By Kami Lewis Levin

Ladies, we were flat out lied to.  Period.  All those teachers, parents, adult role models, and TV characters who constantly reiterated to us girls that we can do anything we put our minds to were effing liars.  They didn’t find it necessary to share the fine print with us.  They didn’t consider disclosing the gravity of the situation to us.  Just like nobody told us that giving birth hurts like hell, nobody told us that choosing to be a working mom is a one-way ticket to our very own three-ring circus.  Except the clowns are our children.  And sometimes our husbands.  And we are the tightrope walkers, fire-eaters, hoop-jumpers, trapeze artists, and lion tamers.  And, on occasion, the lions.  I am woman.  Hear me roar, damn it.

After my second kid was born and operating under the mistaken assumption that I could give both my family and my job 110% of my energy (I was never very good at math), I spent the better part of the past year experiencing my own very special brand of culture shock.  The kind where you just have to go to bed by 8.  The kind where getting dressed to impress is simply not an option (you know, the whole drool, snot, poop, spit-up factor).  The kind where a date with your husband involves a drug-addict like dependency on Netflix.  The kind where your personal identity decides to go on hiatus, leaving a confused, spent, and in my case, fat, out of shape and depressed, shell of a person behind.

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By Linda

With two small kids at home, a part-time job, and a smattering of freelance assignments, it’s not always easy to get to the gym. I’ve been on a fairly steady exercise routine for about a year now, and for me the critical element to staying committed to working out is the ability to do it at home.

Truth be told, it’s not the easiest thing in the world to lace on my Nikes and put in some sweat equity while I’m in the same living room that has the nice inviting couch with a butt-shaped dent built just for me, but it’s the exercise option that’s almost always available to me—even if I have to do it last thing at night, after the kids have gone to bed.

Here are a few of the products that I’ve come to rely on for a good workout without leaving the house:
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By Kami Lahti, Kami’s Khlopchyk

Going green.  It’s so trendy, even Hollywood A-listers are doing it.  It can be daunting, we hear that to save the environment we must become a vegetarian, stop driving, use cloth diapers…it’s enough to make anyone throw their hands up in the air and say, it’s too hard, I can’t do it!

Going green isn’t a destination; it’s a journey, each stop taking you further away from a giant environmental footprint.  Every little bit helps and if you start small and slowly it becomes a way of life.

 Here are some quick and easy tips to start you out:
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By Miss Britt

As a working mother, both of my kids have been in some type of daycare environment since they were about six months old.  I’m intimately familiar with the daycare germfest.

I’m also grateful, because my son never missed a day of school once he started kindergarten, while many of his non daycare counterparts were constantly home with a new version of the cold and flu during the first few years.  By the time he hit ig Kid School his immune system was a lean, mean, bug fighting machine - thanks in no small part to the daycare cooties.

Your little ones will get sick when they are first exposed to hordes of other little ones.  It’s inevitable and not entirely a bad thing.  Of course, there are a few things you can do to minimize the damage (and reduce the number of personal days you have to take off to care for you sick child).
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By Sarah of No Whey, Mama

Parents of allergic children are fortunate to have so many online resources available to them today, but it can be difficult to weed out the helpful sites from the not-so-helpful ones, especially when you are new to the world of food allergies.

Here are a few of my top recommendations:

• The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) is the gold standard of food allergy websites. FAAN has been at this a long time, and they are experts. Start with their article For the Newly Diagnosed , and go on from there. For even more information, I recommend becoming a member . Membership costs $30 a year, and includes a subscription to Food Allergy News and a children’s newsletter.

• Allergy Moms is an informational website that focuses on advocacy for food-allergic children. Their email newsletter is free.

• It can be hard to persuade a toddler to wear a medical alert bracelet. Thank goodness for Check My Tag ’s food allergy alert clothing.

• Eating out with food allergies is a challenge. Allergic Girl ’s Worry-Free Dinners (TM) are making restaurant dining safe in the New York City-area and beyond.

• Many health-centered sites, such as WEGOHealth and Wellsphere have allergy communities where you can talk with other parents of allergic children.

• Of course there are many blogs written by food-allergic individuals or parents of the food allergic (Ahem ). Most of these are reliable, but if you aren’t sure about something consult your child’s allergist.

Do you know of some good resources for parents of allergic children?

By Kristen from Swistle

You betcha! Keep in mind, though, that you’re asking someone in her mid-thirties. Check back in ten or twenty years and see if I’ve changed my tune.

Here’s what you’ll need for the regimen my skin loves:
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By Miss Britt from Miss-Britt.com

The success of any healthy eating plan begins with proper planning.  Plan, purchase and prepare smart food choices on hand before you get the urge to eat.  This is just as important at work as it is in your own kitchen, especially if you spend the bulk of your time at the office.

Some of my favorite low-carb lunches to bring to work are:
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By Angella Dykstra of Dutch Blitz and Committed: The Ties That Bond

People who have met me in the past eight years or so have a hard time believing that I was ever a “Big Girl”. The cold hard truth is this: I was CHUBBY. I am surprised that the friction from my thighs rubbing together did not cause my pants to start on fire.

I did a stint in high school where I did not eat. For days. Yes, I got skinny, but guess what happened when I started eating again? Thigh burn.

Through trial and error, I have found some surefire, non-fad tips that help me to keep my weight in check.

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