About Cafe Cynthia

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CafeMom TheTravelMama (aka Colleen Lanin) is an expert at traveling with kids, but only because she's had her share of past fiascoes to learn from along the way. Colleen is a travel writer and founder of the Travel Mamas blog, the resource for everything and anything related to traveling with children.

Today the mom of 20 month year old Leo and 4 year old Karissa shares three of her own biggest traveling disasters and how she learned to prevent them the next time she hit the road:

Fiasco #1: Kids Tend to Throw Up

You never know when motion sickness or the stomach flu may strike. During a road trip to an amusement park, my preschooler, Karissa, woke 20 minutes before our destination and announced from the backseat, "I'm gonna throw up!" I whipped around from the passenger seat and frantically searched for any type of vessel. I grabbed a box of Kleenex, ripped the tissue from it, and thrust it beneath her chin, narrowly evading a smelly disaster.

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Photo by unLucky209

I'll never be able to look at a yogurt container again without first thinking of my daughter. When she was an infant, yogurt was her favorite food. For a while, it was the only protein besides her breastmilk and formula she would eat.

Her favorite place to eat yogurt was not at the table but on the doormat that I keep inside the kitchen door. She'd just plop down with her baby spoon and dig in right out of the large-size container. She didn't want a bowl to interfere with her yogurt-eating experience.

I remember coming back from a business trip that required me to be away from home for several days for the very first time since she was born. I was miserable, I missed her and my son so much.

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If you or your big kid hate Twilight, just skip right on over this post -- and the like 20 others that the Buzz bloggers and I have written this week. Huge Twilight fans, all of us. We just can't stop thinking and talking about New Moon's premiere today.

Our official Daily Buzz Twilight Reporter got into the Thursday midnight showing -- read her Twilight review (she won't spoil anything) over in Entertainment Buzz. Moms are also sharing why they are so obsessed with the story and the characters.

Click over there to hear what they say. Then come back and tell me if you agree with some of these moms? And is your daughter obsessed for the same reasons you are -- or for a totally different reason?

Help to satisfy my Twilight fascination and tell me!

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We've been talking about the risks and struggles of having a premature infant this month. Now a new report shows that even babies born "a little early" can have health difficulties.

Have you noticed that moms talk a lot more about inductions these days? There's something to that. The CDC says points to a 20 percent increase in late pre-term births, (that's anywhere from the 34 to 37 week) from 1990 to 2006, according to new study, reports Health NewsDigest.

Some stats from the report:

There've been times when I've had the urge to use a taser on my son. Oh, have there.

Like last night when I told him to go to his room after he batted his sister in the head with a light saber and he matter-of-factly said, "No. No, thank you, not happening," cloaked in that irritating 6 year old attitude of his ...

But I can't imagine I would ever really do that ... or even ask a police officer to!

An Arkansas mom did! Last week, on Veteran's Day, she called police after her 11 year old daughter refused to take a shower. She gave the responding officer permission to "tase" the unruly girl if necessary, according to a report in the Huffington Post.

The officer did tase the 11 year old girl -- a quick pop on her back -- but only after the girl kicked him in the groin when he tried to take her into custody.

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In Baby of the Week I ask moms to guess what their little ones to be when they grow up based on their curent personalities. Some of the answers are pretty funny!

Moms in the Babies group are having a similar chat -- here are some of their best guesses as to what baby will be when he grows up:

Photo by serialmommy

My back never hurt more than when my kids were babies and I had to pick them up all the time.

Mr. Bad Back himself, my husband, constantly scolded me: "Stop bending over; lift with your legs!"

It's one of those tasks, those parts of motherhood that seems so natural and basic that you don't even stop to think about whether you are doing it correctly. But you should definitely think about it, trust me.

Here are some back-safe reminders when picking up babies and small children:

I know what a lot of you will be doing tonight! The Twilight Saga: New Moon opens in theaters today. They say Thanksgiving is the worst travel day of the year, but I'd say this is the night to stear clear of the areas of town that have movie theaters.

Lots of CafeMoms love Twilight as much -- or even more! -- than their kids and have been making plans for today for a while. I hope you were lucky enough to get a ticket for tonight or this weekend. Will your tween or teen be joining you?

Photo by IsabelsMommy

Baby clothes today are so adorable. I often say I wish they made certain articles in adult sizes. I would totally wear them. Like the new Stella McCartney line for Gap -- scrumptious! I think footed cashmere pants for adults are a great idea, but I wonder if I'd still be able to get my spiked-heel boots on, hmm ...

Blue jeans were the one type of clothing that I could never stand putting on my kids as babies. Stiff blue jeans and soft babies don't mix. Boy, oh, boy, I know plenty of you disagree with me -- they did over in a post I left in Babies.