Not Just A Working Mom

There is much more than meets the eye

Apr 7

The Role of the Modern Mom

by Mom

Gone are the days when the typical mother stayed at home, while her husband worked to support the family.  Due to the change in economics and the change of the role of women within society, many moms now work two full time jobs; one at home and one outside of the home at a professional place of employment.

Cooking, cleaning, taking the kids to soccer practice, taking care of the house, and working full time can be very stressful at times for many working mothers.  However in this day and age, it has become somewhat of the norm for many women.  Time management skills, and ways to overcome stress, are two of the most important aspects of the working mother.

With children involved in so many different extracurricular activities, and work’s demands at an all-time high, working mothers see that careful planning, along with personal sacrifice are both required to ensure that things go smoothly both around the house and while at work.  With the need for a supplemental income, and in many cases, a main income, many working mothers’ jobs are of the utmost importance, and they have to learn to juggle the fine line between family and career.

The Story

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Jun 28

Balancing Summer Travel and Work Obligations

by Mom

How do you ever manage to balance both? It’s a juggling act, but hopefully with some good tips we can get our work done and enjoy our vacation.

Tip 1: Plan your time: Organizing your time will help you so much in the long run. If you know that you will be on a plane or stuck in an airport for thirty minutes here and there, then why not take your laptop with you and get some work done. It’s a great way to maximize your time and get the most done that you possibly can. Or perhaps you are traveling with the little ones. Naptime is a great time to get some work done while they get ready for round two of vacation. If you are visiting family, then this is a great time to ask for an hour or two to get some work done while they watch the kids. Chances are you’ll have plenty of volunteers for your work break. Just be mindful of when you will have down time and opportunities to work.

Tip 2: Plan your Wi-Fi: If you know when you’ll have Wi-Fi to get some work done then that will help greatly. If you won’t have Wi-Fi, then it might be a good time to invest in a travel card so you can get Wi-Fi anywhere. After all you are not promised Wi-Fi anywhere, and you’re lucky if you find it. If you know where you will have it, then plan your work around that. Nothing is more frustrating than to wait on a slow connection when you thought you would have better service. Then you become grumpy, and no one wants to sit by you on the plane.

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May 30

Help! The Kids Are Out of School!

by Mom

When summer rolls around each year, kids across the land rejoice, but many stay at home moms find that having the kids underfoot all summer can prove to be a bit challenging. So what?s a mom to do? Here?s a list of a few summer activities that will keep the kids having fun all summer long.

1. Day Camp

While overnight camp might be a bit daunting for some children, especially younger kids, day camp is a great inexpensive way to fill up their summer with fun activities. The kids will get to take part in fun activities like arts and crafts, and they will build friendships that could last a lifetime. Day camps are a great way to get the kids outside and enjoying just being a kid without breaking your budget.

2. Vacation Bible School

You don?t have to be a member of a church to get your kids involved in a Vacation Bible School. Oftentimes churches will have their VBS schedules staggered so that you can send your kids to more than one during the course of the summer. This is a great way to get kids involved in their community, build them up spiritually, and let them just enjoy being a kids.

3. Job

Allowing your kids to do summer work around your neighborhood like mowing lawns, small household jobs teaches them responsibility. Not to mention it gives them a little extra spending money that didn?t come from the bank of mom. This is a great way to teach them about managing money at the same time.

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Feb 28

Modern Cloth Diapering – Not Your Grandma’s Cloth Diapers

by Mom

Cloth Diapers are what many of our mothers used on us, and all their mothers had to use on them – and it was a lot of work! That’s not really the case anymore, because cloth diapering has come a long way, baby! The truth is, more and more parents are choosing to cloth diaper their infants – given the fact that it can cost nearly $3,000 to diaper the average child from birth to potty training, using cloth diapers is a great way to save money!

When I was pregnant with our third baby, we decided that we would use cloth diapers on our son when he was born. I had not used cloth diapers on our two girls, but being a one income family, we were looking for ways to save money however we could. I did lots of research on the internet and talked to a friend who had cloth diapered her two. I asked every question I could possibly ask (and then some!), and we decided on using Flip diapers, which consisted of a waterproof cover and a stay dry insert that went inside. We also had a stash of prefold diapers to use inside the covers as well. The covers are marketed for use on an 8lb newborn up to a 35lb toddler, based on the way that they are snapped to close.

When our son was 2 weeks old we started in him in cloth diapers and have not looked back. We have been so pleased with the cloth diapers, and we really only have about 2 extra loads of laundry a week. And, boy, the money we are saving! We spent less than $200 on our cloth diapers, and other than a few packs of disposables to have on hand for emergencies or travel. I tell every mom I know about cloth and what a great choice it has been for our family!

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Feb 24

3 Ways to Have Fun with Your Kids

by Mom

Parents all over the world want to have fun with their children. Many times we as parents are so busy that we just do not have time to just be silly with our kids. Many kids love when their parents play with them and get down on their level. Having fun can be all kinds of things and done in so many ways. Playing with our kids is so good for them and even for us. We get to know our kids on a different level and open up the line of communication because they are ready to talk to us because we spent quality time with them. There are all forms of fun that we can do with our kids. Here are some things that could get you started and make your kids see the inner child you have.

1: Hide and Seek

Many parents have not played hide and seek since they were little. It was always a fun and exciting game. You would look everywhere for the best place to hide and this caused a lot of thinking and searching. Hide and seek is and will always be a kid’s favorite game. Take some time and play hide and sick with your kids. Maybe go outside and make it a bigger game. If you have a pretty good size house, you could even play inside on a rainy or cold day. Hide and seek will not only be fun for your kids but will also bring back some memories to us as parents.

2: Make a mess painting.

Many parents try and have fun but do not want to make any mess. Well for a kid, that is no fun. The messier the better in their eyes. Go outside, put out a bunch of butcher paper. Get washable finger paint and let them go to town. You get in on the fun and will for sure be the most fun you could have with your kids. Get messy, it’s washable! After the painting is done, if it’s a warm day, go run through a sprinkler and wash yourselves off. That way you are adding even more to the fun you could have together.

3: Play a Game of Online Bingo.

Many of our kids in this day and age love technology. They have no idea what it is like to not have all the gaming devices they have now. Use this to your advantage. Online bingo is a fun and exciting game online. You can customize the games on new bingo sites like xbingo and singbingo to fit any age. Sitting on a couch, snuggling and playing online no deposit bingo can help them calm down maybe after a long day but still allow you and them to have fun. Spend some quality time with your kids and enjoy a round of Landmark Bingo tonight.

bingo fun

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Nov 19

How One Mom Keeps Her Sanity in Tact

by Mom

I never thought that being a mother was easy, and I knew I wouldn’t have much time to do anything but care for my kids while they were still little, but I always assumed that once they got a little older and were in school all day that life would slow down a bit. I’d at least have the hours that they were in school for myself. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I never realized how busy three school age kids would keep me. I seem to spend enormous amounts of time just driving them back and forth from one practice to another.

In order to get everything done that needs to be done, I micro-manage my time. I literally have every minute of my day blocked out. The problem is that pharmacist don’t seem to understand how important it is that I be able to get it in, buy Fioricet, Tramadol, or Seasonale, or whatever else I might need so I can get on with my day. I finally got so tired of the pharmacist screwing up my entire schedule, that I made the instant decision to start using online pharmacies instead.

I am so happy that I made the change to the online pharmacy. Using it has spared my sanity. Every time I have to buy Flexeril all I have to do is log into my account and place the order, the whole process takes only a few seconds of my time. The best part is that I can place the order any time of the day or night that I want, so I don’t have to rearrange my schedule so that I can get to the pharmacy while it’s open. Suddenly ordering my having to buy Ultram and my other prescriptions is no longer something I dread.

One of the my biggest worries when I made the decision to start using the online pharmacy was the length of time that it was going to take for the prescription to reach me. It turns out that I had nothing to worry about. The pharmacy generally has my prescription filled and ready to ship shortly after I’ve placed the order. It is usually in my hands shortly after I have ordered it. The delay is to long for me to get any prescriptions that I need to start using right away, but it is perfect for getting refills.

So far my health insurance company does not seem to have any problem with covering the cost of the prescriptions that I’ve ordered from the online pharmacy. Personally, I think they are glad I made the change. I’ve noticed that the online pharmacy charges less for the prescriptions than the pharmacy I used to use.

pain relief medication

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Oct 27

Electronic Cigs Make my Kids Feel Better

by Mom

I was always really good about my kids and my smoking. I was careful to make sure that I never, ever smoked anywhere that they could come into contact with the residual smoke, and I made sure that I changed my clothes and took a shower after smoking. In fact, I’m not even sure my kids ever saw me smoking, and if they did, it wasn’t very often.

That doesn’t mean my children were unaware of my habit. They had been with me when I bought cigarettes. In fact, purchasing the cigarettes led to more than one discussion about how adults have things that they can do that kids haven’t yet earned the right to do. I think we even mentioned how life would be better if they never picked up smoking.

Everything changed one day when my oldest daughter came home from school in tears. She was crying too hard for me to really make out the details, but apparently they’d been talking about smoking in school and either the teacher or one of her classmates said that smoking would kill me. My daughter was convinced I was going to die at any minute. Since she was upset, my other kids quickly followed suit.

I don’t think I’ve ever been put in a more difficult position. On one hand I desperately wanted to do something to make my kids feel better, and smoking was not something I should give up anyway. On the other, I knew that quitting wasn’t going to be easy. I don’t smoke heavily, but a few times I played with quitting, I became irritable and wasn’t much fun to be around.

My solution was to switch to a brand of electronic cigarette that sold vaporizers that bear very little resemblance to actual cigarettes. At least now if my kids happen to catch me smoking, there is a chance that they won’t know what I’m doing. I’m also using the best e cigarettes to help me quit altogether.

My plan is to continue to use the e-cigs, but gradually decrease the amount of nicotine that is in the vapor juice until I’m finally using the juice that is completely nicotine free. I read several accounts in the electronic cigarette review forums of people who successfully kicked the habit with this method.

Not only have I noticed that this method of quitting seems to be making me easier to be around than the things I’ve tried in the past, but I’m feeling better too. The persistent cough that has bugged me for the last two years seems to be lessening, my sense of smell is improving, and I have more energy than ever before. The Safe Cig Review said to expect these great benefits, but I guess I was a little skeptical. My whole family is happier since I switched and I am optimistic that sometime soon, I will stop smoking altogether.

e-cigarettes

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Oct 15

From a Cutting Edge Career to the Chaos of Motherhood

by Mom

I never dreamed that I would become the quintessential work at home mom. When I graduated from college with a degree in journalism, I was convinced that I would be the next Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters would just wish she had my class and cutting edge journalistic prowess. But somehow over time, my plans changed. I was working as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune and doing a story on local protests against the school board when I literally ran into my destiny. Among the picketers, the principal of the local elementary school came busting through in a frenzy, trying to get away from the screaming protestors before they decapitated him with their signs.

He wasn’t watching what he was doing and I wasn’t really expecting the principal to come out and knock me down, but somehow we collided right there on the asphalt parking lot. I woke up with a concussion and the most handsome guy I’ve ever seen looking down at me. “If you keep taking hits like that to get a story, Barbara Walters is going to have a run for her money.” Yes, he had me at hello.

Over the next decade, my career aspirations slowly faded as my dreams of a family grew. I married Daniel just six months after he gave me a concussion and a few years later, I found myself pregnant with triplets. It was a total fluke… no one in my family had ever had twins, much less triplets. When my three wild boys turned two years old, we were in potty training purgatory. I was so exhausted all the time that I took a pregnancy test, just to be sure that this chaos wasn’t about to repeat itself. You can probably guess what happened… I saw two lines and eight months later, I was holding my second set of triplets.

With three little boys and three toddler girls, my career went out the window. I manage to scrape together time to type an article for local magazines each month, but Barbara Walters can have the rest. By the time all of my kids are in the bed and Daniel settles in beside me on the couch, all I can do is turn on the laptop and play a few games at SkyVegas or Guru play Casino. I never dreamed that I would like online gambling, but with my career suddenly looking a little impossible and six college educations to plan for, I can take all of the casino bonuses I can find!

Instead of covering the latest news on Dateline, you will find me in my pajamas playing Mr Green Casino games at night. When the music from the online games starts playing, I hit my groove with Slots and tune out the screaming children who want “one more glass of water” and “some monster spray to kill the bad guy in the closet”. As Daniel deals with the kids, I can just relax and play Betfred Casino until I fall asleep and do it all again the next day.

bingo fun

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Sep 13

Finding Balance as a Working Mom

by Mom

All moms work. At home, at the office – it doesn’t matter the location, the old saying is true – a mother’s work is never done. Many women find themselves juggling the responsibilities of motherhood and a career outside the home, often wondering if they are effective at either. Achieving balance is something that can be done with a little planning and time management.

-Leave the office at the office. Time at home is just that – time at home. It’s been proven it’s easier to focus on one thing really well than several things half as well. If you travel for work, make the evenings time to reconnect with your family just like you would at home. Make your time away from the office time for home, family, relaxation, and hobbies.

-If you have a job that allows you to work from your home office, set business hours. Do your best to only work during those times. It might be difficult at first, but it will help to create a division from work and family life.

-Make use of meal planning and your slow cooker. You can put the ingredients in the slow cooker when you leave for work in the morning, and dinner will be done when you get home for the day, except for putting together a salad or warming up some bread. You won’t have to spend long hours in the kitchen and you’ll still be able to put a nutritious meal on the table for your family. By meal planning, you’ll already have an answer to the infamous “What’s for dinner?” question, and have all the ingredients on hand.

-Enlist the help of your kids and husband to help around the house. Even preschoolers can handle simple chores that will lighten your load and allow for more time together as a family.

Don’t feel guilty. In today’s unstable economy – many families need two working parents. If this is the situation you find your family facing, know that you can make it work. It takes a little extra effort, but finding balance might not be so out of reach.

Balance

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Aug 22

Quality Time with Family When You’re a Working Mom

by Mom

Every working mother probably feels guilty at one time or another that she isn’t spending enough time with her kids. The balance of work versus family often feels like it is teetering heavily in the wrong direction. Children, however, base much more importance on the quality of time over the quantity of time, and there are many ways you can foster quality time (and make memories!) with your kids that are easy and inexpensive.

Set aside one night a week for family movie night. Order pizza, make popcorn or cookies, and settle in around a good movie – whether it is a new release or a family favorite. Take turns letting a different family member choose, or sometimes write several movies on slips of paper and draw one out of a hat.

If your work schedule allows, have lunch with your child at their school. Kids love this! It gives you a glimpse into their world, and you get a little break in the middle of the day as well.

Make it a point to eat at least one meal together as a family each day. You won’t think it makes that much of a difference, but kids will point it out if it doesn’t happen! Time around the table is a great way to share what’s going on in each other’s lives.

Get up a little earlier, or stay up a little later, than the rest of your house to tackle chores a couple of days a week. That way, you won’t feel like you’re playing catch up when you’re at home together as a family. You’ll spend less time on chores, and more time doing fun things! Additionally, work together as a family to make the morning routine less harried. Lay clothes out the night before, have lunches packed and ready to go, even put things in the car the night before, too, if you’re afraid you might forget them! Anything done ahead of time will save you time and stress when you’re heading out the door!

Remember; make the most of what time you do have with your kids. Two hours of quality time will speak volumes over six hours of wasted time to you, and your child.

Family Time

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Jul 10

Taking Care of You – The Working Mom

by Mom

All moms work, regardless of whether they punch a clock or stay at home with the children. Moms need to prioritize taking care of themselves – often they are the one who is last on the list! Here are a few tips to help you take care of yourself, so that you can take care of everyone else.

-Get regular checkups. It’s a no-brainer for scheduling them for your kids, but you need them as well. Make sure the dentist and eye doctor are part of your regimen as well.

-Make time for exercise at least a few times a week. I have several mom friends who make sure to run for their health care priorities, both physically and mentally speaking. They all say the break it gives them is just as important as the physical benefits. Taking a half hour to exercise several days a week will brighten your mood, help you de-stress, and can help you melt away those pounds.

-Make date nights with your spouse a priority. Your kids will see that a healthy marriage is one that is a priority. It’s good for kids to see that their parents love each other, and want time to themselves every once in a while.

-Find a hobby or activity that gets you out of the house occasionally. Whether it’s a movie or pedicure with your girlfriends once a month, or a Bible study, or book club; or just grocery shopping alone every other week – it’s important to carve out time to be out of “mom mode” even for just a little while!

Most of all, realize that mom is at her best when she’s a healthy mom – physically, mentally, and spiritually. Putting some of these tips into practice cannot only make you a better mom, but a better YOU.

Mom Time

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May 1

Making the Choice to Go Back to Work

by Mom

Every mom has been there. We look at our precious newborn, and then we look at the checkbook. “We really need my salary.” “But I can’t leave the baby!” “Can we make it on one income?” All are valid questions that every family has to answer for themselves. If you’re facing that decision, you’re not alone. I worked part-time that first year after our first baby was born, until we paid off both cars, and had a little more breathing room. Since then I have been able to stay home with our children.

-First, you should think about your family’s budget and needs. Do you have large amounts of debt you’d like to pay off? Are there certain parts of your lifestyle that you wouldn’t want to give up? Will you lose your health benefits if you don’t return to work?

-Next, think about childcare. For working parents, that is a huge expense. Do you have family who can watch your children, or will you need to rely on a daycare or nanny? Will you be allowed to miss work if you have a sick child that cannot go to daycare?

-Think about the costs you would NOT have if you decided to stay home. Less gas, no commute time, no lunches out or having to buy work clothes, and less wear and tear on your vehicle. All of these are ways you would save money by staying at home.

Keep in mind that whatever you decide, it’s your decision. Don’t let well-meaning friends and family sway you. Only you know what is best for your family at this time in your life, and once you make the decision, remember that you can always re-evaluate as needed and see if it’s still the right thing for your family.

Working

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Apr 19

Working from Home – Can it Really Be Done?

by Mom

In today’s mobile society – more and more families are taking advantage of one parent (or both!) being able to work from home. The home office is a popular item on the wish list of homebuyers, and when they mean office, they mean a full-fledged office. But can you really get work done at home with small children? Is working from home really something that works? I say that it can be, if you set up guidelines and enforce them.

-Set office hours and stick to them. That way, you can discipline yourself to work during those times. This might be while kids are at preschool or school, or while a baby or toddler is napping.

-Set goals for your work time so that you have specific things you want to get accomplished.

-Hire a baby sitter one day a week so that you can work a whole day to either catch up or get ahead; especially if you have multiple children. Life with kids is unpredictable, and you may find this extra help is an expense you are willing to take on.

-Leave the office in the office. Don’t try to make work calls while watching a movie with the kids or sitting at soccer practice. Don’t stuff treat bags for the class party while trying to read reports or make business calls. We’re all guilty of trying to multi-task, but do try to be fully present, both at work and at home.

-Lastly, find out what your employer’s expectations are of you since you are working from home. Will they be more flexible on deadlines or on the workload? Will you need to come in to the traditional office on occasion? An open dialogue with your employer is key to making this work.

Working from home can give you the best of both worlds; earning an income and still getting to be at home with your kids.  It’s a win-win for everyone as long as you know your expectations and limits, and ensure that you work within those boundaries.

Home Work

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