Blog Posts by Julie Meyers Pron

Its time to spice up your winter outerwear! Even when bundling up, we all need to look chic. Here, a few ways to beat the mid-winter blahs and add some sassy to your outdoor style.

You need a coat. A warm coat. In fact, you probably want more than one. There's the ski/snowplay/shoveling coat:

And an everydayinsulated warming coat (available in different lengths... if you get a ski jacket, above, you'll want a longer one of these):

And consider a nicer, cashmere or wool-blended coat for evening and dress, likethis Tahari one (love the ruffles!)
Next, stock up on gloves (because you're bound to lose at least one) lorisshoes

(does anyone have these? Ugg gloves? Do share!)

and hats.

Oh! And boots! Snow boots, of course, which are different from fashion boots. And boots are a whole other fashion post, coming soon.

Julie Meyers Pron is a Shine! Parenting Guru and a member of the Yahoo! Mother Board. Her weekly Mom Chic column is posted every Friday on her blog, Just Precious. Follow herRead More »from Mom Chic: Add some sassy to your outerwear

Have you ever tried sitting down and discussing something with your children, only to learn that their definition of the topic you are discussing is so remotely different than your's that you have to sit back and just listen to the amazing conversation that follows?

It happened, recently, in my home with my 5- and 7-year-old boys. I told them I wanted to talk about goals and asked them what words they thought of when I said "goal." The five-year-old, Middle, told me they're scary. I sat, shocked, wondering why a 5-year-old would fear a goal. I had expected the topic might turn to sports, but to something scary?

Attempting to save the converstation and turn it around, I asked about dreams. "What do you think of when I say dream?"

Middle shared that dreams are really scary. Sometimes he has to come in at night and cuddle with us because the dreams are so scary. "Sometimes the scary ghosts are in them, too," he told me, very proud of himself. He continued telling me about happy dreams

Read More »from Parenting Guru: Dreams and our future

Raise your hand if "get organized" is on your resolution list. Your next step is finding a method that works, and sticking to it. This system, as described by a mom of three children (ages 7, 5 and 1), took time to create, and even longer to make a habit. Its not fail-free. No plan is because we all have different styles and schedules and no one can adapt another's organization plan exactly.

Creating an organization plan it takes a lot of time. Here's this mom's system to adapt and learn to use, and, eventually, rely on the habit.

Calendar

For about 5 years, I relied on my MomAgenda Desktop . It went everywhere with me. I loved the desktop because it had sections for each child, so I recorded all of my kids appointments, events and activities, as well as my own. I tried to use my phones but always fell back to the MomAgenda for the hard-copy and having the ability to have it open and in front of me.

Its only within the past 2 months that I've switched to using Google Calendar. Read More »from Parenting Guru: How moms can orgainze their every days

While I'd prefer to listen to the news or a discussion show on the radio over music, having kids I've given in to beats and singalongs. The challenge has been finding music that I'm willing to listen to, again and again. With a 6-disk CD-player in the car, here's what's playing this week.

Justin Roberts' Pop Fly was received as a sample years ago and its remained a favorite. We love listening and singing along to the songs about the every day.

Mamma Mia! The Movie Soundtrack: whenever I don't have this CD in the player, either Middle (age 5) or his best friend request it. I think its the peppy, easy to sing along with tunes they like best. Little (17 months) now sings "MamamiaMamamiaMamamia..."

Tangled: We received this from my relationship with Klout before the movie preview, and my kids were ready to sing the songs through the theater during the show. It was "kidnapped" from my car for a few weeks after Big (age 7) received a CD player for his birthday. Its back nowRead More »from Parenting Guru: Our favorite family music... this week

I was crazy, going to the mall on a Saturday in December with 2 kids.... to make returns. We ran into a problem. We got hungry. So we ventured to the food court. The very busy foodcourt. I made it "simple", ordering food for all 3 of us at the pizza place. Balancing all 3 slices, plus two drinks, on a tray, and 3 shopping bags. Middle attempted to push the stroller, but as he nearly hit 3 people, I grabbed the stroller and, attempting patience, asked him to just walk with me. An older man approached me.

"Can I help you with that?" he asked.

"No, thanks. We'll be..." I replied while looking out at the packed food court and no open tables or chairs. I sighed. "Actually. Yes. I would really appreciate that." I handed him my tray. "Except," I continued, "I don't think there are any tables and I'm not going to ask you to wait. You know what? Maybe we'll just find a place and stand."

"NO!" shouted Middle. "I won't stand!"

"That's okay," the man said. "I'll help you." As we weaved through

Read More »from Kindness all around

This is the 3rd week that I've reported Amazon's most popular toy sales in the 23rd hour on Sunday night. I did this as a psuedo-experiment. I started out wanting to know what the real most popular toys would be this year, versus all of the gift guides and hot toy lists. But its also turned out to be quite an opportunity to learn about sales and how they effect people's buying habits.

Earlier Sunday, around 11 am, I snuck a peak at the best selling toys list. Othello was a surprise there. Who'd have expected Othello? Its a game that gets no media attention, it has no celebrity endorsement, and its not bright plastic colors with bells, whistles and batteries. Its Othello.

Othello was on sale all day today for $4.99. The game is now one of the biggest sellers. Way to go, Amazon.com. You brought a toy back from the dead.

New to the list tonight:

LEGO Star Wars Freeco Speeder (8085) Big wants this. He really wants this one. He's a big collector of LEGO Star Wars and this one is withinRead More »from Amazon's hottest toys the Sunday night before Christmas

When I posted last week about Amazon's hottest toys, as reported Sunday night, I was pretty sure the list would remain consistent through the holiday season. This week, about half the list is the same. I'll be very interested to see what's hot next Sunday, the final weekend before Christmas. Here are this week's new items:

Color Wonder Sound Studio

Crayola Color Wonder Sound Studio Chris Byrne said Thursday night that this was a great toy. Crayola did it right again. Crayola Wonder creates markers and paints that don't show the color unless used on their special paper. So if paint or marker ends up on clothing or the wall, no one will ever know. The Sound Studio makes noises as the child creates. Pretty fun!

Headbanz

Hedbanz GameI hadn't heard of this toy til tonight, but it sounds awfully familiar... like an icebreaker we giggled about in high school. But. Wait. We did that with 3 x 5 cards, a marker and our hands to hold the cards on our foreheads. And the creator's minds actually created what the cards said, Read More »from User post: Sunday's hottest toys at Amazon

Pilates Exercise Video class, Image by myyogaonline via FlickrStress. Do you feel it? In your neck? In your shoulders? Taking over your body?

As I listen to my 16-month-old call out "Mom" after her too-short nap, I feel it. I've felt it the past few days. Because I am stressed. Really. Like every other mom, I'm shuffling schedules, preparing meals, working, cleaning. Oh! And I'm pitching, writing, planning events. And SHOPPING! Yes, my friends, this is the one time of the year when shopping loses its fun and excitement. Suddenly, even shopping, which so often is a chance to relax and release, is stressful.

Moms. We need to destress. When we don't, it's very possible that we'll get more stressed. Or sick. Or just sick and tired. (Want proof? I came down with Shingles last spring in a crazy, stressful period.)

I used to destress at my pilates class. But, lately, I've been bringing my Droid in with me, turning off the sound and checking my emails about half way through class. Friday, I accidentally left my phone in the car. I almost ran Read More »from Parenting Guru: Holiday stress? Breathe in...