How Does Christmas LIVE in Your Family
December 15, 2009 by Practical Mommy · 1 Comment
What does Christmas mean for your kids and your family? In 2009, it is so easy to be overwhelmed with all the stuff AND all the activities that are SUPPOSED to happen during the holiday season. How do you create meaning from all of it? We share some of our rituals. What are yours?
How to Keep It Together During Family Holidays
November 24, 2009 by Practical Mommy · 5 Comments
Our Expert Mommy, psychotherapist Shellie Fidell is also a regular on Great Day St. Louis. We loved her recent segment that shares her practical tips on how to manage the added stress of extended family… starting, yup… this week!
Do you have a story to share about a stress-free or stress-full holiday gathering? Share in the comments below. I know Sharon has a great one about a Green Bean Casserole…. 
Related Articles
How to Make Easy Holiday Treats
How to Celebrate Thanksgiving Read more
#babyshower2.0
November 2, 2009 by Practical Mommy · 79 Comments
Of course you know that Zen Mommy is Pregnant… but times 2.0?! Yes, she’s pregnant with TWINS.
The cat’s out of the bag! My Mommy Manual and Kolcraft, along with our friends at Artistic Sensations and Viewpoints invite you to a Baby Shower like no other… Web 2.0-style! TOMORROW, November 3, 2009 11 am – 1 pm CST, tune in HERE and be part of the first live streaming virtual baby shower ever!
Click here to get to the LIVE streaming video and chat room! We’ve got over $2000 in BABY GEAR to share with you!
How to Laugh
September 24, 2009 by Zen Mommy · Leave a Comment
May this 59 second clip inspire you to lighten up… and GIGGLE your head off today. Laughter, it’s not only contagious, it’s good for the soul.
How Do You Celebrate Father’s Day as a Single Mom?
June 21, 2009 by Practical Mommy · 10 Comments
First of all, I have to clarify that I’m not sure I qualify as a “single mom.” I’m single and a mom but as my friends have heard me explain, the former implies that my children don’t have a dad at all (for some reason) and that is not an accurate description of our family. The truth is that my children are very lucky to have a dad that is present, both physically and mentally for them. In fact, I think that he is quite adept at being fully present with them and they love it!(To protect his privacy, I won’t post a pic… although I have gobs of great ones of him with the kids.)
It’s the first Father’s Day since our divorce and I am surprised that I’m emotional about it at all… more so than on Mother’s Day. Maybe I feel guilty that I’m not there to make sure the kids made him a sweet card or remembered to give him the gift we picked out for him. As I got ready for my day this morning, I reflected on how distasteful I’m finding it to be around people who can’t find anything nice to say about others, including their ex-whatevers. And it being Father’s Day and all, I spent my meditation time thinking about the wonderful things that I learned from this man who is the father of my children: authenticity, assertiveness, confidence…. these are lessons I so dearly needed to learn in this life. I am grateful that I chose a good teacher. Even in the midst of our great conflict, I kept reminding myself that I chose the best teacher for me. If I had picked a pushover for a husband, I wouldn’t have been forced to learn them! Read more
Pajama Party Credits
April 15, 2009 by Zen Mommy · 11 Comments
Our theme word for 2009 is CONNECTION. 1) We’re all connected and 2) We just can’t do anything ALONE…and it wouldn’t be any FUN if we did!
THANK YOU!
1 pajama party
3 hours
1,382 attendees
46 Winners
$1,207 for Yehu.org
Although gratitude is ongoing, we want to take a [page] to thank everyone who stepped up to pull of this stunt in less than 10 days.
Thank you to everyone who bought raffle tickets, including our ludite friends in the real world (Yeah, I saw YOU on there too!). And we’re working on the drawing! Scroll down to the end for WINNER’S LIST!
Thank you to everyone who promoted, linked to, tweeted about the fundraiser. We made it to #3 on popurl.com last night… just above Britney Spears!
Wondering what we’re talking about? Here’s the scoop! And yes, we taped the whole thing so don’t miss out on the great expert entrepreneurial advice from guest PJ Party-ers: Guy Kawasaki, Lewis Howes, and Elena Verlee as well as words from the trenches — business owners in attendance! Read more
It’s a Pajama Party (virtual) LIVE April 14th: Helping Women in Kenya
April 11, 2009 by Zen Mommy · 22 Comments
We hosted a My Mommy Manual Pajama Party to help raise money for Mom It Forward and The 12 for 12K Challenge’s joint mission for April/May to help empower women in Kenya. Our intention was to take our mission of “onnecting through practical and inspired tips” beyond the written page to the LIVE experience!
So Practical Mommy and I were on Ustream.tv for our first ever Pajama Party LIVE on Tuesday, April 14 from 6-9pm CST. We raised money for the cause, with people joining the party in their PJ’s from home for giggles, live music, and of course, Practical and Inspired Tips!
Welcome to the PAJAMA PARTY!!!
April 9, 2009 by Practical Mommy · 14 Comments
On Tuesday, April 14 at 8pm CST we shared practical and inspired tips, amazing prizes, and great girl bonding time! In case you missed it and have a spare three hours, check it out below! Our theme was Women Entrepreneurs and special guests Guy Kawasaki, Lewis Howes and Elena Verlee shared their tips on entrepreneurship, networking and PR.
Was this type of content helpful and valuable to you? We would love your feedback! We are constantly striving to over-deliver so please leave a comment below if you want to see more programming like this from My Mommy Manual.
YOU CAN STILL DONATE
Note that that the company name will show up as Basa Body LLC. This widget will be active through April.
THIS IS HOW THE RAFFLE WORKED
1) Make a $12 donation with the 12 for 12k ChipIn widget for Yehu.org
2) For EVERY $12 donation you make to the Pajama Party Raffle, you will receive one entry in the raffle. Think of it as $12/ticket. If you donate $120, you get 10 tickets. You can specify the item(s) you want those tickets to go towards by putting the item’s raffle number in the box labeled “Send Comments to the organizer,” which appears AFTER you’ve completed the payment process.
Examples:
• For a $12 donation that I wanted to go towards Creativille’s banner ad, I would enter “4″ in the special instructions box.• For a $36 donation, I could enter: “3,4,5″ (if I wanted 1 ticket each for the Platinum Pass, the Web Banner Ad, and Myself Belts)
• Or, if I wanted all 3 tickets to go towards Myself Belts, I would enter “3,3,3″ in the special instructions box.
We’ll be using random.org to pick the winners. Redemption codes will be sent email so when you get the confirmation message from aWeber from Practical Mommy, please open it and follow the instructions, k?
Let’s Partay!!!
PRIZE LIST
(1) The Ultimate LinkedIn Tool Kit from @lewishowes ($247 value)
(2) $145 worth of “PR in Your Pajamas” eBooks from @pajamaspr (who is also calling in with tips for Mom Entrepreneurs)
(3) Platinum Pass to Affiliate Summit East in NYC from @MissyWard ($999 value)
(4) Web banner ad from @creativille ($300 value)
(5) $300 worth of copyediting from @MissIve
(6) $100 gift certificate from 2 Little Stars
(7) Three Myself Belts ($50 value)
(8) 2-$50 gift certificates from @jgoode
(9) 4 pairs of lollipop jeans custom embellished for the cause from @Sweetpeazz
(10) $50 gift certificate from Periwinklebloom
(11) $50 gift certificate from Distinctively Divine
(12) 2-$50 gift certificates from Ruby’s Secret Stash
(13) A one-of-a-kind cashmere scarf from Angelina Accoutrements
(14) One month of positive parenting coaching from My Mommy Manual ($297 value)
(15) 2-$50 gift certificates from BeautiControl
(16) $50 gift certificate from Stork Gifts
(17) 4 Starter Kits from Better Life Organic Cleaning Products (@cleanhappens)
(18) $50 gift certificate from Artistic Sensations
(19) $50 gift certificate from RedWagonPresents
(20) Ubuntu Hoody ($50) from @MotherTongues
(21) Alltop T-Shirt and his book, Reality Check from @GuyKawasaki
(22) 2 Maclaren Mac Sac Diaper Bags from CSN Baby ($75 each)
(23) Autographed copy of Journalution from @sandygrason
(24) Pajama Bear from Vermont Teddy Bear ($70)
(25) $50 gift certificate from Peekaboo Kids Gear
(26) $50 gift certificate from Red Wagon Presents
And of course, 3 sets of PJ’s and robes from (27) SleepyHeads
In case you’re more of a visual person, here’s a SHORT video on how to enter the raffle:
How to Celebrate Moms!
March 28, 2009 by Practical Mommy · Leave a Comment
We’re taking it LIVE! … and in person. My Mommy Manual is celebrating MOMS with a party in the real world. It’s a free event for the whole family but It’s ALL about MOM! … shop for gifts for moms, Mom’s Day themed kid crafts, tasty samples, style makeovers, massages, wine tasting…. RSVP by April 15 to win fabulous raffle prizes. We’ve got almost $3,000 worth of attendance prizes, folks!
If you’re in St. Louis, join us! It’s the My Mommy Manual Experience… yes, practical and inspired tips… LIVE! AND we’ll be broadcasting LIVE via Ustream.tv for our extended virtual community. Tune in to this page on Saturday, May 2. If you have friends and family attending, you may just catch them on screen… so *wave* from the chatroom, okay?
It’s ALL About MOM Recap
4 hours • 20 vendors • close to $3,000 in prizes • 350+ attendees
FILES FOR DOWNLOADING
Click here to download printable color invite or black and white flyer
VIDEOS
How to Take Charge of Your Destiny
December 31, 2008 by Practical Mommy · 6 Comments
The new year is hours away… or already here for my family and friends on the other side of the world! I just HAD TO get one more post in before turning the page on the calendar!
I was inspired by a thread of tweets started by the prolific Laura Fitton, a.k.a. @Pistachio, who challenged her 13,000+ followers to come up with a theme word for 2009. Regular readers will know this has been on my mind as well (see the Give and Receive story).
Laura explains her thinking behind it, “my entire resolution last year was just one task. i had to DECIDE to become the person i always hoped/knew i could be. i didn’t have to become that person, mind you, i just had to consistently, persistently and wholeheartedly DECIDE to. while i have plenty of moments of flagging/brittle hope around it, I can say I pulled it off. i’ve finally given myself that permission. i share this to challenge you in 2009 to choose something small but fundamental, like ’simply deciding’ towards your future.”
I seem to be attracting this subject because I wrote down in my handy dandy notebook yet another tweet from Heather Cromar: It’s never too late to be what you might have been.
And in my inbox, was a message from Victoria Colligan, Founder and CEO of Ladies Who Launch:
Are we achieving the results we want? Are we experiencing feelings of success, peace and happiness? Whenever I answer “no” to these questions, I know it is time to change course. The ability to adapt, shift, and to create something fresh represents the ultimate control over your destiny.
So if I were one to be heeding the signs… I would say I’ve been given a recipe for how to take charge of my destiny. Thank you, friends. You are all inspired and inspiring women and apparently, you had a message for me today!
BTW, if you do a twitter search for “oneword” or “themeword,” it’s kinda fun to see what people’s goals are for the coming year. I narrowed it down to three: faith, passion, and purpose. But if I had to choose just one, it would be FAITH.
And yours would be….?
Happy New Year, everyone!
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Practical Mommy is Ria Sharon. Click the links for Practical Mommy’s recommendations for travel car seats, affordable and fun diaper bags (skip hop bag), and the best-selling crib brand, Da Vinci Crib.
