iBlog Friday: Lost kids, found kids and why these parents light an extra birthday candle

Bec Bowyer of Seeing the Lighter Side of Parenting puts parenting in perspective amidst the chaos of a child's birthday party in her post Perspective.

A few minutes in, the kids didn’t seem to care about the change of location or the absence of miniature steam engines. The birthday boy spent most of the afternoon whooping about the house with his friends, dressed in his brand new Woody cowboy outfit (which he also slept in that night and wore the next day, with a fresh pair of underwear, of course).

This near-catastrophe-turned-great-success got me thinking: why do we worry so much about planning for kids birthday parties these days? What is the purpose of a birthday party, really, and who is it for?

Read the rest of Bec's post here.

Sam Stone of A Life on Venus discusses women and work, highlighting a recurring problem that many of us just can't seem to solve in her post My views on Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg.

My friend has just been promoted at work, however, did not receive the appropriate monetary compensation in conjunction with her new position.

We were talking about possible scenarios that could play out to rectify this obvious oversight. She told me about a book she had just read where the author stated that more women needed to Lean In. She was asking me if I thought she should Lean In. I told her, "Absolutely".

Read the rest of Sam's post here.

Kellie Turtu of Mama Pyjama is always losing things but explains how she never thought she'd lose her kids in her post Little Things Lost.

I lose things all the time…my shoes, my hairbrush, my phone, my keys…but not my kids.  I’ve never lost my kids…well…not until last week.   I’m always on hyper-alert when I go out with my eldest, he’s super independent.  Always has been.  At his second birthday he had the entire group of extended family and friends in shock as he took off on his new three-wheeler to go investigate the local oval without so much as looking over his shoulder to see where we were.  He’s never been attached to the other end of an apron string.  He’s never fretted.  He just gets about his business and if he wants to go check something out, he does so - with or without his parents tagging along.

Read the rest of Kellie's post here.

Lilani Goonesena of Lilani Goonesena Freelance Writing discusses post-parenting marriage in her post The Wedding Post.

Initially, we wanted to get married outside in a park somewhere but in the end, we decided to do both the ceremony and reception at the hall, with our 80 guests sitting down at their tables throughout.

Maya and my nephew, Kiran, led the bridal party with great enthusiasm, though not very much coordination. In fact, the whole ceremony was so full of children, it was a bit like getting married amongst a bunch of particular raucous monkeys at the zoo.

Read the rest of Lilani's post here.

Amanda Bryant of Barbie Bieber and Beyond ponders the difficult question all mums face eventually in her post Can You Be Your Teen's Best Friend?

I totally believe that being my girls "friend" as well as their parent has opened the door to communication and that is probably the most important thing in your arsenal when parenting a teen.

Read the rest of Amanda's post here.

Melanie Dimmitt of MeloDrama takes a much needed break from dating in her post The 100 day rain check.

Since exiting the schoolyard and entering the real world, I have at least tried to be an adult. When things lost their sheen with other guys I would tell them I wasn’t feeling it. Yes it’s hard, awkward, easier to avoid and a bitch to deliver, but it saves the recipient so much anxiety, over-analysis and confusion. Frankly, we deserve it. It’s basic human decency.

I worry that, had I not been in a good place on receiving this text, I might have considered having that coffee, feigning sympathy for the ‘personal stuff’ he had to ‘deal with’ while pathetically hoping to win back his interest.

Read the rest of Melanie's post here.

Shelley Marsh of Money Mummy answers a question we have all been asking in her post Chrisco Hampers: Are They Good Value?

To be honest, I have always wondered whether it is worth purchasing a Chrisco hamper.  Every year around Christmas time when the glossy Chrisco TV adverts appear, I wonder whether it would work for me and my family.  You see, there are many parts of the Chrisco concept that really appeal to me.  The simplicity of choosing your hamper at the start of the year, then making automated payments weekly/fornightly or monthly and then ‘ta da’ a bunch of branded food products arrive at your door just in time for Christmas.  It does sound like it takes some of the hassle out of Christmas.  Yet, I have never done it.  So this year, I decided to do the math and figure out whether the value really stacks up.  This is how I went about it and what I found out.

Read the rest of Shelly's post here.

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