No matter how you voted in last November’s presidential election, I think anyone who witnessed the Inauguration Day ceremonies this past Tuesday found it uplifting and unifying. I still smile when I think about how many people turned out in-person and tuned in around the world to show their support and to witness history in the making.

I also need to thank our new First Lady Michelle Obama for giving me a much-needed wake-up call on managing my home front. Daughters Sasha and Malia may be living in the White House, says their mom, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not going to make their own beds. Meanwhile, my two older boys, ages 7 and 9, have been acting as though they live in a royal palace, coasting for way too long on bedroom upkeep. I’m partly to blame because I’ve never been a strict enforcer of morning bed making. Which is kind of ironic, because as a child I was fanatical about making mine each morning. Ask my sister Jean. She loves telling the story about how, after making mine, I’d take a wire hanger (the one that had just been holding my perfectly ironed school uniform jumper and blouse) and use it smooth out any wrinkles on the thin cotton bedspread. It was a bed fit for military inspection.

My older boys’ bedroom, meanwhile, resembles something closer to a mosh pit. Books, stray socks, tiny Lego figures and pieces are strewn around the perimeter of their beds. Each morning sheets and covers are thrown back, and comforters are left partially dripping on the floor—despite my here-and-there reminders to make their beds.

Raising three boys (my little guy is 2) and working 4-days per week means I try to pick and choose my battles. But I’ve decided that the payoff for winning this one is well worth it. There’s just something about starting your day with a made bed, and then climbing into one at the end of the day, that feels right—and that seems to correlate with so many other things in life. I plan to break the news over dinner tonight. We’ll start with the beds (me, too!). Who knows, maybe they’ll learn to appreciate their efforts so much that they’ll be inspired to toss their dirty socks and underwear in the hamper as well. Maybe.


Be Well,

Maureen Connolly
Editor, Real Savvy Moms.com

Cervical Cancer: Have You Been Checked?
By Dana Sullivan

January is Cervical Cancer Awareness month. Each day, 30 women in the U.S. are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 11 die from the disease. While the year is still new, why not make a commitment to yourself and your family to schedule a Pap test? The Pap test is the screening test that doctors use to look for precancerous or cancerous cells that may be growing in your cervix. The good news: cervical cancer is considered a "slow growing" disease that is nearly 100 percent curable if it's detected early.

In some women, the precancerous or cancerous changes that signal cervical cancer can cause abnormal bleeding, such as bleeding between periods and after sexual intercourse; bleeding after a pelvic exam or after douching; pelvic pain that isn't related to your menstrual cycle, and unusual discharge. But in many women, there are no symptoms at all. Most experts recommend that women have a Pap screening test starting at age 21, and at least every three years after that, even though the disease primarily affects women between the ages of 35 and 55.

Women who are higher risk for developing cervical cancer have had multiple sexual partners, multiple full-term pregnancies, and have used oral contraceptives. Other risk factors include becoming sexually active as a teenager, smoking cigarettes, and having had a Chlamydia infection. For more info, check out http://www.nccc-online.org.

Me Time!: Look Great for Less
By Rita Ragone, Real Savvy Moms' Hair and Beauty Expert

Hi Real Savvy People! It’s me, your Beauty Expert, here to help you through these tough financial times. Here we are, trying to stretch our dollars further than ever before in our lifetime. So I have some valuable tips that will help you stay polished and in high-demand in the job market now and beyond!

If you have been reading my articles for Real Savvy Moms, you already know that I am against spending a fortune to look fantastic. If you have a fashion or beauty dilemma, I have an affordable answer. Some of my favorite tried and true tips:

Do: buy inexpensive shampoo and conditioner like Tresemme or Pantene. Try Pantene moisturizing shampoo and conditioner, and guys, try their Texturize Hair Wax—it’s the best yet to keep your hair up to date and looking awesome!

Do: make a blend of 2 conditioners you have lying around for a deep conditioning treatment (a Conditioner Cocktail).

Do: Google inexpensive yet reputable salons for haircuts (Astor Place Hair.com--we have great reviews and offer all services needed to keep you on top of your game and ahead of the competition!).

Do: Get a wash and blowout for your interview to look polished and fab.

Do: Shop in drugstores for makeup and skin products—try Neutrogena micro-dermabrasion for smooth skin to help you get a leg up on the competition! Or come in for a mini facial with me!

Try BurtsBees.com for moisturizers to keep your skin beautiful and young at the lowest prices.

Do: Shop sales online for clothing and shoes–Endless.com, Overstock.com, Spiegel.com. You can also register on your favorite sites and they will let you know when their private sales are so you can shop wisely for suits and shoes.

A Virtual Baby Name Guide

You name it, Nameberry.com is bound to have it. Baby names that is—50,000 plus to be precise. Search fun categories including Coolest Names that Aren’t Really Names, Flower Names, Colonial and British Names, and Celebrity Baby Names. (You’ll never guess which celebs just named their bambinos Huckleberry and Seraphina.)

Promised your late, great Aunt Aada that you’d name your first-born child after her? Not to worry—plug “Aada” into the search engine and find out what the experts have to say about the moniker. An added bonus; their name blog and message boards. www.nameberry.com.

Trying to Conceive?

Make your vaginal environment as “sperm-friendly” as possible. Avoid vaginal sprays and scented tampons (which can cause a pH imbalance in your vagina); artificial lubricants, vegetable oils, and glycerin (which can kill off sperm); saliva (also kills sperm); and douching (it alters the normal acidity of the vagina, can cause vaginal infections and/or pelvic inflammatory disease, and may wash away the cervical mucus that is needed to transport the sperm). —Ann Douglas

Turn Off the Tube
From the Trainers at New York City’s Nimble Fitness

Television has a way of stealing your time and linking your thoughts to certain programs. Instead of mindless TV viewing, be selective about what you choose to watch. Not only will you likely be watching less TV, but you’ll also create more time in your schedule—time that can be used to focus on improving or maintaining health habits. Even a few minutes a day of quiet meditation or stretching really adds up over the course of a week or month!

Copy courtesy of Nimble Fitness, a personal training and holistic wellness company located in the heart of New York City. Their team of health and fitness professionals have more than 30 years of combined experience. For more info, checkout www.nimblefitness.com

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