Maisy book giveaway

Posted on December 16, 2011 by FoBaM-Jamie

Here at Fans of Being a Mom, we believe it’s never too early to encourage a love of reading in our kids. That’s one reason we were so charmed by a new title from Candlewick: Maisy’s Snuggle Book. This book is perfect for even the youngest “readers” in the family. It features Maisy and all her friends – Charley the crocodile, Tallulah the chick, Cyril the squirrel, Eddie the elephant, and – of course! – Maisy’s special pal, Panda. The friends are all here, sharing their bedtime routines of getting into their pajamas, brushing their teeth, having some milk, reading a story, and getting a cuddle.

Maisy has always been a favorite at our house. Though my daughter is, in her opinion, too grown up for Maisy now (she is in the second grade, you know), we still read some of our Maisy favorites at bedtime … just for old time’s sake. Maisy and her friends are cheerful without being saccharine. The bright colors and bold lines are especially appealing to the younger set, offering lots of contrast and vibrancy. For kids old enough to follow a storyline, the adventures of Maisy and her friends are entertaining and comforting.

The soft, plush edition of this book makes it a literal snuggle book – the outside cover is a fuzzy, fleece material that’s both printed and embroidered, giving it some great texture for baby’s fingers to explore. The inside pages are a durable material around a soft stuffing, making the whole book soft and squishy and very inviting. The binding on the cover is a smooth, blue satin, like the edging on many favorite baby blankets. The book comes packaged in a gift-worthy striped box with a peek-a-book window that will probably keep your little one entertained for almost as long as the book.

If you think your little one would enjoy a copy of this Maisy’s Snuggle Book, you may be in luck. Our friends at Candlewick Press have offered to give away two copies.

For a chance to win one of the free copies, simply leave a comment below sharing your thoughts about Maisy or bedtime or really young readers. All comments must be in by midnight EST, this Sunday, the 18th and include a valid email address. Please note that the comment must be on the blog, not on our Facebook fan page to be eligible to win. If you’re one of our randomly selected winners, we’ll be in touch by email to get all your shipping details so the nice folks at Candlewick can send out your goodies.

Good luck, happy reading, and be sure to stop by and “Like”Candlewick’s Facebook Page.

Food Truths for Moms of Picky Eaters

Posted on December 13, 2011 by FoBaM-Jamie

Today’s guest post comes from the delightful and talented Beth Bader. She is, among other things, the co-author of a great new cookbook called The Cleaner Plate Club. As a mom who is seriously challenged in the kitchen, I was thrilled to test drive this book with my daughter. It’s full of fabulous ideas for all kinds of  snacks and meals that left my seven year-old daughter saying, “Finally!  A cookbook for me!” We’ve already made the Honey-Sage Sweet Potatoes with Pasta and an appetizer that involved bread, cheese, and apples (I felt so Parisian). Both were easy, delicious, and – gasp! – healthy! Besides recipes galore, the book includes charming illustrations and a bevy of nutritional and general information tips and insights that are both fascinating and very useful. From shopping tips to a whole section on bringing your family together with food, this book is chock full of Really Good Stuff. It’s earned a coveted space not on our bookshelf, but right on the kitchen counter – where we can refer to it for inspiration and instruction at any moment. Enough of my gushing. Let’s get on with Beth’s insights about picky eaters, and then check the bottom of the post for a GIVEAWAY.

When it comes to picky eating, my kiddo has been pretty normal. I’ve realized this as we have other people’s kids at our table. There have been one or two unforgettable moments when these children have taken one look at fresh berries, meatballs and pasta and screamed at me, “I hate this! I’m not going to eat this!” before even taking a bite. Or, refused to eat anything but plain noodles and meat, not touching one another on the plate.

Worst of all, there was the heart-wrenching moment of parents admitting that, on a scale of one to ten, the best any meal at their table has ever been is a two.

I try to look at these moments as learning opportunities. Are there things I did right or am I just lucky? Both? I must not be the brightest crayon in the box because I tend to have a lot of these “learning moments.” To quote a Wally Lamb book, however, “This much, at least, I’ve figured out. I know this much is true.”

Sometimes, all the tips in the world won’t make it easy.

There are kids who have real eating issues, in rare cases requiring a feeding therapist. Conditions like ADHD and autism can add to eating challenges. Count your blessings if your kid is just in the normal range of picky. You can solve this.

Your best picky eating advice will come from your child herself.

I let my kiddo teach me how to best avoid food fights. Barely crawling, she showed an adventurous streak, a boundless love of play and a willingness to put anything — from drinking water off a manhole cover to licking a gas station bathroom door — in her mouth. By toddler years, she could throw a meltdown that could go three hours plus. At preschool graduation, she was dubbed “Future Lawyer” partly for her analytical mind and mostly for her debate skills.

I used each of these personality “quirks” in our approach to food. I made first foods a fun adventure by arming both the kiddo and I with spoons. She was allowed to feed me, too, making it a shared experience instead of Mommy shoving food at the kid. It’s really, really hard to laugh and giggle while gagging on pureed baby food, but a mother’s love can conquer all.

As my child aged into the “I do it!” control years, she became my constant kitchen companion. We explored smelling spices, choosing vegetables at the market, tasting and preparing things together. It gave her an outlet for her very strong control need. It made a massive mess in my kitchen, but extra dishes are easier than table wars hands down.

With her newfound verbal skills and a brain that constantly, constantly churns, my “future lawyer” enjoys reading cookbooks with me, finding foods she would like to try, then tasting and evaluating them as a family. It’s not unusual for me to ask, “I think this needs more vinegar, what do you think?” Or, “this is not the best way I like carrots, either, what recipe do you like best?”

I’d like to think I had some small role in how much easier my child can be than others when it comes to food. (Note: that’s only about food!) Truth is, all I did was observe and let her be my guide. You know your child best. You will find your happy path together. Let the fun — really, FUN — begin.

There are a few universal truths that can help you.

• Food issues can be with color, texture and taste, and quite often more about control than food. Try different approaches with an open mind to solve the issue without stress.
• It can take up to fifteen exposures to a new food before a child will like or even try it. Fifteen! Don’t give up too soon.
• Stack the odds in your favor by serving the new food alongside proven favorites. You won’t have to worry if your child is leaving the table hungry.
• Enjoy your food. Your healthy food. The number one predictor of the number of fruits and vegetables your child eats is how many you eat yourself!
• Your food critic writes in crayon. Don’t take his criticism of your efforts personally.
• Now, enjoy your dinner. Really. Enjoy.

Finally, sometimes there is no win — in the short term.

There will be bad days. There will be days when your child hates food he loved just yesterday. There will be painful dinners just like there are difficult days in general. Raising a healthy eater is a long process just like raising your kid on the whole. Breathe. Be kind to yourself. You’ll make it.

GIVEAWAY: If you’d like to make things easier for you on those challenging days, I really do recommend Beth’s book The Cleaner Plate Club. Beth, along with co-author Ali Benjamin, has done an amazing job of creating a cookbook that both moms and kids can enjoy and learn from. I’m willing to bet you’ll use this book not only as a cookbook, but as a general guide to food and source of inspiration when you’re wandering around in a daze wondering what the heck is for dinner. Beth has graciously agreed to give away three copies to three random Fans of Being a Mom winners. To enter, just leave a comment below before midnight EST this Friday (December 16th) telling us your best picky eater story. If you’re one of our randomly selected winners, we’ll be in touch by email to get all your shipping details so Beth can send out your book and you can get cookin’.

About the author: Co-author of The Cleaner Plate Club: Recipes and Advice for Getting Real Kids to Love Real Food. Beth Bader has been a photojournalist, writer, and shark wrangler. As much activist as cook, she is, most of all, a mom determined to make the world a better place for her child, one meal at a time. She is a food blogger at Expatriate’s Kitchen expatriateskitchen.blogspot.com and contributes to EatLocalChallenge.com and EatDrinkBetter.com.

Image Credit: mrgreen09

Giveaway: Cute board books!

Posted on August 25, 2011 by FoBaM-Jamie

There’s something about board books that we find irresistable. Maybe it’s their chunkiness or their sturdy construction, their easy-to-turn pages, or the way they double as teethers for little ones. Or, maybe we love them so much because they are our children’s first exposure to the joys of books and reading. They help little ones take their first literary steps as they open the doors to a world of exploration and learning.

Whatever our reasons, we are board book junkies and we’re not ashamed to admit it. Even though our own children have outgrown these durable reads, we still fall for them every time. Today, we’ve got two new Candlewick titles to share with you: I like toys and I like vegetables. These are board books with a slight twist. In addition to all the usual goodness, they feature touch-and-feel details that will have tiny fingers roaming the pages while bright eyes are taking in the bright pictures.

In I like vegetables, curious kids learn not only about produce, but about opposites like above and below, inside and outside, and so forth. Not only that, but you can start getting your kids excited about eating carrots, corn, and peas. (It’s never too early to start, right?)

In I like toys, the focus is on shapes. As little fingers touch different textures in the images, mommy can explain about circles, squares, triangles, and rectangles. Each spread features one large image and then two smaller images – all of which are labeled. The square pages feature images of blocks, a jack-in-the-box, and a book.

GIVEAWAY: Would you like your very own copies of these two great, little board books? The nice folks at Candlewick Press are giving us five sets to giveaway to our readers. For a chance to win one of these sets, just enter your comment below and tell us what you like about board books or about your favorite board book. You have until midnight tomorrow (Friday, August 26th) at which time we’ll choose 5 random winners. Good luck and happy reading!

Giveaway – Harper Collins Book Pack

Posted on May 4, 2011 by FoBaM-Jamie

Sorry!  This Giveaway is now closed.

So many books, so little time.

Curling up with a good book is one of the things most moms would love to do if only we could find the time. There’s nothing like losing yourself in a good story to take you away from whatever trials and tribulations have troubled your day.

To inspire you to carve out some time for a date with a book, we’ve teamed up with the nice folks at Harper Collins to bring you a fabulous gift pack of books. This collection includes some great titles that are perfect for you and your kids. If you’re lucky, you can get the little ones engrossed in some reading of their own, and steal away to your own literary adventure.
The titles in this Harper Collins gift pack include:

For you:
HarperTeen’s paperback repackaging of Jane Eyre, Pride & Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility (These are for teens, but we think moms will like them, too – and they make you look so smart!)
Summer in the City: A Carrie Diaries Novel by Candace Bushnell (Fresh off the presses and ready for beach reading!)
The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong (The latest from a #1 NYT bestseller.)

For the kids:
Falling Up by Shel Silverstein (You can’t go wrong with Shel – kids everywhere love him.)
Splat the Cat by Rob Scotton (The first in the NYT bestselling series.)
Splish, Splash, Splat! by Rob Scotton (The latest in the Splat series – coming out mid-May)
Fancy Nancy Poet Extraordinaire (It’s fantabulous!)
Hooray for Amanda and her Alligator by Mo Willems (From the creator of the Pigeon series, a new comic masterpiece.)

Giveaway: If you’d like to claim this bookish treasure for yourself (and your kids), just leave a comment below telling us something you love about books – your favorite kids’ book, grown-up book, reading memory … whatever. You’ve got until midnight tonight to give it a shot. Good luck!

Image Credit (statue at Wilson Hall, Monmouth University, West Long Branch, NJ): Sister72

Food for Thoughtful Parenting Winners

Posted on February 25, 2011 by FoBaM-Jamie

Congrats to our three winners!

Ashley Hibbard, Dessylen Arnold, and Rebecca Roque Meyers each won a copy of Food for Thoughtful Parenting by Nina Coslov and Tara Keppler.

Thanks to everyone who shared their thoughts about Mommy Speed Bumps and how to get past them. Even if you didn’t win, we hope you’ll check out a copy of Food for Thoughtful Parenting – it’s a lot of fun and offers some great advice in bite-sized portions that even the busiest mom can fit into her day.

Here’s to a smooth ride on the highway of motherhood … or, at least, to friends making the journey slightly less bumpy with support and laughter.

All the best!

The Fans of Being a Mom Team