This is another one of our NEW newsletter formats!  You will find that the red items are links and if you scroll down, you'll see highlights of events for the upcoming week.  As always, we welcome all feedback - send an e-mail to info@liparentsource.com.  Enjoy!!

This week, when I looked around me at the parents I saw out and about, I noticed that there was a common "look" among us all that showed that we are all overwhelmed and exhausted.  Because of Labor Day falling late this year, many districts around Long Island are starting almost a full week after they usually start, which translates to parents struggling to find another week's worth of family activities.  

Hopefully, we will all be gaining some more time when they start back at school, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that that is highly unlikely. Parents everywhere will be busier than ever - filling out the packets of forms that come home from school that need to be filled out, shuttling kids back and forth to after school activities, homework, school events, helping in the classroom, PTA meetings and more.  Do you let your kids have playdates right after school or do you prefer that they come home and do their homework first?  How do you handle after school snacks in your house - do you make sure your kids have a healthy snack when they come home or can they decide what they want?  Do you have a successful family routine or helpful product you use to get out the door?  Post your comments in Parent Chat this week, you can win just by sharing your thoughts - we'll be awarding random prizes just for posting.

My son is starting first grade this year.  Although last year was a big year when he entered kindergarten, going into first grade really makes him seem like a big kid.  It's a strange feeling to watch as your kids get older and develop into their own person (plus it means that we are getting older too!).  From the time your first baby is born, life is about constantly re-adjusting... routines, rules, activities, family time. Just when I think we have gotten into a groove, routines change and we are thrown another curve-ball that makes me realize what worked before is not necessarily going to continue. Every year, homework significantly increases but so do the distractions relating to friends and their social life.  For some kids, sports get more serious and intense, which again is an adjustment for the whole family as the frequency of practices and games increase. 

For those of you that may have been on vacation, click to view our Special Edition BACK TO SCHOOL E-newsletter. Many businesses are offering free open houses where you can come see their facilities, be sure to check the Events Calendar for dates and locations.

What are your kids eating for lunch? Parents can do their part in supporting healthy food in our schools by reading the food policies and respecting the rules on what is allowed to be sent in your child's lunches. Many schools have adopted a "no nut" policy to protect children with allergies, please make sure you know your school's rules prior to sending in any food.  Click here for our PRINTABLE SNACK & LUNCH LIST to give you and your children fun and fresh (and healthy, shhhh....) ideas.

Support your kids and support your teachers. Attend Back To School Night to meet teachers and stay informed. Bonus points if you make it to the first PTA/PTO meeting! Find tips on and ideas on LIParentSource.com to get your year off to a great start...

* Fundraising Ideas for schools
* Support your teacher, school and PTA
* Internet Safety & Cyberbullying Tips
* Backpack Safety Tips
* Walk/Bike to School Safety Tips
* Sports, Tutoring, Classes & After-school Care

We wish all of you a great new school year whether your kids are starting preschool or leaving for college.

From September 9, 2009 through September 24, 2009 customers who bring in a pair of gently worn shoes into any Nine West retail store nationwide will receive 15% off any purchase of $75 or more, which can be used online or in-store. All 192 participating Nine West stores will donate the recycled shoes directly to Soles4Souls, a nationwide non-profit organization that facilitates the donations of shoes, used to help those in need worldwide. >>>

September 16 is Wendy's Action for Hunger Fund Raiser - from 4 - 8pm, 10% of the proceeds from sales at participating Long Island Wendy's locations will be donated to Long Island Cares, Long Island's first food bank and one of the nation's most comprehensive hunger action organizations.  Click for more information and participating locations >>>

Stroller Strides by Beth Kichel Fitness, Inc. is opening up a brand new location at Christopher Morley Park in Roslyn. Come join all the Stroller Strides fun for a great exercise class...a heart pumping, tummy tickling good time!  Get in great shape...exercise...meet other incredible moms...have FUN with your baby! Check our Events Calendar for more details on the Grand Opening Event scheduled for September 16. >>>

~ By Tracey Segarra

When I attended college back in the 1980s, I majored in nothing. Well, it was English Literature and Rhetoric, but essentially, my primary focus was after-hours parties and social networking.

Once freed from the yoke of parental rules, I quickly made my own. Most of them involved leisure. Huge swaths of free time. Time to contemplate Kierkegaard and Nietzsche and the merits of Guinness for breakfast. Time to sit on the rickety upstairs porch and listen to Liz Story. And after that, a nap.

In retrospect, it wasn't the most productive use of my tuition funds. And my stunning lack of direction did lead to spending the next five years wandering from one aimless job to another, even less interesting, aimless job. But it did teach me a valuable lesson that I've carried well into adulthood, and now parenthood.

In a world of multi-tasking and laptops and Blackberrys and soccer practice and dance lessons and in-your-face, up-to-the-millisecond updates on everything and everybody I know or might want to know, tuning out is the new turning on.

I could have gone to law school or grad school or started on the bottom rung of some corporate ladder after college, but the truth was I had no idea who I was and what I wanted out of life. And I needed those five years of downtime to figure it out. So I worked as a secretary and an office manager until the divining rod finally pointed in a direction.

When I realized that I wanted to be a reporter, I poured all my energy into making it happen. And within six months, I was working as editorial assistant at a national magazine, and 21/2 years after that, I was working as a reporter for a national wire service.

What caused me to choose journalism as a career? Damned if I know. It was something that gradually dawned on me during all of that free time working in jobs that I knew weren't going to be my life's work.

When my twins were born in 2000, I started gunning for the role of Supermom. I would tandem-nurse them, freeze my own strained peas in ice-cube trays, teach them to play soccer by the time they were 3, and get the old piano that came with the house tuned and ready for little fingers as soon as they turned 5. And work five days a week, too. Lesser women may not have been up to the task, but I knew in my soul that I was different.

Short story: Didn't happen.

Instead, I quickly understood why sleep deprivation is used as a form of torture, my babies were sick for 50 percent of the first two years of their lives (causing my then-boss to complain that he couldn't count on me anymore, causing me to start looking for a new career), and in my darkest moments, I felt that not only was I not Supermom, I was not-even-adequate-Mom.

CONTINUE ARTICLE >>>

Below is only a partial list of upcoming events and activities so be sure to click on our EVENT CALENDAR so you do not miss anything >>

Use the PARENT PLANNER to click on events and resources you are interested in and click PRINT MY PLANNER to print or email your list.

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