10 signs

The helicopter mom may have been shoved aside by the Tiger Mom this year, but overprotective parents won't be extinct any time soon. It's a big scary world out there and if parents aren't watching over their kids' every move, who will?

If these signs sound like you, watch out, you may be hovering in Helicopter Mom territory!

1. You have the cell phone numbers of all of your kids' teachers on speed dial — and you're not shy about calling.
2. You enlisted the services of a preschool admittance essay adviser in your second trimester.
3. You started a line of kids clothing with built-in tracking devices.
4. Your child is your best friend.
5. You attend, observe, and videotape every dance class, and then learn all of the routines so you can practice together.
6. After your tot and a friend set up a lemonade stand, you ask the friend's mom for a letter of recommendation highlighting your 6-year-old's business acumen.
7. You see nothing wrong with personally taking down that 8-year-old bully (and her mother) who didn't let your lil one in the clubhouse.
8. Your 4-year-old orders Chinese food. In Chinese.
9. All potential playmates and their parents must cooperate with a thorough background check.
10. You don't count Cornell as a real Ivy. In ten years, your child will only be applying there as a safety school.

The going green trend has been going on for so long that it can hardly be called a trend anymore. But for some mamas, green living is about more than recycling old cans and newspapers. It's a way of life, a philosophy that dictates every decision they make, from where they live to the toys they give their tots. If the following 11 signs sound familiar, chances are you're an unmistakable, unabashed green mom!

1. Before a playdate, you don't ask the parents if their kids are vegetarians or meat eaters — you ask if they're locavores, lacto-ovo vegetarians, or pescetarians.
2. Pampers what? Your diapers are either cloth or compostable.
3. Visitors to your house leave with any trash they brought, because you do not even own a garbage can. That means sending friends home with their own dirty diapers, tampons, and ziplock bags.
4. Your child has never tasted anything nonorganic (except for that one lost weekend at grandma's that you try to forget about).
5. You're breastfeeding your newborn and your toddler.
6. You use a diva cup.
7. You have a fully stocked biodynamic wine cellar.
8. Your child's crayons are made from organic fruit and vegetable powders.
9. The icing on your baby's first birthday cake was made from avocado puree (organic, obviously).
10. You pay to offset your carbon footprint.
11. You live in San Francisco, Portland, or Brooklyn.

She may not have a cape, but the Super Mom possesses powers that leave the rest of us mere mortals in the dust. After reading OnSugar blogger Carri's post, Confessions of a (Not so) Super Mom, it became apparent that moms everywhere encounter this wonder woman on a regular basis. Are you the Super Mom in your community? Check out my list to find out!

1. Your clothes are never accessorized with caked-on oatmeal and dried baby snot.
2. A hiccup in the daily schedule doesn’t faze you, it just means more time with your wonderful tots.
3. Hosting a spur of the moment playdate doesn’t send you on a 10-minute whirlwind-cleaning spree because your home is already spotless.
4. Your children’s clothes are organized by size, season, and color so they never outgrow an item before having worn it.
5. You are the first one at the school play, dance recital, or soccer game with your camera around your neck and your Flip cam ready to go.

To see the rest of the list, read more

Every playground has one. The mom who seems to be there from dawn to dusk, rain or shine. The one that other moms nod hello to in recognition as well as sympathy, knowing that she'll be spending her entire day there...again. She's the Playground Princess and if you're spending more time in the park than anywhere else, she could be you. Here are 10 signs that you should be crowned royalty at your playground.

1. You have a favorite bench, and nobody else dares to sit in it.
2. You know the park keeper's schedules so well — and they know yours – that you bring each other coffee each day.
3. Friends don't ask where to meet for a playdate, they just show up at your park at the appointed time.
4. You enter the park's restroom on a steady schedule – exactly two minutes behind the cleaning crew's schedule.
5. You know which kids hog the swings and can slip your lil ones onto the equipment before the others notice.

For five other ways to know you're the playground princess, read more