We're stuffed with turkey and a lot of hot air this week, so we're excited to break up the banter with a healthy conversation with Alison Sweeney, Days of Our Lives diva and host of the Biggest Loser. Alison talks about her life as a working mom (in fact she was picking her son up from school when we reached her) and how she manages to find time for the important things in life: her kids, her health and giving back. We follow that up with a generous serving of holiday complaints. Pull up a chair, there's plenty of leftovers.

Due to a scheduling snafu, Alison Sweeney (aka Sammy Brady) couldn't join us this week. So... we're catching up with an old fashioned gab session – discussing Thanksgiving, groceries, lice, bed bugs and what drove Kristin to throw a CD player through her guest room wall.We're catching up with an old fashioned gab session – discussing Thanksgiving, groceries, lice, bed bugs and what drove Kristin to throw a CD player through her guest room wall.

As parents, and siblings, the Manic Mommies know how important the sibling relationship is, but how much did our siblings impact the grownups we became? And how do we, as parents, nurture the relationship our children have with their siblings? Lisa Hanson and Heather Kempskie, twins, moms and  authors of The Sibling Busy Book, joined us at Escape'09 to help us as we all search for sibling harmony.

We're back from Napa and reentry into our everyday lives is not nearly as much fun as getting away with 160 of our dearest fans (although it was so great to hear those squeals of "Mommy!" when we arrived home). Even if you weren't with us in person, you were with us in spirit. Listen in throughout the month to get a feel for the fun and the sisterhood of the weekend – starting with "true mom confessions" with authors Amy Nobile and Trisha Ashworth.

What would you do if your 3-year-old daughter had an imaginary friend who caused her to speak a mysterious language and lash out at others? What if parenting books, friends and pediatricians could offer you little help or support? Would you travel to Central America  to see a nontraditional healer? Author Hope Edelman did. This week she joins us to talk about her memoir The Possibility of Everything, and her plight to bring harmony and wellness back to her family through some extraordinary means.

After an unexpected week off, the Manic Mommies take a few moments to catch up on recent life events: business travel, poison oak and the first parent-teacher conferences of the year. We're also joined by author/comedian Chris Mancini whose hilarious new book Pacify Me is a laugh out loud read for any new or experienced parent. It's good to get a dad's perspective every once and a while!

The Meal Makeover Moms visit Kristin's kitchen to answer all of our healthy eating questions. They also give one of Kristin's family's favorite recipes, Fish Chowder, a meal makeover (it was delicious!).

Special thanks to Meal Makeover Moms Escape Sponsors - Coleman Natural and Cabot.

The Manic Mommies took a time out to get a little shopping done, meeting listeners and friends at the new Champion store at Wrentham Premium Outlets. During our visit we found out some of the ways they are staying fit - from karate to power jump roping (how dangerous does that sound??), we were so impressed by their commitment to getting moving. Maybe it will inspire Erin and Kristin to do the same!

We also welcome our first Escape sponsor spotlight: Coleman Natural Foods.

Are you watching Mad Men? The Good Wife? Flash Forward? This week the Manic Mommies are joined by Meredith O'Brien, pop culture columnist and TV writer to talk all things TV. The new fall shows have started and we tell you which ones are worth your precious time and which ones are better left on the DVR.

Can working moms every really be happy at work and happy at home? Caitlin Friedman, co-author of the new book Happy at Work, Happy at Home: The Girls' Guide to Being a Working Mom tells us how to avoid some of the most common traps working moms fall in to (banish that guilt!) and explains why it's important to always feel secure in our career and lifestyle choices.

If you're one of the many moms who returned to her job after maternity leave thinking, "I am not cut out for this anymore," you'll love this week's interview. Sonia Gupta is an inspiration. The owner of her own organic baby clothing line—My Little Pakora—Sonia is introducing a product moms can believe in while also giving back a share of her profits to the Grameen Foundation. All this from her kitchen table. Who says you can't reinvent yourself after baby?

When life gets a little too crazy, we like nothing more than curling up with our stack of unread magazines. This week, we read the magazines with you, although we get a little off track with our extensive commentary on everything from chronically tardy mommies (who, me?), to new school bus drivers, to taking a job with your former employer.

The summer is (finally) over and the kids are heading back to school. But first, we discuss decommissioning the camp stuff (stinky shoes anyone?); getting back in the school groove, and the stuff we love these days. We also welcome to awesome listeners from California who join us for our first listener call-in show!

Summer is winding down, change is in the air, Erin's in New York with the in-laws and Kristin's home with her family. This week's show was recorded via Skype and with one week to go before school starts we talk about the final summer family road trip, senseless school supply lists (box of Saltines, really?) and school lunches.

This week we're joined by Dr. Joe Siegler, executive coach, board-certified psychiatrist, and founder of Chicago's Full Life Centers to discuss how to set and achieve goals in your life. We discuss everything from coping with job loss to check-listing our spouses and whether coaching might be a better alternative to traditional therapy. But first, a little talk about kids' movies, bromances and summer "vacations" (a.k.a. change of scenery for the week).

We've been like two ships passing in the night, as Kristin wrapped up her staycation with a road trip and Erin started her family vacation on Saturday. So we're recycling our Earth Day show from 2008 that features an interview with Kate Gosselin, conducted long before she became the favorite of tabloid magazine editors and paparazzi everywhere.

We'll be back next week with a whole new episode featuring a great interview with Dr. Joe Siegler, author of the book Fire Your Therapist.

This week we welcome Jen Mazzon from Google to the show. Jen is a busy working mom of three, including a set of twins, and she shares with us some of the ways online computing has helped simplify her work and home lives. Could these tools help you, too? We've also put together a great tip sheet listing our favorite online tools and resources for the digital mom. Find it on ManicMommies.com. Then Kristin fills us in on her glorious (or not so glorious) staycation.

 The Manic Mommies hit the road, visiting Chicago for BlogHer, the massive conference and tradeshow for women bloggers. During our trip we had the pleasure of interviewing New York Times reporter and Motherlode blogger, Lisa Belkin about the next generation of parents, equally shared parenting and the myth of "balance." We also heard American Idol alumnae Brooke White as she performed songs from her new album, High Hopes & Heartbreaks.

Our resident pediatrician Dr. Rob makes a house call to our studio this week (otherwise known as Kristin's kitchen) to answer our listeners' questions. We talk about everything from kids with cross eyes to tween anxiety and the role of probiotics. We also learn how Dr. Rob sets limits on screen time in his own home. But first a funny tale of a summer weekend that both starts—and ends—with weiners.

Erin is off for her girls-only weekend on the Vineyard while Kristin's home hosting her son's birthday party. We also welcome back Heather Snavely from Microsoft & Xbox who helps with our first Escape related announcement (they are sponsoring our "sing-a-long" night at the Escape), gives us a video-game update, and talks about how her daughter can bring her back to Earth after a week rubbing elbows with celebrities.

We've made it through the first week of "summer!" In this short show, we catch up on how it went – one week of rain derailed most of Erin's "Camp Mommy" plans while Kristin's kids came home waterlogged from day camp. The weather has got to get better now that July is here... right?

Where do Manic Mommies turn when they need a shoulder to cry on, a friend who will just listen (and not judge) or words of wisdom from someone who's been there, done that? They go under the big tent. This week we read through the Manic Mommies big tent forums and share our thoughts on the conversations listeners are having without us. But first, a story of how a single dirty dish landed one of the Manic Mommies in a self-imposed time out.

Raise your hand if you think the end-of-school season is crazier than the holidays! The Manic Mommies take break from the madness to catch up on the huge pile of magazines that has been gathering in their homes. We discuss television, celebrity gossip, bed wetting (again), birthdays (again) and anything else that comes to mind.

This week we simply unwind in front of the microphones and chat about what's on our minds: selling out the escape, bed wetting (why can't parents be more honest about this?), kids who talk back (not that we know any) and therapy. When on the couch, is it really necessary to focus on the past to deal with the present?

Following up on the success of the documentary "Growing Up Online," producer Rachel Dretzin is turning her lens on the rest of us in the new Frontline project, Digital Nation. She and her team are exploring the effect of technology on all of us – the way we live, the way we work, the way we connect with others, even the way we think!

Would you let your child take the subway alone? How about wait for the bus, walk to a neighbor or ride around the 'hood on his or her bicycle? As parents of growing boys, the Manic Mommies are trying to figure when, and how, to let our kids explore their independence. Which is why we were so excited to welcome Lenore Skenazy, author of "Free-Range Kids", who was vilified in the press for allowing her 9-year old son to ride the subway by himself. We discuss how to raise a free-range kid, and why parents today are so scared of letting go.

Erin takes time out of her crazy-busy schedule to chat with Desperate Housewives' James Denton. They talk about the weather (really??), baseball, kids, paparazzi and the Desperate Housewives season finale (fear not - no spoilers).

An active volunteer, James is traveling to Boston to host Share the Beat, a star-studded fundraising event to benefit The American Society of Transplantation endowment which was created to support transplant research and the training of transplant professionals and the Redford AnimAction Project: It's a Rap, an educational outreach program geared toward youth and dedicated to raising transplant awareness.

Don't get too jealous ladies, right after she hung up with James, Erin was back to shuttling kids around, grocery shopping and preparing for a couple days on the road. Who says she doesn't live the glamorous life?

Do you wish you had more time to do the things that are most important to you in life, like spending more time with your children, volunteering in your community, or cultivating a passion or hobby? This week's guest is family first entrepreneur Marc Warnke, author of Options Not Obligations: Enrich Your Personal Life by Rethinking Your Financial Life. Marc explains how to have fun by consuming less while learning to break free from the financial obligations that limit our creativity and spirit.

Ah, Mother's Day. For us, it was almost like any other, except there was little arguing from the spouses. We heard "Yes, Dear" a lot and we'll admit, it was like music to our ears. While our kids run roughshod in Kristin's backyard (get outside, now!) we chat about traditional male and female roles around the house and share bits from Dean Blizzard's One Funny Mother Show. Anyone poop the letter J in your house this week?

It's finally happened, one of the mommies has taken the leap and started seeing a family therapist. Want to take bets on which one took the plunge? Our weekly chit chat turns from family counseling to shared responsibilities, husbands, kids, and our other complaints. Seriously, who needs professionals when we can just vent to each other - and you!