchandise.

• To enter, follow the below steps:

• Create an optional video of yourself or your kids brushing with One Direction ARM & HAMMER™ Tooth Tunes™ for your chance to be featured on ToothTunes.com! (A video is not required for entry.)

• Visit ToothTunes.com, complete the registration form and click submit to be entered for your chance to win.
• Enter up to once per week now through 6/30/13
• Winners will be chosen July 2013

• Brush with Tooth Tunes™, Rock with One Direction Sweepstakes Rules:

  • No purchase necessary

  • The sweepstakes is open only to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, who are 13 years of age or older

  • For official rules, visit ToothTunes.com

Okay, not much of a confession. You know this

Super honest confession: I’m a total paranoid freak when I’m away from my kids.

Here goes my train of thought when I’m traveling:

On an airplane: what if the plane crashes and I die and I leave my boys without a mom? What if I leave them without a mom and they grow up asking why Mommy was even on a plane without them and they hear that it was to go have fun? Or even if it was for work, they won’t understand. And omg, the turbulence. We’re all going to die.

The same goes for driving. What if I’m in a horrific car wreck and my boys are left with the last photo of me from the previous night’s Instagram where I’m obviously having a blast without them. Leaving them motherless and I’ll feel guilt even from the great beyond.

Or what if something happens to them while I’m gone? Hubs is more than capable of taking care of them, of course. But if something happened to them, I’d never be able to forgive myself for not being there.

And then I try to shake myself out of it, realizing that a few days away from them now and then isn’t a terrible thing. And that anything could happen no matter where I am.

So then my paranoia goes off on a different tangent.

Getting into a car accident on the way to pick them up from school, dying as they sit with their teachers, wondering why I’m late.

Or them getting hurt at school. Or they wander off.

Or oh hell, cancer. What if I have cancer that will kill me before the year is up and I don’t know it? What if they have something wrong with them their doctors haven’t caught? What if Hubs does?

Speaking of Hubs, he travels a ton for work. What if something happens to him?

It’s one negative thought after another, thinking of all the what ifs.

I know that I can’t think like this all the time and let my paranoia take over and ruin our lives.

But somehow, these thoughts are always worse when I’m away from my family. Maybe it’s having more quiet time to think instead of the constant noise and busyness of our normal routines. Maybe it’s because I miss them so much when I’m not with them.

Usually, it’s solved as soon as I walk back into my house and see all my beautiful boys though every now and then, I let the what ifs creep in.

Do you ever worry about something happening to you, your kids, or your spouse? How do you handle it?

It finally happened. I finally found something I can be passionate about, something to devote my heart to and throw my energy and determination into.

See, I spent the ages of 5 through 25 with absolutely zero self-esteem, culminating in a nasty compulsive eating problem, not to mention the idea that I wasn’t worth much of anything. My dreams were for naught, I’d never find anyone to love me, the whole nine yards.

Then I changed my mind. I wrote another life story. I turned it around. And now I want to help other women turn their own inner stories around so they, too, can live their lives.

I feel amazing. I create a newsletter and a new Facebook page and have my husband build a website. I write and design my own e-book from scratch with no previous knowledge of InDesign. I even create and test a month-long beta program which I want to eventually launch to the public.

I have a mission and I’m on a roll. Look out, world…

…and then it starts. That whisper in my ear.
You’ll never be successful. You know that, right?
Screeeech! Forward progress stalled.

Just because I found a way to mute or drown out the hurtful, scathing inner voices I know so well doesn’t mean I conquered them entirely.

What makes you so special?
Well…what does make me so special, anyway? I mean, so many other people do this sort of work. And they’re amazing. What will set me apart?

Will people know that I feel like a fraud? That there are still times when I want nothing more than to escape into a package of cookies and not come up for air until they’re all gone?

“No! Stop!” I say. Don’t even go down that road. You have a lot to offer. Your story. Your struggle. Your triumph. It’s worth sharing, even if it helps just one woman.
Right. Who do you think you’re fooling?
I put on my Virtual Earmuffs and “lalala I can’t hear you” my way through it. I put my head down and do the work.
I could tell myself that I’ll wait until I completely conquer my inner critic…but I know that will never happen. I know there will always be part of me that’s the obese girl, no matter how much I weigh. I’ll always be the girl who didn’t see herself as a real woman, who cried herself to sleep, who consoled her aching heart with food and more food until she weighed over 280 pounds and thus hated herself more than ever.

But I’m not that girl anymore. She’s in the past – part of me, but not all of me now. I’m not afraid to run my own life anymore. I’m pursuing my dreams. And I am determined to make it possible for other women to do the same.

It’s just a matter of getting that inner critic to shut up already. And making sure the cookies are out of my reach for now.

Every now and then, I just want to escape into a book that will make me laugh and take me away from my own life.

That’s exactly what I found in My Inappropriate Life (some material not suitable for small children, nuns, or mature adults) by Heather McDonald.

I laughed at her wacky antics and shook my head thinking I’d never have the nerve to do any of the things that she does (except for having the type of lemonade that makes me sleepy) but that she sure would be fun to have as a friend.

Okay, aside from the lemonade, I also cracked up because I could relate to this little parenting gem: “When you’re raising a boy, you inevitably begin to notice that every girl your son’s age seems smarter, more verbal, and just generally is more on top of shit. That’s because they are.”

From the cover: “This self-proclaimed ‘Real Housewife of Woodland Hills’ is determined to achieve A-list status(thus expanding her entourage beyond her three school-aged children and a house-husband who is infuriatingly bad at collecting neighborhood gossip) and defeat(or at least be accepted by) the mean neighborhood moms who judge her for taking her kids to a stripper pool party in Vegas. It’s a lot to juggle when she’s also battling her Chelsea Lately coworkers for the crudest and most elaborate practical jokes(don’t ask her about that ‘free’ Vera Wang dress).”

My Inappropriate Life is a perfect summer read. It will make you smile and realize just how appropriate the title is, but you’ll have a blast reading it- and one of you will win an autographed copy!

18+ US only please. Entries must be submitted in the rafflecopter widget below.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

That blog cusses too much.

And that one is all sunshine all the time and seems fake.

That blog talks about subjects I don’t think should see the light of day.

And that blog isn’t original enough.

I think that blog should change this.

I don’t agree with that blog. Ever.

Ohmygosh, can you believe what that blog is talking about?

We’re in a very crowded blogosphere. And we can be critical of one another. I’ve heard all of the statements above and more as complaints about different blogs.

There are blogs on all subjects and different take on these subjects: it would be very boring if we all agreed on everything and said it in the same way, like one big giant stepford blog that was written by one person who controlled the group brain.

The fact is that not every blog is for every person.

You can still respect the blogger but totally disagree with them on different subjects. I actually enjoy reading blogs from people who have different viewpoints than me- and having them read here. Sometimes I click away before commenting because I’m not sure how to comment respectfully. And other times, I’ve had great discussions about our differing views. I think we can learn from each other.

And if I don’t like what someone is writing about or how they are choosing to talk about a topic, there’s that big X in the corner and I can go away. I don’t feel the need to tell the blogger I don’t like them or blast across social media slamming that blog simply for doing things differently than how I do them.

We all have our own blogging voices.

We have to decide what stories we’ll tell and how we’ll tell them.

Which areas of our lives we want to share with our readers and which we save for face-to-face conversation with a close a friend.

As bloggers, we should be honest. If something is a work of fiction, that’s totally fine- as long as you aren’t trying to pass it off as fact to your readers.

We shouldn’t steal material from others. Sure, you might blog about the same topic as another blogger- it would be really hard to come up with only totally unique topics. But how you write about it should be in your own words, not someone else’s.

And while some might disagree with me on this one, I don’t think we should have fights in blog posts. If you have a problem with someone, go talk to them. Or email if you they only live in your computer and not your real life.  Sure, writing a post where you slam another blogger will get you lots of traffic, but then that’s what you are: the blogger who tears down other bloggers.

But other than honesty, writing your own material, and not fighting, I think your blogging voice is up to you.

Know that you can’t please everyone and that all you can do is be who you are.

And the same applies to reading blogs: not everyone is going to please you, so choose your reading material based on what feels right to you.

Click if you want to find out more about Pour Your Heart Out. Remember, it’s about what you want to pour out: it’s personal, so there isn’t an assigned topic. It’s also about being supportive of others who are sharing: so visit other linkers and be kind with your comments. Please add the button from the sidebar or add a text link to your post if you are joining in.

Motherhood is giving up a full night’s sleep. Almost every night.

It’s using that gift card some gave to you for something for your kids.

It’s spending time on a freezing cold soccer field, cheering for your child.

It’s giving that last cookie to that sweet little face, even though you’ve been craving one all day.

It’s renting the newest animated movie instead of that funny chick flick.

It’s making sure the kids are ready to head out the door each morning, even if it means you only have time to toss your hair into a messy bun.

It’s having more kid apps on your phone than ones for you.

It’s making this instead of that for dinner to please young palates.

It’s dozens of things we do each day without even thinking about it where we choose to put our kids’ needs ahead of our own.

We do it because we love our kids.

Oh, that video makes me tear up!

In celebration of Mother’s Day this year, JOHNSON’S® Baby has established JOHNSON’S® Baby CARES Care Cards, a digital e-card platform encouraging moms to share positive messages of encouragement with other moms across the country, while simultaneously supporting Save the Children®.  You can help, too!

Simply pick and share a card filled with messages of reassurance for a Mom in your life on Facebook at http://www.johnsonsbabycares.com. For every card sent, shared or liked, JOHNSON’S®  Baby will donate $1.00 to Save the Children® (up to $150,000) to benefit early childhood education programs that foster education and reassurance for new moms. These cards will not only spread encouragement to Moms throughout the country but will also provide Moms in need with the skills and knowledge to successfully support their child’s growth.

Head over and share a card with a mom who could use a smile today!

Their hair flops up and down with their jumps.

Smiles on their faces since it’s hard not to be happy when flying through the air.

They show off what they’ve learned: turns and bounces and how high they can go.

“Jump with us, Mom!” they ask and I oblige.

Bouncing up and down with my three boys, laughing as we try not to knock into each other.

Finally collapsing and lying down, in a heap of giggles.

Hugs and fights over who gets to lie down right beside mom, we catch our breath and look up at the clouds.

My boys excitedly pointing out which clouds look like what: animals and people and creatures purely from their imagination.

In those moments, I realize just how lucky I am to be a mom.

To have these three boys who want their mama there with them, playing and having fun with them.

Moments when there are no fights.

When everyone is behaving.

When there isn’t an urgent to-do list whispering in my ear, telling me there are much more important things that need done rather than the silliness of playing on a trampoline.

Mom life can feel frantic. Stressful. And like no one is listening. And OhMyFREAKINGGod, why is this so freaking hard?

And it’s easy to focus on those moments.

To forget that the good far outweighs the bad.

That though motherhood is hard and I’ll probably end up wanting to tear my hair out before this day is through, there are many moments like this one.

Joyful moments.

Maybe not anything special. Just an afternoon spent out in the sunshine without any real agenda.

Where laughter rings loud and clear in the air.

With plenty of hugs and smiles.

And the memories of these simple moments are the ones to hold onto during those moments when it’s not so easy.

Because they are what really count.

Share a moment with your kids that made you smile lately.

Tricia Oakes is a wanderlusting, foodie, Anglophile who loves the Real Housewives and swim up bars. She lives just outside of Charlotte in Fort Mill, South Carolina, and is a known sassy mouth. Find her blogging at Southern Spark. 

When my husband and I were still dating and starting to talk about getting married and how much fun having kids would be, we unknowingly saw our future in Target. Walking through the wide main aisle near the health and beauty section, we spotted an approximately three-year-old boy several rows up. He was standing beside an end cap precariously stacked with multiple boxes of tampons. His mother warned, “Don’t touch them. DO NOT.” He turned to look at her, smiled impishly, and knocked the entire display to the floor.
My husband and I laughed uproariously. As we came closer, she screamed at us, “DON’T. EVER. HAVE ANY!”
Now that I have my own six and three-year-old boys, I think of that mother often.  When I’m barreling through crowds chasing my own kids, whom I often liken to drunk zombies, I wonder what that mom is doing now that her child is probably closer to a driver’s license than a tricycle.
I wonder if letting him go out with friends, drive, or have girlfriends he likes better than her will be worse than taking my three-year-old to his first movie as I did last weekend. The first 20 minutes were perfect, and I thought, “Oh! Maybe we’ve been released from Baby Jail! We can go out in public on occasion without him acting a fool and making it generally miserable.”
Turns out I was just on work release from Baby Jail. After sitting nicely in his seat for a bit, he insisted on lying on the steps of the very crowded theater beside my aisle seat. He punctuated his reposes by standing up, straining, and screaming, “I’M POOPING!”
Thankfully, he’s still in diapers. The potty training thing hasn’t gone well so far, and he clearly needs more fiber in his diet. I suppose it could have been worse. He could have been knocking down a million boxes of tampons.

Or going off to college. 

After you’ve watched the whole video, you can enter to win a $250 or $100 Visa Gift card! Head over to BlogHer’s prizes and promotions page. For full details: the Hair Sweepstakes Official Rules.This is a sponsored post on behalf of BlogHer.

I love the idea of celebrating being a mom- the best thing that ever happened to me(yes, even on the crazy days).

But my relationship with my own mom has been complicated.

She’s done things in the past there were extremely hurtful. And not that accidental I-just-want-the-best-for-you this-is-going-to-hurt-me-more-than-it-hurts-you hurt, but really devious.

If I go back and really think about all the crazy, my blood pressure will shoot through the roof and I’ll want a drink with breakfast.  The types of things that you think only happen on soap operas… but well, the inspiration for those soap operas has to come from somewhere. 

I know that I should be thankful that I still have my mom, but I also think we need to remember that we all have our own problems.

I have a hard time completely letting go of the past. I can let go of anger- simply because I don’t want to give anyone that much power over my life, to allow them to eat away at my happiness. It’s not worth my energy to hold onto that anger.

But it doesn’t mean that I completely forget. Forgive, sure. But totally forget and allow things to go back to how they were before? No.

Then again, it’s been quite a long time since my mother really brought the full force of her crazy out to play. Years and years.

And she’s such a good Grammy to my nieces and nephews.

She still has ideas about parenting that I do not agree with and she can push my buttons when she shoves her ideas out there like they are the gospel truth… but those are the sorts of things that I can just roll my eyes at and move on. It’s nothing that directly effects my life or that of my family. Nothing that compromises my family’s happiness or relationships.

And so as time goes on, we get a little closer. I want to believe that she’d never do the things she’s done in the past. But part of me just can’t completely let my guard down.

Click if you want to find out more about Pour Your Heart Out. Remember, it’s about what you want to pour out: it’s personal, so there isn’t an assigned topic. It’s also about being supportive of others who are sharing: so visit other linkers and be kind with your comments. Please add the button from the sidebar or add a text link to your post if you are joining in.