BlogHer08 attendees may remember that while breakfast at the Westin included lots of pastries and fruit, protein was nowhere to be found - unless you count the pitchers of milk that were intended tea and coffee. None of us were expecting steak and eggs, but something to counteract the inevitable carb-crash would have been fantastic.

Likewise, now that Tacy has started playing soccer, the team’s post-game snacks are almost always carb-laden goodies that send her bouncing off the walls for a good forty-five minutes until she collapses on the sofa and claims she’s too exhausted to even walk upstairs.

So even though I rarely stock snacks in the house, I’ve got to admit that I love Quaker Chewy Granola Bars. I’ve brought them to the hospital with me for all three births. And now that they’ve got two new varieties that include a good dose of protein (5 grams), I’m an even bigger fan.

A couple of drawbacks that must be aired for safety’s sake: the two protein varieties are Nutty Peanut Butter and Peanut Butter and Chocolate. Now, for peanut butter addicts like me, this is a huge pro. But where it comes to kids who go to school with other kids who have peanut allergies, it’s a deal-breaker. So while I’ll keep these around the house for us, I won’t send them to school with Tacy.

Another drawback on the allergy side - they’ve got rice in them. Believe it or not, there’s a rice allergic child on Tacy’s soccer team. So although I would have gladly brought these bars to practice on our assigned snack date, I couldn’t do it.

But in spite of the allergen hurdles, I think these bars are a big winner for both kids and adults. So I’ll have them ready for Tacy after school and after soccer practice. Hopefully then she’ll have enough energy to haul herself upstairs without assistance.

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Did you see the cute bag over Tacy’s shoulder over at mothergoosemouse? Want to win one yourself? It’s not just a bag either; it’s got goodies inside - like a soccer ball, tennis balls, a water bottle, colored shoelaces, and a couple boxes of these Quaker Granola Bars with protein.

Congrats to Karianna, winner of the soccer bag filled with goodies!!

Getting ready to do anything around here is difficult. It’s like that KPMG commercial where the ranchers are herding cats, except I have less than a quarter-acre and three cats - only two of whom are mobile.

Bedtime isn’t bad - no whining or crying - but it does tend to drag out.

Mornings are really rough though. Yesterday morning, for example, we all woke up about 20 minutes before Tacy had to leave for school. But even when we wake up with plenty of time to spare, all the cats children like to lounge around in their jammies, hoping for waffles.

Naturally, the new books from the ParentSmart/KidHappy series - Ready for Bed and Ready for the Day - are a great fit for us. Not only do they discuss topics that we need to work on, they do it in a way that helps kids understand what needs to be done and why. Parents aren’t trying to squash the fun; there’s just a time and place for it: after you’ve changed your underwear. Heh.

Both of my mobile cats children love these two books. CJ has recently re-acquired a love of being read to, and these books lend themselves well to animated reading (different voices, lots of expression) and to asking her questions about the story and relating it back to our own morning and bedtime routines.

Tacy is expected to read to us each night, and these books are a great fit for her reading level. In fact, she read Ready for the Day out loud to Kyle last night and noted it on her school reading log.

As for me, I’m really picky about children’s books. I cling to my old favorites - Frances and Harry and Corduroy, among many others - and it’s tough for newcomers to win me over. But I really liked these books. First, I love the illustrations. In children’s books, illustrations are key - they tell more of the story than the words do. They’re clear and realistic without being photographic or posed.

The dialogue is better than most children’s books. I’m always critical of dialogue - does that really sound like an actual conversation? - and it’s rare to find realistic dialogue in children’s books. While some of it seemed forced, the large majority of it seemed quite natural.

The sequence of events was important to me. That’s something I try to emphasize to my own cats children - we have to do A before we can do B, so that then we can do C - and it’s helpful to have books that demonstrate that concept so well. I especially liked how, in Ready for the Day, the father told the daughter that because they’d taken care of everything they needed to do, they had ten extra minutes to play before they had to leave. Delayed gratification - it’s a great motivator!

Of course, I loved that one book featured a mother and son and the other book featured a father and daughter, and that families of color were included in both. No need to point out the diversity to my cats children - the idea is that for them, diversity will be integral to their lives and not something to marvel about.

Finally, I love that the books are hardcover. Soft cover books don’t fare well around here, thanks to all of the use they get. Not that I’m complaining that my cats children like to read.

For more blogger reviews of Ready for Bed and Ready for the Day, check out PBN!