A few weeks ago, the evening before Take Your Child to Work Day, we received a call from my daughter CJ’s speech therapist, asking whether we’d mind if she brought her daughter to class the next day.

“Why would we mind?” I asked Kyle after he got off the phone.

He shrugged. “Privacy issues. Some people don’t want anyone to know their kid’s in therapy.”

Considering that we announced CJ’s entry into speech therapy in our holiday cards, we obviously don’t care about keeping that information private. In fact, if you give me half a chance, I’ll spend twenty minutes talking about how much speech therapy has helped her and what a pleasure the process has been.

CJ didn’t speak as early or as clearly as her sister Tacy did, but we didn’t start to wonder about it until she was about eighteen months old. When Tacy was eighteen months old, she could recognize (and say aloud) all of the capital letters, and she routinely spoke in complete sentences of four to six words. CJ, on the other hand, had a total vocabulary of a couple dozen words, none of which were easily understood.

We were concerned, but we didn’t want to be alarmist. So we waited, hoping that the fabled “language explosion” would happen any day. Read on …

A few nights ago, we had tilapia filets for dinner. Joel, age four, remarked on the color of the meat. He wondered why fish is always white. My husband told him some fish, like salmon and tuna, are pinkish or orange.

Joel said, “I know what tuna is. It’s mermaid meat.”

The cans of tuna in the cupboard feature a smiling blonde mermaid on the label. It’s is false advertising when you are a four-year-old boy who judges the contents of the can by the label outside. Hopefully he doesn’t think the cans of O-shaped pasta in red sauce contain a little smiling Chef.

My pre-reading son goes through life bombarded by signs and symbols. Restaurants and junk foods have perfected this art. When my kids were mere toddlers, they could recognize the golden arches sign as the wellspring of french fries and deep-fried chicken chunks.

Savvy marketers trumpet a certain restaurant where a kid can be a kid. Read on …

My husband Jamie has been sneaking around lately. I figured his covert actions were regarding the gargantuan Mother’s Day surprise party he was likely throwing me.

It didn’t happen.

Or the second honeymoon he was planning.

We already took one.

So when I spotted him slip into the den and close the door, I knew he was up to no good. I waited a few minutes until I heard him tapping away on the computer’s keyboard. And then I went in for the kill.

And nothing could have prepared me for what I found. It was not a lurid chat room, nor was it nekkid women but it was Read on …

Happy Mother’s Day!

Congratulations to the following prize winners: Microdermabrasion treatment - Janet Williams; Sherpani Bag - Alicia Huss; Scentsy Candle - Amy G., Lovely boutique certificate - Suzanne Bastien-Adams; Bruz wear pants - Katherine Scovill; Baby Candy shirts - Melissa Held and Couture Moms - Jennifer Merrill.

For the grand prize of A Giveaway a Day ’til Mother’s Day, we are thrilled to offer the following:

1) Two tickets to celebrate the amazing versatility of the female voice in one spectacular and theatrical evening at the production 3 ‘Mo Divas.

2) A gift basket from Target valued at approximately $150. This is the dream prize for any new mama or one who will never have to buy a baby shower gift again! The gift basket includes: Read on …

Are you a Couture Mom?

I’m not but I am certainly not above faking it.

And the perfect way to do that is with Couture Moms’ savvy, spunky and chic line of apparel for moms. Couture Moms offers a variety of flattering garments for mamas on the go who want to celebrate motherhood in a creative way.

Entrepreneur, wife and mother of four, Dana Lombardi understands the importance of being a mom. She knows firsthand the everyday duties, non-stop schedules and sometimes unglamorous responsibilities that come with the territory. With that in mind, she wanted to find a way to bring laughter, creativity and a little glamour to the daily rituals of motherhood. Read on …

Please scroll down to enter our giveaway of the day: a gift certificate to eco-friendly Lovely boutique!

Monday’s post about being a good or bad mother had an overwhelming response. Some women felt validated that they are doing a great job. And others vented about how judgmental the world of moms can be.

I took a different approach all together.

Since beginning my butt-kicking Front Range Adventure Boot Camp, my children have suffered. Not because I have submitted them to the same rigorous workouts but because they have had to [insert collective gasp] eat healthy food on a daily basis, something no child should ever have to endure.

At least that is what my daughter Hadley tries to convince me when we are at the grocery store.

And so I took a judgmental-mom-be-darned approach and bought my children Twinkies yesterday. Because HOLYCRAP - they are almost 2 and 4 and have never had a Twinkie in their lives.

And also because they do not tempt me in the least and I would not touch them with a ten-foot pole.

But before we launch into the ins and outs of what you are feeding your children, my weekly weight-loss total is: Read on …

I am a great supporter of MOMpreneurs. In fact, if you are one, I encourage you to add your information to our new MOMpreneur forum!

I was thrilled when I heard some MOMpreneurs were opening Lovely, a new boutique for women that carries ethically and ecologically made brands such as Stewart Brown C&C California, Eco-ga’nik, Joe Jeans and others.

Emilie Oliver and Hallie Wastell are the two ethically-minded entrepreneurs behind Lovely. These two young moms met through mutual friends and bonded over their love of fashion. Both long-time residents of the area, they agreed that Arvada could benefit from the addition of a fashion-forward boutique. Read on …