Another thing you learn is that the rules keep changing.  When my older son, now 18, was a mere four years old, he was legally allowed to sit in a car without a booster seat.  My fourteen-year-old daughter had to use one at least until she was six.  And my youngest, just turned eight, has just been legally released from the prison of allowed out of the booster.

None of my kids were big for their age when they were in early elementary school, and I always wished I could keep them in the booster seat longer. That’s true even with my eight-year-old. Of course, he’s hearing none of that (and fortunately, he has no idea that his big brother stopped using a booster four years younger than he did). He was thrilled to toss that booster into the back of the van with a triumphant, “I don’t need this anymore! You can take it out of here now!”

I thought for sure that he’d change his tune when he discovered that the booster seat puts him high enough to see out of the windows better, but so far he’s holding firm. No more booster seat for him–he’s a Big Kid now.

Or so he thinks. He still has to come in when the streetlights go on, and I still have to remind him to brush his teeth. One thing you learn as a parent is that some things never change.

COUPON TIME

If you’re just getting started as a parent, you’ll want to enter the Tommee Tippee Giveaway over at The New Parents Guide!  You have until Monday to get your entry in.

TODAY AND TOMORROW ONLY!
Free shipping and $10 off orders of $100 or more at Puritan’s Pride
Works with the Buy 1 Get 2/Buy 2 Get 3 Free offers!
Use coupon code TAP10FS during checkout.
Valid through: March 20, 2009, 11:59pm ET
Valid online only. Cannot be combined with other coupon codes.
See other Puritan’s Pride coupons!

TODAY AND TOMORROW ONLY!
$10 off orders of $60 or more at Walgreens.com
Use coupon code BASKET10 in your shopping cart.
Valid through: March 20, 2010, 11:59pm CT
Coupon valid online only. Valid for up to 5 uses per account. Does not apply toward taxes or shipping charges. Excludes photo orders, prescriptions, prescription copays, gift cards, pre-paid cards, Prescription Savings Club and items prohibited by law. Order must be placed by logged-in customer.
See other Walgreens coupon codes!

Will he get in?  Will he get a scholarship?

If he can’t be home right after school, he’ll text me and ask if he’s gotten any mail.  If it’s from a college, he wants me to open it right then.

Out of the five schools he’s applied to, he already knows that he was accepted at three of them.  And he’s won a few scholarships too, which is great.  So he’s only waiting for news from two universities, as well as two scholarships that required separate applications.

Some of his friends, though, applied to just about every school on the East Coast.  I can only imagine what their mailboxes must look like.  And then, when they find out they get in, how will they choose among all those colleges?  Will they make a spreadsheet comparing each college and the financial aid offered by each one?  I’m glad he narrowed down his choices before submitting applications!

COUPON TIME

Free shipping on orders over $25 at Hooked on Phonics
Use promotional code FSWORK.
Valid through: March 31, 2010
Applies to standard shipping only.
See other Hooked on Phonics coupons!

$100 off SAT or ACT prep courses over $999 at Kaplan
Use this link to activate the promo code. Discount appears on item pages.
Valid through: March 31, 2010
See other Kaplan coupon codes!

I don’t think I’ve met an M&M yet that I haven’t liked.

My chocolate-loving cousin in Buffalo is always up on the latest new flavors of M&Ms.  I wonder what her secret is–but she is generally the first to know about these innovations.  I find out about them because she mentions them on facebook.

Without facebook, my chocolate horizons would be a whole lot smaller.

First I found out about the coconut M&Ms, and boy, were they good.  She sent me a bag of those a full two months before they appeared in any stores around here.  And then I discovered the Wildly Cherry flavor.  Wow, those are good.  They taste like a chocolate-covered cherry, but without the drippy mess.  They’re colored bright red and dark red, just like the Bing cherries you find every summer in the market.

Another cousin told me the other day that there are now strawberry-peanut butter M&Ms.  PB&J, anyone?

COUPON TIME

25% off your order at Figis.com
Use this link to activate the source code. If there are any problems, enter 895/8188 in the 2 yellow boxes during checkout.
Valid through: April 30, 2010
See other Figi’s coupons!

15% off your order at Ghirardelli Chocolate
Enter promotional code CJ15 at checkout.
Valid through: April 4, 2010
See other Ghirardelli coupon codes!

I’m none too fond of the idea of tinting all my food (and beverages) green.  I used to work in a bakery.  When the bread turned green, that was a sign that it had been around too long!  So I won’t be bringing out the green food dye and coloring the milk, mashed potatoes and bread.

There’s got to be a better way to show off my Irish heritage.  My kids are permitted to wear something green along with their school uniforms, and I’ve got a green shirt on as well.  But we won’t be having corned beef and cabbage for dinner tonight.  My Irish-born grandmother always told us that corned beef and cabbage is NOT Irish food, and she refused to serve it.  We’ll have shepherd’s pie instead.

I’ll be making some Irish soda bread as well, using my mom’s recipe.   And I’ll enjoy some Irish tea with that soda bread, brewed like Granma used to, in a real teapot instead of from a tea bag.

COUPON TIME

For all things shamrock-themed, here are the best deals for you:

TODAY ONLY!

20% off orders over $60 at Collections Etc.
Enter promotion code 3HZZA2 during checkout. Instead of seeing the dollars off discount listed separately, the prices of the items in your cart will be reduced.
Valid through: March 17, 2010
Online orders only. Discounts (percentage off and dollar off) do not apply to SALE priced items. May not be combined with any other offer. Offer does not apply to Collections Etc.’s eBay store.
See other Collections Etc. coupons!

15% off orders of $55 or more at LillianVernon.com
Enter media/promotional code 470830100 in your shopping cart. Discount will appear during checkout.
Valid through: March 23, 2010
Valid online only. Discount cannot be combined with any other offers or coupons, and is valid on new orders only.
See other Lillian Vernon coupon codes!

Before they began publishing a Saturday edition in 2005, I looked forward to my Friday-lunchtime ritual.  My husband gets the WSJ, and it arrives here early enough that he can pick it up and take it right to work with him.  On Fridays, I would hijack that paper and remove the “Weekend Journal” section.  It was sure to include several pages of luxury real-estate listings–with pictures.

Those listings are in the Saturday paper now, and Saturdays are just way too crazy for me to be able to sit and enjoy a leisurely lunch while drooling over the thought of ocean views, floor-to-ceiling windows and wraparound porches.    But I miss that opportunity to wonder what surprises these homes, depicted in tiny black-and-white photos and a sentence or two in Realtorese, really have to offer.

I don’t need or want to live in one of these houses, but I sure do like looking at them.  One can dream!  Guess I’ll have to start saving the Saturday edition so I can enjoy it on the following Monday.

COUPON TIME

$50 off orders over $500 of bath products at The Home Depot
Use promotion code BATH50.
Valid through: March 17, 2010
See other Home Depot coupons!

$20 off every $100 of American Blinds brand blinds & shades at American Blinds, Wallpaper & More
Use special offer code INSTANT at checkout.
Valid through: March 30, 2010
See other American Blinds, Wallpaper, & More coupon codes!

Normally, I’m very good at finding missing stuff, whether that be my husband’s cell phone or my younger son’s single shoe.  But there seems to be a Bermuda-Triangle-effect in my family room, and certain toys that come into the room are never seen again.

It’s happened more than once with the kids’ Game Boy, but that was quite a while ago.  Fortunately, that did turn up, and the family room’s appetite has turned to less-expensive, smaller toys.  We saw this happen last spring after my second-grader received a bunch of Bakugan toys for his birthday.  These little balls are slightly smaller than a Ping-Pong ball, and we have no idea where most of them ended up, but they were last seen in the family room.

Even worse, the family room ate two monster truck toys that didn’t even belong to my kids.  A little boy was here to play with my son while his mom and I attended choir practice, and he brought along a bag of small monster trucks.  They were about the size of a deck of cards.  He knew that he had brought five trucks here, but when it was time to pick up the toys and go home, he could only find three.  I’ve moved the furniture, looked in the toy box, and checked in the crevices of the couch.  Those trucks are nowhere to be found.  (I didn’t come up with any of those missing Bakugan either.)

Where does this stuff go?

COUPON TIME

TODAY ONLY!
Free shipping on orders of $149.99 or more at Little Tikes
Use coupon code FRSH0309.
Valid for standard shipping.
Valid through: March 16, 2010, 11:59pm PT
Surcharges still apply. Product total must equal $149.99 or more. One promotional code per order. This offer cannot be combined with any other promotional discount code offer.
See other Little Tikes coupons!

20% off orders of $75 or more at Back to Basics Toys
At the bottom of your shopping cart, enter promotion code BTBPUB20.
Valid through: March 31, 2010, 11:59pm ET
Valid online only. Discount applies to orders shipped within the US.
See other Back To Basics Toys coupon codes!

I don’t understand how it works, but it lets him call me and tell me he’s on the way home without being in danger of being pulled over by the state police for holding a cell phone to his ear on an interstate highway.

If he didn’t have that very useful feature but still wanted to use his phone, he’d have to get one of those Bluetooth earpieces.  I just can’t get past the thought that those things must be very uncomfortable; I don’t even like wearing the earbuds for my iPod!

It used to be that if you passed someone on the road and you saw their mouth moving but no one else in their car, you knew they were singing along to the radio.  Now, chances are, they’re on the phone.  And when you’re walking around the supermarket and the person you pass is talking out loud while both their hands are pushing a shopping cart, they’re on the phone too.  That always throws me off; I think for a second that they are talking to me, and then I turn around and look at them and they give me a look like, “What are you looking at?”

I guess I’ll have to continue to be a throwback; if I’m on the phone at ShopRite, I have to stop walking so I can hold the phone with one hand.  So I limit those calls to those times when I can’t remember if we need milk or orange juice.

COUPON TIME

If you like to chat while driving or shopping, these deals on phones and accessories can help you save on a Bluetooth device!

Free Overnight Shipping on all online orders at Verizon Wireless
Some customers may need to select Overnight Shipping and enter promo code FREEOVERNT at checkout.
Valid through: March 31, 2010
Continental U.S. only. Orders placed by 4:30 pm local time Monday - Friday excluding holidays will deliver by the next business day. (Orders placed after 4:30 pm local time on Friday and before 4:30 pm local time on Monday will deliver on Tuesday.)
See other Verizon Wireless coupons!

Free Shipping on all orders at Cellphone Accents
Use Coupon Code KENDRIX at checkout.
Valid through: unknown
See other CellphoneAccents coupon codes!

I love college hoops, but don’t get to watch as much basketball as I’d like.  The games always seem to conflict with my evening and weekend schedule of Cub Scout meetings, school events, and my own kids’ sports.  By this time in March, though, grade-school basketball is over and there’s a little time left over to watch a few of the best teams battle it out on their way to the Final Four.

This year, I’m taking my bracket to a new, high-tech level.  I downloaded a free app for my iPod touch that will let me keep track of my bracket right there.  That’s good, because if I happen to miss a day of watching these games, my record-keeping falls hopelessly behind.  Plus it will display the schedule of all the games, so I don’t have to depend on spotty newspaper coverage to find out when I can watch my favorite teams.

COUPON TIME

If you’re a true fan, you’ll want to dress like one. We can help with these great deals on fan apparel:

10% off your order at FansEdge.com
Use coupon code INBOXTEN at checkout.
Valid through: March 20, 2010
See other FansEdge coupons!

Free shipping on all Jerseys at OnlineSports.com
Valid through: April 17, 2010
See other Online Sports coupon codes!

March is National Caffeine Awareness Month! Regular or Decaf?  With this offer for 20 or more bags of coffee, you can choose both!
Free shipping plus $40 off 20 or more bags of coffee at CafeBritt.com
Valid through: March 18, 2010
See other Cafe Britt coupon codes!

TRADE ASSOCIATIONS

National Retail Federation - National trade association that tracks retail trends.

International Council of Shopping Centers - Trade organization that supports the shopping center industry and tracks industry data on retail occupancy rates.

RESEARCH GROUPS

University of Michigan Survey of Consumers - Monthly survey that gauges consumer sentiments about spending and the economy.

ForecastIQ - Research firm that tracks retail trends.

Wells Fargo Retail Services -  The retail services and research division of the savings and loan firm.

The NPD Group - Market research firm that studies consumer trends, sales and marketing issues.

Retail Forward - A research firm specializing in retail statistics, retail consulting and brand management.

GOVERNMENT RESEARCH

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics - Labor fact-finding agency for the federal government that tracks unemployment rates and other key economic indicators.

U.S. Department of Energy - Government department dedicated to advancing energy technology and energy innovation in the U.S.

U.S. Commerce Department - Primary source of statistics on macro trends in the U.S. economy.

COUPON TIME

We’ve got our own spring resource list:  a great list of Spring Break Coupons!  Don’t miss it!