I am, in fact, Miss Britt and this is my blog. Which begs the question, what am I doing here?

As part of The Guest Post Challenge going on at my blog, Modern Mami has allowed me to post over here on the condition that I answer one question for her.

She asks, “Is raising a boy different from raising a girl?”

I am uniquely qualified to handle this question because I am a girl and know several boys. Also, I have a son and a daughter. One could say that I am raising them, or at the very least trying my best not to screw them up too badly.

The answer, dear Melanie, is:

Yes.

Most definitely, yes.

In fact, raising a girl is so different from raising a boy that it can leave you wondering if you have ever actually done this before because you quite clearly have no freaking CLUE what is going on even though you could have SWORN you have already been through this parenting stage not so long ago.

And the differences have absolutely nothing to do with what you had prepared yourself for. You came home and painted the nursery pink, only to find that your young daughter would tell you as soon as she could form the words how TOTALLY STUPID PINK IS!. You packed away the action figures and stocked up on Little Ponies and Polly Pockets, and were completely surprised to learn that I WANNA PLAY WITH A GUYZZZZ! WHERE IS MY GUYZZZZ???

And the only child whose been caught anywhere near that dollhouse set is your 8 year old son.

Oh yes, raising boys and girls is very different.

And not just because your expectations are different.

Well, maybe MOSTLY because your expectations are different.

But also because you suddenly become acutely aware of what the world will expect of your kids - and how THOSE are so vastly different for each of them. One will be pushed to grow up big and strong, while the other will be praised for being beautiful and charming. One will be allowed to well up with tears over dang near anything, while the other one will be told to suck it up if their emotions ever overwhelm them.

Suddenly you find yourself preparing two people, with entirely separate personalities for two starkly different worlds - all under the same roof under the constraints of one set of rules.

Raising boys is a challenge. Raising girls is also a challenge.

But raising boys AND girls together is a completely different challenge all its own.

I was hacked. Specifically, this blog and all our other sites were hacked.

I attended a wedding that brought back happy & stressful memories from my own wedding 5 years ago.

And, we realized that we need to become a bit more frugal (to use the fancy term for cheap) in our daily lives, especially with the holiday season being around the corner. Or already here if you ask our local mall who already had Santa set-up for pictures!

Who are the idiots anyway who get together in the big boardroom once a year to conspire against us parents and decide that they’re going to start Christmas in the stores before Halloween is even over? I’d like to give them a nice smack on the head.

Oops. Ignore that full-on rant and let’s get back to where we were. Ahhh…yes.

Hackings

Though I see no real purpose and have no clue where it came from (maybe I offended someone?), our sites were hacked a little over two weeks ago. Well, that’s when we noticed it, but it might have been longer. It seems a Trojan was on one of the various computers we use to access our sites and apparently got our hosting FTP information.

Lessons Learned?

1. Be sure to upgrade WordPress when a new version comes out (if using WordPress as your blogging platform).
2. Run a virus scan periodically even if you have your anti-virus software set to auto-detect (which we did).
3. At the first sign that something’s not right (i.e., you can’t login to your blog’s admin panel), check it all out to prevent hack from spreading.
4. Search WordPress Codex for useful information on fixing the issue. Also use twitter! There are some great (and knowledgeable) folks on there that are willing to help.

Weddings

As if weddings aren’t stressful enough by nature, it doesn’t help to add on to the stress by not planning certain things in advance. Or, thinking you’ll have enough time the night before or morning of.

I planned my own wedding, but I had a lot of help from my mom. She gave guidance as to what things I needed to plan, reserve, and think about in general. In a sense, she was my own personal wedding coordinator, if you will.

Now, I know that wedding planners/coordinators can be pricey, but if you’re the type of person that either doesn’t know much about what’s involved/needed, or doesn’t really want to deal with it, then one should at least be considered.

Becoming Frugal

It’s never a good feeling to balance your checkbook and find that you didn’t have as much money as you thought you had. That’s not to say you’re in the poor-house, but more like you can’t account for money spent. You’re just not sure where it all went.

With the economy the way it is and budgets being cut all across various organizations, schools, etc., and with the holiday season coming up, it’s definitely a good time to step back and think about spending less.

Unscripted Dad and I have made a non-formal commitment to each other to watch our spending more closely. We’ve started this week already by taking our own lunches to work. I’m going to look at my own advice to get some ideas for what to pack.

So, there you have it. A very quick recap of the past two weeks.

Now, what have I missed on your end?

1. Staying in bed all day with the husband watching crap TV
2. Sleeping in
3. Taking showers together - with husband that is
4. Going out dancing
5. Going to a movie (without scheduling it 3 weeks in advance)
6. A clean house
7. Eating chocolate for dinner, or donuts, or chocolate donuts…well you get the idea
8. Playing hooky from work without feeling guilty
9. Candles
10. Not having to announce when I’m going to use the “potty”

What say you? What do you miss?

Looking forward to reading your top missed activities/items and getting a good laugh.

Yea, I’m sucking up a little to you all.

That’s because I need your help.

When you have a question and need to do a bit of research, why not turn to your community, right?

So, let’s jump right into it. I hope you’ll be willing to help a mami out.

Here are my questions.

1. What are some standard Virtual Assistant (VA) rates? Even if just the base starting price for standard services.
2. Do you charge to review products? If so, what’s your standard asking price?
3. Do you charge to host a contest? Again, what’s your standard asking price?
4. If you don’t charge for #2 and/or #3 above, then why not? Do you find you get lots of exposure? Is that enough?
5. If you do charge for #2 and/or #3 above, has it worked? That is, have you actually been paid by PR companies or even the product’s company?

I realize some of these questions may be sensitive in nature to some. But, the thing is that no one talks about it (that I’ve seen) and it’s hard to know what you’re getting into if you don’t have “real” experiences to relate to.

I’m hoping that by being frank and putting these out there, I’ll get some great answers, ideas, links, etc in the comments…from the perfect source. You!

If you would prefer not to answer these in the comments, feel free to email me with your answer.

melanie (at) modernmami (dot) com

Looking forward to getting your responses.

Oh, and thanks!

I first heard of this book from a previous co-worker. She was a 1st grade teacher and is very much into literacy. She has a wealth of information in her brain regarding teaching children to read, various books, fun activities, you name it. I’ve been trying to get her to start a blog so she can share this information with all us mamis out there, but she’s a little hesitant still.

She suggested Everyone Poops to me for several reasons:

1. She thinks the book is funny and cute.
2. She thought my toddler daughter might like it.
3. We were starting the very early stages of potty training.

We’ve read the book with my daughter a few times. I have to admit that it was a little weird to me at first, but then I embraced the silliness of it all. I mean, how can you not laugh at, “A one-hump camel makes a one-hump poop and a two-hump camel makes a two-hump poop… Only kidding!”

The other night my daughter asked me to read it for her.

We sat down on the couch and as I read the title and author’s name out loud to her, I could see that she was studying the cover of the book.

(image from Amazon.com)

She then said, “An apple poops???!!!”

I started to laugh and told her, “Well, no baby. You see, we eat an apple and then it goes in your tummy and then it comes out your bunda.” (Bunda is what we’ve come to call the butt.)

As soon as I started the sentence, I knew I was giving way too much information that wasn’t going to make sense. I saw it in her face. I swear I could see the wheels turning in her little head trying to figure out what I was saying.

She looked up at me, confused as ever and repeated, “An apple poops? Hahaha…NO, that’s so silly! Hee hee hee”

Indeed it is, baby girl.

image by lodigs

While out shopping, we bought the Munchkin Turtle Bath Toy Scooper. Of course, she immediately wanted to take a bath so she could play with her new turtle. I told her we couldn’t open it until we got home.

Once we got home, I opened it for her and she started to slide the turtle around our floor pretending it was a boat. She then took it into our bathroom and what I heard next was the sound of what could have been her falling but turned out to be the turtle falling into the empty tub.

So, I closed the bathroom door and told her “Don’t go in the bathroom by yourself. If you do it again, you’re going into timeout.”

Five minutes later…guess who was in the bathroom again?

Yup, a little short monkey girl came waddling out of my room and down the hallway as I was making my way towards her.

Were you in the bathroom?

Yes

What did I say?

Not go in bathroom by myself.

Ok, timeout it is.

Cue some crying….

At least I can take comfort in the fact that she didn’t lie about it.

At least.

Right?

Photo by redvelvettears

Me: What’s wrong with your goat?

Baby girl: He’s stuck on the light! (points up to the light in the hallway)

Me: Oh! Well tell your goat to jump down.

Baby girl: He can’t!

Me: Why not?

Baby girl: He has no feet!

******************************************************************************************

Baby girl: Where are we? (We had just parked in the near-by grocery center.)

Daddy: We’re going to pick up chinese noodles.

Baby girl: :gasp: Piiiiick up chinese noooooodles???!!!

Both of us: Yup!

Baby girl: BAM! (a la Emeril-style)

If you’ve been following along on Twitter, you’ll know that there have been a couple of rat incidents at my job.

Well nooooo more!

We’re moving.

Our office is moving locations, which means no more rats.

But, it also means I now have to buy a parking pass for $400. ugh

I always wonder why employees have to pay for parking with certain jobs.

In my case it’s because I work at a university, where everyone has to pay for parking…”to maintain the lots, sidewalks, etc.”

Or something really official like that.

Do you pay for parking at your job? Would that deter you from working there?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts in the comments.

Baby girl: Can I take my sandals off?

Me: You want to take your sandals off?
(you often have to repeat what they say to be sure you understood right)

Baby girl: Nope

Me: So why did you say that?

Baby girl: Because I want them on.

You can’t argue with that logic.

Here is her question:

I am trying to find some creative meals to give to my husband when he goes to work. We are trying to save money and buying lunch each day is obviously way too much [money]. Right now we are getting some rolls, sandwich meat and cheese. Which is okay and we shake it up by getting some different types of meats but I am sure he is getting bored of those. You see with his job he doesn’t have access to a microwave so we can’t provide stuff that we can just heat up.

Now, I’m neither a nutrition expert nor a chef (not technically anyway). I’m just wearing one of the many hats I wear as a wife and mother.

I wish I could say that I happily pack my husband and myself a lunch each day we go to work. The truth is that I don’t. If we do take lunch from home, usually it’s either leftovers from dinner, or (for myself) a frozen South Beach meal. But, both of us have access to a microwave at work.

My friend pointed out two very important aspects of her situation.

1. They are trying to save money.
2. Her husband can’t access a microwave.

Keeping that in mind, here are my cold lunch ideas. (Using the term “cold” loosely since some are actually warm choices, but the point is that no microwave is required.) Some are not the healthiest choices, but they sure are cost-effective.

Sandwiches

She mentions that they’re already doing the standard sandwich, but here are some other types of sandwiches they could make. These mainly vary the “bread” used, but any of them could vary in content as well.

• Peanut butter & jelly: Try using different kinds of jelly (grape, strawberry, etc.) or even jam which has a different texture. If you also spice up the bread used, like using multigrain, nutty bread, it could really take the standard PB&J up a notch.
• Pita pocket: Tuna salad or chicken salad can easily be stuffed in a pita. To avoid it spoiling, if a fridge is not available either, a portable cooler or insulated lunch bag can be used. The salad could be packaged in a separate container and stuffed in the pita when ready to eat.
• Bagel: Bagels make great sandwich “bread”. There are also the square bagels that make for great sandwiches.
• Wraps: Take a traditional ham & cheese and wrap it instead of using bread. Obviously, you can create endless types of wraps and can use either whole wheat, tomato, or spinach tortillas when the plain flour tortilla tires out.
• Croissant: I’m sure you’ve heard of the CroissanWich from Burger King. Why not make your own? Again, many types of sandwiches can be created using a croissant as the “bread”.

Hot Lunches

Using a thermos, you can keep food warm. Try some of these ideas to get away from a sandwich.

• Soup: Pack up last night’s leftover soup or try the canned variety.
• Chili: You can make a batch of chili early in the week that will last a few days. There are also plenty of canned chilis out there.
• Chef Boyardee: Not the healthiest, I know, but it is rather cheap and can make for a quick meal every so often. Spaghetti will probably work best, but you can try many of their choices.
• Pork & Beans: Also not the best choice in my opinion, but some folks love it.

Salads

Of course salads can easily replace a traditional sandwich, but they normally need to keep cool. If no fridge is accessible, you could (as mentioned earlier) use a portable cooler or insulated lunch bag. Packing the dressing separately is always a good idea. But, the rest could easily be pre-tossed together.

There are endless salad choices available. A personal favorite for lunch in our house is green leaf lettuce, black olives, shredded carrots, shredded cheese, craisins, and cut up chicken. My husband also likes to add sunflower seed kernels. For the chicken, you could buy the pre-cut grilled chicken strips for convenience.

Other Ideas

• Hot Dogs: We’ve done this on many beach trips. Boil the hot dogs in the morning and pack in a plastic container. They do well at room-temperature and can easily be assembled with the bread, cheese, etc., when it’s time for lunch.
• Leftovers: There is plenty of food that if you heat up real well in the morning before leaving the house, keeps well and can be eaten at room-temperature by lunch time. Rice comes to mind.

What Others are Saying

• Lunch in a Box: Box Lunches
• WebMD: 15 Fresh Brown Bag Lunch Ideas
• Clever Dude: Frugal Lunch by Clever Dudette

Now it’s your turn.

Do you have any more ideas for cold lunches? What do you recommend she pack for her husband’s lunch?

I look forward to reading your comments about lunch ideas you’ve tried in the past or think will work.

Photo by Pieter Dirkx