If you are looking for some good content relating to pregnancy and/or parenthood, Bizzywomen.com has 3 blogs that are worth bookmarking:

babyfruit deals with issues ranging from miscarriages to parenthood. In a recent post the issue with discipline and ‘time outs’ was discussed in a really humorous way that all parents can relate to. ” But now when she does something wrong, she tilts her head and smiles as we open our mouth to scold her and says, “What? Am I going to get a Time Out?” Big Cheshire Cat grin and a glint in her eye. “Yes, you’re going to get a Time Out,” we say in the sternest voice we can muster with what I’m sure looks like Fake Stern looks on our faces. And then she says, “I want a time out. Can I have a time out now, please?” Tonight, she was talking back to G., and he made the Time Out threat. She actually said “May I be excused so I can have a time out?” (We’re teaching her to say “May I be excused” before getting up from the table. Guess she learned that one.)”

At More4kids.com lot’s of questions an expectant mother may have are dealt with. In a  recent post the issue of taking a birth class was written about. “Their goal is really to provide the mom to be with confidence that she can infact do this. These classes are usually put on by hospitals, you can find them at the hospital you plan on delivering at, but not all expectant moms take the classes. Which begs the question, do you really need the class before you have the baby?”

The baby blog has great information for parents on raising newborns. In a recent post the issue of infants watching tv was debated. “The public health implications of early television and video viewing are potentially large. There are both theoretical and empirical reasons to believe that the effects of media exposure on children’s development are more likely to be adverse before the age of about 30 months than afterward,” the authors note. Recent studies suggest that what children younger than two years watch and whether they watch it alone or with a parent may be important for their vocabulary development.”

On this beautiful first day of spring, I am reminded of many things that I am grateful for.

The economy is still troublesome. We have been affected by it in many ways, but it certainly has helped me focus on what is good around me and I remain optimistic and hopeful about the future.

I welcome the change. Change is very good and change is coming. I think you have to get on board and embrace change or you will be left far behind. So in addition to change, following is a list of more things I am grateful for.

My top 30 things I am grateful for list:

1. PTA bingo night with family – good cheap fun
2. a supportive husband who gives flowers just because
3. beautiful, healthy children
4. my parents who are always there
5. my older son who has the babysitter call me to see if he can watch a movie since he is grounded
6. a smart brother who supports my websites for very little or no money
7. a creative friend who is an amazing designer and developed The Mom Entrepreneur brand for barter
8. my supportive friends in The Mom Entrepreneur Online Support Group
9. readers of my blogs
10. coupons – I just rediscovered these; great savings
11. interviewers who are prepared
12. creative websites that offer solutions
13. a lenient landlord who waived a late fee on office rent – clients pay late, rent is late
14. mint Oreo cookies – taste really good crumbled on chocolate pudding
15. billmelater.com
16. my Blackberry
17. President Obama – he will do great things
18. caller ID – yes, I know the medical bill payment is late, stop calling me!
19. Craig’s List – great for selling office furniture you no longer need
20. cats that sleep all day instead of chasing your cursor on the screen while you are trying to work
21. publicists who know what The Mom Entrepreneur is about when they pitch me – you know who you are:)
22. people who return my calls and emails instead of blowing me off – I try to reciprocate
23. auto responders letting me know someone is on vacation
24. email signatures – I like to know more about the person I am responding to
25. Joomla – love this platform
26. Twitbacks.com – so quick and easy
27. people who understand and respect the balancing act of a mom entrepreneur
28. friends who genuinely give and expect nothing in return
29. people who are not afraid to tell it like it is
30. clients who continually entrust me with their projects

Next time perhaps I will make a list of the top things I am not grateful for:)

What are you grateful for?

Traci Bisson has been a mom since February 2000 and an entrepreneur since August 2000. Eight weeks after she returned from maternity leave, the company where she had been employed for five years went out of business. She decided to try doing her own thing and failed miserably. After another year of working for two different companies (the first laid off the department she worked in and the other was showing signs of going under), she decided to try entrepreneurship again. Raising her two children and growing her company, Bisson Barcelona, has been both challenging and rewarding. Her story has been told in dozens of publications, including the Associated Press, National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB.com), Plan Ahead Get Ahead (cover story), Union Leader, The Portsmouth Herald, Our Times and Seacoast Ventures.

We all agree that we could all be better parents. While we are all quite busy, and time to read is definitely at a premium,  I have been checking out what experts think are some good books on the topic of parenting. Here are 4 books that may be worth a read.

5minutesformom has a review of ScreamFree Parenting. For the many parents low on patience, this book is critical to learn how to deal with our children without the need to raise our voice. (Raise your hand: How many of you sometimes lose it and start screaming at your kids?) Jennifer, of 5minutesformom, writes, “As [the author] so rightly observes, “Parenting is not about children, it’s about parents.” He fills us in on the definition of a true show of love, being not I love you for your benefit, or I love you for my benefit (as many parents do), but I love me for your benefit.”

Over at A Mother in Israel the blogger also has an extensive list of parenting book reviews on topics from breastfeeding to game therapy to try and better your relationship with you child. One of the reviews is about a book written by Naomi Stadlen entitled, “What Mothers Do: Especially When it Looks Like Nothing”.  A Mother in Israel says, “In the chapter, ‘So tired I could die,’ she discusses how mothers relate to the overwhelming fatigue of the early weeks. One mother pointed out that if she had more energy she might be out and about or doing housework instead of resting and caring for the baby, who can be easily cared for at that stage (minus the housework).”

Over on imperfectparent.com, Redsy takes a critical view of Neal Pollack’s Alternadad. She is not a big fan of ‘hip’ parenting and quotes Lisa Carver to make her point. She says,” Lisa Carver captures the essence of the problem beautifully: As a generation (X), what we know for sure is how to be sarcastic and irreverent. Parenthood is bigger than that. It inspires thankfulness, humility, rage,…wonder and a quiet sense of sacredness.”

And finally we have a parenting book written by Vanessa Van Petten called, “You’re grounded”.  Van Petten wrote the book when she was 17 years old. She says that the book, “gives teenagers tricks to extend their curfew and tells parents how to convince their teens to pick up after themselves. Every topic is brought onto the table, as Van Petten delves into teenage sex, underage drinking, video games and teen drug use. Her candor and personal anecdotes help teenagers to not feel alone in their experience of the tumultuous teenager years, while also calming parents fears by telling them how to prevent these issues from happening to their own children.”

Feel free to let us know about your favorite parenting book. After all, we can all be better parents.

With parents and children fully immersed in Back-to-School mode, I think that in many cases, sending your kids off to school maybe a more dificult adjustment for you than for your children, espcially for the younger ones. I am far from an expert in these issues, but from my own personal experience, I have found that most kids aren’t as nervous about their new surroundings as their parents are.  

I came across a really interesting blog by Run DMT who wrote about her daughter going back to school: “ To familiarize her with the routine, Allana rode the bus this morning.  Emmalynn and I left a few minutes later to meet Allana at school and walk her to class, but to our disappointment, we were too late.  With all the back to school congestion, we were stuck in traffic and as a result, we missed our opportunity to escort Allana to her new classroom.  Although I was upset, Allana didn’t seem the least bit concerned.  By the time we arrived at her classroom, she had already settled in nicely.  It seems I may have been more upset than she.”

That’s my feeling exactly. I like to compare sending your kids to school and teaching them how to swim. The fact is that the old adage of ‘jump in and learn to swim’ just seems so relevent. Small children are great at adjusting to new environments, and they take to it like a fish to water.

Parents. As the first day of school approaches, take a deep breath and relax. Your child isn’t the first one to ever go to school. Everything should should go smoothly. As my sister with 4 teenagers likes to remind me: Small children, small problems. Big children, big problems. Now that’s something to get nervous about!

Aaron Katsman is Managing Editor of the Israel Opportunity Investor newsletter. He is lead portfolio manager for the Israel Growth Portfolio and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. For more information, go to www.israelnewsletter.com  or email aaron@profile-financial.com.

With the slowing economy, a new phenomenon has taken hold. It’s pretty common for young people in their 20’s to move back into their parents home, but now we are seeing adults, in their 40’s and 50’s moving back in with mom and dad.  Either because of a sluggish job market or the credit issues which have caused havoc with the housing market, in many cases adults have no choice but to bite the bullet and move back home.

Common wisdom among financial planners that I know is that parents shouldn’t jeopardize their financial independence in order to help out their adult children. Once your kids become adults, you should wipe your hands of responsibility.

But as I love to say, there is more to life than economics and financial planning. My question is, what is family for? Should parents take a cruise to the Caribbean when their responsible daughter was just laid off and is in a financially tough spot? Dying and getting buried with lots of money doesn’t really help. Isn’t the point of having money, aside for trying to provide a comfortable lifestyle, to try and help out those less fortunate? Wouldn’t a struggling daughter fit that bill?

If parents are themselves stretched financially, they don’t have to actually shell out money for the child. Rather, they can provide a roof and help that way, allowing the child to save hundreds of dollars a month.

I have worked with parents in similar situations. I have found that for both parents and the children who have moved back in, they find that their relationship has grown much stronger as a result.

Neither parents nor children view moving back home as a desirable outcome, but if left with no choice, would you actually refuse to support your child?

Aaron Katsman is the lead Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. and Senior Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com

When I started my home-based business, I was inspired by the many articles touting the benefits of self-employment for mothers. However, reality can be pretty different than ideals, so I would like to come right out and dispel some of the commonly-held falsehoods about self-employment:

The lie: You can save on childcare.

Yeah right. Try getting work done with a kid on your lap tapping happily away on your keyboard, or pulling the pots out of the kitchen cupboard. Even when they’re sleeping, you never know if they’ll wake up in five minutes or two hours. The result – pressure! This does not yield high-quality results.

The truth: Get a babysitter, or a nanny.

Or consider daycare. Better that they spend a few hours under someone else’s care and that you really get your work done, than that you spend all day trying to get your work done, but never really finish it and always feel unaccomplished and edgy.

The lie: A home-based business means you can work less and earn more.

I quickly realized that I was spending more time on my business than I did when I was a part-time employee. That is because when you run a business, you wear all the hats. You are responsible for accounting, marketing, client management, etc. And there are no paid vacation or sick days. You work – you get paid. You don’t – nada.

The truth: Be prepared to put a lot of time into your business

Particularly if your start-up resources are scarce. If you are a one man/woman show, your failures are your business’s failures.

The lie: Creating a cozy home office allows you to separate your work life and home life.

Maybe this is the case for people who live in sprawling homes with rolling green lawns. But for those who live in cities, or in Europe or the Middle East, housing standards are different. For example, families with many children often live in apartments with only a few rooms. And when I say rooms, I mean bedrooms and one multi-purpose kitchen/living room/dining room. No family room with crackling fireplace. No den. No basement. So where exactly are you going to put your cozy little office? In the bathroom?

The truth: Be prepared to work in your bathroom.

Or your bedroom. I know someone who changed one of their bathrooms into an office. I personally worked for two years in our bedroom perched on the corner of a tiny desk. The work/family separation thing? Really difficult to maintain when you’re working out of your bedroom. Or bathroom.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m a big believer in self-employment. I love running my business and watching it grow. I get a great feeling of accomplishment from it, and I do have greater flexibility and can rearrange my schedule as needed, i.e. by working in the evening when the kids are sleeping. But preparedness is a key factor in your success.