I'm not a Grammar Nazi; I'm a Document Control Freak (Editor Versus Proofreader)

Should have snapped a pic of this but I didn't want to look like a psycho (for a change) ... for the record, I NEVER go to Whole Foods but was close and needed cookies for kids and up on their wall is writing and it was HUGE. Something about "great tasting food" and I was physically uncomfortable at the NON-USE of a hyphen in great-tasting as a modifier.

Doesn't all food TASTE like something? But not all food is great-tasting food. I envisioned myself getting a ladder and a paint brush or massive Sharpie and putting in that hyphen. I'm not a Grammar Nazi, because I'm not an editor. I'm a Document and Word Control Freak because I'm a proofreader. The proofreader catches all the tiny junk the editor doesn't catch.

I know if a sentence sounds wonky but I don't get caught up in the anal retentiveness of fixing a sentence that sounds GREAT but which doesn't follow every grammar rule taught by all the English teachers in the world. Instead, I want writing to have energy, voice, personality. And then I fix the stuff like hyphens and semi-colons and extra spaces between words, and even sometimes other formatting issues to make it pretty.

What's my point? Maybe that we all have different strengths ... and that it's okay to hire a proofreader to catch your mistakes. Everybody needs help sometime!

You can find my Fiverr proofreading reviews and a link to my gig here!

9 Ways to Go Green and Save Money

Nobody ever said going green would be easy. In fact, some of my ideas might have you saying “ick!” But if you pick even just one of my ideas in my article (below as text), your readers will save money while also saving the planet. You don’t have to go all-out when you’re just starting. For instance, I used cloth diapers exclusively for five years before I switched to using disposables at night, and I’ve always used disposables when on vacation. Do I feel guilty about using disposables? Heck no! Every little bit helps when you’re going green! I realize you may want to edit the piece to take out the parts about menstrual cycle products, and that’s fine by me. You obviously know your readers better than I do, so of course I trust your edits! (882 words)

8 Birthday Traditions You'll Want to Try

Every year when I was a kid my parents would let me choose where I wanted to eat dinner out for my birthday. Another birthday tradition they kept going was to have a small party for me with family and friends, including a cookout since I have a June birthday. Kids love to feel special, and it can be a challenge to find the time to come up with ways to make a birthday a knockout. Never fear! My piece has 8 ideas for birthday traditions to start with your own kids. Pick and choose a few of them each year … and stick with the ones you and your birthday kid love! This piece is just made for you to pop in advertiser information … you have my permission to do so.

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Playdate Success

497 words (can be trimmed to make a nice little sidebar for Forming Friendships)

A playdate can teach important skills like sharing, taking turns and navigating arguments … or it can quickly turn into an episode of “The Bad Girls Club.” So how do you go about finding decent playdate pals for your little one? This piece offers many tips from finding pals to play with to cleaning up after the playdate.

Please contact me at mommykerrie at yahoo dot com if you would be interested in purchasing this piece.

Forming Friendships from Toddler to Teen

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As parents, we want our kids to make good friends … friends who they have fun with and can confide in. Of course, not all kids are social butterflies, so how do you encourage friendships at every stage of the game from toddler to teen? This piece is broken up into three parts: Toddlers and Preschoolers; Elementary Age Kids; Tweens and Teens and offers many helpful tips for helping kids make and keep friends.

Playdate Success would make a great sidebar for this piece.

Please contact me at mommykerrie at yahoo dot com if you would be interested in purchasing this piece.

How to Handle Halloween Hecklers

I know it’s not a holiday on par with the religious significance of Christmas or the historical importance of Memorial Day, but Halloween sure is a reason to celebrate in my house. This has a lot to do with the fact that I have a love affair with sugar, chocolate and any type of candy and have passed that on to my skinny kids. The sugar coupled with the opportunities for socialization for the kids and for me make this is the ultimate holiday. So why do Halloween hecklers want to spoil our fun? Over the years I’ve figured out how to handle all sorts of Halloween heckler tricks, and I’ll share these little knowledge treats with you …

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Stocking Up On Meals Before (and After) Baby Comes

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I've found that one of the biggest time sucks after having a baby is preparing and cooking meals, so I set out to find some ways to get meals cooked and lined up BEFORE my next baby was born. This piece solves many problems a new mom faces with trying to cook meals, including suggestions such as (1) make a bunch of meals while you're still pregnant and freeze them, (2) set up a meal calendar so friends and family can bring meals after the baby is born, and (3) ways to NOT have to see the pizza delivery guy every night (which also packs on the pounds!).

Here's the first part of the article:

"Let’s get real here. Once your baby arrives, you won’t have time for basic hygiene, let alone cooking. Babies are on their own time schedule, which means when you’re ready to prepare a fabulous 5-course meal, your crying bundle of joy is ready to be held nonstop. And who wants to spend Baby’s future college fund on take-out? Besides, the goal is to lose the baby weight, not to pack on more pounds eating pizza day and night just because it’s a quick fix.

One solution is to stock up on meals before your new baby’s arrival; another is to keep meals coming after your baby comes home. Whether you’re a first-timer or already have a few kids under your belt, here’s how to secure all the food you’ll need to be the best new parent you can be:

Make meals in advance at home.
Have you ever been in the middle of cooking dinner, only to realize you were missing one crucial item? It’s a cinch pre-baby to stop cooking and run to the store for what you need, but with a new baby in the house that seemingly simple task is suddenly downright frightening. So once you hit the second trimester (or whenever you feel a burst of energy), grab a once-a-month cooking cookbook (see Resources) and make and freeze some meals. And forget about those bulky foil pans because you can freeze some meals in plastic storage bags or containers to save freezer space."

Please contact me if you would be interested in reprinting this article.