I have done the paid to blog and paid to tweet gigs. It is no worries, but I am seriously considering not doing a sponsored post here at Mommy Blogger, despite the fact I really want to.

I keep visiting a lot of mommy sites and there are genuine reviews out there, but there are some obviously “I am posting this because I am getting $5 or $10 dollars for this blog article.” I cannot review just anything and feel guilty that I am either misleading someone or not being myself. For those who have read Blondish.net or WPAddict.net, or have followed me, I like to talk about things I have tried out, and I truly have an interest in.

I do not do much paid to blog gigs because the opportunities are not relevant to my site. I get a lot of proposals for my Blondish.net site to review things that have nothing to do with my site’s content. In fact, some of them would have belonged better here at Mommy Blogger.

I respect that people want to make some money, but I would like to challenge moms out there who have second guessed themselves after posting a review or paid to blog post that they probably should have bypassed in the first place.

Pick what is relevant to your life and to your website. Your visitors understand your need for making a bit of money, but when your selections bounce all over, they get confused.

Be a responsible mommy blogger and make our niche proud!!!

I admit when my ex-husband announced that he wanted a divorce that I was nearly broken down. It took a couple years of counseling and some oddly revelations to find out that it was not me that was the problem.

I kept clean house.
I attended to my husband’s needs.
I took care of my son.

My ex-husband completely ignored my efforts and tried to put me in a position where I felt unappreciated. Of course, we did go out and we never suffered financially. However, emotionally… it was like anything I did was never enough.

Once my ex-husband and I divorced, things simmered down and we began to be more civil. No family to interfere, we passed our son in between our homes, and each of us worked our own careers.

I am fortunate that I get along with my ex. My boyfriend cannot say the same as his ex is an ugly person inside. I cannot understand how he copes other than notice that he is sad after dropping off his son. I too am sad when I have to drop off my son, but I do not have the added stress of having to get in a kerfuffle everything we see each other.

I know it is a bit difficult on my son. He asks when he can see me and I see him when it is possible. The only thing that makes it odd for him is the way my ex and I raise him.

I grew up a military brat. It was understood that if I acted inappropriately in public, it could mean that my father was penalized. As the oldest, I earned the privileges to participate in sports, the school newspaper, and any other extracurricular school activity. My own father went through 2 divorces before finding the right person for him. I was half way through highschool when that happened.

For Angel, Luis and I divorced when Angel was 4 years old.

It had been three years, and Angel does know the difference. I remember when Angel was 6 years old that he had once asked why his dad and I were not living together. He expressed how much he wanted his mommy and daddy to live together.

It broke my heart.

It breaks me heart when he asks if I can give him a brother or sister that looks like him. He is a sweetie, even though he has as much as a strong A dominant personality that his father and I have.

All I can do is try to be there for him. I call him when he is not with me. I arrange with my ex times outside our divorce agreement when I can see him. I know I am lucky in this as a lot of people I know do not have the same privileges with their own kids.

However, I know that my ex knows it would break me completely if my time with my son were limited to only once every other week. I am grateful for his understanding. Every moment I can spend with Angel is a blessing.

Naturally, I have dirty blonde hair. However, I have chosen since I was 13 years old to die my hair a lighter color… preferably golden blonde. It was not until 2008 that I dyed my hair a light butter blonde… similar in color to Marilyn Monroe. Although it looks nice, when I went to a pool that was private, the chlorine count was a lot higher and changed my hair to a green shade.

The first time this happened, I went online to look for a good remedy. There were quite a few suggestions like lemon juice and ketchup.

However, I found one thing to remove the green from my lighter blonde hair- vinegar.

Not extract… but pure distilled vinegar.

(Side note: Anyone wanting to know how light my hair at the tips are – find the lightest blonde color on the shelf… the lightest example is exactly the color. I dye my roots with a darker blonde now and use a highlight kit to add more depth.)

I put the tips of my hair (actually… 4 inches of my hair) into a cup and let it sit for 30 minutes. I washed it with my regular shampoo and conditioner. It came out completely.

I hate tried using lemon juice and even ketchup, but it did not work. Vinegar did the job!

For years I have been aware of COPPA and have seen a lot of websites change their policy so that only children under the age of 14 cannot register to use a site.

When I became a mother, I decides when my son was old enough to become curious about using the Internet, I would be there to guide him. It was when he was 5 years old, that he became interested in Webkins and games. Since then, I have made it my business to be there to see his Internet usage.

However, he is lucky I care. Recently, I talked to a gal on Facebook who said she was 12 and her mother was not even at the computer monitoring her activity. For me, I was going to brush it off as an online cop in disguise, but after some of her messages, I did believe she was 12.

I have been witness to listening on accident on teens going online and viewing things that they should have not. Regardless, even if Yahoo: Child Safety a Company Priority, children are still going online, even on Yahoo! It is easy to sign up and forge information.

What can I do? Probably nothing except post this blog. I hope parents are taking a more active role on their children’s Internet usage. My younger sister (middle one – I have 2 younger sisters) as a teen use to sneak online and conduct cybersex chat over Yahoo! Considering my father’s schedule with the military, I ended up dishing out the punishment by banning her from chat rooms and at that time, Cheetah Chat. (this was in the late 90s.)

Are you monitoring your children? Are you speaking to younger mothers on how important it is to watch their children even online?