Real Life Solutions

Every year children and adults alike look forward to the holidays.  Unfortunately, along with the fun there’s also a good deal of stress associated with them.  Here are some ideas that may help you avoid the holiday stress and actually enjoy it instead.

Don’t dwell on the past – Your family may have had great holiday traditions that you remember fondly.  Or your memories may come from the other end of the spectrum where the memories aren’t good at all.  In either case, you may feel you either have to meet those traditions and surpass them, or you may feel pressured to create some great holiday traditions of your own.

What happened in the past, for good or bad, is just that – past.  There’s nothing you can do to go back and change it.  Even if you could, it may not be the best idea.  Instead of trying to meet or exceed your own expectations about the past, take the good memories and think of them.  You don’t need the added stress during the holiday season.  Be in the present with your family.  You’ll all enjoy the holiday much more if you are.

Avoid perfectionism – Nothing in life is perfect.  That includes circumstances surrounding the holidays, the amount of money in our checking account, our homes, or our families.  Instead of trying to attain a perfect holiday meal, work toward enjoying the time you have with your family.  Learn to let go of perfectionism and embrace imperfection because that’s where we all are anyhow.

Take care of yourself – No one takes care of themselves like they should during the holidays.  Poor nutrition, lack of sleep, no exercise, and spending too much money can all contribute to holiday stresses that we don’t need.

Give yourself permission to rest on the weekends leading up to the holidays rather than stuffing another party on the already cramped calendar.  Let other people in your family take on some of the responsibilities for the family dinner.  There’s nothing written in stone that says you have to do everything.

Plan ahead – Don’t wait until the last minute to buy presents or purchase the food that you’ll need for the holidays.  Wrap any presents you already have well in advance.  That will mark one more item off of your holiday to-do list.  Start baking cookies and pies weeks ahead and then freeze them until they are needed.  This will remove a lot of unneeded stress and give you time to enjoy the holiday.

Stress is always a part of our lives.  It’s what we do with it that makes or breaks us.  Avoid the holiday stresses of the holidays by following some of these ideas.  Find time for yourself and enjoy the holidays with the rest of the family.

Schools have had bullies since public schools started.  Either they picked on the other students because they were bigger, or because they needed to feel better about themselves by putting others down.  The problem hasn’t stopped; in fact it has gotten worse in recent years.  You may be wondering if your child could be getting bullied at school.

How do you tell if your child is being bullied?  There are certain warning signs that may indicate your child is being bullied.  They may include, but are not limited to:

* Coming home with torn clothing, and/or constantly losing clothing, books, or other things that belong to them.
* Finding that they have cuts or bruises when they return home that they didn’t have when they left for school.
* Having very few friends, and the ones they do have they don’t spend much time with.
* Appearing to be afraid of going to school, being a part of organized activities at school, or riding the bus to and from school.
* Beginning to complain about having a headache, stomach ache, or other things that will keep them at home.
* Starting to wet the bed.
* Personality changes such as being moody, overly sensitive, angry, or depressed.

If your child begins to act in any of the above ways it doesn’t necessarily mean that your child is being bullied at school.  It could be that there is something else going on that is causing them stress.  The best thing you can do to figure out what’s going on is to talk openly and honestly with your child.

Don’t be afraid to ask them point blank if they’re being bullied at school.  If they tell you that they are, tell your child to keep track of all bullying in a journal.  Have them include the name of the people involved, when and where it happened, what the bullying was in as much detail as possible, and if anyone else witnessed the incident.

It’s time to take action as soon as you know that bullying has occurred.  Contact your child’s teacher and let them know of your concerns.  Ask the teacher if they have seen any times when your child has been bullied.  You may also ask if your child gets along with the other students in class besides the ones bullying.

If nothing changes after your meeting with the teacher, speak with the principal of the school.  They should have a policy regarding bullying, so they need to be aware of the problem.  Be sure to take notes from each meeting you have with anyone in the school system.

No one wants their child to be bullied at school but it happens all too often.  Pay attention to your child and how they act.  Talk to them if you feel bullying may be a possibility.  Then talk with the teacher or principal to report the problem and see what can be done to change it.

1 – Plan a Menu – This does take a little organizing ahead of time but it’s definitely worth the effort. Find a few minutes during the weekend and plan your quick and easy dinner ideas meals for the upcoming week. Write a quick menu, do your shopping and stick the menu on your fridge. Every morning quickly glance at it and take out the foods that need thawing and plan ahead how much time you need to prepare the meal.

2 – Befriend the Crockpot – Okay, this little invention may not be the coolest kitchen gadget around but it can definitely be a lifesaver. With a little planning you can have a nutritious dinner ready before the kids can even say “mom…”

3 – The Casserole is Back – Similar to the crockpot but great for days when you forget to plan ahead. Casseroles work great with leftovers or just about any items you can find in your pantry.

Throw together some pasta, tuna, corn kernels, peas and cream for a quick meal. Casseroles made with rice or potatoes are just as easy. Keep a few easy recipes on hand and add or omit ingredients according to what you have in your pantry.4 – Easy, Versatile, Pasta – By far the easiest way to quickly throw together a healthy family dinner. To avoid boredom try to avoid the usual jar of sauce and pasta dinner. Try this, heat two tablespoons of olive oil over very low heat and add one crushed garlic bulb, stir for about a minute and add a can of drained crab meat, the juice of one lemon and a little salt and pepper to taste, and finally add a little chopped cilantro or parsley. Serve over your pasta with some garlic bread on the side for a delicious meal in minutes.

5 – Eggs Incredible Eggs – Eggs aren’t only for breakfast, they’re also great for quick dinners. Make an omelet and fill with a little ham and cheese, you can also add some chopped tomato, onions or mushrooms. Serve along with a salad and some bread. Or make a Spanish tortilla. Scrub, peel and thinly slice a couple of new or small potatoes. Add to a sauce pan with a little water and boil until soft, about 8 minutes. Add a little oil to a nonstick frying pan, add the potatoes, scramble eggs and a little chopped onion (optional) cook on low until the bottom starts to set. Then stick the frying pan under a hot grill until the top of the tortilla sets. Serve with a side salad.

6 – Sandwich Bar – Some days you just don’t have the time or energy to cook a hot meal, but you can still feed your family a nutritious meal in the way of sandwiches. Put out some bread rolls (whole wheat is best), add a platter of cheese, ham, turkey, tuna or any other favorite fillings. Add another platter of chopped lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and any other favorite veggies. Now let your kids put together their own sandwiches. Serve with some pretzels, a salad or cut up veggies and dip, a little hopeful but worth a try.

7 – Wrap It – Wraps are great for quick dinners. You fill them with just about anything. For a Mexican wrap cook a little ground beef, drain and fill wrap. Add some chopped tomatoes, grated cheese, sour cream or guacamole. You can also fill it with a little heated tuna with some corn kernels and a little mayonnaise or try scrambled eggs, chopped ham and tomatoes. Leftover chicken with cheese and lettuce works great too.

Hopefully these quick and easy dinner ideas will help you save time and energy.

Healthy Menu Mailer: Your Very Own Personal Assistants That Plan the Meals and Make out the Grocery List For You While You’re Spending Time with Your Family! You will get delicious, healthy meal ideas by e-mail each week.

Whether it is the mail being delivered to your door, paperwork brought home from school and work, medical forms, magazines, receipts and more, paper piles continue to grow on a daily basis. Here are a few ideas to lessen that pileup of paper and keep it manageable before it gets the better of you.

1. Include it in your schedule and set aside a certain amount of time each day to process paperwork. Open and sort mail on a daily basis. Immediately recycle anything you do not need. Keep and handle all important documents in one designated area. Divide the papers into main categories of action whether it is to Read, Pay, File or simply Do.

2. Make decisions when it comes to your paperwork. Do not put papers into a big pile and say you will deal with it later. Decide to do something with it now and take action, whether it is to read it, pay it, file it, do it or toss it.

3. Computers have not lessened the amount of paper clutter. In fact, in many cases, they have increased it. People are printing out a lot of things that do not have to be printed. If it is not critical, do not print it out. That information will more than likely still be online to reference again.

4. Use a binder system, such as the Get Organized Now! Easy Organizer. This organizer holds all the important information you need to keep on hand in one handy location. Binders are a great way to organize many types of paperwork that you regularly need to reference. Tabs and sheet protectors are just two of the items used in conjunction with binders that help to organize all your information making it easy to locate.

5. Create a message taking system. Instead of having scraps of paper and Post-it notes all over the place, use a spiral notebook for posting messages. Even if you do scribble a note or number somewhere else, you can transfer it directly to the notebook.

6. Check with the IRS, as well as your accountant and attorney, to find out how long to keep certain documents. Before you put the documents into storage, mark them with an expiration date, if they have one. There are some documents you do need to keep permanently, like deeds for one. When you go through your files in the future to purge documents, you can then toss the documents that have expired.

7. Evaluate your current magazine and newspaper subscriptions. Consider keeping only the subscriptions that you read on a regular basis. Donate old magazines to senior centers, shelters or doctors offices after you have read them. Keep in mind that more and more magazines these days carry many of their articles, if not the whole issue, online.

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Keeping a neat, tidy, organized home isn’t always easy when you have children. You want to create a clutter free oasis of calm; they want to take over the house with their legos. So who wins?Well, with a little thought and careful planning you both can win.

Here are some easy tips you can use to have an organized home and create the peaceful yet child friendly home you’ve been dreaming of.  

Before starting you should make a plan of what needs to be done. Go through each room and identify what room needs extra storage, what type of storage, etc. You should then invest in a few storage and space saving solutions.

Bookcases, under bed storage, hanging storage (for kid’s rooms), and shelves are all great space saving ideas for clutter free rooms. You can find inexpensive and fun storage at Ikea, Target or Walmart.

This is also a good time to reconsider room layouts. By organizing furniture and storage in a practical order it will be easier to stay organized and keep things tidy. If the kids are constantly leaving clothes on their bedroom floors, give them each a laundry hamper they can keep in a corner of their rooms or closet to make it easy and accessible for them to quickly throw the laundry in the basket.

Color code their bedroom drawers or toy boxes to make it easier to put away things. For example, cars and trains can go in a yellow box while legos go in the green box. You can do this for the sock drawer or t-shirts drawer by placing a color sticker on each one or you can even label it with a picture of the items meant to go in there.

Little steps like this can make the overall task of staying organized a lot easier.

Once you have your storage sorted you can start organizing by tackling one room at a time. Make three piles, one for charity, one for keeping and one for the trash and be ruthless. If you haven’t used it within the last month and unless it has sentimental value then you can either store it or give it away. Think of how much better you’ll feel coming home to a clutter free house.

Now that you have a plan and have all your storage solutions ready, it’s time to get down to business and start organizing your house. Here are a few tips to help you do just that and more importantly help you stay organized for the long term.

Recycle old newspapers and magazines – Don’t let them pile up all around your house, more than likely you won’t get back to that newspaper article or magazine column again so once you finish with it, recycle it.

Have a message station – Keep your telephone, pens, note pads, mail and calendar in one central location. Jot down all important dates and appointments as soon as you schedule them.

Have a filing system – Don’t let piles of papers clutter your house. Deal with bills and mail as soon as you get it. Set up a filing system for pending and need to be filed items, and don’t forget to file them. Also, take a little time and actually clean out your old papers and files. If you haven’t used something in a while but don’t want to get rid of it put it in a box labeled old files and store it away in your attic or garage.

Put it Away – First you need to make sure you have a place for everything in your house, then get into the habit of putting things away as soon as you finish with them. Teach your kids to do the same. If you take a few seconds to put things away you’ll never have an overwhelming problem on your hands. Make sure the kids know there is an appropriate place for everything.

Multitask – Don’t let precious minutes slip away. If you’re on hold on the telephone why not use that time to clean out your purse. If a friend calls for a chat, clean the house or fold the laundry while you’re talking. You’ll get your chores done without even noticing.

The Basket Technique – Works especially well if your house is set over two or more floors. Go from room to room with one large basket and place items that don’t belong in the room inside your basket. Then simply put the items back where they belong. This will save you time and help keep things organized.

The Evening Tidy – Each evening take a few minutes to put things back in their place. Try to do a quick tidy and leave your things ready for the next day. You could set out placemats for breakfast and pack the kids lunches.

This will help you avoid rushing in the morning but you’ll also feel good to wake up to a neat and tidy house.

Let’s see. You did the laundry, dropped the boys off at Karate and the girls at dance class, stopped at the grocery store for a few last minute dinner items…What’s missing? As you were taking care of everyone else all day long, did you remember to take care of yourself?

I know it can be hard to carve out space for you, since being a mom is a full time job, but taking care of yourself helps you have the strength and energy to keep taking care of everyone else, from your children to the snake your son left in the pocket of his dirty jeans. It’s all part of what I teach my Journey to Joy students. It IS possible to find the time to get what you need done.

If trying to squeeze out a few more hours a day just for you seems impossible, why not try one of these ideas:

1. Don’t be afraid to start small. It’s better for you to take five minutes to read the funny pages or your favorite inspirational poem than it is to not take any time at all for you.

2. Get up twenty or thirty minutes earlier than usual and spend some time doing something you enjoy, such as reading the paper while you sip your coffee or meditating. By the time the children wake up, you will be ready to start your busy day.

3. Talk to the other moms at your children’s classes and find out if any of them live nearby. See if several of them are interested in forming a carpool, so you don’t have to make every trip to drop off and pick up the kids.

4. Find another mom who has children that get along well with your kids. Alternate babysitting services with her, so that you each have a few hours of free time every week to go to the gym or get your hair done. Don’t be tempted to do chores instead. You need this time for you and you won’t feel very rested and refreshed if you pick up the dry cleaning, do the grocery shopping, and run the car through the car wash instead of relaxing.

5. Delegate evening chores like setting the table, washing the dishes, and packing the next day’s lunch. If everyone does ten or fifteen minutes of work, you will have enough free time to soak in the tub or read a chapter of the newest best seller.

6. If you cook all of your family’s evening meals and always pack lunch for your children, don’t be afraid to give yourself a break once a week. Pizza every night may be unhealthy, but an occasional slice isn’t too unhealthy for the kids. Eating the occasional school lunch can actually be a fun treat for children, even if it doesn’t taste that great.

Finally, make sure your family realizes the importance of letting you find some time for yourself. Speak with your children about respecting your quiet time, whenever and however you manage to fit it into your day.

Next Steps:

For more help, instantly access your Journey To Joy tools, for more time a happier and more fulfilled life. This inspiring eBook with accompanying audio recordings, worksheets and easy-to-apply action steps shows you how to squeeze more time and happiness into every single day.

Part of the fun of Halloween is playing silly Halloween games. When planning the Halloween games, it’s best to keep the costumes in mind and plan things that will work around them. Games should be simple with easy to follow rules.

Bobbing for Apples – A classic Halloween game has always been bobbing for apples, however some kids don’t like putting their face in the water or don’t want to mess up the make up that took a long time to perfect. One variation of this game is to tie the stems of the apples to varied lengths of string and then hang them up. Then the people have to put their hands behind their back and try to take a bite out of the apple. You can also play the game using marshmallows.

Mummy Wrap Up – Divide guests into small groups. Provide them each with a roll or two of toilet paper and see who can use the tissue paper to wrap up one of their teammates the fastest. The first one to complete their mummy using the entire roll wins.

Jack-o-Lantern Faces –  This Halloween game is always fun.  Hang a picture of a jack-o-lantern on the wall and have matching face pieces cut out of black paper for the eyes, nose and mouth. Place sticky-tack on the back of the pieces. Blindfold each player when it is their turn and play the same as pin the tail on the donkey except players put the eyes, nose and mouth on the pumpkin face. Younger children can do just the mouth, while older children and adults can do the entire face for more of a challenge.

Ghost Hunters – Cut out several paper ghosts and divide the players into two groups. Have one team hide the ghosts around the room. The other team has to hunt down the ghosts. Play continues until all ghosts are found. The team that hunts the most ghosts wins.

Ghost Bowling – Collect ten empty one or two liter soda pop bottles (use the larger bottles for younger guests). Paint the bottles white and decorate with silly ghost faces. Use a small playground size ball as the bowling ball. If you can find orange ones, decorating them as jack-o-lanterns can add to the fun.

Upset the Candy Dish – Place chairs in a circle, facing in, having one less than the number of players. Whisper in each child’s ear the name of a favorite Trick or Treat candy. They will become this piece of candy in the candy dish. Have one person stand in the middle of the circle to be “it”. The child in the middle will call one or two types of candy. If the candy name that’s called is matches the one the children are, they should stand up and try to move to another empty seat. Occasionally, the child who is “it” calls out, “Upset the candy dish.” and all the players need to move to a new seat. If any of the candy kids can’t find a seat they then become “it.”

Pirates’ Treasure – Fill two small buckets with sand and place inside a larger washtub or box. Bury treasure in the buckets such as small prizes or candy. Each player receives a plastic spoon to dig for their treasure. Divide players into two teams. Position players around their designated bucket and tell them when to start. They dig in their treasure “chests” until every piece is found. The first team to find all their treasure wins.

Halloween games are fun for the entire family. 

Would you like to quickly make creative Kids Halloween Costumes that you and your children will be proud of — for a fraction of the price of store-bought? Susanne Myers has co-authored a book to show you how — no sewing involved. Visit www.ILoveHalloweenCostumes.com to learn more.

Kids always have fun making crafts, especially holiday-themed crafts. Here are some fun Halloween craft ideas for your kids to make this year.

1. Trick-or-Treat bucket
Supplies: ice cream bucket, construction paper, markers, crayons, glue, glitter (any craft supplies)

Directions: Use construction paper to draw ghosts, pumpkins, scarecrows, etc. Cut out your decorations and glue them to the outside of an ice cream bucket.

2. Trick-or-Treat goody bags
Supplies: small brown paper bags, Halloween stickers, markers, treats (candy, pencils, erasers, bubblegum, etc.)

Directions: Decorate paper bags in Halloween themes using your art supplies. Put treats inside bags. Fold the top of the bag down and tape shut with a Halloween sticker.

3. Tiny pumpkins
Supplies: acorns, orange paint, and green paint

Directions: Lay acorns on a sheet of newspaper. Paint the bottom of the acorns with orange paint. After the orange paint dries, paint the top of the acorns green (for the stem of the pumpkin). Allow to dry thoroughly.

4. Spooky Spiders
Supplies: black construction paper, cotton balls or cotton stuffing, black pipe cleaners, small bowl or saucer, and a stapler 

Directions: Using black construction paper, trace around a small bowl or saucer. (Cut out two circles per spider.) Place stuffing or cotton balls on first circle. Lay second circle on top of cotton stuffing and staple half-way around. Insert 3-4” pipe cleaners on each side, then staple the second half of the circles together. Bend pipe cleaners to make the “legs” of the spider.

My Awesome podcasting buddy Carrie Lauth is celebrating her 100th Show  at Natural Moms Podcast.  

With her to celebrate is Jody McLaughlin of Compleat Mother Magazine and she has offered to give away several prizes.  Stop by and be sure to listen in as soon as you can