amushro

Back on The Today Show with my Beach and Pool Hacks

June 3, 2015 by amushro

Friends, I have a happy dance that I reserve for really, really special occasions and let me tell you, I am full on happy, tap dancing, cartwheels, turn-turn-turn-kick-ball-change-jazz hands when I ‘m asked to come back to the Today Show. It gets real fancy up in here. After I finished bustin’ a move, I hopped a plane to NYC to be a part of another Parenting Team segment and I really think you will love this one. I’m sharing some of my best pool and beach parenting hacks.

P.S. Some of my readers were worried about the little girls that helped with the sunblock train and I’m telling you they were fine! They were outside for less than 2 minutes, honestly! They were so cute and their parents were so nice! So simmer down!

Also, I sorta love this clip because it literally makes me laugh out loud AND my hair and makeup looks fabulous and I would love for the Today Show hair and makeup team to just follow me around all day long.

Hey do me a favor, when I die, play this clip on repeat because it’s hilarious and fabulous. Deal?

A video posted by QuestionableChoicesInParenting (@questionablecip) on Jun 3, 2015 at 9:57am PDT

6 Tips To Get Your Kids To Wear Sunscreen

May 19, 2015 by amushro

Today I’m sitting among suitcases, packing list, bathing suits, and sand and water toys and all I can think about are freckles. Since my kids are part fish, it’s quite convenient that we spend most of our summer at our family beach house. I watch my kids race into the waves for hours and they sequel with joy when the tide rolls in and swallows up their sandcastles, but all I can think about are freckles. You see, I’m a child of the 80’s and teenager of the 90’s. So that means in addition to awful hair choices and questionable styles in clothing, I shamelessly worshiped the sun, and now at the ripe old age of 35, I have the sun damage and the freckles, to prove it.

As a kid, sun protection for me was one bottle of sunscreen, only used while we were at the beach, applied only in the morning, and was probably used the next year and the year after that. There was no sunscreen when we rode our bikes or swam for hours and hours at our pool. As a teenager and in my early twenties, the tanning bed was my friend and constant companion between laying out with….wait for it…baby oil.

And now I have been entrusted with the precious skin of my children and friends, let me tell you, I take this job very seriously. Because their skin is just as fair as my own, I need to make sure their skin is protected and they’re not covered in freckles from years of being careless in the sun. But adding sunscreen to kids everyday can be a bit of a challenge because getting my kids to stand still long enough for me to actually apply the sunscreen is pretty ridiculous.

For beach, bike rides, pool time, playgrounds, and prolonged exposure to the sun, we need to be protected with sunscreen. Here are six ways to get your kids to actually wear sunscreen.

1. Sunscreen Train: Everyone needs sunscreen before we head out and everyone needs to get on the train! Create a line and let everyone apply sunscreen to each other. Just be sure you go back over the kids to make sure they have the correct coverage and enough sunscreen.

2. Connect the dots: Apply the sunscreen in a dot pattern on their arms and legs. Let your kids use their fingers to connect the dots while you apply to other body parts.

3. Set a Timer: Grab an egg timer or set a timer on your phone and have a race with your kids to see how fast you can apply sunscreen everywhere. Make sure you start with their feet and legs and work your way up since their faces tend to be where kids fight sunscreen the most!

4. Simon Says Sunscreen- Put some sunscreen in your child’s hands and play a quick game of Simon Says Sunscreen. Simon Says put sunscreen on your belly! Simon Says put sunscreen on your right leg! Of course, re-check for coverage when the game ends.

5. Apply before you go: Once you hit the outdoors, your chances of successfully adding sunscreen are dwindling. So apply before you leave the house!

6. Distraction: Come on, you’re good at this! A quick snack, a show on TV, maybe a few minutes on the beloved iPad. Sometimes our distractions aren’t pretty, but whatever it takes!

Here’s a really important tip: just applying sunscreen isn’t enough. There are quite a few things I learned from KnowYourOTCs.org about sunscreen and how and when we need to apply. Here’s what they say are the most important tips to remember about applying sunscreen:

Re-apply every 2 hours or more if your child has been in the water

Use sunscreen labeled “broad spectrum” — it means it protects against UVA and UVB radiation

Make sure you are using the right amount of sunscreen–think the size of a golf ball

For more summer survival tips, be sure to check out KnowYourOTCs.org

Now I know applying and reapplying sunscreen to younger kids can be difficult. Tell me what fun ways have you used to apply and reapply sunscreen on your kids?

This post was sponsored by KnowYourOTCs but all opinions and ideas are 100% my own

Visit Consumer Healthcare Products Association's profile on Pinterest.

Parenting Sanity Savers Making Beach Trips With Kids A Breeze

May 7, 2015 by amushro

Summer is coming, friends and that means sun and fun and schlepping your entire family to the beach. We all know that a family vacation REALLY isn’t a vacation for you, right? It’s more of a working vacation, but if you have plans to take your kids to the beach, I’ve got a few sanity savers to make your beach vacay a breeze. Maybe not a breeze but a whole lot little easier. Lookout beach, here we come!

Use a mesh laundry bag (grab one at the Dollar Store!) and load up all of your kids’ sand toys, buckets and shovels. The lightweight bag is easy to carry or drag up or down the beach so even your older kids can be in charge of this bag. Before you head inside, rinse everything right in the bag in an outdoor shower or hose! You can let the bag drip dry on the balcony or deck and have it ready to go for the next day!

Image via Th Idea Room — Image via The Idea Room

An easy way to keep sand from overtaking your beach blanket is to ditch the blanket and grab a fitted sheet. Flip the sheet upside down and in each corner put a bag or cooler so the sides of the sheet are flipped up. You just created a little barrier from the sand–at least for a little bit.

My favorite tip for the summer! At the beach and pool I’m high alert mom because my kids always run off in different directions and if I’m distracted for a moment, I can easily can lose sight of them. Panic time! Here’s how I fix this issue with a little color coordination

Want the sand off but don’t have a place to rinse off? No problem! Stash a bottle of baby powder in your beach bag and sprinkle away. The sand magically falls off and who doesn’t love the smell of baby powder? If your kids get a little over zealous with the sprinkle part, fill a child sized knee sock with baby power and tie it off with a ribbon. You’ve created a sand-be-gone-sack. Silly name but sandless hands and feet!
A very important item you need for the beach are dog poo bags. Yes dog poo bags. Throw a roll of these bags into your beach bag for wet bathing suits, dirty diapers, sunblock explosions, taking home seashells, and every other mess or blowout you can and can’t plan for. The bags are small but super handy.

You already know to pack light on vacation. So here are a few ways to re-purpose items already on your packing list:

Pool noodles are super fun during the day while your kids are splashing around, but dry them off at night and tuck them under a fitted sheet on a bed and they work like a bumper for you kids. No need to move furniture or bring a bed rail, just use your noodle!
Sandy cellphones are no fun. So put your phone inside a plastic bag to keep the sand out but you can still use the buttons!
A day of cannonballs into the pool or dives into the ocean can lead to water in your kid’s ears. Ouch! Have them blow up a balloon for instant relief from the clogged ear! Fill the other balloons with water and freeze overnight. Use the frozen balloon in your cooler during the day and in the afternoon have a fun water balloon race on the beach with the family. Fun and functional, I like it.
Save the lid to your take-out coffee, flip it upside down, and put the stick of a Popsicle in the drink hole and ta-dah–the lid catches drips and your kiddos little hands stay clean! You can also use a cupcake liner for this trick.

Image via LifeHaccker — Image via Lifhacker

Protect your kiddo’s precious skin and reapply sunscreen every two hours (less if they have been in the water). To remind yourself, set the alarm on your phone, download an app(you can find lots of free apps), or write on the back of sunscreen bottle the times you need to reapply.

Sunburn got you down? Try these tricks:

Freeze aloe vera in ice-cube trays for cool relief or put the entire bottle in the fridge for a quick cool down.

Add two cups of apple cider vinegar to your bathtub. The vinegar will calm your hot skin
Pour apple cider vinegar on a washcloth and dab your skin. Once it dries, add coconut oil. This combo should ease your pain and reduce redness by the next day

Most important tip take grandparents…. kidding, kinda. OK, most important tip Have SO MUCH Fun! Look out beach, here we come!

Naming a Baby Should NOT Be This Stressful

May 5, 2015 by amushro

Like millions of other Royal Family fans, I stalked the internet, news stations, and gossip websites for the name of the new princess. I oohed and awwed at the first precious pictures of that sweet, little face, and was blown away by Duchess Kate’s grace, fantastic hair, and ability to pretend she wasn’t wearing mesh granny-panties under that dress. But I wanted to know her name! Just tell us already! And when we couldn’t wait a minute longer, they released her name and it was PERFECTION!

I have to wonder how much time and energy, maybe even a pow-wow in a war room in the palace, went into naming the new princess. Sure there are all sorts of rules that the future king and his lovely Duchess must take into consideration when naming their daughter, but was it anything like the ordeal I went through naming my boy?

Naming a baby is a lot of pressure. I mean what if you pick a name and the minute they hit elementary school, some creep makes up an awful nickname for the kid and THAT is the name that sticks–Like A-Man-Da-Hug-And-Kiss–like I haven’t heard that annoying name a million times before, jerks.

Maybe your kid will make it through school nickname-free but you just so happen to pick the most popular name that year and your kid’s name morphs into their first name and last initial–Nice to meet you, I’m Amanda M. because there are 10 of us.

Or what if you have nine whole months and hours of discussions about the perfect baby name but you find yourself waddling into the hospital to deliver a baby that has no name. NO NAME!

There were no personalized toys in our nursery or little signs with our first born’s name waiting for his arrival because no matter how many baby naming books or websites we checked, my husband and I could not agree on a name.

I’d love a name and my husband would hate it.

He’d suggest a name and I’d suggest divorce.

I’d mentioned a name to colleague and some moron would say something really stupid about the name and immediately they and that baby name were dead to me.

I’d always hoped for a Junior but my husband shut that idea down quickly. He felt like having a junior might be a lot of pressure or an annoyance for our boy because he shared his dad’s name. So that name got tossed onto the pile of other no-names like Greyson, Charlie, Ben, and Noah.

So here we were, in the hospital, holding our nameless bundle of joy and my husband says,”Well what about Preston? We both didn’t hate that name. Wait, why are you crying? What’s wrong??”

Through tears and wracking sobs I forced out “He’s NOT A PRESTON”

And on cue, enters the chipper nurse, “Do we have a name for this boy? You know, you can’t leave until he is named but you have up to a year to change his name!”

My husband’s eyebrow’s perked up at her last comment and I snarled at him over the head of our sleeping newborn.

We were going to be released in a few minutes, but our inability to name our baby made my blood-pressure-info rise so high I had to stay in the hospital until it lowered to a safe level.

Husband: “Well that just gives us more time to name this kid, right?”

Me: “……..”

Husband: “Should we grab another baby book?”

Me: “………”

Husband: “So, no?”

Me: “No. Just. Name. This. Kid.”

I threw the paper work at him, rolled over, and silently plotted his demise. A half hour later, he furiously scribbled on the social security form, folded it up and slid it over to me.

Aaron. Just like his daddy, my boy became my Aaron. And it was perfect.

So that sweet dark-haired and tan skinned baby that I brought home from the hospital, here’s who he became. So handsome, right? And soooo not a Preston. Just a perfect Aaron. My Aaron.

Sanity Savers For When Your Kids Are Sick!

April 30, 2015 by amushro

I’m so excited to announce my new series for the blog called Can You Hack Motherhood? Since my Sanity Savers For When Kids Are Sick was such a hit on the Today Show, I knew these great tips needed to be a shared as a weekly series! So here is the post that started it all and a clip of my Today Show appearance! Keep a lookout for a new set of life hacks and sanity savers every Thursday and if you have any great tips for hacking motherhood, send them to me!

As a mom, I’ve got all kinds of super hero powers, like my kisses can fix boo boos and I can make lunch, kick a soccer ball, talk to my mom on the phone, and nurse a baby at the same time! But even when it seems like I’m just flying through life with my super hero cape on, nothing can send me into a stress induced tizzy like my kids getting sick. Everyone is miserable, no one is sleeping, and I’m looking around wondering “Who’s next?”

I’m not a doctor, but I do watch A LOT of Grey’s Anatomy and have two kids that like to barf in my hair at 3 AM and often get sick at the most inopportune times, like on trips to Disney. So here are my parenting life hacks when your kids are sick:

Making Medicine Less Yucky

When your kiddos are sick and they need to take medicine, the last thing you want is an all-out battle to get them to take their doses. But to be fair, a lot of medicine tastes pretty awful so here’s how we hide that yucky taste and start feeling better:

Put a few mini chocolate morsels on their tongue and when the chocolate melts, it coats their tongue so you can sneak the medicine in minus the bad taste. See chocolate really does fix everything!
For serious negotiations, I turn to a currency my kids understand, lollipops. Dip the lollipop in the medicine and let your kid lick the medicine each time you dip. When they finish all the medicine, they get to eat the lollipop (get yourself one too — you’ve earned it).The Skinny on Soothing SkinIt’s not just the flu or a cold that can have your favorite patients feeling awful, but don’t worry; you’ve got a bag of tricks to fix anything when they have issues with their skin
Itchy dry skin is no match for you! Put your little one in a lukewarm bath with a cup or two of white vinegar and skip the soap and shampoo. Cover their skin with Vaseline or coconut oil—yes coconut oil. They won’t be itchy and will smell like a yummy pina colda.
Sunburns are so painful, but you can come to the rescue with a cool fix of freezing aloe vera in ice cube trays.
My kids are anti-shoes in the summer which leads to a lot of splinters. So this Mamma mixes up a paste of baking soda and water to coat the splinter. Add a band-aid and let the paste sit for an hour. The splinter works itself out of the skin, you can easily pull it with tweezers, and your babe’s feet will stay pain free.Sanity Through ExhaustionYou’re probably a little rusty when it comes to all-nighters. So do a few things to keep sane when you only have one eye open at 3AM.

Be prepared for a night of tummy trouble by pulling out your old towels and sheets for your kid’s bed. Just like lasagna, make layers of sheets and towels. When you need to make late night clean ups, you can strip off a layer and the bed is already made and ready for the next round, sigh
You may already suffer from Mommy-Brain AND you’re exhausted, now you have to remember the last time your kids took their medicine—not happening. Grab a marker and create a small chart on the side of their medicine bottle for doses and the number of days they need to take medicine.
Earaches are so painful and keep everyone awake, but if you take an all white sock, add coarse sea salt and a few drops of lavender, and warm it up in the microwave or a skillet, you have a soothing heating pad to place on a painful ear. Sweet dreams!
Hydration is key when they’re sick, but if they’re lying down or napping, you can fully expect spills on their bed and your couch—but not anymore! Grab a cup with a lid and put a crazy straw in upside down. Even if the cup falls over, it won’t spill! Hallelujah! I might do this every day!Sweet Pain Relievers
Got a sore throat? Try a few mini marshmallows. Why does it work? I have no idea, but it does and it’s yummy.
Popsicles make everyone feel better so add Jell-o to homemade popsicles-it won’t melt as fast—genius– and if you add some fruit, you get a something healthy into you’re a sick kiddo with zero appetite.

These parenting life hacks can fix a lot and get your family back to normal…..

Or as normal as your family can be.

When Avengers Unite at Our House, What Will Happen Next?

April 24, 2015 by amushro

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #AvengersUnite #CollectiveBias

When you’re a superhero in training, your days are exhausting. You spend hours learning about super villains and all their evil ways (or you go to preschool). Your training is extensive while honing your special powers and battle skills (you wrestle with your brother/sister). But most importantly, you must keep up your strength so you can protect the world (eat snacks that ONLY have Avengers on the box). Lucky for these superheros, their super mom knows what they like.

But even Superheros can find shopping a bit tedious. I mean, come on, they spend their days fighting evil and now they have to ride around in Mom’s shopping cart and not some amazing, super fast, super amazing car! Lame.

So while we were stocking up on Avenger only snacks at Walmart, we used the Super Heroes Assemble app to make our shopping trip more of an adventure. The app has all sorts of fun features that you can unlock while you’re shopping in the store (and entertaining your superheros)and a lot of fun features for when you get home.

You can download the app, Super Heroes Assemble, in the Google Play store, iTunes, or from the Walmart Avengers website.

When you first download the app, a lot of the features are locked. Lucky for you, you have superhero powers to magically unlock each feature. Some will ask you to scan specially marked foods like these special Avengers Cheez-its

Boom–super powers are pretty rad, right?

To unlock other features of the app, you have to scan images of Avenger signs that can be found at Walmart. My Avenger fans had a blast searching for the signs as we shopped. Some were in the toys section and others were near the food aisle where we found our Avenger snacks. But don’t worry if you’ve left the store! Even if you’re back at your super hero lair, you can unlock the features on the Walmart Avengers website Here’s what you do:

Open the app and choose “Discover.”.
On the Walmart Avengers Website click on “Unlock more epic content.”
Scroll through the pictures on the computer, matching up the images to the images in the app.
Then, scan each picture to get content for each character in the movie.
Pat yourself on the back for being awesome

Another fun feature of the app are the clips from the movie MARVEL’s The Avengers: Age of Ultron which comes out in theaters May 1. You better believe my tiny superheros will be there! Actually, I think their super dad is even more excited about this movie.

Since my son is really into learning everything and I mean EVERYTHING about each character and villain, he loved the app because it gives a ton of background information on the Avengers and the villains.

However, my favorite part of the app was when we started unlocking the “Suit Up” feature.

As you unlock each character, you can take epic pictures as your favorite Avenger or super villain. Never to be left out, we even have Iron Dog. Tony Stark could use a cute, four-legged, sidekick, right?

Since my superheros are very specific about what will refuel their super powers, we were lucky to find lots of snacks like Doritos at Walmart with the Avengers on the display.

Right now Hulk and Captain America are favorites in this house. So tell me, who is your favorite Avenger and will you come eat some of the Doritos because I may eat the entire bag! Now that is a super power for sure!

My Today Show’s #ParentingTeam Post– Mom Lessons!

April 21, 2015 by amushro

How fitting that during my Today Show whirlwind appearance, I had my mom by my side and now this month’s Today Show’s Parenting Team Challenge is all about sharing your mom’s best life lessons. It’s funny how moms are always willing to hand out advice, but we aren’t always willing to take it. Then years pass and we realize “dang, she DID know what she was talking about!” But don’t tell my mom I said that!

So hop on over to the Today #ParentingTeam site and check out my post. Leave me a little comment and click the vote button! Maybe I’ll get the chance to go back on the Today Show and share a little of my sweet Mamma’s wisdom! Click Right Here To Be Magically Transported!

Also, how sweet is this pic of my mom, kiddos, and me in the hospital after my Lyla was born? Wahhhh look how little my kids were!

No Pants, No Problem

April 15, 2015 by amushro

Friends, a few weeks ago we hit a very critical point in the year. Are you familiar with this:

I call this look “It’s barely spring and you need to wear pants for a few more weeks. So where are the higher socks?” Or maybe you know this style as as “Sweet Baby Jesus, kid! I wasn’t aware that surviving on mac and cheese and chocolate milk alone could make you have such long legs?”

Even though I swore that come hell or high waters I would NOT buy new pants that would only be worn for a few weeks before my kid breaks out his summer uniform, shorts and muscle shirt–yes, muscle shirts, the man is a firm believer in sun’s out, gun’s out–

I found myself hitting up the sale racks in search of pants of appropriate length; however, my main man has some specific requirements when it comes to pants. And friends, it’s getting a little tricky because all pants that enter his closet MUST meet the following description:

1. Pants with the color orange will be given preference before all others.

2. If it says “skinny leg” or has a more trendy name like like “rockstar” or “preppy,” it’s still a skinny leg and you need to walk away, Mom. Walk away.

3. And the most important rule: All pants purchased must be “comfy pants” i.e. pants without buttons, zippers, snaps, or clasps.

So at this point we are anti-jeans at all costs and have a closet full of active pants or basketball pants or lacrosse pants or whatever they name pants that don’t contain buttons or zippers.

On the particular chance that we have an event or a holiday that requires my boy to wear real pants, I approach my son with caution and a long list of reasons why real pants are the way to go. Negotiations ensure and they tend to be long winded and often end in tears and bribery. Usually I cave and allow corduroy or khakis.

But sometimes, friends I win these arguments and I have brief glimpses of the stylish dude I know is hiding behind those swishy, athletic pants. Seriously, his pants are so noisy I can always hear him sneaking up on me.

Sometimes when I get him all dress up I even get hilarious pictures like this! I call this picture “My mom made me wear pants”

Really I should be more understanding. After all, I spend most of my days in yoga pants and get a little grumpy when I have to wear real pants with buttons and zippers too. Apparently he gets his style trends from his Mama.

So point me in the direction of “comfy pants,” please. I’ve got a man with long legs and ankles that need to be covered for a few more weeks.

Apps Every Parent Needs When They Travel

April 9, 2015 by amushro

While this is a sponsored post, all opinions are 100% my own #MoreVA #VZWBuzz

Let’s dust off those suitcases and grab your swimsuits, friends, because it’s time to plan those fantastic family vacations! We’re making memories here, people! You might have dozens of apps of your smartphone and tablets to keep the kids entertained and ward off backseat boredom, but there are a lot of great apps that parents need if they want smooth sailing during their next vacation. Traveling with your family can be stressful, so why not get a little help from the apps? It’s your vacation too! So whether it’s a week at the beach or a weekend at a waterpark, you need these apps!

Potty breaks made easy with Sit or Squat Restroom Finder- When you are traveling with kids, it’s inevitable that you will need to make lots of potty breaks; however, we’ve all had incidents with bathrooms that look more like a horror movie. This app helps you find a bathroom FAST and users rate the bathroom as Sit for positive reviews and Squat for negative reviews. You can even search for Family bathrooms and baby changing stations

Sweet dreams everyone with White Noise Baby- Since my kids were newborns, they have fallen asleep to white noise. When we travel, this handy app plays looped white noise (also conch shell and classical music) and our kids feel like they are at home. The white noise also comes in handy if you need to block out noises from the hallway when you’re staying in a hotel.

Help me plan my trip, Roadtrippers– I love when someone (or something) makes my life easier, don’t you? Roadtrippers app will help you map out your trip AND discover the best restaurants, scenic spots, attractions at hotels, and more through their database. Check out pictures, description, and reviews of each place you want to visit. You can even save your favorite trips and destinations for you next raodtrip.

Help me find everyone, Life360- If your kids are older and the’re beginning to venture out on their own during family vacations, Life360 can help you keep track of everyone with the help of this app. Find everyone in your “Circle” with real time updates of maps and check ins. So even if you are waiting on a text from a family member, you can check out their location. This app also comes in handy for lost phones.

Grab your suitcases, PackPoint- If you’re the one responsible for making sure everyone has enough underwear and socks for your vacay, you need PackPoint to make your packing lists easier! This handy app helps you organize what you need to pack based on length of travel, weather at your destination, and any activities planned during your trip–how cool is that? PackPoint will even remind you to pack an umbrella if there is rain in the forecast. Now you can pack, check items off your list, and not worry you are forgetting something!

All of these fantastic apps can be found on Google Play. I’d love to hear your favorite travel apps and where you are headed this summer on your family vacations!

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