Blog Posts by Parentables

YUM!Fed up with pouts and whines at the dinner table, I knew I had to take action to get my second grader to eat his vegetables. Like lightning, mid-meal, the brainstorm of a lifetime struck. Mommy brilliance is a rare and beautiful thing; and therefore, dear reader, I shall share my epiphany with you.

Read More: Teach Your Child to Eat (and Like!) Vegetables

There are two truths about my son. He loves science and hates vegetables. So, thought I, was there a way to use his love of science to turn his hatred of vegetables around? Oh yes, indeed there was.

I prepped him the next morning.

"Tonight, at dinner, we're going to do a science experiment," I informed him.

"What kind?" His interest was piqued.

"A cool kind," I said coolly. "You'll be the scientist, I'll be your assistant."

Off to school he went, just dying to know what madness I had in mind.

Read More: Don't Hide Those Vegetables

I went to the grocery store and bought one of every vegetable. One

Books!"Mum, my teacher doesn't think I'm good at reading," my daughter, Maia, said when she got off the bus yesterday. No mother wants to hear this.

Processing over Pirate Booty, I figured out the first grade teacher did not actually say this to Maia. She had just assigned kids to reading "bins" and "buddies." The bins contain books that are appropriate for the reading level at which each student has been assessed. And the kids read with buddies who are around the same reading level as them.

Read More: Is Your Child Ready for School?

Of course they don't use labels like the "smart bin." But kids measure their abilities against their peers. Maia knows she's at level four, and there is a kid in her class at level 16!

Maia attended Montessori preschool, which focused on learning through guided play. She knew about Picasso and the solar system, but she did not learn sight words. Most studies say teaching kids to read and write earlier and earlier doesn't necessarily mean better

We are family.I have two step-kids: Ava just turned 14 and Chet just turned 11 (yes, a congested birthday period). My daughter, Maia, and I met them five years ago. Although the dynamic is not what my 16-year-old self imagined, our blended family feels like it was meant to be.

Since Maia, who is six, moved in with Ava and Chet before her second birthday, she fully considers them her brother and sister. But she also understands they have another mom. The other day I heard Maia's friend ask why her brother and sister had brown skin and she did not.

Read More: 6 Axioms of Step Parenting

"Trey used to be married to another lady who is the 'big kids' mom. They came out of her butt, not my mom's butt. That lady has brown skin. She lives far away, but they talk to her on the phone a lot."

"Oh, ok. Can we get a snack?" her friend said, not missing a beat.

I was impressed by Maia's uninhibited recounting of this part of our family dynamic. Because of the differences in skin color, all

Kale SmoothieI don't believe you have to hide vegetables in order to get your kids to eat them -- although, once in awhile you might need to entice them to try something new. This kale smoothie is just the ticket. Most kids love to eat fruit because it is naturally sweet, but are less likely to eat green vegetables which can taste bitter on their still-developing taste buds.

Read More: 5 Recipes for Your Kids' Favorite Store Bought (Typically) Snacks

Although not always popular with kids, dark leafy green vegetables are the highest rated food on the ANDI nutrient density scale, scoring 1000 points (the maximum amount). Drinking a green smoothie is practically like taking a multi-vitamin. One cup of kale contains the daily required amount of:

• beta carotene
• vitamins C, E and K
• calcium
• magnesium
• iron
• potassium
• phosphorus
• zinc

Read More: Saturday Snack: Apple Chips

The fresh flavor of raw kale is highlighted in this easy smoothie that is naturally sweetened with orange

Hey, that looks like MY to-do list.As parents we tend to run ourselves ragged trying to get everything accomplished in one day that should be tackled over the course of a week. There's always something lurking on the ever-growing to-do list and time just slips away. In an effort to get more done, I used to wake up before my daughter and continue to work once she went to bed. I felt like I was on an endless treadmill of taking care of household chores, staying on top of emails and work, and doing all the other stuff moms are responsible for.

Read More: Do This 4 Minute Cardio Workout While Waiting in Line at the Grocery Store

To top off my hectic schedule, I've been sick with colds and flus for most of the year. I chalked it up to being a sleep-deprived mom (being woken up every 3 hours at night for 17 long months), who has been exposed to a lot of kiddie germs. Except it was taking me about 4 -6 weeks to get over a cold, when the rest of my family was recovering in a few days. I had seen my doctor for these

Movie night!With school in full force again, we like to have Friday night movie time and watch movies like "Flywheel," the original "Cheaper by the Dozen," and for the younger kids, "Bambi. And, it's actually an earned privilege. We'll pick out a movie for that Friday, and everybody knows their checklist has to be accomplished by the end of the week.

Read More: Michelle Duggar's Clever Strategy for Motivating Kids

This includes their chores, their jurisdictions, all their schoolwork and their music practice. If something happens during the week and their schedule gets bumped, or they're not able to catch up, then we try to help them catch up.

Read More: Homeschooling: How Michelle Duggar Approaches Learning Difficulties

But if they've been lazy and they slacked off and they didn't really focus on getting all their checklist items done, they may miss out on that movie time because -- and I know this sounds really hard -- but it's all about "you work hard and then you play." And

Stats. Blurg.I feel like one of those politicians who bows out of the race to spend more time with family. Even though there was no sketchy hotel room and this announcement will never make it to the newspapers, I do have something in common with that public figure. I realized that I'd veered off track and lost touch with myself.

Read More: How Ditching Technology Helped Me Get Things Done

When I started my blog three years ago, I wanted to be a writer. I wanted to write essays, the kind where you dig deeper into an experience or idea and try to find a lesson. But everyone wants to write deep thoughts about their lives, and there are only a few magazines (whoops, make that very few magazines) with a spot in the back for personal ramblings.

To get an essay published, I was told you had to already be a published writer, ideally a book author or some other expert. I did know something about raising kids on a tight budget, and yes, I needed to develop my voice. So I started a blog.

Should we go with Kaisley or Bajango? Oh wait, how about Muffet?Besides my severe case of poop-o-phobia, one of the things I stressed most about prior to becoming a parent was finding a decent name for our kid.

We absolutely had to pick the perfect name. Right?

I actually think we couldn't have had it more wrong. Naming a child does not have to be a big stressfest. Besides thinking up a few strategies for baby naming, the single most important thing you need to understand is what a name does.

And that's very little.

Read More: America's Most Popular Baby Names

As someone who works in good-for-the-world branding for a living, I am constantly struck by how little great logos and great brand names say about the companies they belong to. Mercedes is not called The Expensive Quality Car Company for a very good reason. Names and logos don't define a company. They don't explain it. They simply represent it. And by representing a brand over time, they become associated with what that company does. And that's how they become