Moms Encouraged to Celebrate their Best 'Mom Moments' this Fall

LIVING WELL invites moms to share their funny, sentimental and most memorable moments for a chance to win $5,000 cash

TORONTO, Oct 12 /CNW/ - Ever dealt with an epic tantrum over Hallowe'en candy at the grocery store? Gone a deep shade of red after an inappropriately timed comment by your 4 year old in public? Or, how about dealing with a horrendous hair disaster on your child, cut suspiciously by her big sister?  These are the types of mom moments that can be heartwarming, or send you straight to a locked bathroom in tears. To celebrate moments like these, motherhood and all its mayhem, LIVING WELL has launched the LIVING WELL Mom Moments contest in the spirit of coping, relating and celebrating motherhood together.

To create some mom moments inspiration, LIVING WELL, an online resource that connects Canadians to the experts and topics they need to know about to live well every day, commissioned an Angus Reid Public Opinion survey to discover some of the most memorable moments that make moms laugh, cry, or scream. The results reveal that every mom can relate to each other when it comes to moments like these.

"A mom's day is always full of unexpected twists and turns, and especially when things get busy with upcoming holidays and after-school activities, it's hard to take time to appreciate the little things," said Carly Cooper, a certified life coach for moms.  "I always tell moms to celebrate their successes - big and small - and embrace their imperfections by letting the idea of a 'perfect mom' go.  The LIVING WELL Mom Moments contest really celebrates that and lets moms share their experiences with others in a fun environment."

From October 12 to November 22, LIVING WELL "Mom Moment Ambassadors" will introduce a new topic on www.LivingWell-MomMoments.ca each week.  Moms can then submit a written or video entry for the chance to win the $5,000 cash grand-prize or one of six weekly product prize-packs from Johnson & Johnson Inc. with an approximate retail value of $500. Family, friends, and of course fellow moms, are encouraged to vote for their favorite entry each week, and the Mom Moment Ambassadors will choose the grand prize winner at the end of the contest.

To get the ball rolling, bloggers and Mom Moment Ambassadors, Meg Wismer and Leigh Combrink of Me and Meg (MeAndMeg.com), are unveiling the first of six weekly topics. Catherine Connors of Her Bad Mother (HerBadMother.com) and Maria Stanley of Bored Mommy Blog (BoredMommyBlog.com) will also act as Mom Moment Ambassadors and announce subsequent weekly topics. Canadians moms are invited to join in on the conversation and post their own entry on www.LivingWell-MomMoments.ca  

"It's our philosophy that through the ups and downs of the craziness that motherhood throws at us, sometimes all we can do is pause, take a breath, and laugh," said Leigh Combrink.  "As sisters, and moms who blog, we share our mom moments every day with our readers, and we're looking forward to hearing what other moms have to share too."

My child said WHAT?!  
From dealing with public tantrums to, ahem, getting 'caught in the act' with their partner, the LIVING WELL survey results show just how much moms have in common when it comes to moments they'll never forget. Here are some of the highlights:

• Getting busy with it - Twenty-one per cent of moms surveyed have been caught by their children getting "busy" with their partner. How did they react? Almost half have subtly paused and told their child to go back to bed, while a third would say they are just "hugging."
  
  
• Rock to hide under, anyone? - Of the most embarrassing things their kids have done in public, 28 per cent cite having a full-blown public tantrum as being the most embarrassing, followed by 16 per cent who say it was their child spilling a secret and 12 per cent who recall it was witnessing their child inadvertently saying something offensive to a stranger.
  
  
• Little White Lies - Approximately 35 per cent of moms admit they've lied to their child as a way to get out of a commitment, while nearly one-third say they have secretly read their child's diary or snooped in their room. More than a quarter of moms admit to temporarily "misplacing" their child in public.

Methodology
From July 8^th to July 12^th, 2010, Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted an online survey among a sample of 1,006 Canadian mothers who are Angus Reid Forum panel members and that have children between the ages of 1-18. The full dataset has been statistically weighted by region to ensure a representative sample. The margin of error is ±3.1%, 19 times out of 20. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.

About LIVING WELL
LIVING WELL is a program that connects its members to who and what they need to know to live well every day, throughout their day. Through LIVINGWELL.CA, LIVING WELL members are the first to learn about, try and provide feedback about new Johnson & Johnson Inc. and its affiliates' products, and receive significant savings on the products that are a part of their everyday lives. The website is a daily resource for LIVING WELL members, helping them understand matters affecting their family's health and well being with information and resources focused on their daily routines and specific health needs. For more information, visit www.LivingWell.ca.

About the LIVING WELL Mom Moments Contest
No purchase is necessary.  Contest opens on October 12, 2010 for participants of the age of majority or older in their province or territory of residence within Canada, excluding Quebec.  Sponsors, agencies, their employees and the individuals with whom they reside are ineligible to participate.  There is one cash Grand Prize of $5,000CDN to be won and six weekly prizes of product packages valued at $500CDN each. Must complete a skill-testing question to claim a prize.  Odds of winning are dependent on the number and caliber of entries received. For more contest details and complete rules and regulations, visit www.LivingWell-MomMoments.ca  

For further information:

For more information about the survey results, or to arrange an interview please contact: