By The Book: Caring For MY Kids

REVIEW:

I was sitting in the publisher’s office, nervously wading through the questions. Six hours from home, away for the third day, and my cell phone starts to ring. I check the ID. “I’m sorry, I need to take this. It’s home.”

“Dance clothes? Yes, it’s in the book. Directions to class? In there, too. And YES you have to wait for her. Check the DAILY ROUTINE Section.”

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I had just put my feet into the hot, swirling bath. I had waited for a long time for this pedicure and not much was going to spoil it, except a phone call from my sitter. Thinking the worst, I answer the call.

“How do you get the DVD player to work? Remember, it’s in the book. Look under HOUSEHOLD ODDS AND ENDS.”

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I had fifteen minutes before our big date. In those fifteen minutes, I had to pull up my hair, throw on some make-up and leave notes for the sitter. “One down,” I thought. “I finished updating the book yesterday. Now on to hair and make-up.”

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Some days it seems like I’m the only one who knows what’s going on with my kids. Don’t get me wrong. I love them beyond all reason, but 24/7 for 365 days a year? I don’t know that even Mother Theresa could do that! I need that time away. And sometimes I’m working outside the home and just can’t be reached. So where is that “Lost Manual” that never came with our kids the day they were born?

I finally found it! By The Book: Caring for MY Kids is the instruction book that YOU fill out about YOUR kids. It has EVERYTHING. Fill out all the information about your kids and you won’t need to be bothered for a thing. It’s win-win for you, the caregiver and the kids! The book is divided into five sections and takes only minutes to fill out. There is a place for the kids’ routines, school information, important phone numbers, household rules and whatnot, emergency contact and procedures and even a place to organize all of your sitter information. My most used section is the Sitter Notes. Every time I use a sitter, I pull out a page from sitter notes. The nice thing is she knows exactly what to look for when she lets herself and the kids into the house.

This book has made organizing my kids’ information a snap. Now I can do what I need to do without worrying about leaving the sitter or significant other all the information they need. After all, it’s in the book!


GIVEAWAY:

We are giving away an eBook of By The Book: Caring For MY Kids to TWO lucky winners, chosen at random. The contest will end at midnight on June 17, 2009.

HOW TO ENTER:

Primary Entry: Go to http://bythebookkids.com/insidethebook.aspx to view the different sections of the book, then come back here and tell me what part of By The Book would be most useful to you and why.

*This entry is mandatory to allow additional entries!

Additional Entries (be sure to leave a comment for each entry):

• Subscribe & Follow my blog via email = ONE ENTRY
• Follow me on Twitter and Tweet about this giveaway = ONE ENTRY (remember to use @karmelpub when tweeting)
• Blog about this giveaway and provide a link back to here = ONE ENTRY
• Grab our button and place on your blog = ONE ENTRY

GOOD LUCK!

Names I Wish I Didn't Know

(Warning. . . I'm going beyond my humor . . but please keep reading). . .

We've heard them so many times. Over and Over, especially if you watch any sort of news program. My husband and I were watching the news last night and we were reminded of the world we live in.

Casey Anthony.

Shawn Hornbeck.

Ben Ownby.

Natalee Holloway.

And the latest, Haleigh Cummings.

Every time I hear one of those names, my gut simply wrenches for the child, for the parents, for anyone who knows that person. I can't even start to imagine what it would feel like, the questions that would go through my mind, how I would react, what I would do. Would I be capable of doing anything at all? Yet the simple fact is that thousands of children go missing every day.

My son, Z1, being the fearless adventurer he is, has gotten separated from us several times in highly populated places. The zoo. The waterpark. The mall. And each time, the terror that rose up inside of me was unbearable. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't see straight. And that was for all of 30 seconds to twenty minutes.

When Karen and I started By The Book, we knew we wanted to include a section where you could keep all of the emergency information in one spot. We call it,"The section we hope you NEVER have to use." It includes all of your child's stats- height, weight, birthmarks, recent photos, fingerprints, the works.

We don't like to think about this kind of stuff. After all, we're safe, right? It only takes one moment, five seconds of averting your eyes, ten seconds of getting distracted with something else. If I had to give my child's information, what would I remember? Would I think about the gap between his teeth? The location of his birthmarks? Do I know his weight, height off the top of my head? Can I remember what he was wearing? Do I have his fingerprints? Pictures?

Click here to see what is in the book. You can find the table of contents and look through the emergency section.

Whether or not you buy the book, just do something today to put all of your child(ren)'s information in one, safe, accessible place. ANd give them an extra hug tonight.

Yours, grateful to know mine are asleep in their beds,

Melissa