I feel so very sorry for Molly Norris. She is the Seattle cartoonist who, tongue in cheek, made a declaration that April 10, 2010 should be known as "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day."... More >>

The last (soon to be) 12 months have altered me in a way that I never imagined possible. I knew that parenthood would change my lifestyle, yes. I had no idea it would have such a drastic effect on my entire being. My view of myself is altered forever. I could never have believed there would someone in the world more important to me than absolutely anything else. My life revolves around how she's feeling and how I'm doing as a mother. My self image is no longer based on how good a friend I'm being or how popular I am or even what other people think about me. Am I a good mother? Am I doing the best job I can for her? Does she know how fully and completely I love her? My self worth is entirely based on those questions. There is a tiny human being holding all of that in her little hands. More >>

10 Reasons Why You Should Become A Virtual Assistant This Year
By Liz Folger, Work-at-Home Mom Expert

First of all, what is a virtual assistant (VA)? I like to explain it as a word processor gone wild. A VA is someone who works with clients, providing them with top quality support services without having to be physically present at a clients office. VA services are becoming more and more popular thanks to today's technology such as email, the Internet, online instant messaging, fax, phone, and overnight delivery. Gone are the days of offices needing their support staff in the same building.

If you have a secretarial background or other support staff expertise and a love for computers and all the technology it offers, then here are ten very good reasons why you should start your own VA business this year.

1. Make An Income You Can Live On
   
   It was reported by virtual assistant trade organizations that the average full-time VA working in the US would gross about $39,452 annually. Now that isn't a bad income! That is the type of money you can live on, even if you are a single mom.
   
   
2. The Need For VA's Is Only Going To Get Greater
   
   According to the George Washington University forecast of emerging technology, Virtual Assisting will become a $130 Billion Industry by 2008. Thanks to our growing technology, and the fact that it's easier to just source out work to a VA due to the fact that a business doesn't have to pay for any benefits when they out-source, this type of service will only get bigger and more in demand.
   
   
3. Are you feeling unfulfilled, unchallenged, and unmotivated? Is your current corporate job beginning to feel like a real drag?
   
   Are you dreading getting dressed up, driving your commute to work, and working with a boss who is ungrateful and unappreciative? Do you love some parts of your job and despise other parts and wish you could do the parts you love more? Then becoming a VA might be something you need to look into.
   
   
4. Want to continue your professional working life without having to leave home? Want the flexibility to work from home and have a better balance between work and life?
   
   Maybe you're thinking of having kids, or have had your first baby. You so want to continue your career, but you also want to spend more time with your children. Take a good hard look at the world of a VA. This type of home business will continue to give you the satisfaction of a career, while also offering you the ability to be there for your kids doctor appointments, their first step, school field trips, and running them around to after school events.
   
   
5. Gain the ability to work with people you want to work with.
   
   Do you tend to click with certain types of people more than others? With a VA business, you can decide who you want your clients to be. Authors, salespeople, consultants, coaches, executives, entrepreneurs, and small business owners are just a few of the types of people you could work with.
   
   
6. The ability to do more than just one thing.
   
   Looking for a little variety in your business? Don't want to get stuck doing the same thing over and over again? Here is a list of just some of the things you can do as a VA.
   
   Administration
   Writing services (technical or creative)
   Business/employee communications
   Proofreading and editing, research (online or traditional)
   Word-processing
   Spreadsheets
   Data entry
   Database management
   Message management
   Scheduling
   Bill paying
   Simple website design
   Newsletter distribution
   Bulk mailing
   Reminder services
   Event planning
   Special projects
   Concierge services
   Secretarial services
   Research
   Data processing/data management
   Desktop publishing
   Transcription services
   Mail and email services
   Telephone/fax services
   Internet services
   Bookkeeping
   Purchasing services
   Writing/editing services
   Marketing services
   Personal services
   Santa letters
   Proposal Writer
   
   
7. The ability to Niche yourself.
   
   Choose just a few of the ideas above and take it one step further. Niche yourself. You might already possess knowledge in a certain area. You can contact those businesses you are already familiar with and work with them. Maybe in the past you had worked as support staff for a marketing company. If marketing is your thing, you can let businesses know that you can not only be their VA and take care of all their typing and database applications, but that you can also use your expertise to help them market their business.
   
   
8. Use the equipment you already have.
   
   If you're reading this article, then there's a good chance you already have a computer, a printer, and fax capabilities. Why not start putting that equipment to good use and make some money?
   
   
9. The choice between working full-time or part-time.
   
   Maybe you don't want to work full time, but you need to do something to call your own. That's great! You'll be your own boss; you can decide how much or how little you want to work.
   
   
10. Being able to say you love the way you make money.
    
    If just the thought of working with your computer and current technology makes you giddy, why not make money doing something you love? Grab hold of the opportunity to make as much money as you'd like and the ability to work from your home. You have the opportunity to decide who you want to work with, the type of work you want to do or not do, and your niche area. If this sounds like the perfect opportunity for you visit *** to learn more about starting your own Virtual Assistant Business.

For More information on starting your own Virtual Assistant business visit: www.bizymoms.com/cart/careers/va_kit.html

Liz Folger is the founder of www.bizymoms.com. Bizymoms.com is the leading online resource for work-from-home ideas. The site offers home-based business start-up kits, online classes, e-books, chats and enthusiastic support for moms who want to have it all - a family and a career. Visit a href="http://www.bizymoms.com" target="_blank">www.bizymoms.com for more information.

* The author gives permission for the use of this article on DrLaura.com

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Facebook Privacy:Hiding from Google
By John Sileo
www.Sileo.com


The New York Times recentlypublished an article that discusses the severe changes Facebook hasmade to privacy settings.

What Can Google See? (Keep Your DataOff the Search Engines)

When you visit Facebook's Search Settings page, a warning message popsup. Apparently, Facebook wants to clear the air about what info isbeing indexed by Google. The message reads:

There have been misleading rumors recently about Facebook indexing allyour information on Google. This is not true. Facebook created publicsearch listings in 2007 to enable people to search for your name andsee a link to your Facebook profile. They will still only see a basicset of information.

While that may be true to a point, the second setting listed on thisSearch Settings page refers to exactly what you're allowing Google toindex. If the box next to "Allow" is checked, you're giving searchengines the ability to access and index any information you've markedas visible by "Everyone." As you can see from the settings discussedabove, if you had not made some changes to certain fields, you would besharing quite a bit with the search engines#133;probably more informationthan you were comfortable with. To keep your data private and out ofthe search engines, do the following:


Be proactive about what you share on Facebook and protect your onlineprivacy!

About the author: John Sileobecame America's leading Identity Theft Speaker amp;Expert after he lost his business and more than $300,000 toidentity theft and data breach. His clients include the Department ofDefense, Pfizer and the FDIC. To further bulletproof yourself and yourbusiness, visit John's blog at Sileo.com. To book John at your next event,visit www.ThinkLikeaSpy.com.Permissiongranted foruse onDrLaura.com

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Fears Of A Clown
by Bob Schwartz

There are certain words spoken by a child that can send a shiver of panic through every parental nerve ending. I've discovered that the words causing the greatest consternation were not "Don't worry, the tattoos can always be removed with a laser" or "Can you believe putting in six eyebrow rings barely hurt?"

Rather, the words which sent me quickly into a panic attack were, "My Gymbo's gone!"

Most children, sometime in their early bedtime careers, take a liking to sleeping with a stuffed animal, cuddly clown, small blanket or even something out of the ordinary like one of my children's predilection for nightly embracing a deck of Rugrats Uno cards. Don't ask.

Our son fell into the clown category, and while putting him to bed one night during a family vacation in Canada, we discovered the terrifying experience of finding that his Gymbo the clown was gone. Vanished. Without even a trace of stuffing left behind or a crayon scribbled note.

After ransacking the room and coming up Gymboless, it was clear that he was most likely the victim of an involuntary dollnapping. We concluded he must have been inadvertently scooped up with the sheets that day by the hotel staff. Poor little Gymbo was lying innocently on the bed one minute and then, suddenly, his world was torn asunder with the disengagement of a fitted sheet.

Apparently, he was abruptly wrapped up in the bed linen and tossed down that dark and seemingly never-ending chute to the basement laundry facility. He went from his sheltered suburban upbringing, to being quickly exposed to the giant underbelly of a hotel building. He was naively left to wonder what he'd done to be cast aside and jettisoned into the dungeon of the sheet and pillow case world he was then forced to call home.

The immediate focus was damage control by one parent and Gymbo retrieval by the other. As our son broke out into hysterics, he made it painfully clear that no Gymbo for him meant no sleep. For everyone. And after a long day of nonstop vacationing movement, no sleep was simply an untenable concept for me.

My wife quickly got connected to the hotel laundry room and explained the dire circumstances. She was advised that they'd not seen him yet, but amazingly, they requested she provide them a description of the victim.

This caused us to immediately wonder just how many stuffed dolls they had lying in that basement. Was there some international black market for stuffed cuddly things going on down there? I grabbed the phone and interjected that we'd be able to pick him out of a lineup, so please just let us know how many cotton clowns they'd seen recently. Or perhaps they'd like us to come down and do a composite watercolor painting for them.

I handed the phone back to my wife who patiently provided the laundry staff the unmistakable physical characteristics of a stuffed blue and yellow clown #151; a missing button on his body-hugging suspenders, frizzy red hair, a frayed right leg, about twelve inches long, a bow tie, and with an unwavering cat that ate the canary smile on his face. I felt very confident they wouldn't confuse him with a mattress pad.

As we anxiously paced back and forth, the phone finally rang. In a thick French Canadian accent, the unemotional voice said, "Vee have located your clown."

The words, spoken so solemnly yet somewhat muffled, forced me to become fearful they would next demand a ransom? Or, worse yet, advise us that after a violent fifty-minute foray in the tumble dryer his arm was hanging by a thread?

My wife and I were so thankful that Gymbo was soon delivered to our door in one piece and wearing that same cockeyed grin, but to me, he had a little shell-shocked look. I could only think of the horrors he must have seen down below, tossed in amongst the giant spinning washer along with stained tablecloths and thrown about in the whirling dryers with a bath towel pressed against his face.

We could only hope that the familiar rhythmic breathing of his sleeping owner in the footed pajamas would soon erase the memories of his emotionally charged excursion into the outside world.

We did learn to avoid any unchaperoned Gymbo excursions in the future by tying one end of a shoelace around his waist and the other end around the bedpost each morning. I know that doesn't necessarily look all that loving, but hey, he never stops smiling. And it does eliminate one potential for bedtime parental panic.

Once was enough #151; for all of us.

Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com

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Today's Family Man
'Values-Based Holiday Shopping
By Gregory Keer

Gimmee, gimmee, gimmee is a refrain parents here from (at least) November till the end of the holidays. It's hard to blame children for their insatiable requests for more and bigger gifts as marketers bombard them with 'must have options and their friends have parents who are dealing out the goods. It's difficult for a kid not to be motivated by other boys and girls shouting, 'I'm getting a Furby! or 'My parents bought me a Game Boy Micro!

One of the toughest tasks for a parent in this materialistic mayhem is to teach values. But the moms and dads who come out on top are the ones who stick to the program of educating their children about moderation, the needs of the less fortunate, and what's more important than the things we own. Here are some ideas for instilling principle in young consumers.

Gifts for Kids to Give to Others

1. Let's List Again
   
   I've frequently recommended that a parent not even step foot in a retail outlet without first having made a list of things his or her child may want. Preparing in advance allows you to set a number of gifts and a budget in advance, thereby managing a child's expectations and teaching them the limits of money. The same thing applies when shopping for other family members and friends.
   
   Have your kids make a list of things they want to give to each person, working with them on the budget and the appropriateness of each gift. While you do this, discuss with them why they are choosing the specific present and what they think the result of the giving the gift will be. Often, children are disappointed by the reactions their friends or family give when receiving an item. Before this happens, teach your child that it is indeed the thought that counts and that giving is its own reward. You can tell them that not everyone has the ability to understand this, so it's important to derive self-satisfaction from the act of giving.
   
   
2. Give Unto Others What You Would Give Your Kid
   
   For friends, give what your kids would want for themselves. Have them tell you what to get or have them shop for it themselves. Of course, a young girl may not want a 'Bonecrusher 2005 for Christmas, so you should do a little guiding about the recipient. But buying something your child values puts the friend on an equal footing.
   
   A couple of other tips: While shopping, buy two for the holidays or birthdays. Or keep the list of what you buy and return to the stores for sales on those same items.
   
   
3. Be Personal
   
   For relatives, give something personal. Create-your-own pottery, handmade cards, photo albums with photos of special times spent together. What counts is how the gift connects with a friend or loved one.

Beyond Disposable Fun and Worthwhile Gifts for Kids

1. The Gift of Time
   
   A museum pass or amusement park pass provides your kids with an opportunity to spend more time with you. Also consider "gift certificates" with dates for times you will take one child out with mom or dad for special dinners or other outings.
   
   
2. Year 'Round Gifts
   
   In addition to the museum or park passes, try joining a book club in their name or make your own book club good for 5 to 10 books throughout the year and stamp a homemade card each time you buy one with your child.
   
   
3. Philanthropy
   
   Teach your children about those who don't have the same privileges. Have them choose a toy to send to a charitable organization. Take them to the donation place so they can see the people who are getting these gifts. Making it personal will have a more lasting effect on a child who needs to understand that others don't have it as good as him.
   
   
4. Board Games
   
   Board games, a deck of cards, puzzles for family times. Ages two on up will like this option, which increases family time.

These ideas are some of many others that creative, values-minded parents can use. At the core of the suggestions are understanding the needs of others and realizing that the time we spend with each other trump any video game or fashionable clothing that money can buy.

copy; 2005 Gregory Keer. All rights reserved.

Gregory Keer is a syndicated columnist, educator, and on-air expert on fatherhood. His Family Man^TM column appears in publications across the country, including L.A. Parent, Boston Parents' Paper, Metro Augusta Parent, and Sydney's Child in Australia. Keer's parenting advice is found at his online magazine, www.familymanonline.com, which is the #1 ranked site for fathers, according to Amazon's Alexa ratings. In addition to writing for Parenting magazine and the Parents' Choice Foundation, Keer contributes to USA Today, Pregnancy magazine, DrLaura.com, ParentingBookmark.com, Pregnancy.org, and CanadianParents.com. Keer is also a featured guest expert on television and radio and advisor to the Cartoon Network. He and his wife are the proud parents of three sons. Keer can be reached at his Web site, www.familymanonline.com. Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com

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Potty Training 101
Jodie Lynn
parenttoparent.com

I am not a fan of potty training children early. In the ten years I have been helping parents with potty training, I have never known even one who was completely toilet trained when starting before the age of three. This means never having to wear a diaper or pull ups when going to bed or taking a nap -- and the most crucial test of all, waking up dry after 8 to 10 hours of sleep. Those parents that say that their kids are trained usually regress sometimes before the age of five, especially if it has been a stressful and frustrated training.

Spanking, yelling and threatening always backfires. If a parent pulls a power play, the child will become absorbed in the unnecessary battle and become overwhelmed. Stress rises to a new, yet negative level. Unfortunately, for parents, the kids win on this one. They can use potty in the potty or potty in the underwear as a powerful tool resulting in negative retaliation creating major challenges in switching back and forth from potty training, poor eating habits and mood swings.

Using food as a reward is not a way to entice toddlers into becoming potty trained.

In fact, this can lead to harmful eating habits as well as using food for emotional satisfaction.

Here are a few tips that have seemed to work for others.

1. Concentrate on potty training only. Don't make it hard on kids but you will have to watch them almost every minute. Do not go anywhere with them for two weeks unless you can take the potty with you.

2. Use stickers as a reward. Let them pick out the stickers at a store.

3. Wrap up small gifts found as rewards after each time they successfully go to the bathroom. Children love to open presents. Put them inside a big box and let them choose the one they want to open. Rewrap them. That's right. Use them repeatedly. After they begin to get potty trained, tell and show them there are only six presents left and then, "they'll be all gone." Each time you let them open one, say, "Look, there's only 5 more left, but we have stickers," -- or whatever else you'd like to use.

4. Do not use food as a reward. Sweets, candy, or any type of food is not good for a positive reward system at this age. It will only leave them anticipating food as rewards for other accomplishments and could lead to eating disorders later in life.

5. After each successful potty trip, clap and say, "Whoohoo. You are such a big boy/girl! Good job!" Go call someone and share the news. Let the child tell them what a good job that they did. This only reinforces positive experiences for potty training.

6. Make up a calendar with tons of pictures of your child on it. Make the days of the week large squares to have plenty of room for the stickers. Let your child put up a big star each time he/she goes to the potty on that specific day.

7. Put Cheerios in the toilet and let the boys aim at them. Since they are a little more difficult to potty train, there are other incentives on today's market to attract little boys to the potty. Check at your favorite store for such tools.

8. Buy many books during clearance sales. Keep a box of books by the potty. If possible, read a page or two or share a picture book. Read one or two books, if your little one needs to go number two.

9. Monitor food and liquid intake. Take your child to the potty on a schedule. You will have to watch the clock to monitor food and drink intake. Cut out liquids two hours before bedtime and no caffeine -- ever.

10. Ship your precious little one off to grandmas or an aunt's house, if things get too hairy. Sometimes, other folks can potty train our children better than we can. If you have a relative who is willing to help and your kiddo won't "walk the plank" for you, let someone else try. You might be surprised how quickly the job will be completed.

Above all else, let the child show and tell you when he is ready. It may not be the calendar timing you'd like to follow, but the frustration is just not worth the repercussions.

Remember, accidents will occur at the least expected time. Stay cool and anticipate it as part of parenthood#133;this too shall pass.

copy; 2006 Jodie Lynn

Jodie Lynn is an award-winning internationally syndicated family/healthcolumnist and radio personality. Her syndicated column Parent to Parent ( parenttoparent.com) has been successful for over 10 years and appears in newspapers, magazines, newsletters and throughout the Internet. She is a regular contributor to several sites including eDiets.com, MommiesMagazine.com and is the Residential Mom Expert for BabyUniverse.com. Lynn has written two books and contributed to two others, one of which was on Oprah and has appeared on NBC in a three month parenting segment. Her latest best-selling parenting/family book is Mommy-CEO, revised edition. Permission granted to use on DrLaura.com.

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The wedding day is fast approaching, but many details remain to be scheduled and inserted into your celebration plans. The following three important aspects of your celebration are worthy of considerable thought, planning and scheduling. More >>

"I own a commercial nursery with about 30 seasonal employees. My kids also work for me. One morning, my daughter tacked a hand-made poster with a Bible verse on my door. It referred to flowers and nature. My door faces into the break room." More >>

Two recent acts of bravery bring up a clear point:1.' A nine year old boy in a Southern town was in the passenger seat of his parents' car with three siblings all under the age of three in'the back.' His mother darted into a convenience store, and a huge man (who was lurking nearby) jumped into the driver's seat, i.e., it was a car-jacking in the works.' The nine year old had the courage and the presence of mind not to be "politically correct" which would have meant sitting quietly and obeying an adult.' Nope, not at all.' This kid grabbed the car keys and held them tight to his right side.' The would-be carjacker hit the boy's head against the passenger door in an attempt to get the keys, and failed as the boy was resolute.' As the boy said later, "I didn't want my family to be taken."' The car-jacker ran from the car, fell, and was apprehended by police who had been called from the convenience store.2.' A young female (of course I'm proud) civilian police officer stopped an Army officer from continuing his murders of Fort Hood soldiers by standing up to him and shooting him numerous times while being shot three times herself.' Unfortunately, except for military police (MPs) and civilian police, soldiers on a base do not carry weapons, and are, therefore, sitting ducks for the murderous rampage of "one of their own."' As it turns out, by all media reports, the history of this so-called American Army officer was clearly one of a terrorist.'There was a history of his radical Muslim ideology.' Reports against him had been made, but political correctness ruled the day.' Because he had worshipped at a mosque with a radical imam who allegedly had made contact with two of the 9/11 hijackers and had written on the Internet Muslim extremist comments (which, I understand, included a defense of suicide bombers), had tried to indoctrinate patients and his school mates even complained about the political leanings of his class assignments and so much more, was no reason, many authorities have said, to assume he was a home-grown terrorist.' That political correctness caused the death of 13 and serious injury to dozens.' Never mind the fear it has generated on bases around the country and the world where the bullet or bomb can come from the "inside."Instead of facing this threat (and please do remember the plots that were foiled against other military bases on American soil in the past several years), we are being told not to "jump to conclusions."' Well, without jumping to the correct conclusions in a timely manner, hanging on instead to political correctness (meaning that no one should criticize or profile), our military men and women and their families have a good reason to be afraid and angry.' They pay the price.That nine year old boy didn't sit complacently and be a "good boy."' He took charge to protect his own.' We should do the same for our military and their families.' Those who have expressed at any time any philosophy resembling radical Islamic hate should be marginalized, scrutinized, put under surveillance, and supervised.The first obligation of the American government is not "Cash for Clunkers."' It's for the safety of the populace.' The morale of our military took a large hit when they discovered that they were not safe from worldwide terrorists at their own desks.'Dump all that "PTSD by proxy" nonsense.' Look at the truth, without which we are neither free nor safe. More >>