This September (why so late, Texas?), both of my children will be heading down the street to the Mother's Day Out preschool program, or, as one commenter once referred to it, "glorified babysitting." Just for the record, it isn't glorified babysitting; my daughter learned much more during her time there than I ever planned on, something I can't say from other babysitters we've used.

Now that is off my back...my kids are heading over to Mother's Day Out next month. We got my son a nice, plain backpack that I'm hoping we can resell when he's done (yeah, right.) because I'm as cheap as they come. As I'm writing this, I'm thinking about how hard that little boy is on his things, so maybe we won't be selling it once he's done.

Hmm. Okay. On to the craft! You have a kid! And a backpack! Both are heading off to school! What should you do? Make a tag for your backpack!

Here's what you need:

• Shrinkable plastic (aka Shrinky Dink or Poly Shrink)
• Markers, colored pencils and such
• Stamp pad
  
• Key rings
• Sandpaper

Follow the directions on the plastic if it needs to be sanded. Decorate the plastic with the markers; I'm thinking "This is Johnny's bag so get yo' grubby paws off" would be a nice touch. Use the stamp pad to make an image on the tag to be colored in with said markers. Cut out the tag and make a very large hole for the key ring. Follow instructions to bake the plastic. Attach to key ring and put on backpack.

We live in a movie house, or well, we did before we had kids. I enjoy movies much more than I do television shows, to an extent. (As I've found with my husband and his sister, there is such a thing as too many movies watched.) My main problem with them is that it seems that almost every movie aimed at children is commercialized.

That got me to thinking about what good movies there are out there for younger children that don't have every single action figure/toy available on the market.

I've been searching around, trying to decide what movies would be good for kids who are about 4 to 6-years-old and older. Here's what I have so far:

• The Hobbit (animated Frodo!)
• The New Adventures of Pippy Longstockings
• The Brave Little Toaster (can't say I've seen much marketing of this one)
• Pete's Dragon
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Do you know of any other movies that would be good for my kids in a year or two (I plan early) that wouldn't involve characters we'd normally see in our popular consumer culture?

I'm constantly looking for new ways to keep my daughter entertained during the day. At just-turned-three, she's not at the age where she understands how to play most games. But, I figured I could take a game from my youth and make it simple enough that she'd understand.

Also, if she didn't like it, well, I made it so it didn't cost me any money.

Here's what you do: Take a piece of large construction paper and cut it into an even number of pieces. I think I chose 12. Then, look around the house for stickers you can decorate the paper with. For example, I chose two puppy dog stickers to put on two different squares of paper. Another two had smiley face stickers and two more had stars. Once I ran out of stickers, I drew shapes, such as a square or triangle, that my daughter could recognize.

Then, once finished, flip over and you have a toddler-version of "Guess Who!"

My daughter loves playing the "puppy dog" game, even though she tends to want to keep flipping cards when it isn't her turn. I love letting her because it is helping with that memory we all know little people posses and is an activity/game that she's good at doing.

I, like many other women (and men) in the blog world, just returned from Chicago and the BlogHer conference. Besides getting to meet a few of my "co-workers" here at Parent Dish (Kristin! Jen! Susan!), I also got to meet a bunch of new bloggers.

I figured once I left the W Hotel in beautiful downtown Chicago that my blogger meetings were up. But, no! In fact, I ran into two bloggers once my plane had landed in Houston: Girl Con Queso and Jenny from The Bloggess!

Like many others, I went home and logged onto my computer to see what others were saying about the conference. What was their favorite part? Least favorite? I have to say that Jenny's "love letter" to Amy Sedaris made me laugh out loud.

You see, Amy Sedaris was quite the superstar at BlogHer. She's a comedian, crafter and all-out funny gal. She's also the sister of the incredibly talented David Sedaris, who writes some of the best books out there.

Click here to read Jenny's "love letter" to Amy. That girl has some major balls to do something like that; I think of myself as somewhat gutsy and I doubt even I could do that.

If you were at BlogHer and met any awesome new bloggers, please feel free to share! I'm still feeling the Blog Love and would love to see more awesome women (and men) that I might have missed.

When my daughter was about 13-months-old, we had a battle of the wills regarding the sippy cup. Basically, we wanted her to take it and she did not. I have to admit; she got pretty good at throwing the thing at our heads when we offered it to her.

Now, many, many months later, she's a sippy girl. In fact, she's 3-years-old and, according to everyone else around me, we need to have that child drinking out of a regular cup at all times. She's perfectly capable of drinking from a real cup, it is just that...those things spill.

One slide of the arm and milk goes all over dinner. Turn around and she's on the couch, holding that cup of water. I already have enough messes to clean; I do not need to end up soaking milk out of my cushions.

I'm curious as to when most other people give up the sippy cups. I'm more than happy to let her drink from that regular cup, promising that she will sign a waiver that says she promises never to spill milk on my bed.

I started reading Jennifer Weiner's books several years ago and, I have to admit, I'm a big fan of her work. I remember reading her personal blog regarding the weeks leading up to the birth of her daughter while I was pregnant with my first.

I was happy to read recently that Weiner is pregnant with her second child! She's due "late this fall" and is still working. According to Jennifer, and this is something I'd totally say, she seems to be in sync with day time talk show hosts and their pregnancies. Last time, she was due around the same time as Kelly Ripa and now she estimates that she and The View co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck are due at the same time.

She and her husband, Adam, live in Philadelphia with their daughter, Lucy Jane, who was born in 2003.

Congrats to Jennifer, Adam and Lucy!

When it comes to pregnancy and parenting, I often find myself encouraging other women not to beat themselves up over things. If you want a coffee while pregnant, drink it. If your kid is begging for that second (or third) pudding cup and it has been a long day... go for it.

And yet, sometimes, I find myself feeling so guilty about things. It is easy to say that I have a love hate relationship with technology. Love, obviously because I have blogged at my personal blog for four years. I write for Parent Dish. I read some blogs (though I really don't read too many anymore due to life/work) and have made many friends through the 'net. After four years of wanting, I finally got a TIVO for Christmas, something I never thought would happen.

But, at the same time, I hate technology. I hate how I see people walking around, talking on cell phones instead of the person they are with. I hate seeing parents with the iPod in their ears instead of paying any form of attention to the child in the basket at the grocery store. I hate the commercialization of childhood and how so many children end up sitting in front of the tube and computer. I hate how I've let my kids watch more television than I'd like to admit.

I don't think the television is bad. I think that sometimes it is okay to let a child watch TV. It is just so easy on those days when you're feeling tired or stressed to say "fine." I've made much more of an effort to get my daughter engaged in pretend play during the day. I love seeing her take all her "babies" and make them go down the "slide." I love to see her racing in the house.

Sometimes I dream about picking up the television and locking it in the closet. But, honestly, I don't think I can. Why? It is my security blanket. The TV is my backup. I am a wuss and I feel horribly guilty about it.

This week, we're heading out of town with my two toddlers. This car trip, which normally takes eight hours for two adults, will easily take over ten with my two in tow. Argh!

We've made the trip multiple times over the years and have adjusted it according to what works and what doesn't.

What doesn't work: Leaving at four in the morning. Once my kids are up, they are up. They also won't nap in the car, so I end up with two very awake and very annoyed kids.

What works: Leaving later on in the day. This time, we're hoping to hit the road at about four in the afternoon. We'll drive three to four hours (to Dallas, Texas) and stop to have a snack and let the kids run around at a fast food joint. We'll probably end up getting to town after midnight, but I'm a night owl, so this works for me.

What we're unsure of: Will they fall asleep in the car at night time? Should we eat dinner before we go (earlier than usual) and bathe the kids to put them in their pajamas? Would that be a bad idea? Can a toddler who is usually potty-trained at home (and out) hold it in a car trip that goes through a lot of barren land?

What we think will work: Wearing them out! My plan for Tuesday (the day we travel) is a Day of Fun. I'm hoping it doesn't rain so I can bring them to the pool to splish and splash to their heart's content. Want to go outside, even though the humidity is through the roof? Sure! Want to scream and jump and act a fool? Go ahead!

What has worked for you with traveling with little ones? Most of the "advice" on the 'net seems, ahem, like it wouldn't work for my kids. I doubt they'd be interested in a "puppet show" for more than two minutes and reading books aloud? Forget about it.

All help is needed; my sanity thanks you.

One of my favorite things about reading blogs is the whole behind-the-scenes aspect. It is so much fun to find a blogger and see them get a book deal and learn about the entire process of the book.

I'm happy to say I've enjoyed reading reading Soule Mama's account of writing a book.

If you're interested in seeing the Amazon page for her book, it is up! The Creative Family: How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections is available for pre-order on Amazon.com. The publication date is in March 2008, so you have awhile before it hits the shelves.

According to the book description, "For parents of all backgrounds, The Creative Family offers unique creative activities for the whole family. The range of projects includes: imaginative play such as dress-up, home theater, and parlor games; arts and crafts such as family drawing time and knitting with children; nature explorations such as creating garden journals and using natural toys; and family celebrations that include making music and displaying children's art."

Sounds like something right up my ally. Can't wait to read the book!

This week, my husband and I will pack up the kids and drive over ten hours to begin our vacation. After spending a few days with the in-laws, we will be packing up and getting on an airplane for some mommy and daddy alone time.

While we've been busy buying snacks for that really long car trip, I've also been getting our papers together. Since we will spend several days without our kids and ahem, our wills are basically non-existent, I had to act fast.

I looked up the will laws for my state online and I could have a written will, as long as it was signed by two adults in my presence. After hashing out details of who would become the guardian, establishing trust funds from life insurance policies and who should reside over our estate in the case of our deaths, we still had a lot left to do.

In another envelope, I included the details needed in case something did happen to us. I specified some of the wishes in regards to money, our kids' education as well as pertinent info regarding disposal of the bodies (cremation, with ashes scattered). It also included some of that information a potential caregiver would need to know, such as location of all our documents and names and numbers of all the doctors who care for my children.

In a third envelope, we have the information for short-term care of the kids. One includes a list of the things one needs to know to care for two toddlers (one pretty much refuses to eat meat while the other will eat most anything except tomatoes) and tips and tricks for getting through the day in one piece (warn the girl before flushing public toilets). In addition, I included another piece of paper with a "waiver" saying I allowed my in-laws to seek any medical attention for my kids. At the bottom of that paper, I decided to add a bit of information. Thinking on my father-in-law trying to fill the paper out while my mother-in-law helped the child, I added in information such as drug allergies (none) and the kids' dates of birth and current weights.

While I hope none of these papers will need to ever be used, I feel a lot safer leaving my kids knowing that many of the loose ends are tied up.