The January issue of Time Out New York Kids has a funny tongue-in-cheek (I hope!) article about NYC parent stereotypes.  One type, "the posh mom" to whom "the finest equals French" will love the following products from Berjang USA…Two lines which parents of young children should note are the Le Petit Prince Bath and Fragrance Collection and another line called Dessin Moi un Mouton (or Draw Me a Sheep). Both lines can be used from birth.

Since my boys can only use fragrance-free products, I gifted some of the products to several Mom in the City families. I received nothing but good reviews. Le Petit Prince Foaming Bath Flakes received special praise for the fragrant bubbles that they created. Dessine moi un mouton, (Draw me a sheep), the Parisian brand bath, body and fragrance line, uses aromatherapy. Dessine Moi Un Mouton For Night time uses chamomile for relaxation so that kids can sleep more soundly. Dessine Moi Un Mouton For Daytime uses grapefruit to help wake up the senses in the morning.

The thing that is especially great about all of the products are that they can be used on small children (which is especially fun for little girls who want their own “perfume”) as well as adults with sensitive skin.

Berjang USA is the only U.S. distributor of the Le Petit Prince and Dessine Moi un Mouton lines.

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The Tessy & Tab Reading Club is giving away a Super Starter Pack and Preschool Money Manager Toolkit.

Tessy & Tab Starter Pack (4 issues) - $9.95
“Share the joy of The Tessy & Tab Reading Club with all the preschoolers in your life. If you are looking for something to give as a gift to a preschooler, this Starter Pack is perfect. It even includes an issue about Tessy’s Birthday, making it a great birthday gift. The Starter Pack comes in its own gift envelope and is shipped to you via priority mail so you can bring it to the party!”

*My (Kimberly’s) almost 4 year old son loves these books. He will probably get a gift subscription to the club for his birthday. I like that each issue is centered around a theme; uses kid-friendly words and that at the end, there is a letter and number that is focused on along with pictures and words to find from the main story along with a coloring page.

Preschool Money Manager Toolkit - $19.95
“Children can learn complicated concepts earlier than you might guess! The key is to break the concept into age-appropriate components and skill stages. The Preschool Money Manager Toolkit gives children fun ways to build early money skills and provides parents a comprehensive guide and easy to use tools to engage their preschooler about financial literacy.”

*My (Kimberly’s) almost 4 year old son loves the three-part bank that comes with this kit. When he gets some money, we ask him if he wants to put it in the “Spend, Save or Share” section and he enjoys the fact that he gets to choose where to put his money.

Mom in the City members can enter simply by sending an email to contests@mominthecity.com with “Tessy & Tab” in the Subject line. The winner will be chosen on January 1st.

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Braincandy is giving away a “Bundle of Joy” 5 Senses DVD series (List Price: $74.99).

“Braincandy raises the bar with smart learning concepts and a true springboard for learning the natural way; through our 5 senses. You won’t find wall to wall classical music or flashcard based learning opportunities. You won’t find pretty pictures of obscure impressionist art, spinning toys or claims that these tools will make your baby a genius. The world doesn’t work that way. What you will find is smartly crafted content that engages little minds in meaninful ways.

Mom in the City members can enter simply by visiting the Braincandy website and sending an email to contests@mominthecity.com with “Senses” in the Subject line along with the name of one of the Senses characters in the body of your email. The winner will be chosen on January 31st.

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I’m a goals-type person.  I always have been (my mom says that I have been writing and checking things off lists since as long as she can remember) and I probably always will be.  The cool thing is that many (not all) of my resolutions/goals/list items have come true over the years.  One thing that I noticed recently after reviewing my 2007 goals was that the ones that I didn’t even come close to meeting were either a. ones that I simply weren’t motivated to meet or b. goals that I had set because someone else thought I should.

Example A: Let’s take my weight for instance.  I’m not as big as I was at the beginning of 2007 (but then again, I was 8 months pregnant) but I’m also not as slim as I was before I got pregnant.  My youngest son is now ten months so I can’t blame the weight on him any more (in my mind that excuse ends at 6 months).  Here’s the thing… I just have not had the outside motivation to lose the weight.  The two people (my mom and my husband) whose opinions I value the most think that I look great.  My husband is great/biased - I have to be having a really bad appearance day for him to think that I don’t look great.  I can usually count on my mom to be objective though.  (This is the woman who told me that I needed to lose weight three months after the birth of my first son.)  However, this time around, she’s like "You look great.  You don’t need to lose any weight.  All of your curves are in the right places."  Thanks Ma!  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a weight-obsessed person but the scales (and my favorite jeans) don’t lie.  I still need to lose a few more pounds. So, that’s one of my inner motivated goals for 2008 - to be at my pre-baby "fighting weight" before I turn 35 on May 21st.

Example B:  Learning to drive is the best example for me of a goal that I haven’t met because it never really was my goal. How, you might ask, can I be from Virginia and not know how to drive?  The answer (as un-pc as it is) is that I was constantly with my high school boyfriend who drove me everywhere that I wanted to go.  After high school, I moved to Manhattan and have been here every since.  Although my husband drives, it is not necessary to drive in Manhattan.  That’s one of the things that I love the most about the city.  Anyway, for the last couple of years, learning to drive has been on my goal list for the year.  Everyone said that I should learn - my husband, my mom, my in-laws, random strangers, etc., etc.  Here’s the thing, I’m a reasonably intelligent person (or so I think) but for some reason I have this fear of driving the wrong way down streets, because I have the worst sense of physical direction.  My husband always says that my angels work overtime, because I always manage to get to where I need to be (usually due to the kind generosity of helpful strangers).  I haven’t really had a good enough reason to conquer this fear until this year.  My oldest son will be going to preschool in September ‘08 and I want to be able to get to him as quickly as possible if necessary so this summer I will learn to drive.  I already have the learner’s permit (I have to make sure that it hasn’t expired!), so it’s just a matter of driving.

Anyway, I’ll follow up with you in May and August and let you know how both goals are going.  Meanwhile, have fun setting and meeting your own goals for 2008! 

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Today was such a great day.  Everyone in the family has gotten over the worst of their cold symptoms, so we’re back on track.

My husband and I had our first kid-free movie date since Sean (our 10 months old son) was born.  We went to see The Great Debaters.  It was excellent.  The movie is loosely based on a true story about a Black college debate team that ultimately (spoiler alert!) wins a debate against Harvard.  All of the actors did an amazing job and although a few of the scenes are racially disturbing, the movie is inspiring and uplifting.  Besides the movie being great, I was just happy to be able to eat my nachos (my favorite movie food!) and drink my soda in peace and quiet (besides that one crazy person in the theater who kept threatening out loud to “go down to Texas” – you have to see the movie to understand his anger). 

Later this evening, a married couple friend of ours came over.  We have them over for dinner a lot.  This time they brought the meal, cooked it and cleaned up afterwards.  While we women talked about our hopes for 2008, the men and my oldest son played the Wii game.  Sean was just having fun walking around (he’s all over the place with his little robot walk – so cute!)  It was such a relaxing, fun evening.

Now, everyone is in bed while I get a little blogging and work done.  I’m going to bed by 11:30pm tonight, which is good for me.

As Ice Cube said in one of his songs, “Today was a good day”.  (I never know what quote will go through my mind – from classic literary ones to rap lyrics.  The human mind’s capacity for variety is amazing!)

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“The best plans of men and mice often go awry” - Robert Burns

My husband (a new teacher) has vacation this entire week.   So, last week we made plans for every day of our "at-home" vacation in the City.  Monday, we would go to the American Museum of Natural History.  Tuesday, we would celebrate Christmas with my husband’s family.  Wednesday, I would give my husband a break and take the kids to a Kwanzaa celebration at the Children’s Museum, etc., etc.

Besides Christmas day, nothing has been going according to plan.

I was really sick on Monday, so my husband and older son went to AMNH without me and the baby.  The worst of my cold is over today, but now my baby is sick, so we won’t be making the Kwanzaa celebration.

Oh well, it was a good plan… 

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In December, I read a couple of books that had some good tips worth sharing.

Think BIG and Kick ___ in Business and Life by Donald Trump and Bill Zanker was a good, quick read.  I have mixed thoughts about Trump.  On the one hand, I admire what he has been able to do business-wise and I like the way that he carries himself (confident, nicely dressed, etc.)  On the other hand, he definitely loses style points with me when he calls people childish names and verbally attacks women.  Call me old-fashioned, but I just don’t think that gentlemen should attack women in the way that he does.  Anyway, back to the book. The things that I like the most are that the book encourages the reader: to think big; to really count the costs of success; to follow their passions; to trust their intuition; to be prepared for "luck"; to overcome their fears; to build momentum and to stay focused.  The only two points that I disagree with are the ones about revenge (they encourage it "in spades") and pre-nuptial agreements (they encourage getting one - actually, I won’t say "they", I’ll say "Trump" because this is the one topic that Zanker remains silent about).  In any event "success leaves clues" and both of these men are successful in their own fields (Zanker is the founder of The Learning Annex) so it’s great to peak inside their minds a bit.

Another book that I enjoyed is the 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss.  This book provides some practicals regarding how to spend (moreso not spend) time at work.  It encourages readers to define what they’re seeking; eliminate time wasters; automate as many things as possible, and find ways to work away from the office.  I really liked some of the time saving ideas like only checking email twice a day (I must admit that I’m an email fan, so I’m going to put that tip into practice).  On a domestic note, Ferriss mentioned that he only does his laundry once every two weeks.  I so agree with that.  My family has two weeks+ worth of clothing so I only do laundry every two weeks also.  My husband thinks that when we move into a home with a washer/dryer in the future, that I will increase doing laundry to once a week (but he’s wrong on that point).  I also like how the book talks about automating things by outsourcing them.  Although that tip isn’t especially practical for me (I’m not going to outsource my child care to India!) at this point in time, it is good to have that knowlege on file for future business ideas.  Overall, the book encourages people to take breaks/enjoy life now and not to wait until retirement to do so.  I was so excited about that concept that after reading the book, I asked my husband if we could go away for at least one month this summer.  (As a teacher, he has the perfect job to do so.)  Unfortunately, that won’t be happening because he will be taking classes this summer.  As soon as he finishes school though, I’m bringing the mini-retirement/ extended vacation idea back up again.  I think that these are great concepts for families.  Now if I would only find a $50-$200 product that I believe in to sell online… (you have to read/skim the book to "get" that last point). 

A book that the men in your life might like to read is Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy.  My husband enjoyed it and we gave it to two other men who had expressed an interest in the book for Christmas gifts.

On the kiddie side, the top two books at our home were:
When Randolph Turned Rotten
and
The Shy Creatures (This is an especially cute story if you have children who tend to be on the shy side.)

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At different points in my life, time, energy and money have held varying levels of importance.  Sometimes, money is more important….it will be so again in a couple of years when we’ll need a bigger car; to buy a home; etc. 

Right now, time and energy are the most important.  When my husband switched from computer programming to teaching, I thought that my family would have more time together.  We will (in the summer) but we don’t right now.  With teaching school, going to school, preparing his lesson plans for the next day of school, etc, etc…. time with my husband is the most important.

The best gift that I gave my husband for Christmas was the gift of time - 15 hours a month to be exact.  Let me explain…

1. My husband spends about 30 minutes a day looking for parking which equals 900 minutes/15 hours for a 30 days month.

2. I gifted him a monthly parking space.  Coming from the South (where parking is plentiful) it seems like highway robbery to pay $250/month for a parking space.  However, when I calculated the price per hour based on the amount of time saved ($250 divided by 15 hours) the parking space value came out to approximately $17/hour. 

3. Since my husband makes more than $17/hour, it’s a better investment of his time for us to pay the parking space fee (at least during the school year - we’ll see about the summer).

On those same lines… the best gift that my husband gave me for Christmas was a monthly maid service to do the deep cleaning around the apartment.  I’m so happy about that.  I keep my home in pretty good condition (I think so anyway) but I hate doing the deep cleaning.  At $20/an hour it’s a BARGAIN to get someone to do what I dislike so much. 

In any event, I think that each family has to make their own decisions about time/energy/money decisions.  For example, my husband expressed the desire to send his shirts out to be dry-cleaned (both of us hate ironing dress shirts).  We had to draw the line there though.  We can’t justify the expense.  We just have to suck it up and take turns ironing the shirts.  It’s fine though because we both got what we wanted the most.

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1. Aussie Deeeeep 3 Minute Miracle Moisture Treatment: My hair has been shedding more than normal lately, so I gave Clairol a call.  They recommended this deep conditioner, so I tried it.  I love it.  It is a great conditioner AND it smells soooo good!  (Don’t be fooled by the low price - it works better than many higher priced conditioners that I have tried in the past.) 

2. Good Earth Chai Tea: I love tea. Recently, my husband’s aunt (aka "my fairy godmother" - she’s always getting me something!) gave me a box of this tea and I really enjoy it.  It is a blend of black tea and spices but it’s not too spicey.  For an "authentic chai experience", you’re supposed to add milk.  I don’t because I don’t like milk in my tea and it’s still really good.

3. New York’s 529 College Savings Program: This 529 plan has been a great way to save money for my sons’ college educations.  It’s great because you can start your account online with as little as $25.  This year, we plan to automatically deduct money from our checking account on a monthly basis so that we don’t even have to think about it.

4. Gift cards:  I love gift cards!  It’s so much fun to figure out what I’ll get (even moreso than actually getting the physical gift).  For Christmas, we received gift cards to the movies; gift cards to children’s stores and to a home store.  We’ve only used the movie gift card, because I keep changing my mind regarding what we’ll get with the other ones!

5. Awards That Honor Moms: Of course I’m probably biased, but I think that most moms are great!  I like when companies and organizations agree.  One award that I especially like is the Cookie magazine Smart Cookie Awards.  I look forward to seeing who wins.

6. Launchpad: I like the podcasts from this radio show.  They are short and include stories from entrepreneurs, including many women.  It’s inspiring to hear directly from people who are just starting out as well as from those who have already "made it".  Besides the stories, experts cover a variety of business topics on the show.  (I listen to the podcasts while I’m doing my work to stay inspired.)

7. Harlem Cleaning Services: This was my favorite Christmas gift.  If you live in the Harlem area (or anywhere in NYC) and earn more than $20/hour (their hourly rate), run to make your appointment.  Our cleaning person was so nice and she did a great job.  When we came home, my son was like, "Oh she left everything (the cleaning supplies) here for us so now we can clean too."  (Excuse me?!)  In any event, I highly recommend this service.  If you try them out, please tell them that Kimberly Coleman referred you so that I can get a discount off my next cleaning (because I definitely plan on using them to do my deep cleaning at least once a month).

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Tommy Hilfiger and Glamour magazine are holding a "make your dream come true" contest, where they will document making three dreams come true.  (Off the top of my head, I think that they have to be able to make the dream come true for $10,000 or less and it has to be doable within a week’s timeframe.)

When I read about the contest, I thought that I would have a hard time narrowing down my dream. When I really thought about it though, I didn’t have any dreams for myself that fell within those parameters.  [A brownstone costs more than $10,000!]  Overall, it made me think of how lucky I am to be living out my dreams daily in the best city on the planet.  I did enter though.  My dream was to treat my mom from Virginia like the star that she is for a few days in NYC (luxe hotel; pampering day spa; Fifth Avenue shopping spree; and dinner and a Broadway show).  We could do these things for her one by one, but it would be nice to do it all in one shot.

Anyway, take some time to dream (for yourself and/or for your loved ones) and enter the contest at http://glamalert.com/dreamingcontest/.  Good luck!

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