This month Sarah James and I are taking questions from our readers. This week’s question: how do you cope with those crazy hours between school pick-up and bedtime?

How do  you cope with the post-school hours? Do you have a routine? How do you handle dinnertime?

If you have any questions you would like us to answer in a future video, leave them in the comments!

This post is seriously fabulous. That’s why it’s brought to you by The Everyday Collection by Target. Click here to explore more of the collection. Click here to see more of the discussion.

Spring is in the air, and summer is around the corner. We have a couple long-standing traditions that involve outdoor grills and potlucked food.  Being gluten-free, the rolls and pasta salads that permeate these events can be tough, so over the years I’ve come up with an easy, protein-packed salad that is great as a stand-alone meal or as a side dish. I make this for pretty much any BBQ or potluck event we attend.

Confession: I never follow recipes. I don’t know what it is with me and recipes. Perhaps some sense of rebellion in me? Some spirit of adventure that doesn’t want to be tamed by things like fractions and measuring cups? A throwback to my anti-establishment phase?  I don’t know. Anyways, so this isn’t exactly a recipe, but I’m going to walk you through how to assemble it without measuring. Lucky you! Also, it’s not really a dish that can be messed up, in my opinion. Here is my anti-recipe:

Ingredients:

• Some quinoa, cooked and fluffed with a fork
• A bag of spinach
• A box of cherry tomatoes
• A can of sliced black olives
• A bag of pine nuts
• A container of crumbled feta cheese

Mix up the above ingredients in a big bowl.

The dressing uses equal parts:

• lemon juice
• olive oil
• rice wine vinegar
• agave (or sugar)

You want a lot of dressing for this salad, so I would say, maybe 1 cup of each?  I don’t know.  Whatever looks right.  If it’s too much, stop pouring it on and save it for a green salad.  If it feels dry, add more.  Salt to taste.

You can prepare this in advance – in my opinion it tastes even better after marinating a bit.  It’s good straight out of the fridge or room temperature.  I think I could eat this every day.  Perfect with chicken, or on it’s own.

Last week I was invited to attend the coronation of Merida into the Royal Court at Disney World. I was thrilled to go, but on the very day it was taking place, I was quoted in a Huffington Post article that was critical of Merida’s new makeover. They used a quote in which I described Merida as the first feminist princess:

“‘Brave’ may be considered by many to be the first feminist princess movie. Merida does not pine for a prince to come to her rescue, and solves her own problems without the aid of a suitor.”

I still agree with that assessment, so I was surprised to learn, just hours before the coronation, that Merida had received some sort of makeover making her more skinny and sexy. This is the photo that was circulating, where you can see Merida looks older, with more slanted eyes, bigger breasts, and a cinched-in waist:

There was already a petition circling and I understood the frustration. I went to the coronation curious if this makeover would be evident at the park, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. The gal playing Merida was almost the anti-thesis to the other princesses in the park, and very much the Merida many of us fell in love with from the movie. She was spunky and fiery, and she walked like a tomboy . . . slouched yet perky and devoid of all the schmaltzy princess posturing.

She rode in on a horse, she strode up to the stage with swagger, and she yelled out “I am Merida, and I am a Princess!” with such conviction that a tiny lump might have formed in my throat.

There was no sign of sexed-up Merida here. The Merida at the parks was a refreshing departure from most of the overly-feminine and demure princesses. And again, the aspect of this story that I love most: the relationship with her mother is central.

So, no sexy Merida makeover at the park. Crisis averted there. But where, exactly, WAS this sexy new Merida? I perused the Merida merchandise at the park, and only saw the old Merida. When I got home, I did a google search for the new Merida, and the only results that popped up were linked to an article decrying the makeover. Was there even a new Merida at all? Who is this phantom menace?  Were we all getting riled up over a makeover that never happened?

Then I read an article in The L.A. Times, explaining that the revised image was never featured on Disney’s princess website, but was solely found on Target’s website, in addition to a specific site inviting mom bloggers to the coronation at Walt Disney World this past weekend. Funny – I WAS A MOM BLOGGER INVITED TO THAT CORONATION. I don’t recall the sexed-up Merida, but she does, indeed, appear on Target’s website.

But in context, the new Merida makes a bit more sense. The original Merida is a computer-generated animation. The new Merida is a bit more 2-D, inline with the other princess. I am not a fan of the body modifications, but at the same time, I don’t think that Merida got a “makeover” so much as an unfortunate 2-D rendering on the Target website. And if you browse the Merida product line, you’ll see that the original Merida’s image is on all of the merchandise.

In the past 2 days I’ve seen a lot of people outraged that Disney refused to do away with the Merida makeover, but the thing is . . . there was never really a Merida makeover to begin with. Disney never updated their Princess Collection site with the new look . In fact, the studio insists the Merida images used on the Princess site have always been of the movie’s Merida. They can’t exactly “switch back” to something that was never changed to begin with.   So while I appreciate the critical analysis, I do think the furor was misplaced. Merida is still the spirited tomboy from the movie, and she still represents a great shift in the Disney princess culture.

I think Catherine put it best in her post today:

So that’s all there was: some iterative artwork, created for limited use to celebrate the coronation. The image being circulated was intended for limited product use, and (in a slightly different variation) for the coronation invitation. That image doesn’t represent a ‘new’ Merida replacing an ‘old’ Merida: it’s just another iteration of Merida, who is much, much more than just red curls and a green dress. The CG character that you see in the movie, and that Emilia and I saw in real life at Disney World – she’s still the girl that she’s always been.

[photos by Josh Hallett]

This month Sarah James and I are taking questions from our readers. First up: we’re talking about those not-so-stellar habits we’ve had to change so that we aren’t setting a bad example for the children.

How do  you break bad habits?

If you have any questions you would like us to answer in a future video, leave them in the comments!

Last week, I asked for advice on how to tell our kids about our upcoming trip to Disney World for the Social Media Moms Celebration. I also did a round-up of some of the most epic surprise fails:  footage of children who were surprisingly devastated instead of elated as their parents told them the big news. I used these videos as a cautionary tale, and tried to avoid the aspects where most of these reveals went wrong. My experience this week taught me the good to a good surprise involves:

1. Give them time to process. It seemed like kids who freak out about a Disney trip surprise did so because it was so abrupt and sudden.  I didn’t want to surprise them as we boarded the plane or as we entered the gates. I wanted to give them time to get comfortable (and more excited) about our plan.

2. Build anticipation. We did a slow reveal, with progressive clues, so that by the time we confirmed our destination, they already had a hunch. I think this contributed to their excitement once we told them, because they were HOPING it would be Disney World. Related:

3. Don’t create a story (lie) that you have to dismantle. This seemed to be the biggest common denominator for the videos that went wrong . . . kids could not seem to let go of the fiction the parents created, even though a Disney World trip was clearly  a better option. Children really do have a hard time switching gears and making transitions. I didn’t want to set mine up to believe one thing, when reality was another.

Our strategy was to do a progressive reveal, providing clues about our destination every day for a week.

• 

  The Clues

  To start our gradual reveal, I printed several images of clues that were progressively more specific about our destination.

  /babble-voices/roadside-assistance-kristen-howerton/2013/05/08/a-week-long-surprise-reveal-how-we-told-the-kids-we-were-going-to-disney-world-video/#the-clues
• 

  I placed the clues into 8 envelopes. Then I attached the clues onto twine using clothespins, and secured the twine to the wall using a thumbtack. It was simple, but they were so excited when they woke up and saw the hanging clues!

  /babble-voices/roadside-assistance-kristen-howerton/2013/05/08/a-week-long-surprise-reveal-how-we-told-the-kids-we-were-going-to-disney-world-video/#
• 

  Clue #1

  Our first clue: we're going on a family trip!

  /babble-voices/roadside-assistance-kristen-howerton/2013/05/08/a-week-long-surprise-reveal-how-we-told-the-kids-we-were-going-to-disney-world-video/#clue-1
• 

  Clue #2

  Our second clue let them know we needed to take an airplane to get there,

  /babble-voices/roadside-assistance-kristen-howerton/2013/05/08/a-week-long-surprise-reveal-how-we-told-the-kids-we-were-going-to-disney-world-video/#clue-2
• 

  Clue #3

  Our third let them know our trip was in the United States.

  /babble-voices/roadside-assistance-kristen-howerton/2013/05/08/a-week-long-surprise-reveal-how-we-told-the-kids-we-were-going-to-disney-world-video/#clue-3
• 

  Clue #4

  Our fourth clue: somewhere warm!

  /babble-voices/roadside-assistance-kristen-howerton/2013/05/08/a-week-long-surprise-reveal-how-we-told-the-kids-we-were-going-to-disney-world-video/#clue-4
• 

  Clue #5

  This clue was a picture of the state of Florida, but none of them recognized it. We consulted with a map. Once they realized we were going to Florida, they had a hunch it might be Disney World. I refused to tell, which just made the anticipation more fun,

  /babble-voices/roadside-assistance-kristen-howerton/2013/05/08/a-week-long-surprise-reveal-how-we-told-the-kids-we-were-going-to-disney-world-video/#clue-5
• 

  Clue #6

  The sixth clue was a picture of the Contemporary Hotel. They didn't recognize the hotel so I think it threw them off the Disney trail.

  /babble-voices/roadside-assistance-kristen-howerton/2013/05/08/a-week-long-surprise-reveal-how-we-told-the-kids-we-were-going-to-disney-world-video/#clue-6
• 

  Clue #7

  Clue #7 showed the monorail inside the hotel. This got them excited that maybe it was Disney World again. Also . . . a hotel with a monorail inside? How could is that?

  /babble-voices/roadside-assistance-kristen-howerton/2013/05/08/a-week-long-surprise-reveal-how-we-told-the-kids-we-were-going-to-disney-world-video/#clue-7
• 

  Clue #8: The Big Reveal!

  You'll have to watch the video to see their reaction!

  /babble-voices/roadside-assistance-kristen-howerton/2013/05/08/a-week-long-surprise-reveal-how-we-told-the-kids-we-were-going-to-disney-world-video/#clue-8-the-big-reveal

Here is their reaction to the last clue:

Have you ever surprised your child about a family trip? How did you pull it off? What was their reaction?

You can find Kristen Howerton  blogging at Rage Against the Minivan, or avoiding housework over at Facebook or Twitter. You can follow along the Social Media Moms Celebration via the @DisneySMMoms Twitter handle or with the hashtag #DisneySMMoms.

This post is seriously fabulous. That’s why it’s brought to you by The Everyday Collection by Target. Click here to explore more of the collection. Click here to see more of the discussion.

This summer, I’m hoping to be a bit better about getting my kids out of the house. I’m hoping for a bit more beach time than last year, but one of the challenges is always the daunting task of packing lunches. It’s tempting to rely on pre-packaged foods for such outings, but we are really trying to reduce both our waste and the chemicals and sugar inherent in most packaged foods. This week I attempted to replicate one of my kids’ favorite packaged foods: the squeezable yogurt.

These silicone tubes from Target are for popsicles but I’ve used them for yogurt with success, and these Infantino Pouches or Sili Squeeze containers work well, too.

Another advantage to making your own yogurt is that you can avoid the obscene amounts of sugar involved in most yogurts marketed to children. I use stevia to sweeten plain yogurt and my kids never notice the difference. It also allows me to blend in fruit, since my kids usually balk at the chunky texture of fruited yogurt.

To make your own yogurt, you will need:

1 cup plain nonfat yogurt

2 tbsp stevia (to sweeten)

(optional) 1/4 cup frozen fruit of your choice (we prefer frozen peaches)

This is a pretty simple process – just blend and pour!

These were a huge hit with my kids! I’m definitely planning for this to be one of our go-to foods for beach days.

Do you have any other summer snack ideas for cutting down on processed foods?

Last week I had the chance to attend the press junket for Marvel’s new Iron Man 3 movie. Attended by Robert Downy Junior, Ben Kingsley, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Don Cheadle, it was a fascinating conversation about the behind-the-scenes aspects of the movie.  One of the question to the actors, however, shifted to talking about some of the themes of the movie, and how kids may react.

The press junket occurred just a few days after the Boston marathon bombing, and someone asked the group, “How will people respond to the film in today’s unsafe world?”  I thought the answers were interesting, but also relevant for parents of children who may be seeing the film.

DON CHEADLE: Well, sure. I think especially with the events of the last week we’ve been asked a lot. I’ve been a lot, anyway, about if there are any sort of, you know, illusions between what’s happening in the real world and what’s happening in the film and are we trying to make a statement. And clearly this movie was in the can before anything happened, transpired in the last week. But as Robert mentioned earlier, the job of this film is to entertain. That’s what we’re hoping to do. If we’re lucky enough to outside of that have someone’s mind changed about something that’s happening in the real world or sensitivity that wasn’t there before or some deeper understanding, that’s some ancillary bi-product that we couldn’t have anticipated. I couldn’t have anyway.  We’re really trying to give people I think the ability to go into a darkened room, and have a couple of hours of just pure enjoyment. And if anything else happens outside of that, that’s an unintended consequence, but one that’s a happy one, I guess.

BEN KINGSLEY: Whatever the context, whatever the scene, there’s always a quest for sincerity; a quest for the genuine, a quest for putting the human dance on the screen. And all generations will respond to that. Children do respond to sincerity, and Robert as a guiding actor through our experience will always debate where is the sincerity in the scene, where is its heart? And I think that will appeal to children of all ages.

GWYNETH PALTROW:  And, you know, we do live in an unsafe world. That’s the truth and I’m dealing with this now with my seven-year-old. fact that the world is unsafe, and there are people who do harmful things. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with presenting that idea. We can’t lie to our children and pretend that the world is perfect and everybody is happy, and everybody is out there to do good. So, you know, it’s just part of a bigger conversation. I know that after my children saw the movie, I had certain conversations with my son about it. And so I think it’s a good sort of contained place to have a conversation.

Iron Man 3 opens in theaters this weekend!

This post is seriously fabulous. That’s why it’s brought to you by The Everyday Collection by Target. Click here to explore more of the collection. Click here to see more of the discussion.

Summer is coming, and that means lots of sunshine and outdoor play . . . which in my house translates to hungry kids. I’ve been trying to strategize some easy, healthy treats. Getting my kids to eat their veggies is always a challenge, and this week I tried a new treat that did the trick. In fact, it worked so well that I”m still pinching myself a little bit, because all four of my kids just downed a hefty serving of kale. Willingly. Oh happy day!

I know, I know. The thought of “kale pops” makes me shudder, too. But the creamy yogurt and sweet fruit really masked the veggies well. Here’s what I did. First, I added the following ingredients to a high-power blender (like the Blendtec or Ninja):

1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt

1/2 cup fresh kale

1/2 cup frozen pineapple

1/2 cup frozen strawberries

2 tbsp stevia (to sweeten)

I blended until smooth, and then poured the ingredients into popsicle molds.  I let them sit for about 3 hours, and then popped them out of the molds.

 They were a hit! All of the kids ate them up, and asked to make more for the following day. Packed with healthy probiotics, greens, and fruit, I think these will be our go-to summer treat.

Do you have any other ideas for hiding the veggies?

For the last video in Celebrity Month on Mama Said, Sarah and I are tackling the hard-hitting question of which celebrity couples we’d like to be besties with.

How about you? Are there any celebrity couples that you are sure you could hang with?

I think most parents have entertained the fantasy of surprising their kids with a trip to Disneyland and catching the magic and joy on their faces as the surprise is revealed.  There’s no shortage of glee-filled Disney reveals on Youtube . . . and I’ve loved watching the creative ways parents have told their kids of a Disney trip, and seeing little faces light up. But while happy footage abounds, I also stumbled upon a few clips of the darker side of the Disneyland surprise: the epic fail of disappointed kids. Sometimes, as things involving small children are apt to do, best-laid plans go awry, and the reaction is a little less joy and a bit more tears than one might expect. 

My kids and I will be traveling to the Disney World Resort in Orlando in just two weeks for the 2013 Disney Social Media Moms Conference. We’ve not yet told the kids, and I’m hoping to pull off a fun surprise with them. I have to confess: last year we had our own Disney Surprise Fail. I revealed the trip to the kids by giving each of them a box with a Mickey or Minnie shirt inside. The girls open the boxes and shrieked . . . they knew what it meant and were so excited. But with my camera poised to capture the reaction, I watched my boys have a completely underwhelming response because THEY DIDN’T LIKE THE T-SHIRTS. God forbid these two have to wear a t-shirt with a cartoon character instead of a skateboard. They sulked about the shirts for a bit, but finally joined their sisters in the hooping and hollering (after I’d promised they could wear something else).  Kids, man. They ruin everything.

Below are some of the most epic surprise fails I found on YouTube. I’m watching them for three reasons: 1) They are hilarious, 2) They are a cautionary tale of how not to stage a surprise, and 3) They provide the schaudenfraude of knowing that my kids are not the only children who have completely unreasonable and ungrateful moments.  It’s possible that I laughed a little too hard at these:

So . . . in review: best not to surprise the child en-route, or to hatch a plan that you suddenly change. But help me out, here. I need some ideas. How should I surprise my own four kids?