Facebook Giveaways and You Know You're a Mom If....

Facebook recently unveiled some new rules that state that you can't have giveaways or contests on Facebook anymore. I don't want to bore you with all the legal jargon, but basically, I can post information about a giveaway I'm having, I just can't ask anyone to sign up for it on Facebook or post the winner on Facebook until I've emailed them first to notify them. From now on, I will be doing my Annalie's Baby Boutique giveaways or comment games in one of two ways.

1. Use a third-party for entries. For example, I can post a picture of an item I'm giving away on my Facebook page. Then to enter, you just click on a link I have posted with the picture and enter your name and email address there. I can then generate a number using random.org and count down to that entry as the winner.

2. I can post details about the giveaway here on my blog and people can use that information to enter it on Facebook without having it posted as a giveaway. For example, if I have a tagging contest (you tag yourself in a picture I post for the giveaway and then I pick a winner from the people who are tagged in the picture), I would post the information here along with a link to the correct picture. You would then follow the link to Facebook, tag yourself, and that would be it!

Okay, boring info blurb is out of the way...how about some fun stuff? Here goes!

You know you're a mom if....
1. You see a child about to hurl and, instead of jumping 8 feet away from said child to avoid being puked on, you automatically stick your hands out in front of the child's mouth to catch the vomit. And you don't even flinch.

2. You hear a little voice yelling from the bathroom, "Mommy, come see my poop!" and rather than yell back, "Gross!! Why in the world would I want to see you poop?!?", you race to the bathroom to admire and congratulate your child on their big accomplishment in the potty chair.

3. You don't even bother to put away the mist vaporizer, vicks, puke bucket, or tylenol between colds/flus because you'll just be getting them out again in a week.

4. You don't bother to put away anything in your house anymore because the kids will take everything out 3.8 seconds after you've cleaned.

5. You are getting used to barriers in your life...the babygates in every doorway, safety locks on all the cupboards and drawers, toys strewn across the floor, the exersaucer or infant swing in the middle of your living room, the children who seem to be right where you were going to step, etc.

6. Insults from an adult are maddening, insults from a 2 year old are adorable...does "Mommy, your tummy is squishy like a pillow!" ring any bells?

7. People can tell what age your kid/kids are just by looking at you.
Infant: Spit-up on shoulder, baby food in hair, orajel in your purse, constantly swaying gently even when you're not actually holding the baby. If this is your first child, you'll probably have a "deer-in-the-headlights" look for at least the first several months.
Toddler: Chewed-up graham crackers on your sleeve, shifty eyes due to watching a perpetually moving child, 4 books and 7 articles on potty training in your purse, a tendency to overuse the word "no"
Preschooler: An extra set of clothes for the inevitable potty accidents stashed in your car, your purse, at the grocery store..., Dora the Explorer stickers all over your back, the only writing utensil in your purse is a broken orange crayon.
Grade School: You are proud of your newfound skills in building popsicle stick forts, you actually look somewhat well-rested because your child is now sleeping through the night, but hasn't started staying out all night yet.
Teenager: You apologize to your parents for being so rebellious as a teen because you know what they felt like now, you walk into the grocery store and kiss the floor because your new-driver-teen begged you to let them drive you there, the food you buy at the grocery store is consumed less than a day after putting it in your cupboard.

8. You go through several changes of clothes a day due to someone leaking through their diaper, throwing up on you, or having a potty accident...and the worst part is that some of those potty accidents aren't the potty training 2 year old but the mother who gave birth twice and whose bladder just isn't what it used to be.