After a long winter, I’m always ready for spring! But how can I enjoy the warmer weather if I’m stuck inside searching for dust bunnies? Fortunately I’ve discovered some ways to make spring cleaning a little less painful.

Everywhere you look, people are coughing and sneezing. And if you hang out with the preschool set, you’ll see that they’re not just coughing and sneezing, they’re also rubbing their faces with the sneezed-upon items. Maybe even putting them in their mouths.

We’ve all faced those moments we just wanted to bleach away…For me, it was the time Max pooped in the tub (I swore that whole act was just an urban myth!) or when I discovered Elle’s plastic milk container had spent the entire holiday break in the school’s Lost & Found.

Last week I wrote about random acts of kindness: mommy-style. That is, those spontaneous moments with your children that convince you that even though you don’t think your kid has eaten a vegetable in over a week, you may still be doing ok with this “parenting” thing.

The greatest moments of parenthood are those times where your kid will do something so spontaneously kind or wonderful that it makes those 9 months of pregnancy almost worth all those incessant trips to the bathroom.

Whether it’s an unprompted, “I love you, Mommy” or a burst of good manners when you were convinced your kid was spawned from the devil, those random acts of kindness--even if unbeknowst to the kid--are irreplaceable.

Mitch Chaitin, author of Gay NYC Dad, is a Stay-At-Home Dad who blogs about parenting, adoption, giveaways, product reviews and the celebrities he meets in New York City. He and his spouse of twenty years adopted a son who is now in the 4^th grade at the NYC Public Schools system.

Everyone gets a little sad when the holidays are over. I know that come January 2, despite my hesitation, it is time to start cleaning up the house.

As I was making my new year’s resolutions and focused on my list of exercising more, sleeping earlier and eating better, I couldn’t help but self-indulgently wonder how much fun (and easier) life would be if we actually could make OTHER people’s new year’s resolutions.

As I reflect upon the year, I think through those mom moments that either made me laugh, cry, laugh til I cried or simply made me cry because I just got peed on. Since I shared a lot of those moments in my blog, I thought I’d do a round up of some of the blog posts that feature the gaffes I’ve experienced and the lessons I’ve learned this year:

Kimberly Vetrano is a mother of two, wife to her best friend, business owner, photographer and a mini-zoo keeper at She Scribes.

Keeping your home mess-free during the holiday season can prove to be quite challenging, especially with two little elves running around. Aside from your regular hectic routine you have to factor in baking holiday cookies, wrapping truckloads of presents and planning those holiday parties.

If I had to put a curse on my worst enemy, it would be forcing them to take an eternity of family photos for their annual holiday card.