People always ask me how I can work from home during the summer, when the kids are out of school and underfoot all day. I always reply that the interruptions of summer don’t even come close to what I deal with during the school year.

I don’t know about you, but at my house THERE IS A LOT GOING ON. Sports practices, Cub Scouts, fundraising, volunteering, school plays, homework, dances…and OHMYGOODNESS the laundry. Summer laundry never has socks. Flip-flops rule!

The school year isn’t easy and if it weren’t for color-coded calendars, strict rules about homework (my daughter gets a break after school, but my son doesn’t…because that is what works, so I’m sticking to it), and carpooling, I don’t know how I’d get through it.

Both kids have to empty their backpacks when they get home, wash their hands, then have a snack. It’s a well-oiled machine over here! Just don’t look at my desk, or my to-do list. They can choose from fresh fruit, a cheese-stick, or if they’re really lucky, on chilly days I’ll have something warm for them. My son likes to have tea, my daughter likes to have Tyson® Any’tizers®.

And, in addition to being one of my daughter’s (and her friends’) favorite snack foods, Tyson® Any’tizers® has a “School Year Survival Guide” on Facebook; with tools to manage your schedule (including downloadable calendars), to rejuvenation tips for mom and dad. Yes, please.

Check out their great tips and share your own, oh and while you’re there don’t forget to sign up for promotions and events.

Trust me, your kids will thank you.

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When I was a kid, my cousins used to have marathon sessions where we played board games for hours. We would carefully set my grandmother’s dining room table with the board, pieces, and/or money. We would stack cushions on her wooden chairs so we could be assured a soft spot for the entire afternoon, tossing pillows as we went if it got to be too soft.

We also spent many days outside playing. Entire days. From morning until night, we ran, climbed trees, rode our bikes and had many a snowball fight in the winter.

These days, my kids don’t do much of either of those things.

Gone are the days when kids sat around the kitchen table and played board games all day; there are just too many distractions and kids are too impatient. And, to be honest, it’s not safe to let kids do the type of things that I did when I was young. It’s a different world. They get exercise with organized sports, but sometimes that is more work than fun.

That’s where Wonder Forge games come in. I recently received two of their games to try out and they provided active entertainment for my son. We moved, we didn’t get bored. We played like I was a kid again!

He has long been a fan of Jake and the Never  Land Pirates (he’s literally watching it on the computer as I type this) so I knew he would be excited to try the Never Land Challenge Game, but what I didn’t realize is that he would have fun while getting some gross motor skills! Okay, I did too. When was the last time YOU tried to balance something on your head? How about crab walk? That’s what I thought.

We also tried out the Dr. Seuss Fun Machine Game Tiles, which pair with an app for memory and matching challenges for 1-4 people. I won’t lie. My son had a hard time getting this away from me. I’m 41, but I’m a kid at heart!

Wonder Forge has won more than 100 awards for excellence and has many great games to choose from (I JUST noticed their MythBusters game – my daughter is a HUGE fan – and it has 5 star reviews). Check out their site and see for yourself; they are a great resource for family friendly games.

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Last night, my kids and I were traveling in our car when I looked into my rear-view mirror to see a small truck pull onto the street behind me. He had to turn left to get there and as his green pick-up crossed the other lane, a car going in the opposite direction nearly slammed right into him. The white compact car had to slam on his brakes and, rightly so, also slammed on his horn.

The green pick-up driver responded as anyone who is clearly at fault should do, which was to stick his hand out of his window and flip-off the driver of the little, white car.

As I watched the scene unfold in my mirror I said, “I’m sure! That pick-up truck driver just stuck his middle finger out at the guy who didn’t do anything wrong!”

And, as we passed through a busy intersection I turned to see my son in the back seat with his middle finger out of the window as he looked at me and said, “You mean, like this?”

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Here’s what I could tell you; that I have a raging headache, that I threw my back out two days ago and have been working from bed, that I’m worried about my husband who has, what we think is, nerve damage, that I’m terrified about our money situation and wondering if it’s legal to sell your kidney, and that I can’t shake the memory of seeing our aunt the other day, at 96 years old and oh, so fragile, lying in her bed, knowing it was likely the last time I will see her on this earth.

Pretty much, I could tell you about lots of body parts, pain and dying. I’m also available for parties.

I could tell you that I’m sad there is a hole in my favorite pants, that it’s already too cold outside for my liking, or that I think I may have an addiction to peanut butter flavored cereal.

I might want to mention that I have one foot bigger than the other, my right leg is shorter than my left and that my house is never, ever clean. Ever.

Or, we can talk about how the worst thing I’ve ever attended was a monster truck rally, that I prefer white candles and silver jewelry, that I have the best readers anyone could ask for, or that there is nothing that feels quite as good as a hug (except maybe a margarita when it’s 75 degrees outside).

I could say that my kids amaze me EVERY SINGLE DAY, that my dad is funnier than your dad, and that my husband is the grumpiest, kind-hearted man you will ever meet. Oh, and that although I spend my day in yoga pants, despite never having done yoga, my favorite magazine is InStyle.

Or, I could just show you a picture of my son holding a giant mushroom.

Welcome to my brain.

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