Happy Mother's Day to Me

Yesterday was Mother's Day. I woke up (a bit hungover) to my son staring at me and asking me to play first thing in the morning. One of the first things I typically do when I get up, regardless of what day it is, is visit my Twitter account and Facebook to see what's been going on. I was surprised to see so many congratulatory notes and assumed people were congratulating me on my Front Page feature in the San Diego Union Tribune. But wait, how would people outside of San Diego know about that?

It wasn't until I saw the tweet from Totally_Toni of Just Stop Screaming, that I realized that my blog (yep, the one that you're reading right now) was listed in the Top 50 Power Moms list published by Nielsen! So, what exactly does this mean?

It means that the audience is listening, or reading to be exact. They're commenting, sharing links and passing along valuable information and resources that are shared on my site and those of the other moms on this list.

I couldn't be more honored to be listed with such influential and successful mommy bloggers. These are the women who I look forward to meeting in person at the upcoming BlogHer convention in Chicago.

Happy Healthy Hip Parenting was mentioned - or appeared - elsewhere over the last few days. Thanks to Keep It Classy Jen and Sugar Jones for putting together this awesome Mother's Day video:






Mammarazi Knows Best and San Diego Momma did a lovely re-cap of the San Diego Mom's Nite Out event that took place last Thursday night. If you're a San Diego mom or dad, you'll definitely want to join us on Thursday, May 21st for the 2nd Annual Happy Healthy Hip Parenting Party. It takes place at The Airport Lounge and each guest will receive a FREE drink ticket, half-price appetizers and be eligible for some GREAT giveaways provided by our many sponsors. I hope to see you there!

In the News

These following articles in today's San Diego Union-Tribune caught my attention:

• Teen Maternity: Birth rates for adolescents is on the rise
• Clean-air cargo fee opposed by Palin
• Mom steals daughter's ID to join cheerleading squad
• San Diego kindergartner disappears from school campus
• Coquille Indian Tribe becomes first tribe to legalize same-sex marriage

What stories from your local newspapers should parents around the nation be aware of?

Divorce & Financial Decisions

Sunday's Business section of the San Diego Union-Tribune brought up a different point-of-view when dealing with a divorce. Financial separation is oftentimes more damaging than the emotional break-up for couples and author Linda Leitz shares her perspective in her new book, We Need to Talk: Money & Kids After Divorce.

She writes about financial responsibility and teaching children of divorce how to manage money but of course, leading by example, is the best way to educate. Leitz claims that the five stages of grief can apply to money matters as well as emotional ones:

• Denial
• Anger
• Bargaining
• Depression
• Acceptance

Of course, as with every relationship where one goes through a grieving period, when one stage isn't resolved in a healthy manner, it makes it difficult, if not impossible, for that same individual to reach the final stage of acceptance.

There are specialists who help couples separate financially so that everyone is taken care of, especially the children of those involved. If you can work together to focus on the financial security of your loved ones, here's some suggestions for ways in which to help ease the task of splitting your net worth:

• Get information.
• Get tax and financial advice.
• Dump the house.
• Talk about college.
• Consider kick-out clauses.
• Mediate.

Many people stay together for the sake of the children, but even more couples stay together because they can't afford two mortgages or additional bills. Don't dismiss your financial health whether you're in a relationship or not. Your kids will thank you for it when they grow up to be responsible with their money after learning by example.