
I’m a review-nut. Well, I don’t know if that’s the right term, but what I mean to say is that before I go on a trip, buy a product, eat in a restaurant or see a film or show, I almost ALWAYS read the reviews FIRST. That little extra time spent on Trip Advisor for example, has made our recent family trips hugely successful – gone are the days where my husband and I would end up in places which were nothing like the “brochure” promised!
When it comes to things for my family, I tend to be even more careful, especially with the kids and baby Wills. Obviously, I’ve jumped on the “Green Bandwagon” so to speak, and support anything green for the family. So it was great finding a community like the Green Home Huddle, a place where you can read and give reviews for loads of eco-friendly products.
Right now, they have a great contest going, sweetly entitled Green Mommy Loves Green Baby where you can win some fantastic baby and Mommy care products – all of which are natural and organic of course! All you have to do is review products that you already use (or want to use), which I consider the fun part (is it obvious that I like giving my opinion?), and hey presto, you’re in the running.
Good luck!

I do not have a teenager girl – yet – but I am sure that some of our readers do. I am actually a little bit anxious about having a teenager daughter as I can still recall clearly the headaches that I gave my mother when I was that age – literally. Yet I do believe that it could be a great time to create stronger bonds between mother and daughter, especially since the daughter is starting to come into her womanhood.
One of the ways by which mother and daughter can bond is by engaging in activities that relate to beauty and fashion. This is particularly true if mother and daughter have the same interests in regard to this topic. We received an e-mail from one of our readers who works for Blossom4Girls, a web site that offers a line of skin care products for teenagers.
I like their mission statement:
At Blossom we feel that girls should not ‘make up’ their face, but should care for their face. By using only natural, pure and gentle ingredients, Blossom is formulated to work with the delicate needs of blooming skin. With four unique collections, for skin, hair, bath and body, every product is personalized to work with a variety of complexions.
I have never tried their products but from their description, I think that it may be a good idea to check them out. They also currently have a contest:
To celebrate the beginning of summer vacation and school letting out, Blossom will be throwing a slumber party for one lucky winner and her friends. The slumber party attendees will receive a Pizza Hut gift certificate, Blockbuster gift
certificate and spa products from Blossom including Pure-Fection Cleanser, Get
Real Facial Mask, All Star SPF 30 and Sugar Bomb Body Mist. Tweens interested in entering the contest can visit http://www.blossom4girls.com/FunStuff/Contest.

I got an e-mail the other day from Vanessa Van Petten of Teens Today With Vanessa Van Petten. As I was reading the e-mail, I felt like a little kid – I wanted to clap my hands together and do a bit of a jump while I was at it. (Ok, fine, I did clap my hands once.) Here is what she had to say:
I just wanted to write and let you know that your blog has been submitted to my
contest for the “Best Mom Blog!”
Hooray! I actually have already been reading your blog and love it, and have been RSSing for a few months so I am happy to add you to the list.
I wanted you to be aware that (I hope) you will be getting some more traffic from my site as I post the Top 50. I am actually 22 and write a parenting blog from the kids perspective to keep things exciting as a sort of expose on our generation of teens.
Hooray, indeed! I am glad that there are teens like Vanessa and that she sees the value in good parenting and communication between parents and children! Now let’s cross our fingers and hope that we win this one. Even if we don’t, the nomination is reason enough to celebrate, don’t you think?

Welcome to our parenting community!
Written by Lara on May 20th, 2006. 1 Comment »
Filed under Announcements, Babies, Dads, Food, Health, Moms, News, Shopping, Teens, Tips, Toddlers.