Why, Thank You for Asking!












I was pleased at the number of questions I received, so as promised I'm following up with my answers.

How do I get my 2 year old boy to stop hitting at random? Time outs are not working...
I have a friend that has a 'biter' and she's tried biting her child back to show them it hurts. I'm not sure I'd do this or try it by 'hiting' back...but I'd definately use my words to convey that hitting is not okay and it HURTS. How about having them hit something like a pillow if they feel that urge?


Do you live in middle California? Northern California or Southern California?
My television station's news broadcast refers to my 'area' as the Central Coast. We don't live on beachfront property though, but it would be lovely.


Can each day have 48 hours instead of 24? I just don't have enough time to accomplish what I need to! Help!
I suggest you stop sleeping all together...you can sleep when you're dead. Totally kidding, I just read that somewhere. Anyway, make a list of "MUST-DO's" for your day...no more than 5. Order them by priority, check off as you accomplish. Reassess at the end of the week. If you are still not getting your things done, re-examine your schedule.


How do I keep my identity as a person, a woman, when my entire being is absorbed in my three children most of time????
Make time for yourself. It MUST be a priority. Enlist your husband, mother, sister, neighbor to watch the kids for a few hours EVERY week. Mothering is hard work, hard 24/7 work! Go to the movies, get a pedicure, sit at the coffee shop with a book. 2 hours a week isn't a lot to ask for your sanity.


Best wine you've had recently? I too purchase wines solely based on the bottle. I like light, fruity wines.
Ooh I love a sweeter wine, Pinot Grigio's tend to be sweeter than most Chardonnays. I'm going to go with even a cheaper, less dazzling label...Fetzer Pinot Grigio or even the Fetzer Gewertzaminer!


What version of photoshop do you use on your photos? Do you do your own web design? How do you change your look so often?
I use Photoshop CS2 for my header designs, photos, and signatures. I had CS3 on a trial and enjoyed it, but stuck with what I was comfortable with. I design my headers, I enjoy changing them often because I can. I do this with my furniture in the house to. Mixes it up. I guess I get bored of some things easily. Plus designing is a fun hobby for me.


My doctor says I need to exercise- I HATE to exercise- I work full time, have a husband who travels,2 kids, 2 dogs,a house and a blog to take care of?Do you have any suggestions?
Get a Wii...fun for the kids, Wii Fit for Mom! We don't have one, but everyone who does swears the workouts are really fun and beneficial. Weekends, go for a family bike ride, walk the dog, go for a hike. Doing it together as a family instills good habits for the kids too.

I have boy. And I love him to pieces. He's almost 18 months old and full of cuddles, spit and vinegar. He's been at the same home daycare since he was 10 weeks old and she's a great lady. She's good to Ben and we like her for the most part. BUT, she turns NO sick kid away even though her policy says she does. She doesn't want the parents to come get their kids when their sick and miss work, but we're suffering b/c of it. How do I bring this up?? I'm getting ticked b/c we have had more germs brought home than humanly possible and we've been sick roughly 2,350 bazillion times each this year. I just think half of these germs could have been avoided.With Love,Sick of being Sick in Seattle

If you really care about her then you need to tell her that keeping sick kids at daycare is affecting your family. Doctor bills, prescriptions, pain, suffering, is it really worth it? Can you talk to the other parents that leave their kids there as well? She believes what she's doing is helping you, but in fact it isn't, she needs to know now.

My man is having legal troubles with his "ex" She is threatening our blogs to use against him.Can she do that?

Well, i'm not a lawyer, but is the blog saying damaging things about her? It sounds like desperation, but I can't honestly know the answer to this one.

Getting motivated to get in shape is never my problem. It's STAYING motivated that's hard. Any suggestions?

I hear ya on this one. I know you can only be accountable for yourself if you truly want to make a change, but enlist a friend and do it together, it would be twice as fun and possibly keep you on track.

How do I get my daughter to stop eating her boogers? It's seriously makes me wanna puke.

Sounds like she's deficient in the salt-goo-mineral category. Offer her a sour gummy worm when you see those little fingers heading from nose to mouth. If it were my little 2 year old I would tell her, "boogies are yucky, wipe them on a tissue, or your brother." that probably won't help at all, though.

I told you, I'm not licensed for this job.

Is there a place on your blog that I can click on to see all of your wine bottles? I remember seeing one about a dog but can't remember what it's called.

Thanks to this question, I just created something to show off my wine labels. You'll find Charlie's Chard Dog House in there too!





What's your secret? How do you come up with such witty stuff? And how do you keep a balance between personal blogging and blogging for other's entertainment? Or are you really THAT funny all the time, Jen? (Could be.)

I am funny all the time!

Kidding. Um...no secrets. I read a lot of other blogs and I know what I enjoy from each of them, so I try and put those types of things in my blog to make it fun for everyone. I am a people pleaser by nature, so if I make others happy or make them laugh that makes ME happy too. About being witty, I never thought of myself that way...people say I have a 'dry' sense of humor in real life. I still don't know what that means. I'm painfully shy in person, so all the wit comes from within my head and comes out in print. It's all me, but just tuned in a different key. Does that make sense at all?!

*disclaimer: I am not a real therapist, I only play one on my blog, often to avoid my own issues.*

This will be a recurring feature so look forward to more Q&A sessions with the sometime Therapist, most often Patient, The Mom.

23 supporters in group:

  1. Tami said...

    Some sweet wine suggestions for you....Riesling and Vouvray.

  2. Jill said...

    Hilarious answers! Love the one about the boogers... both my daughters constantly have their fingers up their noses... despite my pleas to only pick in the bathroom.

    And yes, you are funny... love the wit.

  3. Sue Wilkey said...

    Wow I am so impressed!!!!!! I never knew you were a designer AND a therapist. Keep the Q&A coming! Awesome!

  4. The Mom Jen said...

    LOL Sue...I'm the jack-ass-of-all-trades now aren't I?! :)

  5. flickrlovr said...

    I would pay good money for this kind of therapy ;)

    And what you said: "It's all me, but just tuned in a different key. Does that make sense at all?!" makes perfect sense to me, because that's how I am too. I'm pretty darn shy in person, but give me a computer, and I get along with everybody. Ah, the wonders of the Internet.

    Well, I for one love your blog, and apparently a ton of others do too, so you must be doin' it right, Jen! Keep it up. Yours was the first blog I started reading religiously, and it never ceases to entertain me. I hope someone can say the same about mine someday...

    And thanks for the email! So cool ;)

  6. Melissa said...

    wow, look at you with all the anwsers! Are you taking Dr. Phil's place?

  7. Reed said...

    YAY for avoiding issues!!! I do that a lot. Luv, luv, luv your blog! Adding you to my blogroll :)

  8. A Crafty Mom said...

    Thanks Jen - great advice about taking time for myself, and *so* true. Very hard for me right now though . . . not a lot of suckers willing to help out and babysit a 4 year old, 2 1/2 year old, and a 4 month old baby who still won't take a bottle :-) I'm working on it!!

  9. Vicki said...

    You ROCK Jen!!!! :)

  10. Anonymous said...

    I love the wine labels! You're cetrainly an expert!

  11. Tenakim said...

    Jack ass of all trades- I like that, I'll have to remember that one!

  12. Heather said...

    Ditto the Riesling suggestion...mmm...yummy.

    Another Pinot Grigio that is REALLY good is Giovello. We discovered b/c one night, Charlie Brown bought it, "Because he liked the bottle" - it's pretty.

    Love the photo tool - really cool.

    And Love your sass.

  13. ** said...

    Jack ass of all trades.. hahahahah

    Central, check! I'm coming to visit!

    I am a Jen fan, from long long ago...since the 7 year old was in residence in your belly... long ago :)

  14. Lori said...

    My brother and I have used the phrase "I'll sleep when I'm dead." for many years. I don't think I have ever heard anyone else use that statement. I don't know if I said it back in the day, to drive my mother crazy and then continued saying it when I became a sleep deprived mother, to convince myself that I was just fine on so little sleep.

    I too enjoy reading your blog and have been known to read it while sipping on my own glass of wine.

  15. Insane Mama said...

    I have been at your blog several times and I JUST noticed the cute button to the right
    you REALLY arE Charlotte.... Wow
    how cute. Thanks for answering my question

  16. Rach (Mommy Learns to Blog) said...

    Love your blog, thanks McMommy and POW!

    Your posts are hilarious - I wish I had enough time to read for hours!

  17. Anonymous said...

    You're hilarious.

    Central cali huh? I was born in San Luis Obispo and grew up in Paso Robles. Email me if you're close to there...

  18. Rebecca said...

    Nice job answering all those questions Dr. Jen (that has a nice ring to it huh!), you gave some good advice there girl!! :)

  19. Ranch Girl said...

    You are hysterical! I love knowing 'both of you' (blogger and in person) I look forward to reading your blogs each day - they put a smile on my face and I'm thankful that my hubby said I should call you for that first playgroup many years ago ...

  20. Tracey said...

    Your so funny...I like the suggestions relating to getting your child to stop eating boogers!!!

  21. McMommy said...

    That was FUN!!!!!!! I really enjoyed that! When's the next one? I loved the sour gummy worm suggestion...yum-o! Much better than boogers, I'm sure.

  22. The Buntens said...

    This is very cool!
    Great post!

  23. Ann(ie) said...

    Love it. Thank you. I'm going to gather up some guts and talk to her about it. You're rivaling Dr. Phil my friend....GOOD advice!

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