With Mother’s Day right around the corner, it is time to start thinking about what the best advice my mom ever gave to me about parenting.  I know right away what that is.  My mom always says “if you don’t stick up for your kids, no one will”.  And that is so true.  My kids (3 and 7) are too small to fend for themselves, and if I am not their advocate who will be?  I try and keep that in mind while I fight for services for them (especially when I first was trying to get Will into speech and all I did was fight the school to get him in for preschool) or even their healthcare (like with Madison).   This is something I try to tell other parents to use as their motto when they don’t want to rock the boat.  Another famous saying of my mom is “that they will either stay mad or get over it”.  So simple, so true.

What are some words of wisdom from your mom?  What have you learned from your mother?  Tiny Prints offers Mother’s Day greeting cards for all sorts of moms – mom friends, moms, mothers-in-law… You want to tell her she’s doing a great job as a mom or thank her for being there for you? They have the card for it!

Tiny Prints provides simple, modern and unique stationery from Father’s Day Cards to personalized greeting cards to thank you cards, business cards, and even custom wedding invitations or photo birth announcements. Offering exclusive designs from the nation’s top designers, easy card personalization, a powerful preview engine and top-notch customer service and paper quality, their designs have been lauded by numerous television networks, publications and celebrities. With Tiny Prints by your side commemorating every holiday and momentous occasion is a cinch! They offer perfect party invitations for every occasion and memorable personalized photo-gifts like notebooks, photo books and calendars to commemorate the event.

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Do you ever find yourself frustrated that the charities that you give to keep a huge portion of your donation to themselves to cover “overhead” costs?  I know I feel that way a lot, so when I come across a charity that gives 100% of your donation to the kids, I want to scream about it from the rooftops.

This is where the Child Foundation Charity comes in.  They are foundation that helps children with physical birth defects get the surgeries they need to look normal again.  They help children from all over the world.  Each one of these surgeries costs around $30,000, and some children need multiple surgeries to fix their birth defects.  As a mother of two little ones, my heart certainly goes out to these children. I remember how cruel children can be to one another and even how society can be towards you if you look different.

Now, I said that 100% of your donation goes to the kids.  It does.  They have a donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, who covers the operating costs of this charity.  Every cent you donate goes towards these kids surgeries’.  For me, that is huge.  You can directly help a child.  Granted, most of us do not have the $30,000 to help with the surgery, but a little here and there can definitely add up.  You can even see some of the kids they have helped and those still waiting for surgeries.  When you read their stories and look at their pictures, I can’t help but tear up.  This could very easily be one of my children needing this.  I am just happy that there are charities out there willing to help these children.  If their stories touch your heart, you can even send these kids an e-card to help brighten their spirits. Now, if you know some one who is in need of this, please send them their way.  Their motto is “giving children worldwide the quality of life every child deserves”.

The Child Foundation Charity was founded in January of 2007.  Up until now, they have been able to help 6 children live a normal life.  Their goal?  They would love to be able to help 10 – 15 kids a year!  However, they need help from you to be able to do this.  If you would like to donate, they have a page set up to walk you through the process (you can even use Paypal!).  Another way you can help is to post about this charity and get the word out.  The more people who know about this, the better!  A third way you can help is if you are in the Miami area.  They are having an inaugural fundraising event on September 27, 2008 at The Rusty Pelican in Key Biscayne, Florida. It starts at 7 pm and includes complimentary cocktails provided by Bacardi. Afterwards, you will enjoy the house specialty of filet mignon and lobster, followed by a night of dancing to a live band, and a silent and live auction.  The ticket prices are $125 per person or $1,000 for a table of 10. Lastly, you help by donating to the above event by donating items to be used for the live and silent auctions, by purchasing an ad in the Event Program for the night, and donating promotional or sample items from your company to be included in the gift bags for our guests. As you can see, there are so many things you can do to help!

I know this ended up being a really long post, but there were so many important things to tell you.  Let me sum it all up for you.  If you want to help kids with physical birth defects live a normal life and have 100% of your donation go towards their surgeries, then the Child Foundation Charity is for you!

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Ever feel the need to throttle your public officials? Please remember that I live in Cook County, Illinois where our motto is vote often. Todd Stroger was voted the Cook County President several months ago (don’t get me going on this one — but let me say I did not vote for him!).

Todd was asked what the biggest challenge facing Cook County. Was his answer the $500 billion budget deficit? No. How about the layoffs that had to occur? Nope. The biggest challenge has been the media. What??!!?? What kind of answer is that????? He is mad because the media has portrayed him in a bad light. Well, let’s see. First, quit hiring your friends and family. Then quit putting them in high paying positions. Then don’t make $20 million in changes to the budget after it has been approved.

All the newspapers did was report it. I guess he’s ticked, because the press didn’t bend over for him.

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Today is International Very Good Looking, Damn Smart Woman’s Day, so please send this message to someone you think fits this description (OR blog about it). Please do not send it back to me as I have already received it from a Very Good Looking, Damn Smart Woman! And remember this motto to live by: Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming “WOO HOO what a ride!”

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