Blog Posts by The_Stir

quiet please signBack when I was trying to conceive, my husband and I felt a lot of pressure to start a family from some relatives and friends. Often very well meaning family and friends, wondering when we were going to have a baby. Any person who has been trying to get pregnant knows what I'm talking about here -- it can be a difficult time. But it's not just those who want to have a baby who feel this way -- many childless couples get bombarded with the whys, the whens, and the how comes. It can be more annoying than a hemorrhoid. I mean, why can't two people enjoy being married without having kids in the mix?

Here is my list of things no childless couple ever wants to hear -- so try to never say them.

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1. When are you going to have kids?

Expect this question to start the minute you get married and it comes from your parents, your hairdresser, the guy at the deli, and your cousin who has three hundred

new tvDid you miss the big Black Friday sales this year? If you were paying attention to old Gadget Dad, you'd know that pre-Christmas sales aren't always the best time to buy electronics. In fact, the best thing you could do if you're looking to save money is to wait for the after-Christmas sales.

If you held off picking up new gear, you're in luck: Prices will drop considerably over the next few weeks as sellers look to clear their shelves for new hardware.

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Here is my cheat sheet for your post-holiday shopping. The shelves may be bare of Lalaloopsy and Wii games, but prices on cameras, laptops, and TVs are about to drop like a rock.

First, remember that inventory will be priced to move after Christmas. PCs, laptops, TVs, cellphones -- all this stuff is just itching to fly out of stores. Also check Amazon and eBay: Many online sellers who couldn't clear their wares over the holiday are now ready to

FacebookA couple of years ago, everyone I knew was ranting and raving (mostly raving) about this awesome new site called "Facebook." I was dubious, but they all insisted that they'd reconnected with old friends there and their lives were better for having this account. It took a lot of wheedling and whining, but eventually I signed up for it.

Turns out, it's almost identical to MySpace, which I DID have an account on (I'm dating myself here).

It also did not change my life in any way.

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Wait, I take that back. It did change my life -- for the worse.

This is why I will never allow my kids to have a Facebook account.

First, those games you can easily rack up hundreds of dollars playing -- like tending to your fake farm -- well, if my kids want to work, I'm happy to give them REAL chores in the REAL garden.

Then, we all know kids are mean. Kids between the ages of 13 and 18, can be especially cruel. The last

Cleaning suppliesDuring cold and flu season, most of us know to swipe the kitchen counter with an antibacterial wipe and clean our faucet handles frequently. But germs lurk in some surprising places, and despite those precautions, you still might be missing a major source of viruses and bacteria that could make you sick.

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If you want to reduce the chances of your family catching a cold and/or the flu this year, follow these six easy steps to germ-proof your house:

1. Change out your mops and cleaning cloths. It's good to be green and use reusable products like mops and cleaning rags instead of throwaway items. But you need to be really careful to disinfect the heads of your mops by sticking them in a bucket of disinfecting solution for 15 to 20 minutes after use, and frequently replace your cleaning cloths between rooms. Otherwise, you're just moving bacteria from room to room.

2. Disinfect your remote.

botox for christmas"All I want for Christmas is my ... face injected with Botulinum toxin!" Oh, it's not as much as a joke as it sounds. Plastic surgeons are reporting that they're increasingly busy this year as women ask for, and receive, plastic surgery as holiday gifts. Okay, yes, these are doctors operating in the vicinity of 90210 ... Orange County, to be precise.

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But being that cosmetic procedures are up 81 percent from 10 years ago, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that many women -- not just The Real Housewives of Orange County -- want nothing more for Christmas than a shot of Botox. And their loved ones are making their wishes come true, all over the country. The trend may make you cringe, but it really isn't as crazy as it sounds.

Think about it ... How many times do we gift our sisters, mothers, best friends with various beauty products -- from a gift certificate to the spa for a mani-pedi

Broken heartI missed my almost mother-in-law's birthday last week. You know how you get the feeling like there's something about a particular date you should be remembering, like it has some sort of significance but you just can't dial up exactly what it is in your memory? Turns out, that's what it was. I was kicking myself all over my own rump for forgetting it.

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Because she's my ex-boyfriend's mama, some folks might wonder what the big deal is. She's just the woman responsible for birthing my used-to-be. That's only partially true. For some reason, I have a personal habit of maintaining better relationships with the mothers of my boyfriends than I do with the actual guys.

Even though me and their sons weren't able to make it last forever, me and their mamas stay in touch, talk on the phone, even hang out - much to the chagrin of the dudes who brought us together in the first place.

Depending on how close you were

Christmas pajamasThe best part about Christmas morning is the cinnamon buns. That is a fact. The second best part about Christmas morning is staying in your pajamas 'til noon and wearing gift bows in your hair. Goodness I love eating breakfast pastries in PJs with paper and string on my head, don't you? I was thinking that this year I'd look extra good doing it, though. Instead of an old high school basketball tournament t-shirt and stained sweatpants, I think I'm going to step up my sartorial game and actually wear some nice pajamas. Not, like, silk ones or whatever -- I'm not some sort of gigolo -- but cute, holiday-appropriate ones. I've never had a pair of cool PJs, so really, there's no better time than now to hop on the super-duper sleepwear train. Here are five pair of Christmas morning pajamas I'm considering:

J.C. Penney Snowflake PJ's, $17Blue looks good on me, and probably on you, too. These look comfy, cozy, and great for all winter long.

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Tooth pulling with nerf gunFolks, we have reached critical mass in my household. The kiddo has her third loose tooth, but as much as all that wiggling makes her Daddy gag, she's refusing to bite the bullet and let me yank it. In my desperation, I have turned to YouTube, treasure trove of all ideas weird and weirder. And I may have found the craziest tooth-pulling trick yet.

You think tying the tooth to a doorknob and slamming it shut is kooky? Try tying the offending incisor to a Nerf gun ... and shooting it across the room!

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The first video of a big brother doing the deed for his little sister left me in stitches. He looks so gleeful, she looks terrified, and yet ... willing to give it a go. It's one of those odd sibling bonding moments that you only understand if you have a brother yourself. And I do. In fact, I could so see my (now in his 20s) brother doing this for my daughter:

And if that didn't make you want to