Mom 2 Mom Sale: Buy and sell gently used children's and baby clothing. Saturday March 10, 2012 from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. at Abbott Loop Community Church, 2626 Abbott Road (park in the large parking lot off of Abbott Road and enter into the gym).We’re moving in a few weeks and I’m getting nervous because it’s going to require some hard decisions. While most people go up in square footage, we’re going down.

by Gina Romero

We're going to play the lottery in a few months in hopes of winning our school of choice. My four-year-old daughter is entering kindergarten next year and we are trying to determine what school she’ll attend. It is an overwhelming process because of the choices. In Anchorage, you can choose among several alternative programs, the neighborhood school, private schools and home school. I know parents who have done all of the above and I’ve been picking their brains for the past 12 months (thanks to all of you who have taken the time to chat with me).

by Gina Romero
TAble 6: Table 6 is my latest MOM approved restaurant in Anchorage.

by Gina Romero

Shopping for the Salvation Army Angel Tree Program: Salvation Army Angel Trees are at Kaladi Brothers Coffee cafes in Anchorage. Grab a paper angel and follow instructions on how to help for the holidays.

We arrived at the toy store on Dimond.
Cars filled the parking lot.
The big box was stocked with extra holiday merchandise.

A huge display of Toy Story 3 products met us at the door.
We navigated past talking Dora dolls.
Stuff. We walked by aisle after aisle of stuff.

Andrew Lawrence Mullen March 21, 1965 – October 11, 2010: Andy worked his last shift on the job April 8, 2010 at Rescue 4 after being diagnosed with Cancer that was determined to have been contracted on the job while carrying out his duties as a Firefighter. -AFDstatus.org

Brother and Sister Lounging: My two kiddos hanging in their diapers last summer. This is one of my favorite photos of them. They are 20 months apart. We are all three almost always together.

I learned an important rule about business at a very young age. My family started a pizza business when we lived in Aniak, Alaska during the 1980’s. On opening day, a village elder told my parents a few people in the community will rave about a good pizza. Word of a bad pizza or bad service, however, will spread to villages up and down the river.

If you are a parent in Anchorage, you are likely aware of the suspected child abduction attempts of three young girls walking to East Anchorage Schools. Police are warning parents the suspect is getting bolder with each attempt.

The story made me angry, fearful for my children and curious about other missing children in Alaska. An online search of the of National Center For Missing & Exploited Children turned up 10 records in Alaska. I can't imagine. As I scrolled through the photos of missing children, I wondered what I can do to protect my kids. My conclusion is I can't protect my kids all of the time. I can, however, empower them with tools to make safe decisions. Here are a couple of Web sites with helpful safety tips:

More than 600 teens become parents each year in Anchorage. Each has a tale to tell. The Department of Journalism and Public Communications (JPC) at the University of Alaska, Anchorage is giving teens an opportunity to tell their stories.

In the spring (Jan. 16 - April 24), JPC is offering a documentary class for teen parents to share their experience with the community. Snacks and childcare are provided. A link to the flier below has contact information and more details.

Interested in saving money? I am! It's not easy supporting a family of four on one income. Every little bit helps. I came across a great Web site that shares local deals, compares prices among grocery stores around town and gives pointers on how save money.

Click Here for the Web site. Happy shopping and saving!

Payday was last Friday. The money was gone by Monday due to bills and groceries at Costco. We won’t see another paycheck until Friday, Oct. 30. We will need milk and formula before then. Thankfully, I have freelance money coming to cover those costs. This scenario is nothing new. It has been happening since I decided to leave my full-time job to become a full-time Mom more than a year ago.

We live off of my husband’s humble salary. He is a Fireman for the city. I freelance to supplement. Frankly, it is not enough. There are public officials who claim a majority of Fire Department employees make six figures. Yes, on paper that is correct. However, those salary figures include benefits. It is a manipulative and politically motivated message. I can assure you we are not a six figure family. We live paycheck-to-paycheck. We are not saving any money. And, sometimes, there just isn’t enough. But we do it anyway. This lifestyle is a choice we made together, knowing it was going to be challenging.

Our three week journey to Denver to visit my husband's family is about to come to an end. On Tuesday, we board the plane for the flight back to Alaska. Traveling with a 2-year-old and 7-month-old is not exactly easy. Flying with children seems to cause anxiety for parents and for other passengers on the plane. I consulted with lots of parents and seasoned travel professionals before we went on this trip. I thought it would be helpful to share all of the tips I've learned, and perhaps to pick up some tips from others.

Burn the Midnight Oil: We had great luck with the red-eye flight. We kept the kids up until boarding time and they slept the entire time. Direct flights work best. We had a layover in Portland during the flight to Denver and the kids got a little cranky, but luckily they settled back down.

Programs for toddler aged children are ramping up again. I am a much better parent when we have a routine and goals to accomplish for the day. I know other parents share the same experience. For that reason, I’ve compiled a couple of activities and opportunities for parents with children under five.

If you are looking to network with other parents, Alaska's Kids is for you. It is a membership organization that organizes play dates, hikes for parents and more. I met the owner, Jamie Robinson, at Arctic Gym the other day. She is a nice lady who is on a mission to engage parents and their kids.

I love Sunday evenings. They are a time for relaxation before the start of the work week. My routine is to get the kids to bed then make some tea and get onto Facebook to see what everyone in my online community is up to. I read the posts, often make comments and then direct message my Mom friends to set up play dates for the week.

I was going about this routine Sunday when I came across some offensive photos of a young lady (college aged) and her friends on my feed. I was floored at what I saw. At the very minimum, the photos would qualify as soft porn.

I added this young lady as a friend because I know her parents and have known her since she was a little girl. I deleted her as a Facebook friend, and emailed abuse@facebook.com to report the photos, which have hopefully been removed from the internet. But I’m still disturbed.

Came across a great article during my weekly reading that I wanted to share. Technology and parenthood, seems the two are going hand in hand with parents:

Is the iphone Mom the New Soccer Mom?

Kaladi Kids: Kaladi Brothers Coffee has brewed up Kaladi Kids Day in celebration of Back to School.
In honor of the new school year, Kaladi Brothers Coffee has brewed up Kaladi Kids Day featuring an art contest, favorite teacher story, free hot chocolate and steamers on Saturday, September 12, 2009.

Students, Kaladi Brothers Coffee wants to hear your favorite teacher story. You can email your story to marketing@kaladi.com. Kaladi Brothers Coffee will accept submissions until Saturday, September 12, the prize includes a $20 coffee card. In addition, Kaladi Brothers Coffee will deliver a hot drink of choice to your favorite teacher.

I’m sitting here monitoring Twitter, where local reporters are sending tweets from Mayor Sullivan’s news conference about the city job cuts. As I mentioned, my husband is a firefighter, who is vulnerable to the cuts. I worked in a newsroom for a decade and have handled many stories over the years about job cuts. It is different being on the other end, not knowing what will happen to our family or to other families.

It is consuming me right now. I’m on autopilot as a parent today. I’m trying to live by my mantra to show no fear. The only thing I can do right now is try to offer information and resources that will be helpful to others. Two things crossed my desk this week that fit those categories.

Firefighter Gear: These bags hold gear that protects my husband, while he is working on the line.I watch the news every night at 5 p.m. The lead story on Monday stopped me in my tracks when I heard that layoffs are coming for the Anchorage Fire Department. As the wife of a firefighter, I was surprised, then worried, then agitated.

Why? Who? Questions buzzed. What if it’s us? What if we lose our main source of income? What will we do? I quit my job last year to stay home and raise happy, healthy children. Will that change? What about other members of the fire family? I shot off a few tweets on Twitter, a few posts on Facebook, then loaded the kids in the stroller, grabbed our black lab, Chip, and went for a walk, a really hard walk.

An update to my post last week about the Abused Women's Aid in Crisis (AWAIC) shelter. The shelter was at capacity and faced with turning clients away. Thompson & Co. Public Relations helped spread the word about the crisis and it worked. Today, Sen. Lisa Murkowski announced additional funding for AWAIC. While today's announcement is a great help to AWAIC, the organization is still in need of additional donations and funding. Here is the News Release from Sen. Murkowski's office:

If you stay home with a toddler, chances are you are pressed to come up with activities to keep the little one engaged. I came up with the idea of a grab bag for my 2-year-old. I asked a retired teacher with more than 20 years under her belt for advice on what to put in the bag. Here’s what we came up with.