U2 from the nosebleed seats

It’s been years since my husband and I have vacationed, just the two of us. But we’ve been planning this trip for months – since my husband heard U2 would be performing in Atlanta. We purchased our nosebleed section tickets (that’s what we get for waiting two days to decide to go), booked a luxurious suite at an amazing B&B, and made reservations at perhaps the best restaurant in town, where, by the way, we dined with a celebrity. (OK, so he was at the table next to us, does that count?)

It seemed a little easier to leave this time. I’ll credit some tips I picked up these past few weeks:

Leave the guilt behind.
There are countless benefits to vacationing without kids. Relationship experts say that marriages get stronger when spouses slip away together. “You get to focus on each other without interruption,” Charlotte Shoup Olsen, Ph.D., an associate professor with the School of Family Studies and Human Services at Kansas State University, said in an interview with MomsToday. “To keep really connected to each other, couples need to know what is happening to the other person.”

Experts agree that getting away from the daily stresses, like laundry and lunch packing and dinner making and job deadlines, makes us adults more pleasant to be around when we do come back to town, which in turn benefits the children who have to deal with us. So, why carry around guilt for taking some much needed time off from the kids?

Disrupt your child’s life as little as possible.
When my son was 3, we left for a week to care for my dying grandfather. Leaving my son was torture. I worried that he couldn’t understand why Mommy and Daddy left, and communicating it to him seemed impossible. But we prepared the best we could, arranging for his grandparents (with the help of his sitter) to keep him on a schedule he was familiar with. That included regular naps and snack times as well as visits to his part-time preschool.

Now that he’s older – nearly 6 – he understands what we mean when we say we’ll be home Wednesday. We can talk to him on the phone and tell him how much we miss him. We also encouraged his grandparents to keep to his schedule, which included introducing the grandparents to that machine known as “carpool line” and transporting their grandson to his weekly soccer game.

Take Precautions.
Sure, you don’t want to think about you children getting sick or hurt while you’re gone. But just in case, it’s best to be prepared. Set out your children’s insurance cards, leave the number to their doctors offices, and leave contact information for relatives or friends who can step in the event of an emergency or if assistance is needed. You may also want to have an Emergency Medical Authorization Form prepared so as not to delay any necessary medical treatment and to help cut through any “red tape” at the hospital.

Chill out.
Sure, the grandparents may feed your child those vile chicken nuggets, forget to toss him in the shower, or send him to bed two hours late. But this is why your child loves to be with them! Think of it as a vacation for your child. Instead, focus on spoiling yourself by eating well, taking long baths, and sleeping in. Those grown-up vacation luxuries will be mere pleasant memories soon enough.

Photo, JWJourney

Post from: Blisstree

Tips for Guilt-Free Childless Vacations

Today I slept until 7:30 a.m., ate two cinnamon rolls, got a massage and read People magazine on the beach until my skin was scorched. I caught American Idol’s Adam Lambert’s version of U2’s One on my iPhone (heart) while poolside and sat in a hot tub drinking fru-fru festive drinks. Now, with wine in hand, our biggest decision is where to go for dinner. We have reservations at three different restaurants. Where should we go? Boraggo’s, Café 30-A or Onano?

photo, JWJourney

Post from: Blisstree

Life’s a Beach

All this has given my son a healthy song vocabulary. He knows the words better than I and gets peeved when we’re having an in-home concert and I’m on the “microphone instrument” and mess up the lyrics to “Can’t Always Get What You Want.” (I can’t remember the line after “she was going to meet her connection.”)

I’ll state the obvious here and say that “Can’t Always Get” is a perfect song to reference when your child falls limp on the floor and begins to wail like a cat in heat because he can’t get what he wants, when he wants it.

Rick is all about nurturing our son’s interest in music, and I am too. But I thought 5 was a bit young for the junior drum set Rick wanted to get. So we’re compromising. Rick has talked me into getting the Wii Guitar Hero IV, which comes complete with a drum set and mic as well as the guitar. Oddly enough, while researching the merits of Guitar Hero I came across this story on Game with a Brain about how video games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero have piqued the interest in classic rock music among the younger generation. Parents especially love this trend because it offers another way to connect with their kids, which is what Guitar Hero I & II and Rock Band founder Alex Rigopulos calls a “big part of our secret agenda.” The games, he says, “are about connecting people to music in a deeper way.”

Post from: Blisstree

Guitar Hero making kids classic rock fans

This month’s issue of Vogue includes a refreshingly candid, practical article about acne in adult women. The writer, 41-year-old former MTV2 veejay and Rolling Stone contributing editor Jancee Dunn, recounts the time she had a zit so prominent that the production staff scrambled to camouflage it before an interview with U2’s Bono. Her experience may have been especially embarrassing because she was on television, but many of us can relate. After all, our zits sometimes take center stage in our own lives.

Thankfully, new technologies to prevent and treat acne are being developed all the time. And some of them actually work. Dunn says she spent several months trying all sorts of products and a new, FDA-approved laser treatment called Isolaz that she raves about. Her personal picks:

• Dr. Patricia Wexler’s anti-acne products (available at Bath & Body Works stores or online at www.bathandbodyworks.com)
• Murad’s Acne Regimen (available at most higher-end beauty stores and Web sites, or directly from www.murad.com; the site touts a 60-day money-back guarantee)
• Zeno, a palm-sized device with a heated tip that you press directly on the pimple (can be purchased at most drug stores, at beauty websites, or directly from the manufacturer at www.zeno.com)

Preventing and controlling breakouts — and, for those of us in our 30s, combating wrinkles as well — can be a frustrating and expensive balancing act. What works for some may not work for others. For that reason, I try to get samples of new products from a local skin care store, and I ask my esthetician for advice and updates on industry developments. I also read the customer reviews on skin care stores’ websites before blindly purchasing any product.

What about you? Do you have occasional or regular acne? What skin care products work for your skin?

- Cory Jubitz

Post from: Blisstree

Acne Is in Vogue — The Magazine, That Is