Since we were going to be moving to a new community, we wanted to put on a going away party for my son and the children in his class.  We thought that this would help him get past the old friends and make way for his new ones in the new town that we were moving to.

But, we just didn’t want it to be any kind of party, but instead thought that we would make it like a mini-graduation.  So, we purchased some custom aisle runners that had the names of his classmates on them so that he would have a souvenir of the big day.

The custom aisle runner was a big hit with the parents in attendance as they had never seen such an aisle runner before.  Though he is still adjusting to our new home, he has talked about the party everyday since we have arrived - to him, it was a great grade one farewell.

My son was recently visiting with his grandparents for the weekend when he came across Grandpa’s stash of money clips. Aaron was fascinated with them and asked all kinds of questions. Grandpa gave one to him and even gave him his own dollar bill to keep in it.

Doing that was Grandpa’s downfall, as I knew it would not stop there. The money clip made my five year old Aaron feel like a man and he decided that he was going to start dressing and acting like one. He found the mens ties hanging in the closet and insisted that he needed to wear one.

As Grandpa was getting dressed for church on Sunday, Aaron saw him putting on his cufflinks and Grandpa shook his head, as he knew what was coming. I am relieved they took pictures of Aaron in church, wearing his “grown up” tie and cufflinks and taking his dollar bill out of his money clip to put in the offering basket.

I would like to do something fabulous for my ten year old daughter’s birthday next year and it occurred to me to have a scavenger hunt for her and her friends in a limousine. I though I would make it as secretive as possible by inviting friends but not even letting the friends in on the details, only their parents would know what was going on.

Maybe start by taking them to pizza and leaving a clue with the restaurant staff for what’s next? Then if they can figure it out, they’d go to an ice cream shop where there would more clues.

I think they might enjoy going roller skating or something so that could be next for say a half hour or so and then there would more clues and they would end up somewhere to do kids karaoke or the zoo. They might be too tired for the zoo though by the end of the day so I’m not sure about that part.

I am sure her friends would be impressed by the limo though and she would love to feel like a queen for the day.

When we had our first child, my husband and I were quite overwhelmed. We thought that we had it all together, but it was a lot harder than either one of us imagined that it was going to be.

Our family and friends were extremely helpful and got us so many nice gifts for baby. The problem was that we didn’t know what half of it was used for.

I had always babysat when I was younger and I did not think that being a mom would be much harder than that. I was completely wrong. The great thing about babysitting was that, at the end of the day, I got to go home and leave the kids behind.

I think the thing that hit me the hardest as a mother was the overwhelming responsibility that I had to meet every single need of this little person. I just hoped that I was going to be able to do right by her.

In the end, I think everything turned out alright. We even had a second baby and the responsibility of that one did not seem quite so daunting.

My best friend has a son who is best friends with my own son. Her son is an avid fan of wrestling and I do not allow my own William to watch it at this point. I think that he is too young and that, even if it is entertainment, it is still too violent for a five year old.

Wrestling is all that Bracken talks about and I think that William feels a little bit left out. When Bracken showed William his new fight gear, he was so excited and William decided that if the clothes made Bracken so happy than he must really be missing out on something.

It has been really hard on him, as Bracken will not come out to play if Wrestling is on. It got to the point where I encouraged Will to go and make some new friends. It has definitely had a huge impact on my relationship with Katie, but I stand firmly by my decision that William cannot watch or participate in play about wrestling. There is already enough violence in the world without a five year old being subjected to it everyday, just for fun.

Last year, my kids and I decided that we were going to have a big yard sale to get rid of the many things in our house that we no longer need or want or use anymore. The sale was a huge success and I asked my kids what we should do with the money. They both decided that they wanted a trampoline.

I am not a huge fan of trampolines. Maybe I am just overprotective, but I have heard way too many horror stories about kids getting hurt on them. I decided to see if I could find any bouncy castles for sale. I figured that these would be a whole lot safer and I would feel better about it.

I found one that was reasonably cheap and it even had obstacle courses in it. I figured it would be great because the kids could both bounce on it, like a trampoline, or they could play games like hide and seek in it.

Our daughter’s fifth birthday celebration is one of those occasions that linger in my memory even today, and she turns twenty in just a few months. There were 8 little girls in attendance, and a few parents. Her daddy grilled the hotdogs and I did every thing else (typical, right?). Well, to give credit where it’s due, he did all the outside prep, from mowing the lawn to taking care of the deck cleaning, even though he ran out of deck cleaner before all the decking was washed.

He also bought and mounted the piñata from Hell. Imagine in the background you hear playing the 1812 Overture just where the cannons are being shot. We have it on video where I start beating it with the stick because the girls couldn’t break it. Neither could I. Finally I had to tear it open with my bare hands. I’m telling you, we should have been on America’s Funniest Home Videos. We’d have won.

One of my greatest joys in life is getting out and going to different craft fairs as I am a very crafty person. I love to see things that people make with their hands.  I usually find a lot of gifts at these fairs, which I like because they are usually more unique than something you would find in the store.

I found the most beautiful baby bedding at a recent craft sale and I knew it would be the perfect gift for my sister who is expecting her first baby.  She loves things that are unique and does not like to have the same as everyone else.  I thought there could be nothing better than having it be homemade.

It was a very cute design and I knew that it would match her nursery perfectly.  I was so excited to find it that I could not wait to tell her.  I am not good at keeping surprises and I worried that she would go and buy one herself.  She came over right away to see it and as I looked at her face I knew I had made the right decision.

While most children like newer movies such as Shrek, Over the Hedge or Zathura, my son is a little different.  You see, he has been watching my wife’s Disney movies for many years now and he likes those best.

Of all the movies we have, I would have to say that he likes Pinocchio best.  I don’t know what it is, but if you ask them which movie he wants to watch, that would be the one he picks.  I don’t really mind as it is a good movie that is taught him there is a price to pay if you lie.

His favorite part of the movie is when Pinocchio is swallowed by a whale.  He tells me that someday he wants to be swallowed by a whale too.  I don’t know if that is a realistic dream, but it makes me laugh every time he tells me that’s what he wants to do when he grows up.

We’re thinking of getting him a copy of Pinocchio on DVD for his birthday because the videotape we own is pretty much worn out.  I can’t wait to see his excitement when he gets to open that gift.

Last summer, when I was getting remarried, my son wanted to go and stay with his dad while I was away on my honeymoon for a month. I told him if it was alright with his dad than I did not have a problem with it. He called and asked his dad and for once, his dad said that he would be glad to have him. This made me happy as their relationship is very strained.

I figured that his dad would come and pick him up, but with scheduling conflicts, we learned that my son was going to have to fly to his dad’s house on his own. This made me extremely nervous, as he is only seven years old. The thing that concerned me the most was the five hour layover in Philadelphia.

I went to talk to the people at the airport about having a child fly solo and they assured me that my son would be very well taken care of. We were told that during his layover, the Philadelphia airport transportation people would take very good care of him and would not let him out of their sight. I decided to let him do it and we all survived the ordeal.