Too Busy to Haggle with Airlines about Kids Seating

I've written a number of times about the hassles of air travel. When traveling on business, I am usually traveling alone and it's a pain. But, traveling as a family, as many do during the holidays, is a real pain.

When I book flights for my family, I always take special care to note I have two children and they need to be seated with with either my husband or me. Is this too much to ask? Apparently so because when I show up at the airport, it never fails that the seats have been switched and we are spread all over the plane, leaving us to beg flight attendants or other passengers to find a willing seat switcher.

Apparently, I am not the only one. This morning on twitter, a woman tweeted that "USAir wants extra $50 to guarantee our small kids sit next to us. Hope the guy next to my screaming 18 month old enjoys his flight." To which I replied "thanks for sharing! Will keep in mind for next trip. Either that or keep asking flight attendants to take supplies to kids." Her reply back can be a help to any mom traveling with kids "@toobusytoshop My plan is to just dunk kids hands in marshmallow fluff and see how fast the folks next to them will trade out. :) (see http://twitter.com/toobusytoshop).

Wonder if you can buy marshmallow fluff in the airport?

Multi-Minding Moms Will Love Oscar the Pig

Of all the things that busy, multi-minding women juggle, going back to work has to be among THE most stressful. The transition is difficult for mom, dad and kids. Now, Oscar the Pig is here to help. Little Oscar, his mommy and his nanny tell a story that makes everyone more comfortable when mommy leaves to go to work, or in my case, leaves to travel on business.



"Read it again, mommy," is the reaction I got from my five year-old daughter. Nothing warms a mother's heart more than hearing her child laugh and my daughter giggled out loud every time I read the line "piggy kisses."



Written by Megan Calhoun, a multi-minding mom herself and founder of twitter moms http://www.twittermoms.com/, the text is cute and cleverly-written and accompanied with beautiful illustrations. http://www.twittermoms.com/extensions/otp_images/oscar_and_mommy.jpg



If you are multi-minding mom who is going back to work, if you have a child who struggles with you leaving to go to work or to travel, Oscar the pig will help. The book is available at Amazon.com ($16-$18) or at http://www.oscarthepig.com/.

Too Busy to Film TV Show

I recently finished filming a kids TV show for the BBC. Called "Beat the Boss," the show pits three adult business people (the Big Shots) against three 12-year-olds (the Bright Sparks) to come up with a new product for kids. Our challenge was to come up with a new sauce for Heinz. It was very fun and interesting. I met some great people -- my fellow Big Shots, the very bright indeed Bright Sparks, the producers and crew.

Having not done TV before, I did not realize the time it takes to create a 30-minute show... in this case, five days of filming! That means about 50 hours of film will be edited into 30 minutes. I have definitely concluded that I am too busy to do TV again!

Look for the show to air on the BBC between January and April and see who won!

Too Busy to Travel

At this point in time, you'd think there would be a better way to travel than the trying, draining, demeaning, time suck that is air travel. I love spending time with my colleagues and clients in other cities, but I hate the time wasted in airports needed to get there... time that could be spent with my family, but instead is spent waiting on delayed, cancelled and irritating flights.

I am particularly sensitive to the topic as I prepare two weeks on the road, including two red-eye flights. I start out on these journeys with a positive attitude and doing my best at multi-minding -- trying to shop for the holidays, catch up on magazine reading, working on my book and indulging in a 15-minute back massage at ExpressSpa. But, after all my productive work is done, there are still many grueling hours left.

What do you do to make travel more enjoyable? Is there are marketer that's doing a good job of helping? Let me know.

Beware of Kids Singing Viva Viagra after Watching Baseball Playoffs

As major league baseball will tell you, it's October and that means playyoff baseball. That's supposed to be a good thing. Not a huge interest for a busy, multi-minding woman like me or many of you, I suspect. But, my husband and son love it. It's like apple pie, right?

Well, it did get my attention the other night, but not because of wins, losses or outstanding pitching. After watching many a game, my eight-year old son started singing "viva viagra" around the house. You know, that lovely tune based on Elvis' "Viva Las Vegas," only for ED.

So now do I need to explain ED and Viagra to my son and pleasd with him not to sing it in school or just let it go and let everyone have a good laugh?

Why do marketers have to do that?

Too Busy to Plan Dinner

I love to cook, but I detest having to think about what's for dinner, especially on the days that I am in the office or traveling. Dinner is the last thing on my mind all day and then I have to, presto, think of a dinner idea that everyone will eat and for which the ingredients are in my frig or pantry, since I am too busy to make a stop at the grocery store.

So, what to do? I do like the Canned Food Alliance's site, www.mealtime.org. There are good, fast, nutritious recipes and since I try to keep a well-stocked pantry, it works with my lifestyle. Fortunately, my neighbor is a farmer who sells fresh, organic produce. I just send my kids next door and pick a fresh veggie that looks good to them that day.

Still, there are nights like tonight when I feel like I've exhausted all quick ideas for the week and we have an open house at school, meaning less than 45 mins to prep AND eat dinner.

HELP!

Too Busy to Make Airline Reservations

Just tried to book travel for an upcoming family trip. I say "tried" because it was 55 minutes in the making before I was cut off and then additional 30 minutes while trying to recreate the travel scenario for two other agents. (Yes, I timed the calls and no, I could not do online due to they type of reservations.)

After all of that, I received only three of the four travel confirmations via email and had to spend another 15 minutes confirming the fourth.

WHO HAS THAT MUCH TIME TO SPEND MAKING RESERVATIONS? Isn't there a better way?

PLEASE tell me the best way to book travel for a busy, multi-minding woman!