Check out the new monthly contest!!

http://melissagarrett.wordpress.com/2008/03/06/very-sweet-bows-monthly-contest/

If you have a little girl in your house or family who likes to wear fun, custom-made bows, you won't want to miss this announcement. Head over there now!

http://melissagarrett.wordpress.com/2008/03/06/very-sweet-bows-monthly-contest/

If it happens, it happens at the grocery store.

The first time it happened with my kids, I was hugely pregnant with Bridget, very close to delivery and completely exhausted. Those were the days when a then three-year-old Jacob still took naps. Against my better judgement, I had dragged my kids to Wegmans in the middle of the afternoon. For those who don’t know, Wegmans is the creme de la creme (thank you, Kristi) of grocery stores. It has every type of food and sundry item you might possibly imagine, including a playroom in which to place your children while you shop. The only catch is, of course, that you’re tethered to a beeper in case one of your kids happens to need you.

On this particular occasion, I had yet to make it through even half the store before my beeper alarmed and beckoned me back to reality. I vented a mental, crap!, and quickly wheeled my cart to the playroom. Jacob needs to go potteeee, said the attendant in what I thought, at the time, was the most annoying sing-song tone of voice ever. Remember, I was uncomfortably pregnant; pretty much everything pissed me off at that point, including a child who could not hold his bladder for an hour, even after having gone to the bathroom upon arrival to the store. Before long, I had both Hannah and Jacob walking next to me, neither of whom wanted to return to the playroom. Great.

**To read the rest of this post, click here:

http://melissagarrett.wordpress.com/2008/03/04/the-public-toddler-tantrum/

Be sure to get caught up on the most recent posts for How to be a Better Blogger at www.LisGarrett.com .

Do I utilize spell check? Do I conform to the rules of proper grammar and punctuation, at least to the best of my ability, or are my posts filled with mistakes, making them difficult to read?

I have several books on my desk that I reference from time to time. In the stack is a copy of Webster's Dictionary, The Elements of Style, and a textbook from my college days, The St. Martin's Handbook.

There was a point in my life, when I was contemplating what I wanted to be when I "grew up," when I considered becoming a high school English teacher. Studying literature didn't interest me much, and I found writing papers to be a tedious task. In fact, I never scored above a B on a paper in my AP English class, and I was convinced Mrs. Finch, who was a lovely lady, just didn't like me. I was accustomed to receiving high marks in all my classes, with the exception of those pesky math courses, so I felt downtrodden that I couldn't deliver the type of paper Mrs. Finch wanted.

But grammar and mechanics . . .

read the rest of this post

http://lisgarrett.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/03/how-to-be-a-bet.html

While toddler tantrums may be inevitable, there are a few things that you, the ever-astute parent, can do to prevent one from getting out of control. Chances are that your toddler will already be in the early “wind-up” stages of the tantrum before you even recognize it, so you’ll have to act quickly to diffuse the situation.

To read the rest of this post, click here:

http://melissagarrett.wordpress.com/2008/02/26/preventing-toddler-tantrums/

Hi everyone! Each Sunday I post a recap of all the good things that happened during my week. I figure that with all the bad news we read about, a little good news is just what the doctor ordered. Many people leave their good news in the comments section and even write a Good News post of their own. If you want to participate, just come on over!

http://www.MelissaGarrett.wordpress.com