Rage Against The Minivan

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why are so many celebrities adopting black babies?

June 1, 2012

In the last month, both Charlize Theron and Jillian Michaels went public with the news of adding to their family through adoption. In both cases, their new additions are black children, which has sparked a flurry of internet commenters to question the “trend” of white celebrities adopting black babies. This conversation has become a predictable subject every time a celebrity adopts a child of color, from the comments section of every blog from People to Huffington Post.   It usually . . .

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how I ditched my CD’s and itunes library (a sonos speaker review)

May 30, 2012

This week, I got to try the new Sonos speaker system, and it was an “aha” moment in terms of digital music.  These speakers are high-quality, small, and wireless.  They work through the home wifi system, so that once it is set up you can play music from any computer, to any Sonos speaker in the house.  One speaker easily fills a room with sound.  In fact, I don’t think I realized how bad my laptop speakers were until I tried the Sonos in our house. There’s no going back . . .

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the parenting paradox

May 30, 2012

When I was in high school, I went to see the musical version of the movie Big (yes – they made that Tom Hanks movie into a musical).  It’s not an entirely memorable show, but one number stuck with me. It’s called “Stop, Time” and it’s a song that a mother sings about her sadness in regards to her child growing older. Even as a teenager, I was aware that this song was touching on a profound pain of the human experience, and I remember stifling loud sobs in the theater for the duration of the . . .

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what I want you to know: the loneliness of having a spouse with a chronic health disability

May 29, 2012

What I Want You to Know is a series of reader submissions. It is an attempt to allow people to tell their personal stories, in the hopes of bringing greater compassion to the unique issues each of us face. If you would like to submit a story to this series, click here. This guest post is by an anonymous reader. For better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness or in health. We have lived all of these in our almost 19 years of marriage. We’ve loved each other from the time we met in . . .

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summer giveaway: win a month’s supply of gogo squeez applesauce

May 29, 2012

I’m happy to announce that I’ve got a great giveaway from GoGo squeeZ, perfect for summer outings.  In case you haven’t tried it, GoGo squeeZ is a squeezable, 100% fruit, no-sugar added apple­sauce snack. My kids are huge fans, and it really is the perfect healthy, portable snack. They’ve added a new flavor this month (apple  mango!) and last month came out with some fun new packaging. My kids tried the new flavor, and approved. You can also check out some of the following ways to . . .

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that’s what SHE said: happiness and extremism, that Gotye song, dealing with haters, figuring out what you want, downward mobility, and more . . .

May 28, 2012

click on the title to read the full story An Open Letter To “Somebody That I Used To Know” | Thought Catalog I got so nervous when I started to feel differently, when the hair on my arms didn’t shoot toward the sky every time I heard your voice. I was driving the coast, on my way up to LA when I noticed it for the first time: You were on the radio. Which, we talked about, I know: about how it’d probably happen, how you were too good not to blow up, how you’d probably be busy on weekends . . .

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highlights from mom 2.0 summit

May 26, 2012

After our big trip to Florida a couple weeks ago, I got to head down to Miami for a few days to catch up with the Mom 2.0 Summit. I wasn’t planning on attending this year – I’ve been trying to reign in my travel schedule and Miami seemed so far away. But when I realized that our Disney World trip would have me in Florida the very day that this conference started, I couldn’t bear the thought of flying home just as all of my favorite blogging folks were arriving.  When Laura asked me to . . .

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how to put children to sleep in the car

May 25, 2012

Karis would very much like to drop her nap, but since she is just barely three years old, she usually needs to sleep a bit during the day to avoid a meltdown at the dinner hour.  This has been a struggle, because if I lay her down before we pick up Jafta and Kembe from school, she usually just plays in her bed. On occasion, she falls asleep on the drive to pick them up, which is about an hour from door to door. This is the best scenario, since it’s a decent chunk of time and it means we can . . .

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my kids are going to change the world. with war and chicken nuggets.

May 24, 2012

I mentioned last week that we’ve been reading questions from the TableTopics Family Cube each night at dinner. It’s provided us with some interesting perspective on our kids. Some of it is not so flattering. (Like, for example, when Jafta answered the question about whether or not he would go to school if he didn’t have to, and he replied that he would stay home and watch video games every day).  Tonight’s question brought us to a new low.  The question: If you could make one change . . .

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working moms: what do you do with your kids over summer break?

May 24, 2012

After a long learning curve of scaring off blowing through nannies, our family finally got into a great childcare groove this year.  Jafta is the only of my kids in elementary school so far, but I enrolled the younger kids in a Montessori preschool three days a week, which has given me time to get some work done each week.  It’s been such a great transition for us – I no longer have to find a distraction-free zone to work, I don’t have to live in fear of my nanny deciding to move to . . .

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Traveling Fams is a lifestyle blog dedicated to accessible travel for all kinds of families. Join us as we explore the world!

 

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Hi, I’m Kristen. I’m a mom of four kids via birth and adoption and a writer living in Southern California. Read More.

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Rage Against the Minivan sometimes earns revenue through sponsored posts, which are clearly labeled, and occasional affiliate links to recommended products. I only feature products that I truly like, and my opinions are always my own.

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