Last night I went to a meeting about a proposed city ordinance to allow backyard hens in residential areas. Although my city was formerly a farming community, hens and other livestock are currently only allowed in areas zoned for agriculture. I'm interested in having backyard hens myself as a way to live more sustainably and because I feel it would be great for my kids. A teacher who attended the meeting, while pleading her case in favor of the hens, said she's had students that didn't know a hamburger came from cows.

Although you may never have had to worry about making cuts in your family budget in the past, chances are that with the current recession you are probably examining your finances more carefully and trying to find ways to cut back on spending. It may or may not be a necessity right now, but when planning in uncertain times, the more money you can sock away in the bank, the more secure you're likely to feel. However, while the money saved might make you feel good, you may find yourself worrying about how these small budget cuts will affect your kids and family life.

Halloween is a magical time for kids, the opportunity to leave reality behind and transform themselves into anything they desire for one evening of fun. Oct. 31 is just over two weeks away which means moms everywhere are scrambling to get costumes put together. Beyond making sure your children's costumes are adorable, unique, and/or scary (depending on what you're going for), its important to keep safety in mind as you assemble your costume.

I don't usually like to post about corporate campaigns, but I liked the idea of this one, so I'll bend the rules. Quaker Snack Bars has created Birthday Party with a Purpose Kits in partnership with Kids Care Clubs. Kids Care Clubs are a program of the HandsOn Network whose mission is to, "develop compassion and to inspire a spirit of volunteering in elementary and middle school age youth."

If one of the names you answer to is "mom," chances are good that you live a decent portion of your life feeling overwhelmed. As if the responsibility of caring for another person's (or people's) every need isn't enough, you most likely also have a house to maintain, bills to pay, perhaps a job to go to or a business to run, a blog (or two or three) to keep up, a partner to cheer on, organizations to volunteer for, classes, activities or meetings to attend or to shlep kids to, and the list goes on and on and on.

You probably know by now that BlogHer has joined the DonorsChoose Blogger Challenge for 2008.  To do my part for the cause and as a tribute to my love of handbags, I decided to have a handbag raffle.  For a $10 donation to any one of the very worthy projects on my Megan's Minute Handbag Raffle Giving Page you'll buy yourself an opportunity to win the stylish tote pictured below.  And more importantly, you'll be doing something to help public school students learn.

I use to be a child. Some say a curious child. No, that is understatement. I was a damn Class A question box. Most children pass through that intensive questioning stage of development. I was not one of them. That sucker attached itself to me and will not let me go without “the answer.”  It has been a blessing, a curse and a guaranteed path to adventure.

Tonight my family enjoyed bowling, tennis and boxing together... on our new Wii. It was great fun, and by the last knockout (my daughter took down some bearded fellow in under a minute; pent-up anger, much?) both kids were actually perspiring. Not bad for a video game system, I suppose. I can see now what all the hype has been about.

Sister Math is very different from regular run-of-the-mill math. It's sort of like string theory is to algebra--it just operates on a very different set of rules. For instance, in Sister Math, the amount of times your sibling has done something is directly proportional to how much trouble they will be in when caught. They may have only done it two times if no one is ever going to know but that number can swell well into the double digits if mum or dad notices. 2 + 2 really can equal "ten times today alone" if the transgression is something like raiding the liquor cabinet.

Earlier today, I participated in a panel discussion at BlogHer on Mommyblogging: Public Parenting and Privacy.  The other panelists were Chris Jordan, of Notes From the Trenches; Crystal, of Boobs, Injuries and Dr.

I never imagined myself with children. I was never one of those girls to which the younger children flocked. Yet, I never escape being pegged as a mother. Yes, I have children, but we all know of women who've borne children and have not a mothering bone in their bodies. And we know women who've never had biological children but nurture neighborhoods and perhaps nations. When I say I'm pegged as a mother, I mean I seem to be that person to whom other people come for answers to their problems, the one to whom they'll tell their troubles, or the person in front of whom they decide to break down.

Cate was yelling at me. Again. Every day it’s the same story. I pick Cate up from school and she happily shows me the new trick she can do on the peddle car; the stone she dug up in the sand pit; how many times she can hop the jump rope on one foot. We find Eden and start the ten minute walk home. By minute seven Cate is screaming about something. Anything.