Help Sprite Refresh our Parks and Get Kids Playing

(Update 5/26/11: The giveaway has been extended to 5/31/11! ) (Update 5/19/11: See below for a new, easy method to enter to win a $100 Shutterfly gift card!) When my twins were little we used to joke about how they needed to be "let out" to run around and get their wiggles out, every single day, rain or shine, as if they were puppies. The day was just not complete until they had a chance to get outside and play. We don't live near a park, so on cold days I was only too happy to open the door and let the boys run out into our gated back yard. I'll never forget the time we realized that a simple latch was no longer enough to keep them in -- at age two, 3Po and Jammy figured out how to ram their Little Tykes car into the gate hard enough to loosen the latch. I only found out about their new little trick when I poked my head out the door and saw them racing down the driveway into the street! Now that they're older, their need for outdoor play is as strong as ever; if anything, it has intensified. As they've grown bigger, our back yard has "shrunk" (I found that out when a missed basketball shot broke our guest bedroom window) -- so I'm really glad that our local school places so much importance on the value of play. The boys get time to play during recess and lunch, PE twice a week, and the school fields are open after school and on weekends. I've found that they are actually more prepared to settle down and concentrate if they've just had a long, satisfying bout of outdoor play, so it's good for more than just getting them to sleep at night -- it's good for their mind, body and soul.
You don't have to believe me; just ask the experts. Studies have shown how play enhances learning skills (along with social and emotional skills) and that physical activity boosts student performance (the New York Times even calls it the "Fourth R"). In fact, play is so important to optimal child development that it has been recognized by the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights as a right of every child. That's why I'm so happy to blog about Sprite's ongoing effort, Spark Parks, to refresh parks, playgrounds and active spaces across the nation. In April, The Sprite Spark Parks Project is teaming up with Habitat for Humanity to build and refurbish homes and active spaces. Now everyone can help out by collecting special green tabs from Sprite cans!
Here's how it works: 1) Look for Sprite or Sprite Zero cans with green tabs during the month of April. 2) Start collecting Sprite green tabs now and help raise money to build and refurbish homes and active spaces. For each green tab from Sprite or Sprite Zero received by 6/30/2011, Sprite will donate 10 cents per tab, up to $500,000 (Sprite has guaranteed a minimum $250k donation), to Habitat for Humanity. 3) Place the green tabs in a regular or padded envelope. If using a regular envelope, please limit the number of tabs to 20 per envelope. Affix the appropriate postage and check with your post office to confirm the postage if necessary. Mail the tabs by 6/30/2011 to: Sprite Green Tabs PO Box 52666 Knoxville, TN 37950 Visit the official Spark Park Sprite Hub page for more information. How simple is that? I can't wait to start my own green tab collection so we can help other kids reap the benefits of outdoor play! Need a bit more motivation to start collecting those green tabs? How about the thought of an extra $2,000 donation from BlogHer to Habitat for Humanity?! If you upload a photo of your Sprite green tab collection to your blog or Facebook page, then leave a link to your photo in the comments section of this post, BlogHer will donate 10 cents to Habitat for Humanity, up to $2,000! Still need more convincing? How about the chance to win a $100 Shutterfly.com gift card? Win a $100 gift card to Shutterfly.com One lucky Bonggamom Finds winner will receive a $100 Shutterfly.com gift card! To enter, you can do any of the following: (Update 5/26/11: The giveaway has been extended to 5/31/11! ) (Update 5/19/11: I've added a fifth entry method to make it easier than ever to enter! Choose up to two entry methods below.) a) New, easy entry method: Leave a comment telling us how you plan to keep your family in motion this summer. Volunteering, community/team sports, or how about summer camps? Tell us! b) Take a fun photo of your Green Tab collection, upload the photo onto your blog or Facebook page, then leave a comment on this post with a link to the blog/FB post. c) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post. d) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post. e) No Twitter account or blog? Visit the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry. As mentioned above, any of these 5 entry methods counts, but it would be awesome if you chose option (b) as one of your entries, because BlogHer is donating 10 cents to Habitat for Humanity for every photo uploaded, up to $2000! Don't have a blog or Facebook account? Don't want to post to yours? No problem! Use mine! Put your photo up on facebook.com/bonggamomfinds! You can also gain an extra entry by completing any of the 4 remaining options, for a total of 2 entries. Entries will be accepted between 5/5/2011 and (new deadline!) 5/31/2011. Don't forget to visit the BlogHer Promotions & Prizes section for more chances to win a $100 Shutterfly gift card. Good luck! Rules: No duplicate comments. You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods: a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry. This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected. The official rules are available here Disclaimer: This is a compensated post. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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Staying Well with Walgreens this Winter

This is a compensated review from BlogHer and Walgreens.

We've just come back from a 3-day ski trip at Tahoe, and it's amazing how much stuff you need to pack just for 3 days. Part of it, of course is all the extra gear and paraphernalia you need when you go out in the snow, and another part of it is traveling with a fussy Englishman who refuses to give up his endless daily cups of tea. But there's the stuff you can't really avoid, like clothes and shoes and toiletries and medicines -- and given the wintry season, we need more of those than ever to stay happy and healthy! I was recently chosen by Walgreen's and BlogHer to review the Walgreens' Brand Health and Wellness products of my choice, and the invitation could not have come at a better time, since I was stocking up for our trip, and we buy Walgreens' brand products all the time anyway. Here are three Walgreens' Brand Health and Wellness products that we rely on for our winter getaways: Suncare When it's cold and dull and grey, the last thing you're thinking of is sunscreen, but actually the sun's rays are just as strong; even though your body is bundled up, your face and hands need sun protection just as much as they do in the summer. And when you're in the snow, protecting your face is more important than ever! That's why we pack sunscreen sticks whenever we go up to Tahoe.
I love Walgreen's Oil-Free Sunscreen Sticks -- they're so easy to apply. You don't even have to get your hands all sticky because you hold the plastic tube and apply it, like lipstick all over your face. The Sunscreen Stick for babies is white, which I don't particularly care for, since you do have to use your hands to blend it in, but Alfie really likes it because you can easily see which areas you've already applied.
Pain/fever/cold relief Whenever we go to the snow, it always seems like one of the kids comes down with some kind of virus while we're up there. So we always take a small stash of junior-strength ibuprofen to keep them comfortable and fever-free, just in case. It has to be ibuprofen, not acetaminophen, because my twins have some kind of protein deficiency that could result in chronic anemia when they take in certain foods or chemicals -- and acetaminophen is one of them. For some reason, chewable junior-strength ibuprofen is really quite difficult to find. I've really only been able to find them at Walgreen's, so when they're in stock I really stock up.
Junior-strength ibuprofen in liquid form is pretty readily available (and the Walgreen's brand has that too), but it's so much more convenient to have it in chewable form when traveling. Allergies All of us are allergic to something or other, and it's not a seasonal thing either. 3Po's eczema bothers him year-round, Alfie's hay fever has turned into a year-round malady and the rest of us get the dreaded puffy/watery/itchy eye from time to time.
Once again, it's Walgreen's Children's Allergy Relief to the rescue. Their chewables work just as well as the name brand antihistamine that I've been using my entire life -- until I discovered that the Walgreen's brand works just as well, and costs less. Alfie and I find that the children's version works fine for us (if my symptoms are particularly strong, I just take a double kids' dose) and the kids. We have a box of these permanently in our van, and we make sure we pack a second box in our toiletry bag whenever we travel anywhere. If you compare the ingredients in Walgreens Brand products versus name-brand products, there's really no difference! They have the same ingredients, and they work just as well. The only difference is the price! I've even discovered another great reason to purchase Walgreens Brand Health & Wellness Products: a portion of every purchase of these products supports the Walgreens Way to Well Fund™, which brings preventative wellness services to local communities. There's no reason not to try Walgreens Brand Health & Wellness products! Visit the site for more information and check it out. Plus, if you enter my giveaway below, you might even win a $100 Walgreens gift card to try out the products yourself! Win a $100 Walgreens Gift Card One lucky Bonggamom Finds reader will receive a $100 Walgreens gift card, courtesy of BlogHer. Required Entry Leave a comment on this post and tell me which Walgreens Brand Health & Wellness Product(s) you need this winter season. This entry must be completed before extra entries qualify. Extra Entry For an extra entry, you can do ONE of the following (for a total of 2 entries). Please leave a separate comment for each extra entry. 1) Tweet this: Enter to win a $100 Walgreen's gift card on @bonggafinds #giveaways http://tinyurl.com/bonggagiveaways .... and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post 2) Blog about this promotion (please make sure your blog post has a link to this post) and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post 3) For those with no Twitter or blog, visit the Official Rules to learn about an alternate form of entry. More Giveaways More BlogHer reviewers are writing about their experiences with Walgreens Brand Health & Wellness Products, and they've all got giveaways! Visit the Exclusive Offers section for even more chances to win a $100 Walgreen's gift card. The Rules This giveaway starts at 9:00AM PST on March 14 and ends at 11:59PM PST on April 13, 2011; I will draw a winner at random on April 14 and post the winner's name after he/she confirm acceptance. Winner must confirm within 72 hrs of my email, otherwise a new winner will be selected. US residents only, 18 or older. No duplicate comments, please. Visit the Official Rules. Good Luck! Disclosure: This is a compensated post. Giveaway prize has been provided by BlogHer. Product information is provided by the featured company/product and is indicated in italics. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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Morning Rituals

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

Morning rituals can be soothing, like a cup of coffee. They can be energizing, like a sunrise yoga session or a morning run. They can be loving, like my son tiptoeing into our bedroom to snuggle under the covers with mom and dad. They can be ordinary, like the bowl of cereal my kids eat every single day. And they can even be super, out-of-this-world scary... and fun. One of my favorite annual events is the Halloween Breakfast that the kids' school puts on every year. If Halloween falls on a weekend, the breakfast is held on the Friday before Halloween; otherwise, it's held on Halloween morning. This is one day of the year when I don't need to poke and prod the kids to get out of bed. They're up with the sun, donning their costumes, spray-painting their hair, applying fake skeleton tattoos to their arms, painting scars on their cheeks, ponytailing their hair with fancy purple-and-black bows. The whole school shows up in costume, from the tiniest kindergartener to the principal to the teachers' aides. Some parents show up in costume, some don't, but one thing that parents always show up with is a camera, because the sight of all these kids in costumes is too precious to miss. Kids run around and compare costumes, ham it up for the camera, gobble down a donut hole and gulp down some orange juice before rushing back out to greet more of their friends. They especially love seeing their teachers in costume
On ordinary days, when the school bell rings it's time to get into the classroom, but at the Halloween Breakfast the fun has just started. The whole school lines up for a costume parade than takes them through the school corridors, which are flanked with parents armed with cameras, like a bunch of paparazzi. The whole school forms a gigantic circle on the field and the principal calls out groups of kids to take a bow, i.e. all the princess characters, all the skeletons, all the superheroes, etc... It's a small, simple touch to make each child feel like people are admiring his or her costume and telling each other how great it looks. Afterwards, the kids go back to their classes and have a Halloween party (with all that excitement and all that sugar, I doubt if too much studying goes on!). The Halloween Breakfast is one morning tradition that our family never misses, and it's one of the reasons why Halloween is my favorite holiday! Do you have a yearly morning tradition that your family participates in? Whatever morning rituals you and your family participate in, I hope you'll add Bonggamom Finds to it! I'm partnering with BlogHer and Kellogg's to bring you some fun breakfast topics, from morning routines to cereal to family breakfast traditions and more. Join me every week through October 2010 for a new discussion -- and a new giveaway for a $100 Visa Gift Card! Win a $100 Visa Gift Card One lucky Bonggamom Finds reader will win a $100 Visa Gift card courtesy of Kellogg's and BlogHer. To enter, just leave a comment on this post and tell me your favorite go-to breakfast when time is tight and you're in a rush. For a second entry, you can: · Tweet about this post with a link to it (and put your tweet URL in a separate comment below) · Blog about this post with a link to it (and put your blog post URL in a separate comment below) Entries will be accepted until 5PM EST until November 1, 2010. For full giveaway rules, click here. You can also gain 24 extra chances to win $100 by visiting the BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page. Good luck! The Mom's Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids' cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. Kellogg's helps moms keep their morning simple with cereal varieties for everyone in the family. For more information, visit www.loveyourcereal.com. This is a sponsored post from BlogHer and Kellogg's. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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Goodness Comes in a Bowl

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

We recently bought a new dishwasher, and one of the things I like best about it is that it has plenty of space for bowls. It's surprising how many bowls we go though during the day. When I cook, I like to put my ingredients in neat little bowls, like they do on all the cooking shows. I use bowls to mix, microwave, serve and store our food. Oh, and we eat from bowls too!

When the kids were younger, they used bowls exclusively; the sides of the bowls kept food from spilling over when they were trying to scoop up their food into a spoon. Now that they're older, I still use bowls to serve them snacks; nuts, chips, crackers, cut fruit, dry cereal are just some of the snacks that are so much easier to eat from a bowl than a plate.

Snacks aside, we eat quite a few meals from bowls. How else can you have cereal and milk for breakfast? Or oatmeal? Or yogurt? I serve soup at least once a week, sometimes twice -- heck, I love soup and if it were up to me, I could probably eat it every day -- which adds even more bowls to our pile of dirty dishes. Pasta? In a bowl. Rice? Hey, I'm Asian, of course it goes in a bowl! And let's not forget dessert: ice cream, pudding, and anything served a la mode has got to go into a bowl.


Whatever you like to put in your bowl, don't forget to sprinkle some Bonggamom Finds on top! I'm partnering with BlogHer and Kellogg's to bring you some fun breakfast topics, from morning routines to cereal to family breakfast traditions and more. Join me every week through October 2010 for a new discussion -- and a new giveaway for a $100 Visa Gift Card!


Win a $100 Visa Gift Card
One lucky Bonggamom Finds reader will win a $100 Visa Gift card courtesy of Kellogg's and BlogHer. To enter, just leave a comment on this post and tell me your favorite food in a bowl.

You can get extra entries by tweeting and blogging about this giveaway, making sure to include a link to this giveaway in your tweet or blog post. Just leave a comment on this post and share the link to your tweet or blog post. Entries will be accepted until October 25, 2010. For full giveaway rules, click here. You can also gain 24 extra chances to win $100 by visiting the BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page. Good luck!



The Mom's Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids' cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. Kellogg's helps moms keep their morning simple with cereal varieties for everyone in the family. For more information, visit www.loveyourcereal.com.

This is a sponsored post from BlogHer and Kellogg's. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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The Secret to a Great Breakfast

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

We eat 365 breakfasts every year, and about 300 of them involve cereal and milk. At that rate, you'd think we'd be sick of cereal and milk by now. The truth is, we can't get enough of cereal and milk! We have a huge assortment of cereals in our cupboard so everyone has a wide variety to choose from and no-one gets bored. And we can always add all kinds of toppings and secret ingredients to spice up our mornings even more. Each member of my family has their own never-fail breakfast item:

Alfie's secret cereal weapon is fruit. Whatever kind of cereal he eats that morning, he never fails to top it with some kind of fresh fruit, be it blueberries (his favorite), raspberries, strawberries or bananas.

Mine is yogurt, my go-to breakfast item (I'm the only member of our family that doesn't eat cereal and milk for breakfast on a regular basis). Even when I have oatmeal or cereal, I like to pour a bit of yogurt on top for that sweet, creamy taste.

3Po also likes yogurt, especially when he has Rice Krispies and milk because it gets all thick and clumpy, almost like a gloppy Rice Krispie treat!



The Pea loves maple syrup, which she uses to make smiley faces on her pancakes or oatmeal or cereal (needless to say, when she uses it I try to make sure her cereal is one of the lower-sugar varieties like Rice Krispies or Corn Flakes!).

Jammy loves raisins in his cereal. He'll pop them into his mouth like candy! Raisin Bran is high on his list of favorite cereals, but he'll eat raisins (or other dried fruit) on almost any kind of cereal.

It's no secret: with so many ways to enjoy cereal, why would we ever get bored?


Whatever you like to eat in the mornings, don't forget to add some Bonggamom Finds to spice things up! I'm partnering with BlogHer and Kellogg's to bring you some fun breakfast topics, from morning routines to cereal to family breakfast traditions and more. Join me every week through October 2010 for a new discussion -- and a new giveaway for a $100 Visa Gift Card!


Win a $100 Visa Gift Card
One lucky Bonggamom Finds reader will win a $100 Visa Gift card courtesy of Kellogg's and BlogHer. To enter, leave a comment on this post and tell me your favorite go-to breakfast when time is tight and you're in a rush.

For a second entry, you can:
· Tweet about this post with a link to it (and put your tweet URL in a separate comment below)
· Blog about this post with a link to it (and put your blog post URL in a separate comment below)

Sweepstakes ends 5 PM EST on October 18, 2010. For full giveaway rules, click here. You can also gain 24 extra chances to win $100 by visiting the BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page. Good luck!



The Mom's Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids' cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. Kellogg's helps moms keep their morning simple with cereal varieties for everyone in the family. For more information, visit www.loveyourcereal.com.

This is a sponsored post from BlogHer and Kellogg's. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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The Morning Rush

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

If you've been following my Kellogg's Moms Breakfast Club posts, you know by now that mornings are a mad rush in my household. I like to stay in bed as late as possible, so it's imperative that everything gets done quickly and according to plan. The key word really is planning, and preparation! Here are some things we do to streamline and simplify our mornings:

1) Get ready the night before
Before the kids go to bed I ask them to make sure all their homework is done and in their backpacks, along with any library books, folders and anything else they need to give to their teachers the next day. We also go over what activities we have the next day (i.e., dance, soccer, playdates, etc...) so we know what else needs to be ready.

2) Pre-pack lunches
Many parents like to pack lunches the night before, but I like to assemble my kids' sandwiches right before I pack them, especially when I make sandwiches that might get soggy if the fillings have time to soak through the bread. That doesn't mean I can't get everything set up to make things easier for me in the morning. I pre-chill milk and juice boxes, and cut up fruit the night before. Some lunches can be prepared ahead of time, like pita bread and carrots with hummus, or leftover pasta. You can make a bagel with cream cheese and jelly the night before and refrigerate it. In fact, I like to freeze a giant batch of PBJ sandwiches so I can just pull them out of the freezer and throw it in their lunchboxes.



3) Simplify breakfast
On school mornings I don't have time to mess around with pancakes or waffles or bacon and eggs. I don't even like preparing oatmeal -- hey, that's an extra 2 minutes in the microwave, and another 2 minutes to cool it down! Yup, our schedule is that tight. So unless the kids have gotten to the breakfast table in record time, they stick to cereal and milk. What could be simpler? It's yummy, healthy, filling and ready to eat in an instant.


Whatever you eat when you're in a rush, don't forget to make time to enjoy some Bonggamom Finds on the side! I'm partnering with BlogHer and Kellogg's to bring you some fun breakfast topics, from morning routines to cereal to family breakfast traditions and more. Join me every week through October 2010 for a new discussion -- and a new giveaway for a $100 Visa Gift Card!


Win a $100 Visa Gift Card
One lucky Bonggamom Finds reader will win a $100 Visa Gift card courtesy of Kellogg's and BlogHer. To enter, just leave a comment on this post and tell me your favorite go-to breakfast when time is tight and you're in a rush.

You can get extra entries by tweeting and blogging about this giveaway, making sure to include a link to this giveaway in your tweet or blog post. Just leave a comment on this post and share the link to your tweet or blog post. Entries will be accepted until October 11, 2010. For full giveaway rules, click here. You can also gain 24 extra chances to win $100 by visiting the BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page. Good luck!



The Mom's Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids' cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. Kellogg's helps moms keep their morning simple with cereal varieties for everyone in the family. For more information, visit www.loveyourcereal.com.

This is a sponsored post from BlogHer and Kellogg's. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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Weekend Mornings

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

With such hectic morning weekdays, you'd think we'd be glad to take it easy and relax on the weekends. But no, we had to be the family with the daughter who takes skating lessons, whose class had to be on Saturday mornings at 8:45. So we have to be out of the house by 8:20, which is only 20 minutes later than our weekday schedule. And this year 3Po and Jammy have joined a soccer league that holds games on Saturday mornings.

As early as 8:00AM.

There goes my beauty sleep. Saturday mornings have become an extension of weekday mornings where I put on my drill sergeant hat and get everyone up and running on a bowl of cereal, milk and fruit. Good thing they love it, huh?

But Sundays are sacred. As the song goes, Never Never on a Sunday, a Sunday, a Sunday, 'cause that's my day of rest. Sundays are meant to be savored, and that includes breakfast. Actually, most Sundays the family still has cereal and milk, but if the kids ask for made-from-scratch oatmeal or waffles, instead of giving them an Are You Kidding Me?? look, I'll smile sweetly and say, Of course, honey.

So on Sundays, they get sliced fresh strawberries swirled into vanilla yogurt, sprinkled with cinnamon and granola.




Or they might get the banana oatmeal bread that I baked the night before, smeared with butter and jam.




On special occasions like a Halloween weekend, a Valentine's weekend, or a birthday weekend, I'll go all out and make themed pancakes or waffles.



If they're really lucky, I'll even go the FULL MONTY with a full English breakfast of sausage, beans, eggs, fried tomatoes, and yes, even chips (fries). Of course, after having this kind of a feast, they're never hungry at lunchtime, so more often than not they end up having cereal and milk for lunch!





Whatever you have for breakfast on weekends, why not have some Bonggamom Finds on the side! I'm partnering with BlogHer and Kellogg's to bring you some fun breakfast topics, from morning routines to cereal to family breakfast traditions and more. Join me every week through October 2010 for a new discussion -- and a new giveaway for a $100 Visa Gift Card!


Win a $100 Visa Gift Card
One lucky Bonggamom Finds reader will win a $100 Visa Gift card courtesy of Kellogg's and BlogHer. To enter, just leave a comment on this post and tell me your family's favorite weekend breakfast foods.

You can get extra entries by tweeting and blogging about this giveaway, making sure to include a link to this giveaway in your tweet or blog post. Just leave a comment on this post and share the link to your tweet or blog post. Entries will be accepted until October 4, 2010. For full giveaway rules, click here. You can also gain 24 extra chances to win $100 by visiting the BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page. Good luck!



The Mom's Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids' cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. Kellogg's helps moms keep their morning simple with cereal varieties for everyone in the family. For more information, visit www.loveyourcereal.com.

This is a sponsored post from BlogHer and Kellogg's. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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When Good Mornings really are Good

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

What's my ideal morning like? It's a day when I get to sleep past 8:00 AM. If I'm really being greedy, I'd say it's a day when I get to sleep past 8:00AM, stay in bed till 9:00AM, then go downstairs and discover that Alfie and the kids have already had breakfast AND cleaned up after themselves, so I have the kitchen all to myself, to enjoy a leisurely breakfast of oatmeal or yogurt or bagels or toast, to read my Newsweek or check email on my phone, while everyone else sits in the living room (or anywhere but the kitchen).

This is what I call a Good Morning.

You can imagine how often that happens. Most days, a good morning is one where we get to leave for school by 8:00 AM without forgetting anything or without me screaming at any of the kids. If everything goes according to schedule, I'm a happy camper. If the schedule falls apart, so do I. Which means that starting my day on a positive note depends on several things: 1) Brush my teeth This has nothing to do with my schedule and everything to with my schedule. If I don't get rid of that stale feeling in my mouth, I can't wake up. To get up and do what I have to do, I don't need to take a shower, I don't need freshly-ironed clothes, I don't even need breakfast (I do, actually, but I prefer to wait until the morning rush is over, when I can sit and enjoy it) -- all I need to do is get that toothbrush in my mouth and that mouthwash in my throat. The minty smell and taste wakes me up and gets me started. There's nothing like having clean, minty-fresh breath to get me through the morning! 2) No Surprises If I know what needs to be done for the day, I can plan accordingly. If it's a Tuesday, the kids need to have their Monday Envelopes. If it's a Thursday, they need their library books. Does The Pea have a field trip that week? Musn't forget to send some money. I try to write out a list of things to do the night before, or put everything that needs to go with the kids in the morning right in front of the back door, so we don't forget it. 3) It's a Team Effort Those days when mama did everything are long gone. Now that the kids are older, I expect them to choose their own outfits, get their own breakfast (which is why they always have cereal and milk) and pack their own bags. I handle lunch prep, breakfast cleanup, sunscreen application and schedule management. And it works like a charm -- not only do things get done faster, I'm also teaching them to be independent and helpful. Seeing them get their own bowls, pour their own cereal and stack their dirty dishes in the sink always cheers me up! Whatever you do to make your mornings good, make them even better with Bonggamom Finds! I'm partnering with BlogHer and Kellogg's to bring you some fun breakfast topics, from morning routines to cereal to family breakfast traditions and more. Join me every week through October 2010 for a new discussion -- and a new giveaway for a $100 Visa Gift Card! Win a $100 Visa Gift Card One lucky Bonggamom Finds reader will win a $100 Visa Gift card courtesy of Kellogg's and BlogHer. To enter, just leave a comment on this post and share some tips on how to start the day on a positive note. You can get extra entries by tweeting and blogging about this giveaway, making sure to include a link to this giveaway in your tweet or blog post. Just leave a comment on this post and share the link to your tweet or blog post. Entries will be accepted until September 27, 2010. For full giveaway rules, click here. You can also gain 24 extra chances to win $100 by visiting the BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page. Good luck! The Mom's Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids' cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. Kellogg's helps moms keep their morning simple with cereal varieties for everyone in the family. For more information, visit www.loveyourcereal.com. This is a sponsored post from BlogHer and Kellogg's. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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Getting Back on Track

This is sponsored content from BlogHer and the makers of One A Day Multivitamins.

You know what they say: The higher you fly, the farther you fall. And boy, did we fly high this summer. We spread our wings and soared to far-off places like Chicago, New York, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Dover, Birmingham and more. After five weeks of driving on the "wrong" side of the road, living out of a suitcase, doting in-laws who did all the laundry in between trips, going to bed late because the sun was shining until nine-thirty in the evening, and trying a new English chocolate bar every day, it's not surprising that coming back home felt like more of a crash-landing than usual (Literally -- the day before we left the UK, Jammy did a spectacular face-plant into the sidewalk after skateboarding without a helmet, which was only further evidence of how far removed we had become from our normal rules and habits). Going home meant going from walking in places like this:
To this:
Getting back to our schooltime routine this year involves quite a bit more than getting used to waking up early, so we're doing a couple of things to help ourselves out: * Take it one small step at a time. We were so far out of our regular routine that changing everything back at once would have been way too much. So we've been doing it gradually. We've traveled to the UK often enough to know that it takes about a week for us to get over our jet lag, so I made sure we arrived in the US two weeks before the start of the schoolyear. I also scheduled a few playdates for the kids because they literally hadn't seen any of their friends the whole summer, and we won't be signing up for too many afterschool activities this fall so the kids aren't too overwhelmed with organized activities. * Write things down After such a long break, tasks seem to be popping up like daisies -- I need to block off calendar dates for school events, sign up to volunteer, sign up for afterschool classes, schedule doctors' appointments and a million other things like the Spring Cleaning I never got around to finishing. Rather than rushing to do the first thing that pops into my mind, I find that making lists really helps me see the big picture and prioritize what needs to be done first. Plus, crossing things off lists is really, really satisfying. * Make it a game I'm taking a cue from Mary Poppins and adding spoonfuls of sugar to ease the painful process of watching the clock. We've turned our morning and evening routine into a game -- every morning the first child to be ready for school gets a point, and every evening there's another point up for grabs to the first child to be ready for bed. We keep track of points on a chart, and at the end of September the child with the most points gets to choose whatever activity they want for a family day. By the way, games aren't just for kids -- thanks to the makers of One-A-Day Multi-vitamins, I've discovered a new online tool (I suspect it's called an "online tool" because we're grownups and all, but it's actually fun like a game) that can help ease you back into a routine and maintain a focused lifestyle. Players can "create" their own Wellness Tree by choosing 3 areas that matter most -- finances, career, health, spirituality, relationships, etc.., there's no wrong answer -- and "grow" their tree by committing to simple daily actions that develop those areas. So whether you've been to the UK, or to hell and back, My Tree is an easy, fun way to help you get back on track! Win a $150 Visa Gift Card One lucky Bonggamom Finds reader will win a $150 Visa Gift card courtesy of the makers of One a Day Multi-vitamins and BlogHer. To enter, just leave a comment on this post and share your best tip for finding and sticking to a good daily routine. You can get extra entries by tweeting and blogging about this giveaway, making sure to include a link to this giveaway in your tweet or blog post. Just leave a comment on this post and share the link to your tweet or blog post. Entries will be accepted until October 21, 2010. For full giveaway rules, click here. You can also gain 5 more chances to win $150 from other participating bloggers, plus a chance to win $100 on the BlogHer One A Day exclusive offers page. Good luck! Disclosure: this is sponsored content courtesy of BlogHer and the makers of One a Day Multi-vitamins. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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From Summertime to Schooltime

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

Last week I reminisced about our glorious summer adventures and how much we enjoyed seeing and doing new things. Now school has started and we're back to our old, regular routine. Instead of discovering walking down country lanes, we're navigating suburbia to get to school. Instead of enjoying the regional cuisine of Paris' 18th quarter, we're back to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Instead of packing 3-ounce containers of liquid into a clear plastic Ziploc bag (don't you hate that?), we're stuffing homework and books into a backpack. Man, getting back to the same old, same old is a drag. But we managed to do it, thanks to my secret weapon -- Jet Lag. Jet lag usually sucks -- who wants their kids waking up at 3:00 AM? -- but it actually helped us because the kids were sleeping and waking up so early. Instead of helping them wake up a little bit earlier every day, we helped them wake up a little bit later every day, until we got to our schooltime wake-up and bedtime hours. Okay, that doesn't really help unless you've traveled halfway around the world. My real secret weapon -- two secret weapons, actually -- was starting early and being consistent. Start Early We arrived from the UK two weeks before school started, so we had plenty of time to get back to our school schedule -- and we had time to ease in gradually. You know that thing about boiling live crabs, right? If you put them straight into boiling water they'll freak out and probably snap your fingers off, but if you put them in cold water and heat it up gradually, they'll never know what hit (or killed) them. It's the same with my kids: you say goodnight just a wee bit later every day, and open up the curtains a wee bit earlier the next day. Let them stay in their pajamas for an hour one day, then forty-five minutes the next day, and so on.

Whether we're hiking through a forest or walking to school, we always start the day with a nutritious breakfast -- and for my kids, that means cereal and milk.

Be Consistent Doing new things is great, but we did maintain some semblance of a routine throughout the summer, and it really helped us get back on track for the new school year. I may have eased up on my "reading before videogames" rule, but we tried to make sure each kid read something each and every day. They may not have had to make their beds while we stayed in hotels, but I did ask them to fold their clothes and put them away. The kids may have lazed around in their pajamas for hours on end, but they still got up every morning and had cereal for breakfast. Not that I had to turn into a dragon lady to get the kids to do that -- they love cereal and milk anyway, so I left well enough alone! Whatever is on your back-to-school breakfast table, have some Bonggamom Finds on the side! I've partnered with BlogHer and Kellogg's to bring you some fun breakfast topics, from morning routines to cereal to family breakfast traditions and more. Join me every week through October 2010 for a new discussion -- and a new giveaway for a $100 Visa Gift Card! Win a $100 Visa Gift Card One lucky Bonggamom Finds reader will win a $100 Visa Gift card courtesy of Kellogg's and BlogHer. To enter, just leave a comment on this post and tell me what kind of breakfast you serve your kids before they head off to school. You can get extra entries by tweeting and blogging about this giveaway, making sure to include a link to this giveaway in your tweet or blog post. Just leave a comment on this post and share the link to your tweet or blog post. Entries will be accepted until September 20, 2010. For full giveaway rules, click here. You can also gain 24 extra chances to win $100 by visiting the BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page. Good luck! The Mom's Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids' cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. Kellogg's helps moms keep their morning simple with cereal varieties for everyone in the family. For more information, visit www.loveyourcereal.com. This is a sponsored post from BlogHer and Kellogg's. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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Looking back at Summer

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

The kids have only been back to school for two weeks, and already the summer seems like a million years ago. We're already looking back at what we did like old fogies: "Do you remember when...." But in our defense, it truly was a magical summer, full of new experiences and adventures. Here's a small sample of what we did:

Learned to balance on a skateboard...

.... and in a big, plastic bubble.

Did some serious shopping.

Made our way around towns where no-one spoke English.

Ate the best bread in the world.

Crossed under the English Channel in our car, on a train.

Saw how chocolate is made.

Crossed bridges and canals.

Ate the best ice cream in the world.

Saw this.

After all that we did, you might think that coming back home feels like a return to drudgery and routine. Well, at first things did seem a bit flat, after all that excitement and novelty. But not everything was new. The kids still took showers every night (well, almost) and went to bed at the same time (well, maybe a bit later than usual). They still read books and worked on their summer activity workbooks. And we still got up every morning and had cereal for breakfast. Even for our trip to Paris, we packed boxes of our favorite cereals in the car and passed on the French croissants for breakfast (don't worry, we still had our fill of those for lunch!). Doing new things is great -- but it's always nice to have some things stay the same.


Whatever you plan to do this fall, don't forget to fuel up with a good breakfast -- and have some Bonggamom Finds on the side! I'm partnering with BlogHer and Kellogg's to bring you some fun breakfast topics, from morning routines to cereal to family breakfast traditions and more. Join me every week through October 2010 for a new discussion -- and a new giveaway for a $100 Visa Gift Card!


Win a $100 Visa Gift Card
One lucky Bonggamom Finds reader will win a $100 Visa Gift card courtesy of Kellogg's and BlogHer. To enter, just leave a comment on this post and tell me which activity your family enjoyed the most this summer.

You can get extra entries by tweeting and blogging about this giveaway, making sure to include a link to this giveaway in your tweet or blog post. Just leave a comment on this post and share the link to your tweet or blog post. Entries will be accepted until September 13, 2010. For full giveaway rules, click here. You can also gain 24 extra chances to win $100 by visiting the BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page. Good luck!



The Mom's Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids' cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. Kellogg's helps moms keep their morning simple with cereal varieties for everyone in the family. For more information, visit www.loveyourcereal.com.

This is a sponsored post from BlogHer and Kellogg's. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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The Breakfast Squeeze

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

Schoolday mornings at our house tend to be Wham! Bam! Thank you, ma'am! affairs. I prefer to snooze in bed until I absolutely have to get up -- and then stay in bed five minutes longer. The kids don't start getting ready until I do, so we have 40 minutes at most to get dressed, eat breakfast, pack lunch, and walk to school. It's a mad rush, but I swear there is order in the chaos.

Weekday breakfast? Um, yeah, in your dreams. Or in Alfie's dreams, anyway.

Having a quick breakfast is a crucial component on schooldays -- my routine assumes that the kids make their own breakfast and clean it up themselves, since I use that time to make their lunches (and to wash whatever bottles or sandwich boxes I was too lazy to wash the day before). That means the kids eat milk and cereal almost exclusively from Monday till Friday. Sometimes they ask for oatmeal, and on good days I'll make it for them, but on bad days I look them in the eye and ask them, "Oatmeal?? Look at me! I don't even have time to get my own breakfast! I'm doing all this stuff for you. Do you really think I have two extra minutes to microwave your oatmeal?!" (imagine a low-pitched voice, rising gradually in an operatic crescendo, ending on a hysterical note). They usually get the picture and head for the cereal cupboard. Yes, I'm a tyrannical Morning Mommy Dearest, but my morning routine is like a finely-tuned precision instrument: throw a cog in it (like discovering we've run out of bread for sandwiches or realizing that The Pea didn't do her homework the night before), and everything falls apart. And when the morning routine falls apart, mommy falls apart and turns into a crabby, stressed haridan. So the kids pour themselves Special K and Mini Wheats for breakfast -- along with a bright-eyed, smiling June Cleaver Mommy. Whatever you eat when you're in a rush, don't forget to make time to enjoy some Bonggamom Finds on the side! I'm partnering with BlogHer and Kellogg's to bring you some fun breakfast topics, from morning routines to cereal to family breakfast traditions and more. Join me every week through October 2010 for a new discussion -- and a new giveaway for a $100 Visa Gift Card! Win a $100 Visa Gift Card One lucky Bonggamom Finds reader will win a $100 Visa Gift card courtesy of Kellogg's and BlogHer. To enter, just leave a comment on this post and tell me your favorite go-to breakfast when time is tight and you're in a rush. You can get extra entries by tweeting and blogging about this giveaway, making sure to include a link to this giveaway in your tweet or blog post. Just leave a comment on this post and share the link to your tweet or blog post. Entries will be accepted until September 6, 2010. For full giveaway rules, click here. You can also gain 24 extra chances to win $100 by visiting the BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page. Good luck! The Mom's Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids' cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. Kellogg's helps moms keep their morning simple with cereal varieties for everyone in the family. For more information, visit www.loveyourcereal.com. This is a sponsored post from BlogHer and Kellogg's. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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Our Family's Cereal Habit

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

Alfie is a creature of habit. He drinks tea six or seven times a day, and he always snacks on walnuts, cheese and blueberries. Every morning he turns the tv on to wake himself up. Then he does some yoga poses and takes a shower. And almost every single day of his life, he eats a bowl of cereal and milk for breakfast. While I prefer more variety in my morning meal, I've had no problem fostering Alfie's cereal habit in my kids (hey, mornings are hectic, and the less breakfast preparation involved, the better for me). We just buy an array of cereals so everyone can pick and choose what they like, and no-one has to get bored eating the same kind of cereal every day. Our cereal cupboard looks like a United Nations of cereals, with no two alike (I store duplicates in a higher cupboard because there isn't enough room). 

 
Since I'm participating in the Kellogg's BlogHer program, I thought it would be fun to ask each member of the family which Kellogg's cereals they like best. As I suspected, I got wildly different answers from each one: Alfie Cocoa Krispies Special K Red Berries Smorz Bonggamom Special K Blueberry Frosted Mini-Wheats Strawberry Delight Frosted Mini-Wheats Little Bites Chocolate The Pea Corn Pops Frosted Flakes Frosted Mini-Wheats Little Bites Chocolate Jammy Raisin Bran Special K Fruit & Yogurt Corn Pops 3Po Rice Krispies Special K Chocolatey Delight Corn Pops Well, maybe not that different. 3Po and Jammy both love Special K and Corn Pops, but then again, they're twins. All the kids love Corn Pops, which is funny because I only buy it when my mom comes to visit; she adores Corn Pops -- eats it as morning, noon and night-- and I guess she passed on her love of Corn Pops to her grandchildren! Hmmm, I think they should do some research on whether love of cereal is hereditary :) I wonder what kinds of Kellogg's cereals my grandchildren will be eating? Whatever cereal makes you smile, try sprinkling some Bonggamom Finds on top! I'm partnering with BlogHer and Kellogg's to bring you some fun breakfast topics, from morning routines to cereal to family breakfast traditions and more. Join me every week through October 2010 for a new discussion -- and a new giveaway for a $100 Visa Gift Card! Win a $100 Visa Gift Card One lucky Bonggamom Finds reader will win a $100 Visa Gift card courtesy of Kellogg's and BlogHer. To enter, just leave a comment on this post and tell me your favorite Kellogg's breakfast cereal. You can get extra entries by tweeting and blogging about this giveaway, making sure to include a link to this giveaway in your tweet or blog post. Just leave a comment on this post and share the link to your tweet or blog post. Entries will be accepted until August 30, 2010. For full giveaway rules, click here. You can also gain 24 extra chances to win $100 by visiting the BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page. Good luck! The Mom's Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids' cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. Kellogg's helps moms keep their morning simple with cereal varieties for everyone in the family. For more information, visit www.loveyourcereal.com. This is a sponsored post from BlogHer and Kellogg's. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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Summer Fun

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

Oh where, oh where has the summertime gone? We've got two weeks until school starts, which is just enough time for one last hurrah. Or two. Or three. Or fourteen. Hey, we've gotta make the most of each lazy, carefree summer day before we get back to the daily schooltime grind! Here's a list of fourteen things I want to do before the summer ends: 1) Visit a theme park What's summer without the thrills and chills of an amusement park? We purchased a season pass to Gilroy Gardens, a small, local (i.e. not crowded!) theme park, so the kids could get their fill of roller coasters, twirling teacups, giant swing rides and giant rocking viking boats. If they had their way, we'd be there every day, but fortunately for my poor, nauseated stomach we've got other activities on our agenda. 2) See the animals at the zoo This spring we bought an annual membership to the Oakland Zoo this summer, and so far we've only visited once. We're definitely visiting the zoo at least once more before school starts because I hate the thought of wasting the membership. Oh, and because the kids like seeing those tiny Day-Glo colored frogs. 3) Camp out We need another week to recover from our European travels, but next week I want to throw our tents and sleeping bags into the car and head to a nearby camping ground for some outdoor fun. 4) Visit a museum There's no shortage of family-friendly museums in the Bay Area, and each one is guaranteed to give us a fun, educational day. 5) Have some fish and chips
Like we didn't have fish and chips once or twice a week while we were in the UK. But we love fish and chips and can't get enough of the stuff. Besides, while we're munching on our food we can reminisce about our fish and chips in Volendam, or in Portsmouth, or in Devizes, or in any of the other places we ate fish and chips in this summer. 6) Read The kids have just a week to go before the summer reading program at our local library ends. They've actually reached their reading goals -- they just need to write out their reading logs -- but they love reading so much that adding a couple of books to their total isn't a big deal. 7) Go to the beach It seems crazy to think that we live in California and haven't been to the beach even once this summer! 8) Go to a water park The kids have never been to Water World, and it looks like it's going to be a hot weekend. Guess where we're going? 9) Skate The Pea is just at the cusp of moving up a grade in her figure skating lessons so she wants to spend as much time in the ice rink as she can. As for 3Po and Jammy, they want to skate too -- skateboard, that is. They each received a skateboard from their grandparents as a belated birthday present, and they're eager to carve up those concrete halfpipes at the skate park. 10) Eat some summertime fruit Our local farmer's market has the best organic peaches and nectarines in the world, but their season is coming to an end. The market will stay open till December, but the organic peach stall will close in a couple of weeks, so we're making the most of it and stuffing ourselves with the sweet, juicy fruit. 11) Learn something new The Pea wanted to learn how to knit this summer, and with just two weeks left I doubt if she'll be starting schoolyear knitting scarves. But there's no time like the present to start, and if I buy a how-to book and some yarn and spend some time with her, she might at least get to know the difference between a knit and a purl. 12) Plan a sleepover The great thing about a summertime sleepover is that you can have it on any day of the week -- there's no school to wake up early for -- and save the weekends for family, when everyone is home. 13) Chill It's summertime. I've got to leave some time to do absolutely nothing. 14) Prepare for school. Truth be told, I think the kids are ready to go back to school. They miss their friends, and they want to get back to their various lessons and organized activities. And I'm looking forward to getting the house back to myself after they're all in class. So we're celebrating by shopping for some spiffy new lunchboxes and back-to-school outfits. I think it's going to be a great schoolyear, and -- dare I say it?? -- I can't wait to get started! Whatever you plan to do for the rest of the summer, don't forget to fuel up with a good breakfast -- and have some Bonggamom Finds on the side! I'm partnering with BlogHer and Kellogg's to bring you some fun breakfast topics, from morning routines to cereal to family breakfast traditions and more. Join me every week through October 2010 for a new discussion -- and a new giveaway for a $100 Visa Gift Card! Win a $100 Visa Gift Card One lucky Bonggamom Finds reader will win a $100 Visa Gift card courtesy of Kellogg's and BlogHer. To enter, just leave a comment on this post and tell me what your family likes to eat for breakfast. You can get extra entries by tweeting and blogging about this giveaway, making sure to include a link to this giveaway in your tweet or blog post. Just leave a comment on this post and share the link to your tweet or blog post. Entries will be accepted until August 23, 2010. For full giveaway rules, click here. You can also gain 24 extra chances to win $100 by visiting the BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page. Good luck! The Mom's Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids' cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. Kellogg's helps moms keep their morning simple with cereal varieties for everyone in the family. For more information, visit www.loveyourcereal.com. This is a sponsored post from BlogHer and Kellogg's. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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The Breakfast Routine

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

Growing up, I never ate breakfast. You'd think that the daughter of a doctor would have known better than to skip the most important meal of the day, but my dad always got up later than we did, and I don't think he ever knew that his kids were sleeping in until the last minute and rushing into the car to get to school. Or maybe my parents just figured that if I ate a snack during our school's 10AM recess break, we'd be okay.

Now I'm a parent of three school-aged children, and our morning routine couldn't be more different. Okay, maybe it's not that different. My kids also sleep in until the last minute and rush to get ready. But we do sit at our kitchen table to have breakfast every single day. The benefits to mind and body of eating a good breakfast each morning can't be ignored! I had to make a real effort to cultivate the breakfast habit in myself, but now I'm just like Alfie and the kids -- I need that morning fuel to jump start my day.

It's usually cereal and milk for the kids, but on those rare occasions that pancakes appear on 3Po's breakfast plate, he sure cleans it up!

Exactly what that fuel is varies from day to day -- for me, at least. The kids and Alfie start each day like clockwork; almost every single day they have a bowl of cereal and milk, some fruit and a glass of juice or water. I, on the other hand, crave more variety. Sometimes I have fruit and yogurt. Sometimes I crave a bowl of oatmeal. Sometimes I'll munch on toast with scrambled eggs. Sometimes I'll treat myself to a croissant, or a waffle smeared with cream cheese and honey. There are even times when I have last night's leftovers! On those days Alfie can barely look at my breakfast plate, but as I keep reminding him, different cultures have different morning eating habits:

* Filipinos like chorizo and rice
* The Japanese like miso soup and fish
* Cubans like beans and rice
* Bavarian cultures like sausage, pretzels..... and beer!

It's not much different from a traditional English breakfast of bacon, eggs and tomato, is it? I figure, as long as it's healthy, it doesn't really matter what you eat for breakfast, as long as you do eat breakfast.

Does anyone want to join me this morning for some leftover pea soup?



Whatever your morning fuel is, don't forget to have some Bonggamom Finds with your breakfast! I'm partnering with BlogHer and Kellogg's to bring you some fun breakfast topics, from morning routines to cereal to family breakfast traditions and more. Join me every week through October 2010 for a new discussion -- and a new giveaway for a $100 Visa Gift Card!


Win a $100 Visa Gift Card
One lucky Bonggamom Finds reader will win a $100 Visa Gift card courtesy of Kellogg's and BlogHer. To enter, just leave a comment on this post and tell me what your family likes to eat for breakfast.

You can get extra entries by tweeting and blogging about this giveaway, making sure to include a link to this giveaway in your tweet or blog post. Just leave a comment on this post and share the link to your tweet or blog post. Entries will be accepted until August 16, 2010. For full giveaway rules, click here. You can also gain 24 extra chances to win $100 by visiting the BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page. Good luck!



The Mom's Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids' cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. To learn more about the program, visit www.betterbythebowl.com.

Kellogg's helps moms keep their morning simple with cereal varieties for everyone in the family. For more information, visit www.loveyourcereal.com.

This is a sponsored post from BlogHer and Kellogg's. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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Things I learned at the McDonalds Family Weekend

This is a sponsored post from BlogHer and McDonald's.

When some of my friends found out that I had been invited by McDonald's to visit their campus in Illinois, there were a few raised eyebrows and questions. You're going? Are you going to be eating hamburgers and fries for three days? Can you ask them to add carrots and grapes to the kids' Happy Meals? What do they put in those McDonald's fries?? Given the obesity epidemic in the US, it's no surprise that McDonald's is constantly under fire for nutritional content and marketing to kids, and I've often wondered what they put in those fries myself -- but I've never thought of McDonald's as one of those "evil corporations". McDonald's is quite a popular restaurant in the Philippines, where eating at a McDonald's is still considered a treat by many. And whenever we vacation in the UK, we frequently eat at McDonald's -- and find ourselves pleasantly surprised by the delicious, healthy options we've found on the UK menu. So I resolved to keep an open mind and enter the McDonald's Family Time Getaway ready and willing to learn. I was eager to attend because I would have a chance like no other to give my opinions, offer feedback, ask questions, and find out what goes on behind the Golden Arches.



I'm so glad we attended, and so grateful to McDonald's for opening up their doors to me, my family, and the other bloggers. We enjoyed three full days of presentations, tours and activities, including a scavenger hunt, a family barbecue, a session with the president of McDonald's USA, a visit to a Ronald McDonald House, a cooking session and a tasting of some of their newest products. And I learned lots of things about McDonald's business practices and culture that have left me with a much more positive impression of McDonald's as a corporation, Here are five things that I learned about McDonald's during our busy, entertaining, eye-opening weekend:


5) You can customize your McDonald's hamburger practically any way you want. The kids and I got to stand behind the counter during our behind-the-scenes restaurant tour, and building a custom burger is as easy as putting your finger to the touchscreen. No pickles? No problem. Two slices of cheese? Easy-peasy. Extra lettuce and no onions? Coming right up. Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun? They have exactly the burger you want....


4) The only Happy Meal that appears on ads is the one that meets US nutritional guidelines for kids: a Happy Meal with 4-pc Chicken McNuggets, Apple Dippers and lowfat white milk. Also, Ronald McDonald never directly markets Happy Meals to kids. He appears in McDonald's ads promoting healthy and fun lifestyles, and he has also appeared in a number of public campaigns including seat belt safety and bicycle helmet safety. Oh, in case you were wondering: there's only ONE Ronald McDonald. When we asked the staff if the same guy was playing Ronald for the whole weekend, we were told, "He IS Ronald!". I guess he's like Santa Claus, and he can be in thousands of restaurants worldwide.


3) McDonald's restaurants around the world have a variety of healthy options for kids' meals. For example, kids in the UK can get carrots or grapes and apples with their Happy Meals. Kids in Spain can have cherry tomatoes. Kids in Japan can have sweetcorn. And if US-based parents complain about the lack of healthy options in US Happy Meals, perhaps we'd better take a closer look at ourselves: McDonald's has test-marketed healthy Happy Meal side dishes like the ones I mentioned, but not enough parents bought them for their kids to make it economically viable to introduce nationwide. In short, McDonald's tried, but the healthy stuff didn't sell.


2) There's nothing in Chicken McNuggets other than an injection of teriyaki flavor solution, breadcrumbs and white meat. That's it. No breadcrumbs or other fillers. And no hormones either; the use of hormones to grow chickens quicker has been banned for quite a while, and McDonald's chicken suppliers do not use it.


1) The French fries are just that. No preservatives, no chemicals, no fillers. They are real potatoes that have been cut into strips, partially fried, flash frozen, and delivered to your local McDonald's. Once they're at a restaurant, a crew member puts them in the deep fryer, takes them out when they're done, and salts them. So when anyone asks you, "What do they put in those McDonald's fries???", you can tell them, "Just potatoes. I have it on highest authority -- Bonggamom told me".



This summer, we're vacationing in the UK for a month. Guess which fast-food restaurant we'll be visiting while we're there? That's right, the one with the carrots, grapes and apples!


Win It!
One lucky Bonggamom Finds reader will win a McDonald’s Family Fun Prize Pack (ARV $100) which contains:

* A Smile Tote Bag
* A $25 AMC Gift Card
* A $20 McDonald's Arch Card
* A Fleece Blanket
* A Frisbee
* A pack of McDonald's French Fry Playing Cards


To enter, just leave a comment on this post and share a fun McDonald's related moment in your life or ask me any question you like about the McDonald's Family Time Getaway, or any question about McDonald's in general. You can get extra entries by tweeting and blogging about this giveaway, making sure to include a link to this giveaway in your tweet or blog post. Just leave a comment on this post and share the link to your tweet or blog post. Entries will be accepted until Aug. 10, 2010. For full giveaway rules, click here. You can also gain extra entries by going to the BlogHer special offers page, because the other bloggers who went to the McDonalds Family Weekend are also giving away prize packs. Good luck!

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