Real Life Solutions

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.

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

What Mom hasn’t dreamed about having more time to herself? Moms are great at organizing their time each day to make sure that the household runs smoothly and the children’s needs are met; but they lack in the simple skill of setting time aside just for them.

Without their own “Me” time, Mom’s face burnout and stress. This can ultimately affect your spouse and children as well, so it’s important to find that Mom time for yourself and keep your sanity as well as your family’s. There are many ideas you can use to incorporate Mom time into your life and here are some of them:

Mothers’ Day Out – There are many childcare centers that provide a Mothers’ Day Out program. These programs don’t require that your child be registered for daily care, so you can use it only as the need arises. This is a perfect solution for mom time, because this allows you an hour or two a week to shop, hang out with friends or just pampering yourself.

Play Dates – Take a look at who your child’s friends are. Will their moms be willing to join you in a play date group? The moms in these groups can trade off and watch the other children while those moms get a short break. When it’s your turn, you return the favor and watch their children while they take some time for their own short break.

Tea Time – Taking even a short break during the day can be enough to recharge your batteries. See if you can keep your children entertained with a movie or some kind of game they can play amongst themselves. While they’re busy, you can sit down and enjoy a cup of tea or a drink of your choice. Take those couple of minutes to just sit back and enjoy a peaceful moment to yourself.

Date with Dad – It’s important for the kids to spend some quality time with dad. Why not suggest he take them out for a few hours, while you stay home and relax. The kids can go on an adventure with dad and you can stay home and appreciate the quiet atmosphere that you don’t normally experience.

Mothers’ Helper – Ever thought of having another person to help you out a couple of hours a week? If you don’t feel comfortable leaving your children with a sitter; consider having a sitter come in while you’re there. Some young teenagers that are fresh out of babysitting courses can use some experience before they go off on their own. This would be the perfect way to relieve you of some of your motherly duties and enable you to be just a “supervisor” of sorts while the sitter learns the trade.

These are only a few examples of what you can do get some time for yourself. Check with other moms and see what they do for their own Mom time. As a mom, you’ve done a great job with your family, but don’t neglect yourself in the process. Mom time is not only something you need, but deserve as well.

For more help, visit Real Life Guidance for a happier and more fulfilled you.

What an awesome weekend!  I spent Saturday with the kids running errands and then we hit a community fair and yesterday I met as friend for Movie and Lunch yesterday. We saw Righteous Kill (Al Pachino and Robert DiNero) and had a great time.

Here we are on Monday and its time to get back to the “Real World”  As always, the 1st step I take in organizing my week is to carve  some time out to get cozy with my BlackBerry on Sunday evenings and review the upcoming week and add in my appointments as needed.  I’m an lean mean organizing machine and I find that if I take a look at EACH day of the upcoming week and make sure to move items around so that they aren’t all piled up on one day — it makes my week much more manageable.  Also, the fact that I love to outsource (both at home and within my online businesses) makes it great.

On my list of things to accomplish this week are:

1. Monday – Re-connect with my awesome VA and be sure that we are on the same page.  She emails me each Friday with her list of things that she has completed and I always use Mondays to reconnect with her and check my list – and be sure that she has room for me (smile).   
2. Monday - Have you seen the new look at Parenting My Teen lately? Well a new show airs today and I will be sure to send an email out to my list letting them know they  I have some “ear candy” for for them .      
3. Tuesday - Hit the grocery store (I love to grocery shop)  and I shop every OR every other Tuesday.  I created my meal plan on Saturday and I already have all the fixins for this week but I make a weekly Tuesday trip to the grocery store using the coupons and ideas I get out of the Sunday paper.
4. Wednesday - I’ve declared Wednesdays content and guest blog days.  I will spent time adding content to my Real Life Solutions site and posting to all of the awesome guest blogs that I belong to. 
5. Thursday – Coaching the Elementary School Girls On The Run Team.   I have a team of 15 3rd – 6th graders and we are training to run a 5K in December

Daily:

1. Dont go to be bed mad or with a dirty kitchen
2. Wipe the bathroom sinks down with a Clorox Wipe before leaving out of the house each morning
3. Pick Isreal up from Softball Practice
4. Smile, Meditate and Pray

Every Monday & Tuesday

1. Get Isaac off to Tae Kwon Do

“But Mom, I don’t want to do my homework now”, “This is going to take me all night to finish”.  Sound familiar?…  I think we as parents have probably heard every excuse in the book to prolong the homework routine.

Battles over reading, writing, and arithmetic too often drive a wedge between parents and their children. Many times these conflicts give the child a negative attitude towards homework in general and it usually leaves the parents wondering, “What are we going to do with this situation?”

One of my favorite tips for encouraging good homework ethics in the home is that the parents schedule the same time each day for Homework studies. Also, use your child’s homework time as a time for you to model the importance of learning by simply opening a book and reading it for a few moments either along-side your child or in a nearby room.

At times, getting your child to complete homework without a fuss can be a struggle. So, here are some tips that you can use to help make the homework routine at your home go a tad smoother: http://www.reallifesolutions.net/family/homework.html

P.S. Here is the Complete Guide To Encouraging Good Study Habits And Ending The Homework Wars it is a wonderful resource for all parents of school-age children: http://www.reallifesolutions.net/homework-help.HTML

One precious commodity that everyone has a problem using wisely is time. One thing is for sure – we all have the same 24 hours in a day – no more, no less. However, there are things you can do to make the most of your day so that you can accomplish a lot yet still manage to have some free time to do things that you enjoy.

Make a plan and write it down. Make it a habit to write a daily list of things to do and things you need. Life gets so busy sometimes especially if you have kids. It is going to be helpful to have those lists handy. You can easily save an extra trip to the store if you have a list of things to buy. You can also figure out how you can run all your errands so that you do not have to drive back and forth. Try to shop in the evenings when stores are less busy. There is no need to waste an hour standing in line when you can do something more productive with that time. Don’t care to stand in line? Try shopping online.

Plan your meals. You can use a blank monthly or weekly calendar to list down your meals for the upcoming week. Once you have the meals figured out, it will be easier to come up with a shopping list based on the meals. Keep your planned meals posted on the refrigerator door so you know what needs to be prepared. Even if it is tempting to sway off the planned meals, do your best to stick to it – you can save lots of money this way and keep with in your budget.

Shop in bulk. If space for groceries is not an issue, plan to shop in bulk. This will allow you to save time because you do not have to keep on going to the grocery store. You also save money because buying in bulk costs less in the long run.

Figure out your best bill payment option. If you have the means, set up bill payment electronically. Writing checks may seem like a simple thing but you can save time writing checks for bills when you pay electronically. If you can’t pay bills electronically, set up a workstation complete with all the supplies you need when paying bills like: your checkbook, envelopes, stamps, pens, and a calendar. If your workstation is stocked and organized, then you won’t waste time searching for supplies you need.

Do a little housework when you can and don’t let work pile up. If you do a bit of housework each day, then you do not have to spend an entire weekend cleaning or catching up on housework. Laundry is one thing that easily piles up. Do a load or two each day and when you can, put the clean clothes away as soon as possible. Picking up around the house and making sure things have their own place will lessen the stress when it’s time to clean up. Do these and you are able to enjoy more family time.

Stay organized. Spend some time organizing your house. This will take time but will be well worth it. Give everything it’s own place and make sure that it makes sense. For example, have hooks near your front door for keys, umbrellas and hats. This way you can hang them as soon as you come in. Hold a family meeting to let everyone know where things belong.

Applying the tips mentioned above will definitely help moms save time and enjoy their family a little bit more.

Being a mom is extremely rewarding, but it’s challenging. Get the help you need at Real Life Guidance. It’s your place for instant downloadable help for moms, day or night.

you need some Busy Mom Survival Skills!

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    * Cut Your Expenses And Save Money, Without Feeling Any Sacrifices!
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    * And Other Important Mom-Survival Skills.

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Don’t wait — Back-To-School Time is around this corner. This could be just what you need, to get your home running smoothly this school year.

Every family should incorporate money saving ideas into the picture. You have a budget, no matter what their financial status is. A budget tells you exactly how much your have coming in, and how much goes out on a monthly basis for the absolute necessities like housing, food, utilities, insurance, transportation and health care.

But what about the future?  That’s another place where a budget comes in handy. When you’ve allotted a portion of the household’s weekly income to the necessities, what’s left over is your discretionary spending amount. These are the funds available to you for short-term expenses, or long-term investments, like your children’s education, and your own retirement funds.

Every family should incorporate money saving ideas into the picture. You have a budget, no matter what their financial status is. A budget tells you exactly how much your have coming in, and how much goes out on a monthly basis for the absolute necessities like housing, food, utilities, insurance, transportation and health care. But what about the future?That’s another place where a budget comes in handy. When you’ve allotted a portion of the household’s weekly income to the necessities, what’s left over is your discretionary spending amount. These are the funds available to you for short-term expenses, or long-term investments, like your children’s education, and your own retirement funds.When the children are growing and requiring more in the way of expenditures, there might not be a lot left over. But even 5% of your income can be a healthy start on an education fund. Extras like bonuses or perhaps half the amount of a raise, will make those future savings grow. Since they aren’t in the budget to start with, they won’t be missed, and you’ll still have a portion of the unexpected income to add to your regular budget.Consider financial counseling at your banking institution, or from a professional. They are often the best sources for learning how to get the most out of the dollars you have to save, and the most out of the future benefits they are going to earn for you. 

Just yesterday I returned home from a lovely summer family vacation.  My husband and I packed up the kids and flew to Orlando, Florida to hang out with Mickey Mouse and his friends at Disney World (smile).  We all had a marvelous time and it was great to escape the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives. 

I hope that you and yours are enjoying your summer so far.  As I am sure you already know, balancing work and family is certainly a challenge and many mom struggle with it during the summer months when the kids are home from school.  Well I have an amazing freebie that I think you will really enjoy and use.  Its called The Moms Stress Pack and it is filled with great resources for moms to help reduce summer stress.

You can download your own Stress Pack here and  gain instant access to your freebies.

By clicking the link above you will gain access to kids summer activities, family friendly summer recipes, summer exercises for moms and more. My son and I will be making Banana Caterpillars this week.  The recipe for that is on page 9 of the Easy Summer Meal Ideas Freebie.

I wanted to share this great online resource with you called My Out of Control Teen: http://www.parentingmyteen.com/Out-of-Control.HTML

Don’t let the title fool you. Your teen doesn’t need to be totally out of control for you to reap the benefits of this great program because it is great for any parent of strong-willed children.

This program is an online parent support (OPS) system that includes the following:

• My Out-Of-Control Teen eBook (which contains 150 proven techniques to use with your strong-willed teen)
• Full access to Bonus eBooks Site
• Live audio recordings you can listen to online
• Power Point Presentations and Videos you can viewonline
• Full access to OPS Website

Best of all, it is at a great low price and comes with a no hassle money-back guarantee. Visit My Out Of Control Teen today and try it free!