When moms get together to brainstorm, amazing things can happen. Join us this week for #MomStorm – brainstorming Twitter style. We’ll be talking with Matthew Amster-Burton, author of Hungry Monkey – A Food-Loving Father’s Quest to Raise an Adventurous Eater, about “Getting Kids Cooking in the Kitchen”.

Food battles and parenting seem to go hand in hand. I don’t know of any parent who hasn’t struggled with a picky eater or an over-helpful toddler in the kitchen. Parents can solve many common kitchen struggles simply by allowing kids to participate in the cooking process and helping in the kitchen. There’s no denying that cooking with kids requires a lot of patience, but allowing kids to help in the kitchen can be a great way for busy moms to spend quality time with a child and teach valuable skills including, math skills, measuring skills, life skills, nutrition, small motor skills, and more.

#MomStorm Twitter Party

Date: Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Time: 6:30 – 7:30 PST

Hashtag: #MomStorm

Twitter Party Hosts

Matthew Amster-Burton @mamster

Rachel @BusyMommyMedia

Win a Copy of Hungry Monkey

Hungry Monkey is a great read for any busy mom who is looking to break out of the chicken nugget/hot dog rut. Matthew Amster-Burton gives moms permission to break the rules when it comes to feeding kids and experiment a bit in order to create a life-long love of food.

Busy Mommy Media has 2 ways for you to win a copy of Hungry Monkey:

• Courtney, the Busy Mommy Media Cooking Editor had the chance to review Hungry Monkey. Check out her review and enter to win a copy of Hungry Monkey for yourself.
• Win a signed copy of Hungry Monkey from Matthew Amster-Burton during the #MomStorm party. A winner will be drawn randomly from the RSVP list. The winner must have tweeted during the party in order to be eligible to win.

How to Attend #MomStorm

1. Follow @BusyMommyMedia, and @mamster to follow the party hosts.

2. RSVP on the Mr. Linky below using your twitter id so that participants can follow you on Twitter before the party starts and you can be eligible for party prizes.

3. Share this post with your friends by clicking on the share link at the bottom of the page.

4. At the time of the party, set up your tweet grid to follow along with the #MomStorm party posts.

How to Use Tweet Grid for Twitter Parties

Tweet Grid is a great service that allows you to easily follow posts as part of a Twitter party. Tweet Grid is free to use. All you need is a Twitter account.

A few minutes before the party, go to Tweetgrid.com. You can use whatever setup you’d like for the party but I’d recommend the 1×3.

In the first column, enter “#MomStorm” so that you can see all the party posts.

In the second column, enter @BusyMommyMedia, and @mamster so you can follow the party hosts.

In the third column, enter your Twitter id so you can see what people are saying to you.

If you have any problems using the Tweet Grid, send a message to @BusyMommyMedia or email Rachel.

Twitter Party Questions

Twitter parties move quickly and sometimes it can be confusing to follow the conversation. In order to simplify this process and make it easy for everyone to participate, we are including the questions that will be discussed during the twitter party. Each questions will be posted one at a time and discussed during the party. When you see a question tweeted, please retweet it so everyone has a chance to see it. When responding to a questions, please include the question number in your response so party attendees know which questions you are referring to (ex. Q1: answer). If you miss the question being asked, you can refer back to this list to see what the question was.

1. How can getting kids involved in food preparation help with picky eaters?
2. What are some simple snack ideas that kids can prepare themselves?
3. How do you bring kids into the kitchen without them seeing it as a chore?
4. How do you decide whether or not to let your child try “expensive” foods that you aren’t sure they will like?
5. Sometimes the proper name of a food can be intimidating enough to scare a child. How do you feel about re-naming?
6. How do you feel about sneaking ingredients into foods? Do you tell kids about it after they eat it?
7. Do you think ethnic food should be about exposing your child to culture or just good food?
8. How do you keep kids safe when they are helping in the kitchen?
9. What are your favorite kitchen tools to use when cooking with kids?

RSVP to #MomStorm

RSVP to #MomStorm by adding your Twitter ID to the linky below. This will allow you to be entered to win prizes at the party and allow other party attendees to follow you on Twitter.