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 JSVDP

Experts are always sending me stuff hoping for a spot in the Daily Buzz, and I usually just ignore them because the advice I get from the moms here is so much better.

But I recently came across this little "how-to" from Kansas State University child development expert Chuck Smith that I thought was pretty good.

He suggests three simple ways to teach your kids to be thankful. With Thanksgiving and the holidays coming up, I know this is on all our minds. (I, for one, am really tired of reminding my 6 year old to say thank you after a nice gesture or when someone gives him a gift. Is there a point when autopilot kicks in?)

As we all know, telling kids to be thankful just doesn't work. You have to show them, and hope your good modeling rubs off. I liked Smith's three simple and real suggestions on how to do that ...

Kids around the country have been making Christmas cards for 5 year old Noah Biorkman. Watch the video to meet him. He's a Michigan boy in the final stages of neuroblastoma, a cancer of the body's nervous system that strikes in infancy and childhood.

One CafeMom user posted in Stay at Home Moms that because he does not have long to live, Noah will be celebrating Christmas early. He loves opening Christmas cards, so his mother had been asking people everywhere to send them to him.

Following more cards than she could have ever dreamed off, plus her son's deteriorating health, she's since asked people to kindly stop, though a donation to the "C.S. Mott Children's Hospital" to be used for neuroblastoma research is still appreciated.

Photo by my2luvbugs

One thing I love about warm weather is the abundance of activities you can do. But once cold weather hits, your kids are limited (and are inside a lot more).

Photo by cozycabinmom

You have to wonder how moms with kids traveled before the invention of DVD players in cars. But they did, and everyone seemed to make it from Point A to Point B alive and kicking (great driving song by "Simple Minds" BTW).

But today many CafeMoms can't imagine heading off in the minivan or sedan without a portable DVD player to occupy the kids and give mom and dad some peace as they get where they're going.

Of course, that can lead to other problems. Siblings often disagree over what movie to watch. Sometimes it's the age gap, other times it's just a boy/girl preference thing. My daughter would never watch a soccer movie, but my son would love that!

CafeMoms shared some favorite flicks that appeal to both the older and younger child, boys and girls alike -- a few I never would have even thought of:

Photo by yeager_79

I dropped the ball a couple times this week.

The first grade parent-teacher conference that we scheduled months ago is coming up, but I lost my reminder card and now have no idea when it is. I fear I may have missed it.

Then, while bringing my daughter to preschool this morning, another mom handed me an invitation to her son's birthday party -- on the same day that my daughter is turning 5. On the same weekend that I should have already had a party planned, scheduled, and invited guests for weeks ago.

How did it get to be November already?

Photo by mystica97

After reading what CafeMoms in the Advice for Moms group said, I'm seriously thinking of getting my children a rat for a pet. They really want a dog, but I only like big outdoor pooches like huskies or sheepdogs and we're not set up for that.

Plus, we are right in the middle of reading Charlotte's Web, and we all think Templeton is so cool.

I never in a million years would have considered a rat until I read this post, in which moms give reasons why rats are the ideal pet:

• Rats are the best especially if you get them as a baby, and hand raise them. You can train them, and they are self sufficient.

Photo by JSVDP

Forget what I said the other day about throwing away the Halloween candy, especially since everyone started yelling at me. I'm now going to keep it all. But not all for eating. I'm going to do candy experiments on it with my first-grader instead. Cafe Sheri had the same idea in Toddler Buzz, plus more ideas for what to do with leftover candy.

Here's the first one I'm going to do with M&Ms:

Many CafeMoms are in no rush to line up for the controversial swine flu vaccine. Some say the Obamas weren't either. Malia and Sasha apparently waited two weeks to get their shots along with other school children in Washington D.C. Seems like a non-issue, right?

Some people are commenting on blogs and the web that the Obama girls got preferential treatment for access to the vaccine, given to them by the White House doctor last week.

It started when a man from Texas, with two compromised special needs kids living in his home, complained he hasn't been able to get the vaccine for the children, who would be given priority over healthy children. But different areas are getting the vaccine at different times. There's no shortage in Washington, D.C.

Photo by The-Autism-Mom

One of the biggest challenges for CafeMoms of tweens and teens is how to get their child to talk. Moms know that a good way to connect and bond is finding something they both have in common, but ... um, not easy. We're talking tweens here. 

But one mom has found a way -- through video games.

It's not every mom's way, but it has worked for delibcreate, mom of 10 year old David and a gamer herself before her son came along. "If you can't beat em, join em," is her philosophy.

I talked to delibcreate about why she feels the benefits of video games far outweigh the negatives, and how playing games with her son has strengthened their relationship: