My dear friend Carrie Lauth over at NaturalMomsTalkRadio has always been such an inspiration to me!  She is a saavy business woman with a heart of gold! 

She is the Host of Natural Moms Talk Radio and co-hosts on  the Moms Money podcast.  She has recently added a new section to her already awesome blog all about Money it is a must read. Carrie speaks candidly about the topic and If I know Carrie she will be on a huge mission to help others with their thoughts, fears and quest to earn more, make more and save more money!

Kudo’s to you Carrie!!

Hot lunch at school can become quite expensive.   Figure on average, hot lunch costs $2.10 per day if you include milk with the meal.  If you have three children, $6.30 a day, multiplied by five days, that’s $31.50 a week… just for lunch!  Is it convenient for parents? You betcha.  Can it be expensive?  You betcha!

I’m going to give you some excellent money saving lunch ideas.  It’s important to remember that you must not embarrass your children with the lunch you force them to take (egg salad sandwiches aren’t real popular in school).  You need to come up with some fun, tasty meals that will make your child the envy of the lunch table.  The object here is to save money and ensure your well thought-out lunch doesn’t end up at the bottom of the trash barrel.

I remember a day when it was cool to bring a thermos to school.  Mine had My Little Ponies (the original ones) and my brother’s was Lost in Space.  Kid’s thermoses are quite adorable, however a word of caution: they don’t keep hot foods as hot as the trusty metal and glass thermoses.  Just be certain to preheat the thermos with boiling water, and then put the hot food directly into the thermos.  Your hot food should stay warm until lunch time, four hours later.

Leftovers make great thermos food.  Make sure you get a wide mouth, shorter thermos. You could fill it with soup, stew, mac and cheese, hamburger helper, chili, spaghetti and even hotdogs.   Another idea is to fill the thermos with taco meat with the cheese already added.  Then put a hard taco shell or a soft tortilla into the lunch bag and your bambino is ready for a fiesta!
 
Of course you could also serve cold lunches in the thermos.  How about tuna salad, macaroni salad, or spaghetti salad?  Or fill it with antipasto – variety of meats and cheeses.  Don’t forget about celery and peanut butter or crackers and cheese.  Roll-ups go over well, too.  There are a couple different variations:  Cream cheese spread on a slice of salami, with a sweet pickle inside; or instead of rolling up a slice of salami, roll up a tortilla that is stuffed with ham and shredded cheese.

Forget those pre-made lunches in a cardboard box.  Forget the standard PBJ.  Think out of the box. Economical can also be fun. Your child’s friends will try to trade their lunch for the fun meal you packed!

“What do you mean you forgot to do that?”  I told you last night before you went to bed.  Well you better hurry or you’re going to miss the bus.”

How smoothly your bedtime routine goes will determine how smoothly your morning goes.  It’s important to have routines for bedtime as well as in the morning.  The best way to keep track of needed tasks is to use a chart.

If you leave it to your memory or that of your children, something will slip through the cracks.  In this fast paced world we live in, and with children’s developing brains, someone will forget.  I don’t know about you, but if something simple at night can make my mornings run smoother, I’m all for it.

There are a couple different options you can use with regard to charts.  One method would be to list each item that needs to be completed in a separate line on the chart.  You could list tasks such as homework completed, lunch made, backpack packed, clothes picked out, showered, teeth brushed.  Whereas the morning chart would be dressed, lunch out of refrigerator, teeth brushed, and dog fed.   Each task could get a check mark or a sticker – depending on the age of the children.

Another option would be to list all that needs to be accomplished on a separate piece of paper or chart.  Leave that on the refrigerator or some accessible location.  Then once the children have completed all their assigned tasks, one gold star, sticker or check mark could be placed on the calendar.

It doesn’t really matter what system you use – as long as it works for your family.  You may get some resistance when you introduce it.  Or you may be pleasantly surprised and the kids will look forward to not only completing their assignments but seeing the acknowledgement for a job well done.

There may be a transition time necessary for both parents and children.  That is to be expected anytime a new routine is introduced.   Hold each other accountable.  Allow them to remind you if you get “too busy” to follow through with the chart.

Make sure you catch them doing something right.  You entire family will benefit from well organized bedtime and morning routines!

YAY  - As a coach you know I love joining forces with others to that we can act as accountability partners so this is right up my ally.

So far, I’ve been pretty good at getting here daily (well… almost daily) to post but I needed a little kick in the rear to ensure that I keep up the good work and what fun it was to hop on this 30 Day Blogging Challenge!!

Here is a list of the others that joined in on the challenge as well - be sure to stop on by their sites and tell em’ I sent ya’

Crystal Misener of Happy Mommy Thoughts <–She started it
Jenni Hunt of Snacks For Toddlers
Diana of The Cravings Coach
Kristine McKinley of Financial Tips For WAHMs
Marie Ynami of Mommy Community
Courtney of Mom Needs A Clone
Carrie Lauth with her own Carrie Lauth blog
Nell of Casual Friday Everyday
Sharon of New Urban Mom

My friend Nell Just featured me on her blog in her “She’s a WAHM” Spotlight - You can see the feature here <– The title of her post just made me grin from ear to ear!

Stop by and see what Nell had to say about me and check out the interview

C’mon and check it out at www.reallifeguidance.com

Aurelia

You can tune into our brand new show by visiting  http://www.parentingmyteen.com and clicking on the ‘Listen Now’ Button.

This week we are joined by Sue Blaney, author of Please Stop the Rollercoaster! How Parents of Teenagers Can Smooth Out the Ride.

Tune in for this great show as we discuss the 5 mistakes that parents of teens often make, how different parenting styles affect the parent teen relationship, the importane of networking with other parents, and much more.

I am also sharing some good news on the show so be sure to tune in

Feel free to pass this e-mail onto your friends and be sure to hit reply to this email after you tune in, and let me know what you think of the show.  You can also share your input on our Listener’s Line at214-615-6505 ext. 4245

Aurelia

You all know how much I love to talk about ways to help keep your life running smoothly with less stress.  Well my friend Nell is running an awesome contest that I am sure you all will want to know about.

Stop by and visit   Meal Planning Made Easy Contest  You can win a free year’s subscription worth $239.64!!  WOW thats what I call stress free living!!

It probably started in preschool when your son was playing with the truck and a big mean four and a half year old just came over and stole that dump truck right out of your sweet innocent little man’s precious little hands.  How dare he?!

The fact is, kids can be mean. Shoot, adults can be mean too.  Why do you think someone created the bumper sticker, “Mean people suck”?  You can’t be with your child 24/7 to protect him from the school bully.  You can’t control what other children do; but you can control how your child reacts. Or at least hopefully you can bully proof your student.

For starters you want to ensure your precious baby isn’t on the giving end of the bullying.  Not only is it rude and wrong, it could land your assertive child a suspension. (Assertive sounds so much better than aggressive, don’t you agree?)

You would do well to explain the psychology of a school bully before your child is faced with a situation where he (or she) is the one being bullied.   The “do unto others rule’ is a good place to start.  You can also explain that often children act like a bully to mask other feelings (anger, disappointment etc.)  If your student isn’t doing anything intentional to egg on the rough and tough, the odds are in his favor he may not be a target.

Only you know whether or not your child is mature enough to understand what makes a bully act in a certain manner.  If you still have “a situation” even after you’ve thoroughly and repeatedly discussed how to play nice and how to avoid instigating any negative playground behavior, it’s time for Plan B.

Make sure that your child’s teacher is aware of the situation.  That’s not considered tattling; it’s your responsibility.  Often school can and should put an end to it once they become aware.  Ok, so you tried all that and it still didn’t stop?  Assuming you already had the discussions about defending, not offending; using words not violence, then as a last resort your child should feel free to defend himself.  While most parents teach their child that fighting is bad, getting the snot kicked out of you is bad too.

If you personally don’t have the knowledge to equip your child, then enroll him in a martial arts class.  There is absolutely no correlation between children becoming violent after attending a few self defense lessons.  Don’t you want to bully proof your student?

With all that said, remind your child that the easiest way to remedy the situation may be to befriend the bully.

Be sure to check out Free From Bullies a new eBook that will show you the exact steps you need to take to eliminate bullying from your child’s life.