Well, I am quite flattered to have been asked to be the next "featured member" here on minti!  Sorry for the delay in posting, but we've been on a mad dash for last minute school supplies (despite my best attempts, there is always at least ONE item that we forget!).   Here goes:

Starting with name, location, how many children:  My real name is Jill and I live in Grand Rapids, Michigan with my husband of nearly 13 years.  We have two children, Hailey (age 5) and Nick (age 8).

How did you find Minti?  I learned about minti from Tracy!  I left a comment on one of her outside blogs and she then visited mine.  She was kind enough to send me a personal e-mail on top of that encouraging me to join minti which I did immediately.  Thanks so much Tracy!

What's your favorite thing or feature at Minti? That is a hard question because I can't choose just one thing.  I guess the thing that I love most about minti is the sense of community among the members.  It is touching to see how parents reach out to each other sometimes with advice, but more often with words of support, encouragement and caring.  I've never experienced a website that gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling like minti.  I mean where else would someone just post a "hi" because they hadn't seen or heard from someone in a while and just wanted to make sure they were doing all right?  It's like having coffee everyday with a good friend.

What's your favorite thing about being a parent? That' another hard question!  I love spending time together as a family, hearing my children laugh, watching them play, reading with them, and so many other things.  I learn WAY more from them about living than I could even think about teaching them.  Children are pure in their emotions and thoughts.  They make me want to be a better person every day.

What has been your biggest parenting challenge? Now that is an easy one!  CONSISTENCY!  Consistency with discipline, consistency with rituals and routines that I initiate, and the list goes on and on...

What's the best parenting advice you've ever gotten from someone? That would be from my mom.  She told me early on to pick and choose your battles.  Boy, is that ever true.  Early on, I made EVERYTHING a must win battle with my son who is very strong willed (from his father of course).  Picking and choosing my battles with him and sharing more control dramatically changed our interactions for the better. 

Well, that's it.  Thanks again to minti for the opportunity to be the featured member!