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what I want you to know: families dealing with traumatized kids don’t need your judgment

May 22, 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. Our sweet, sensitive, brave boys came to us from the foster care system. D was only six weeks old, with coffee brown skin and soft black hair. He slept through the night fairly soon . . .

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mothers of olympic athletes get a surprise from P&G

May 22, 2012

I mentioned in a previous post that P&G asked me to be a part of a their Thank You Mom campaign for the 2012 Olympic Games. I don’t do a lot of sponsored content on my blog, but being a part of a series whose main goal is to honor moms? I’m all about that. P&G recently announced one of the biggest aspects of their campaign so far.  They have committed to giving each mom of the U.S. Olympians and Paralympians a $1,000 Visa reward card to help offset travel costs, to ensure that . . .

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DIY passport photos: the best way to take passport photos of small children

May 22, 2012

All six of us have expired passports, and I have a trip planned to Ethiopia, so it seemed logical to go ahead and renew all the passports at once.  This meant trying to get decent passport photos for all six of us.  This has not been an easy task in the past.  The kids are squirmy squirmy squirmy and many passport photo shops won’t even take passport photos of children.  Not to mention, it’s ridiculously pricey for a small little photo.  At about $15 a pop in these . . .

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that’s what SHE said: weapons, relationships, self-worship, psych meds, chubby guys, and more . . .

May 20, 2012

click on the title to read the full story War. What is it good for? | Jillian Lauren And here’s the thing- as a storyteller, I naturally gravitate toward stories of battle. Because all good stories are about conflict. And heroic stories often have sword fights. And if you’re going to tell a story, why not make it heroic? Tariku struggles with a lot, frankly. He has tremendous fears and challenges to face. Maybe battle isn’t such a bad metaphor for him, if I can place it in the appropriate . . .

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africa-bound in less than two months!

May 18, 2012

I’m excited to officially announce that I will be traveling to Ethiopia this summer along with Food for the Hungry, an incredible aid organization that serves at-risk children all over the world.  Food for the Hungry was founded in 1971, and they take a holistic approach to working with children within their communities.  In fact, one of my favorite books on working with the poor, called When Helping Hurts, was written by a former Food for the Hungry employee.  Partnering with . . .

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friday finds: raising an olympian with shawn johnson’s mom

May 18, 2012

Recently gymnast Shawn Johnson, who won the all-around silver in the 2008 Olympic games, attempted a comeback in the 2012 games after recovering from a serious knee injury.  In this video, P&G highlights her story, focusing on her mom’s role in her journey.  There are so many things I love about Shawn’s mom – but espacially the emphasis on balance and enjoyment that she instilled in her daughter. She taught her that being excellent is something to strive for, but also to have . . .

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friday finds 5/18/12

May 18, 2012

Jafta got a new mohawk helmet this week and he is LOVING IT. It’s made by Raskulls, who make the adorable kids’ helmets in animal shapes (Kembe has their shark helmet and India has the pony version, but Jafta felt he was too big to wear an animal helmet. But this?  He is a fan. I swear he did 20 trips around the block on his skateboard the day he got it, just because he was so excited to show it off. The kids got to try a paddleboarding lesson with Pirate Coast Paddle Company on . . .

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what I want you to know: shaming skinny women is not okay

May 17, 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 Megyn.. I want people to know that being thin is ok. We aren't all anorexic. Or bulimic. Or ill. The majority of us ʺtoo skinnyʺ people are, well, just thin. And that's ok too. I never used to be thin. . . .

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mother’s day, then and now

May 15, 2012

I had a great Mother’s Day on Sunday. Let’s be honest – the best part of the day started the night before, when Mark offered to let me sleep in so I could continue my Downton Abbey marathon into the wee hours. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is. After a glorious morning of sleeping in, we went to lunch at Habana's restaurant - a Cuban joint at a place called the Anti-Mall. It's safe to say that Habana's is about the last place most people would choose for a Mother's Day lunch - they blare . . .

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that’s what she said: mother’s day edition

May 14, 2012

Why I Hate Mother’s Day | Anne Lammott I hate the way the holiday makes all non-mothers, and the daughters of dead mothers, and the mothers of dead or severely damaged children, feel the deepest kind of grief and failure. The non-mothers must sit in their churches, temples, mosques, recovery rooms and pretend to feel good about the day while they are excluded from a holiday that benefits no one but Hallmark and See’s. There is no refuge — not at the horse races, movies, malls, museums. Even . . .

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.AmazonBARNES AND NOBLE TARGET POWELLS PEGUIN RANDOM HOUSE
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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