Meet Time to Play’s Parent Panel

The Time to Play Parent Panel includes parents who are excited to share their experience and advice with Time to Play’s readers. Each parent will lend their unique voice and point of view to our site as they discuss the adventures of parenting. In addition to reading their words here, we invite you to connect with each of our panelists online!

Emily Vanek

As the mother of three sons, Emily Vanek has been known to get as excited about toys as her children. When her youngest son was diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum, she became passionate about play in a new light, and began to focus on toys as an important part of therapy. As our special needs contributor, Emily shares her knowledge of toys and games and offers family tips in hopes to connect with other parents of special needs children.

Emily lives with her husband and three sons near Denver, Colorado. In addition to her work with TimetoPlayMag.com, Emily shares her family experiences across the web as owner and editor-in-chief of parent community ColoradoMoms.com, with daily reflections on AYearInAutism.com, and as a contributor to 5MinutesforSpecialNeeds.com. She has been quoted by The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press, and featured on KUSA-TV (Colorado).
Maria Colaco

Maria Colaco is a Dancer, Choreographer, Social Media Creative and Mom. She lives in New York with her husband, daughter and her giant St. Bernard. Professionally, Maria dances and choreographs works for music videos, commercials, film, and off-broadway plays. Her Modern Dance company has been produced throughout the US. In her Social Media life, Maria has worked with national brands helping them with blogger relations and producing and implementing creative social media campaigns. In addition to contributing to TimetoPlayMag.com, Maria works with MOM365.com and Westchester County Tourism and Film and is a freelance beauty and fashion trend writer. She also speaks at social media summits on all things social. In her spare time you can find Maria slaying dragons and kissing boo boo’s!
Nadia Jones

Nadia, a.k.a., Justice Jonesie, is a mom to three, lawyer, blogger at JusticeJonesie.com, founder of Niche Mommy Network & Conference & co-founder of Blogalicious Weekend. She enjoys blogging about work-life balance, fitness, and her journey through motherhood. When she is not working or chasing after her kids, you may find me training for a half-marathon or enjoying a chic night out on the town with her hubby.
Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Jen Rabulan-Bertram is a blogger, freelance writer and brand ambassador. In pursuit of work/life balance, Jen honed her background as a magazine editor while leveraging social media to create The Next Kid Thing, a product blog that dishes and disseminates the latest and greatest in all things kids. Jen has gone from interviewing the Joint Chiefs of Staff to rubbing elbows with Elmo. She has contributed to outlets such as Healthy Child Healthy World, New York Family, Mommybites and Techlicious. As an influencer in the parenting and kid product realm, Jen has been quoted on WPIX, CBS News 2 and most recently, Parents magazine. She lives in northern NJ with her husband, preschooler and infant sons.
Meredith Sinclair

Meredith Sinclair is the creator and chief video blogger at TheMeredithSinclair.com, where she focuses on playful ways to rock her role as Queen Mum. She has a Master’s Degree in Education and has taught preschool thru fifth grade. Meredith also worked as the Educational Consultant for a nationally producing PBS station helping to create quality children's programming. Meredith writes two monthly, mom-centered columns for Chicago Parent Magazine and can be seen on both local and national morning shows where she shares fun ideas for today's modern moms. She has been featured on Windy City LIVE, The Steve Harvey Show and the Today Show. Meredith lives on Chicago’s North Shore with her husband, two boys, and her mutt Roxy.
Carolina Nugent

Carolina Nugent is an authority in early childhood education with nearly a decade of experience in public schools and private early childhood programs. As the Director of Education at KinderTown, an educational app store that helps busy parents find the best apps for young kids, she's evaluated more than 1,500 apps for kids. She scours the app world from the Philadelphia area where she lives with her husband and two dogs. You can see more of her app reviews in the FREE KinderTown App, available for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.
Danyelle Little

A self-described Digital Debutante, Danyelle Little knows a little when it comes to taking a negative and making it a positive. After losing her corporate job in 2009, she forged ahead and created TheCubicleChick.com, a lifestyle blog focused on work, life, and play. Since that time, Danyelle has been able to be a work at home mom running her successful website while making her mark on the Internet and social media.
- MrsKruch
Tami Sartor Kruchkow

Tami Sartor Kruchkow has over 14 years experience in the toy and licensing industries. From developing toys and games to marketing them, Tami honed her skills working on successful brands including Thomas & Friends, South Park, Animal Planet, Angelina Ballerina, and UNO, to name a few.

Tami is a mom to one-year-old identical twin girls. When she’s not playing with her girls and their toys at home in Park Slope, Brooklyn, she can be found reviewing the latest and greatest toys on TimetoPlayMag.com.
Ben Floyd

Ben is a husband, dad, creator of awesomeness and geek. As the principal at Socially Savvy he spends his days teaching brands how to identify, connect and engage with their minority audiences. But for him the real fun is at home where he is typical doing one of three things. On the floor playing with his son (literally), testing his culinary skills and/or hanging with his beautiful wife. He vlogs at My Dad Saved the World! His topics are usually centered around being a fatherless father, Family/Marriage, Dad's cook too and reviews. In addition to contributing to TimetoPlayMag.com, Ben works with KRIV Fox 26 Houston as the on-air technology and social media contributor and is also a member of the Dad 2.0 team.