Shopping on Black Friday is essential for holiday penny-pinching. But navigating malls and department stores can be a living nightmare. To help you survive the day, we’ve rounded up our best tips to help you be a savvy shopper this Black Friday. 1. Check the ads Instead of just hitting your favorite stores, make sure you know which discounts are available on Black Friday, and plan your excursion in advance. Decide which deals are most important for you to score, and hit those sales first.

Anyone who has a partner will tell you that balancing the holidays is an art form. Keeping both sides of the family satisfied, even before you have children, can be challenging. For Mother's Day and Father's Day, one gets breakfast and the other gets dinner. Christmas is even easy in our house: The eve of the holiday is spent with one family, while Christmas Day is spent with the other. But then there’s the one holiday you can’t evenly divide: Thanksgiving.

More than 16 years ago, I met my first child for the first time. She was gorgeous, of course, and I said, “Hello, you,” like probably every mother all the way back to Eve. In those early baby days, I wondered what she would be like as she grew up, but I could never imagine her as practically an adult at 16. She’s far exceeded my expectations in many ways, but I don’t think I’m in too much trouble of her adulting anytime too soon.

In case you missed it, Starbucks has an entire range of off-the-menu items that are the perfect treats for kids. 1. You may have already known about this one, but you can order a kid’s hot cocoa. The hot drink comes in a small, child-sized cup and is priced way less than the adult version. The baristas also make sure it’s not as hot as regular hot cocoas. 2. Same goes for their steamers.

If you have three or more kids, you may be wondering what the secret is for not only surviving, but also thriving, as a mom of many. So here it is, advice from the sage ones who have gone before us: 1. "Laying out clothes the night before helps so much! Then the big [kids] can start getting ready on their own in the morning." 2. "The family calendar is real. I keep it on my iPhone, and it's also on a whiteboard in the house complete with color-coding for each person." 3.

As an undeniably fat woman, I carried a weight that was inarguably worse than the number on the scale. I had spent the first 28 years of my life shouldering the burden of being ashamed of my body, hiding it behind ill-fitting clothes and punishing it for existing the way it did. That was until 2015, when I decided that I’d finally had enough. Not enough of being fat — enough of hating myself for the way I looked. So, I started taking selfies and posting them on Instagram.

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, which means lots of cooking, cleaning, and, if we’re being honest, stress. So to help keep you more sane this holiday season, we’ve got some clever hacks for you. 1. Print out and tape recipes to kitchen cabinets so you don’t have to fumble for your phone or computer with food-covered hands or shuffle through tons of paper recipes all over the counters. 2.

On my second day in the hospital after giving birth, a pediatrician came around to check on my son, which happened frequently during my stay. And like most people who entered the room, she immediately complimented me on just how beautiful he was. I won't even pretend to be humble — that kid has been gorgeous since day one. She then followed up the compliment with an innocuous "What a little prince! I bet you're going to break lots of princesses' hearts.

Is there anything worse than laundry? It’s honestly been one of my least favorite chores from the time I was old enough to figure out what a “white load” was. It’s socks and underwear, that’s what it is, and it’s horrible. And it’s not as if the laundry is ever done, either, unless you live in a nudist colony. And, if that’s the case, you probably don’t really have that much laundry to worry about anyway.

It’s finally time to ditch the diapers … but how? Which potty-training method is best? Do reward systems work? And how long will it all take? We’ve reached out to “been there, done that” moms for their best tips, and here’s what they had to say. 1. Sometimes you have to wait If your toddler isn’t showing clear signs of being ready, WAIT. That’s Brandy W.s No. 1 tip. She said: “Wait until they’re 3 years old.