Welcome Spring!

While some of us continue to shovel and scrape snow and ice, others of us are sporting shorts, sandals and tank tops.  With the first official day of Spring this week, it is time to make plans to clean-up the yard from winter's neglect, plant new flowers and do some of that dreaded Spring cleaning. Get your kids involved in the process... They will love being a part of planting a garden and you may even be able to convince them to clean out and organize their closets.

Make time for play over the break and choose a different local activity to enjoy if you are staying in town. It is great to be a tourist in your own city. 

Here is a fun challenge that one parent did with the whole family... "Aside from playdates and camps, we started a family Spring Break challenge where each member can earn points doing various activities. For instance, we can earn points for reading a book, doing 20 minutes of a kind gesture for someone, drinking 6-8 glasses of water, doing an hour of exercise/playing outside, spending quality time with another family member one on one, or spending quiet time engaged in a favorite hobby. On the last day of the break, the winner with the most points gets to choose a special all day fun activity for the entire family to do together."

For those of you feeling the pressure to get in shape for summer... you might want to read some of the inspiring FITNESS BLOGS being written by parents across the country that have been participating in our local fitness challenges. 

We wish you all a Happy Easter and a sunny Spring Break!

--ParentClick Team 

Easy and Earthy!

Unplug…your cell chargers:
Chargers for cell phones, iPods, and other such devices use more power than you think, even when not in use. Only 5% of the power drawn by a cell phone charger is used to charge the phone; the other 95% is wasted when it is left plugged into the wall.

Better yet, purchase a cell phone organizing station and attach it to a power strip, then you can power strip “on and off” all of the devices at once!
Now that’s a power rush!

---

Green Tip submitted by Deborah Walsh, Los Angeles, Green Contributor
 

~by Jenna McCarthy

Ah, spring. Those deliciously long days. Glorious sunsets. Sleeveless tops. Tulips abloom everywhere you turn. Passover celebrations and frilly, impractical, dry-clean-only Easter dresses.

Two weeks off of school.

No, it's good. I mean, I can afford to take ten consecutive days off of work whenever the urge strikes. Really. After all, I'm just a writer. It's not like I'm a brain surgeon or anything.

"What the hell are you doing with your kids over spring break?" my friend Bethany demands. Bethany, you see, is a brain surgeon. For real.
"I'm thinking gymnastics camp or art camp," I tell her, flipping through pages of notes and crossing my fingers that neither of these little luxuries costs more than a week at Canyon Ranch.

Look, don't get me wrong. I love my kids. Adore them, in fact. And nothing would float my boat more than frolicking with them for a solid, uninterrupted week, preferably on an exotic beach. We just don't have the funds for that sort of getaway right now. Plus I'm up to my eyeballs in deadlines and really can't afford to miss a week of work. Because of this, I will have to muster the energy to respond to a string of inquisitions that all sound something like, "Why can't we go to Colorado/Cabo/the Caymans like Haley/Hunter/Hannah's family?"

Turns out, finding a singular ongoing activity that is age-appropriate for two or more children that said children are equally enthusiastic about is harder than finding a strapless bra that works without the addition of duct tape. Alas my youngest missed the age deadline for gymnastics camp (by a lousy, bloody, stinkin' week!) and my oldest doesn't want to do art camp. This is because she has her heart set on zoo camp, which again is not appropriate for her younger sister (who "definitely, definitely" doesn't want to go to zoo camp-never mind that she doesn't know what it is and can't go anyhow-so the point is mostly moot). Separate activities mean a) I'm still not getting any work done because I'm driving all over town all day, and b) there are no additional-child discounts, which to me is just a tragic waste.

So my kids are staying home this spring break. With me. I'll get nothing done, they'll watch more TV than I'd prefer them to see in a year's time, and hopefully we won't kill each other. If nothing else, it'll be good practice for summer.

--
Jenna McCarthy is the author of two upcoming parenting books  and a frequent contributor to a variety of magazines including Self, Real Simple and New Parent. When she's not stocking her TiVo lineup, you can find her online at jennamccarthy.com.

It is also time to look ahead to the summer months and start thinking about family travel plans and camps for the kids. ParentClick.com's Travel with Kids section offers great, comprehensive reviews of destinations throughout the world. Whether you want to look at a trip to New Orleans, Hawaii, California, Europe or Mexico, the Travel with Kids section is a resource you need to check out! These reviews are written by parents, for parents, and offer you the real scoop on what to expect at these destinations - a huge help & some peace of mind when traveling with children!
 
For those of you that have taken ski trips or are traveling for Spring Break, we would love to have you share your reviews. We have more $100 gift cards to Lucy that we are giving away.
 

SUBMIT A REVIEW & YOU WILL BE ENTERED (you can enter as many reviews as you like)...