An update on my pregnancy with baby #2 as well as a few poems to describe my pregnant feelings at the moment.
Veteran's Day Project for Toddlers
Tips For Starting Kindness Young
I recently had a post published on Today Parenting regarding teaching our kids to be kind. In a world where bullying is a major issue, finding methods to teach kindness to our kids starting at a very young age is essential. In this article, I talk about what we do in our household to teach our 2.5 year old how to be kind. The hardest part, yet the most essential, is being an example of kindness yourself. Sometimes behind closed doors, we forget ourselves and we forget that even though we are not in public, our little people are always watching. We start to vent and criticize and our children learn from how we speak about people. Treating our children and family members kindly is important. But it is also important to speak kindly of others and value kindness in others.
To see how we are teaching kindness to T, check out my article below.
Happy Monday!!
Emily
Happy Marriage Tips
There are a lot of things that go into a happy marriage. It's not like the movies, well some movies, like the uber romantic ones where everyone is happy all the time. People disagree, people accidentally hurt each other's feelings, people have annoying habits. Things like that don't suddenly change because you got married. A week ago was my husband's and my 4 year anniversary. While we don't have a perfect marriage, I think every marriage is a work in progress that lasts your lifetime, I do think we have learned a few useful things along the way.
Communication is the key. I know, I know, everyone says that. But it's not necessarily actually telling your spouse what you think and feel that is a problem. It's knowing when and how to say it. You might say, I tell my husband all the time to put his clothes away when he comes home instead of leaving it on the floor and nothing comes of it. Yes, you are communicating, but it's not in the most effective way. We'll use this as our example.
If you come home from work and you know you have to get dinner made and the first thing you see is your husband's dirty socks on the floor, your gut reaction might be to say "How many times have I asked you to just put your dirty socks in the hamper? It's not that hard. It's only 2 ft from where you dropped them." This will not be effective. It immediately puts your spouse on the defensive, and who can blame them. You are definitely on the attack.
Instead, don't bring it up. Pick up the socks and put them away, cause let's face it, if you are not bringing it up, they not going to jump into the hamper themselves. Although you are not bringing it up at the moment, do make a mental note that this behavior drives you bananas. Now the next day or a few days later, you might have a wonderful date night or even just a fun day with the kids. While you are both happy and pleased with each other, now you can bring up the socks. Instead of stating how you can't understand why such a simple task seems beyond him, choose your words more carefully. Explain that when he throws his socks on the floor instead of in the hamper it makes you feel that he does not respect the effort you make to maintain the household or it makes you feel that he does not take pride in your home. Make it about you and how it makes you feel. Your spouse may see it as no big deal, and they just don't understand why you get so upset. Therefore, they never make the mental note to stop the behavior. When you tell them why you get so upset at a time when you are not upset, they can really get the message. Out of respect for your feelings they can make the effort to change their behavior. Yelling doesn't have that kind of reaction.
Another key is to praise your spouse when they actually do what you have asked. So when you come home and find no socks on the floor, thank your spouse for putting them away. Even though in your mind, it doesn't seem praiseworthy, your spouse will appreciate the recognition for their effort. This encourages them to continue doing it in the future.
This communication technique can and should be used for all kinds of situations, big or small. It takes effort to not immediately fly off the handle about something you've told your spouse a million times. I can't claim that I have the control to do this always. But I can say that when I have, the results are much better.
Another tip for spousal communication is to make things about you. I don't mean this in a narcissistic way. I mean, when you ask (you should be asking, not telling) your spouse to do something, make it about you. I.e. instead of saying "please call the chimney cleaner today" say "Could you do me a favor and call the chimney cleaner today? I'm hoping to get the chimney cleaned before we really need to turn on the heat." When you phrase it as a favor instead of a demand, you are more likely to get results. It also makes your spouse feel like they are helping you out instead of being your servant.
Also, don't give tasks as a laundry list. 1 favor a day means 7 favors done in a week! When you give a list, you are lucky to get 2-3 done. Again, lists make you spouse feel like a servant, not a partner.
Lastly, be thankful. As easy as some tasks are, they are not necessarily on the forefront of your spouse's mind. You are not the same person and you prioritize things differently. So for you the chimney cleaner might be number one, but for him, he may not be able to work on something until the house is clean. Be aware of this and appreciate when he takes the time out to do your priority.
Marriage is work and communication is key. Remember, it's not just what you communicate, it's how and when you do it. As my husband can tell you, I can be demanding at times and I do not always put these tips into practice. But it is something we both consciously work on to maintain a healthy, happy relationship.
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At Home Workout, No DVD Required
I love working out with DVDs. It's fun to have company while you workout and the hosts can be very motivating, especially when you are getting tired. Sometimes, however, I want to kill 2 birds with one stone when I work out. Maybe catch up on a TV show or listen to a podcast. This is not so easy when using a workout DVD. So, I came up with a set of workouts that includes weights and cardio and doesn't require a DVD. The whole workout gets done in about 30 minutes. All you need is 3 sets of weights and a clock. I use the cable box as my clock.
First, I pick an area of the body to focus on: legs, or back and chest, or shoulders, or biceps and triceps, etc.
Then I pick out 7-8 exercises that I will do to work out this area of the body. So for biceps and triceps I might do: bicep curls, tricep dips, hammer curls, tricep kick backs, reverse curls, overhead tricep extension right, overhead tricep extension left and isolation curls. For shoulders, I might do: shoulder press, side raise right, side raise left, front raise, bent over fly, upright row, and arnold dumbbell press.
Here's how I set up my workout. The first 2 minutes I warm up by jogging in place. Then I grab my light weights and do 12 reps of the first exercise. As soon as I'm done I finish out the minute with either jogging or jumping jacks or quick jump rope type hops. When that minute ends I grab the medium weights and do the same exercise for 10 reps. I again finish out the minute with cardio. At the next minute, I grab the heavy weights for 8 reps. Again I finish out the minute with cardio. I repeat this process with all 7-8 exercises. This should bring you to about 23-26 minutes depending on if you are doing 7 or 8 exercises. To round out the 30 minutes, I always end with abs. In this case I will do say 20 crunches, or 12 lying leg raises, or a 30 second plank and then again finish out each minute with cardio. At the very end I will do a stretch and I'm done. The stretch I do depends on the area I was concentrating on for the day.
Once you've done this workout a few times, you kind of get the hang of it and you can actually enjoy your show or podcast while you workout! If you don't have 3 sets of weights, no problem. Just do 10 reps with the same weights for all 3 sets of each exercise. Don't worry about the specific order, just keep in mind the area you are focusing on and do the next exercise that comes to mind. For days where I am working 2 muscle groups, like biceps and triceps or chest and back, I like to alternate between the body parts. So after 3 sets of bicep curls, I might do 3 sets of tricep dips and then switch back to biceps. That way I don't over tire the muscle.
Try this out and let me know what you think. Need ideas for which exercises to do? Drop me a note in the comments!
Cheers,
Emily
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Halloween Hand Print Craft for All Ages
With Halloween coming, T and I recently made a Halloween spider craft. This was super easy and fun. We hung up the end result in the living room and T shows it off to everyone who comes by. It's also nice because it can be adapted to different age groups.
To start, draw a white or silver spider web out of the left corner of the spider web. Then flip the paper so that the web in in the bottom left corner. (This makes it easier to make your hand print.)
Next, paint the palm of your child's hand with black paint. This will be the spider. Form their hand print on the spider's web.
Here are the optional parts. If your kid is not squeamish about paint you can also do a white foot print to be a ghost. Keep the paper upside-down as the heel should be the head of the ghost and the toes should be the bottom. My son is super squeamish about these things, so one hand print was enough.
When you are done with your prints, you can decorate your picture. For younger kids who don't really draw yet, we used stickers of haunted houses and ghosts, etc. to decorate our page. Older kids can use markers or crayons to draw their own spooky scene.
Once the prints have dried, you can add googly eyes to the spider and draw on a ghost face.
This is a super easy project both to create and supply. Nothing you need should be hard to find and you may just have it all at home! I love it because you can make it fun for all different age groups.
Definitely, try it out and share your finished products on my Facebook page!!
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7 Tips for Getting Your Workout In
As a busy mom, sometimes its hard to take time out for yourself. We have so many other obligations and priorities that we sometimes put ourselves last. Other times, the way that we treat ourselves in not the best or healthiest. Our "me time" becomes have a sugary or salty treat in front of the TV after the kids are in bed. But, in order to be our best selves and the best possible mom, we have to put our own health as one of our top priorities.
Exercise can give you a high and give you energy to start your day. It can help you clear your brain and enable you to focus. It can give you the strength and endurance to get through a long day. It keeps you healthy and your heart pumping. It boosts your mood. If nothing else, it helps you shed unwanted lbs. So here are 7 tips to help you ensure that you get your workout in!
1. Have a goal of working out everyday - but don't be hard on yourself. On average, you want to work out around 5 days a week. Some people schedule their rest days. I'm not one of those people. I find that if you schedule your rest day and then something comes up another day that prevents you from working out, you beat yourself up for missing an extra day. I make my goal to work out daily and if something does come up or I'm not feeling well, I count that as my rest day. This enables you to have a lot less guilt.
2. Workout in the morning - I find that the best time to workout is before anyone else gets up. This means I'm up at 6:00 am, have a protein shake and start my workout. I generally don't have scheduling conflicts at this time and things don't generally come up. Therefore, it is a whole lot easier for me to make sure I get my workout in. I also have the living room to myself (aside from the dogs) so I can spread out and make as much noise as I want.
3. Workout at Home - Going to the gym is nice, but it requires a lot of effort and planning. You need someone to watch the kids, you have to pay a membership whether you get to the gym or not, you actually have to take the time to go there and come back on top of your workout time, and you have to wait for equipment or come early to make sure you get your spot for class. At home, these things are not an issue. A 30 minute workout will actually take 30 minutes. Once you have your equipment, there is no additional cost. And, no babysitter is required.
4. Have your equipment easily accessible - Set aside a space in your home where you will workout. This might be your living room or your basement or the garage. Have all of your workout out equipment all together, easily accessible in this room. I workout in my living room, so in one corner I have my weights, my stretch band, my ball, my yoga mat and my fold away elliptical. I also have one location for all of my fitness DVDs. When I want to workout, I just grab the equipment I need for that workout and I'm ready to go.
5. Be selective when purchasing DVDs - Have you ever purchased a DVD and then never used it because you didn't have the time or the right equipment? Do your research up front so that when you get a DVD, you are actually able to use it. My first requirement when buying a DVD is length. I want to be able to get my workout done in about 35 minutes, 40 max. That way I have time to get a quick shower in before waking up T. So, if a DVD doesn't meet the time requirement, I don't get it because I know I will rarely, if ever, use it. Next I look at what equipment is required. Generally, I go with DVDs that either come with the equipment required or makes use of equipment I already have. If you get a kettle bell workout and don't have a kettle bell, well you not going to be able to use it until you get one...
6. Get your kids involved - If you have a teeny guy or gal, do baby wearing workouts where you do exercises while wearing your baby in their carrier. The baby is your weight and you move up in weight as your baby gets bigger. This is actually fun for the baby too and some good quality time together. For bigger guys (depending on how big) you can still use them as your weight. Toddler chest presses and over head presses anyone? How about a plank with a toddler on top? Squats while carrying your little guy! Workout with your hubby and get everyone involved. For even bigger kids, get a couple light weights and encourage them to join in. It's never too early to develop a healthy lifestyle.
7. Set a workout goal - When you have a goal to achieve you are much more motivated to do the work it takes to get there. Decide you want to be able to do 60 squats in a minute, or drop a dress size in 4 weeks, or get through the whole workout DVD without having to hit pause. Wherever you are fitness wise, there is always a new goal you can set. Make your goals specific and achievable. Not easy, but achievable. You want to obtain your goal, not be depressed when your deadline comes and you fall short.
In the end, working out is super important to being the best mom you can be. You have energy to chase and play with your kids. You model a healthy lifestyle. And you will definitely feel accomplished when you finish a good workout. Try to add workouts to your routine little by little and you will definitely notice the difference in all aspects of your life. In fact, with that extra boost of energy you may find you actually save time in your day because you are able to accomplish things faster and more efficiently.
Here's to healthy, happy mommies!!
Emily
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Crafting Supplies You Should Always Have on Hand
Every mom needs a go to box of crafting supplies for when the kiddies are bored or the weather is bad and they can't go outside, or they have already watched too much TV and need something to do. Crafting with kids can go from elaborate to very basic. You don't need to have an art degree to entertain you kids with some glue and stickers and crayons. Below are some supplies that you should always have on hand for when the need to entertain your child arises or if you want to be able to make holiday or season related crafts without having to schlep to the store every time.
1. Crayons - This is like a no brainer. We had crayons in our house before we even had kids. We generally prefer crayola and you can usually get a good price at back to school season.
2. Markers - There are certain crafts where crayons just won't cut it and you really need markers to get the look you're going for. You can have washable ones and also some mommy only sharpies. Metallic colors are great to have on hand!
3. Glue - Whether you prefer, liquid or glue sticks or glue dots, this is a staple. For more advanced projects, definitely have a hot glue gun on hand. Remember putting glue on your hands and then peeling it off once it dried. Yeah, the good old days when that's all we needed for entertainment...
4. A Variety of Paper - Stock up on all sorts of papers including construction paper, copy paper, and card stock. If you want to get super fancy, you can even have a stock of scrapbooking paper. This is useful for a huge variety of craft projects!
5. Child-safe Scissors - Another essential. These are good whether or not you actually expect your child to do the cutting. You don't want to use your adult scissors and leave them on the table while you continue your project and have your toddler pick them up. Better safe than sorry!!
6. Paint - For little guys, finger paints are great and a ton of fun. You can purchase this, make your own, or use yogurt as your paint. (I'll give you the info on that in a future post) As they get older, washable tempera paints are great. Another fun option is water colors. I find that tempera is best for actual crafting, while water colors are good for strictly painting.
7. Paint brushes - There are so many kinds of paint brushes you can have! There are jumbo ones for the little guys and the foam ones. T especially likes those. Then there are the small water colors ones. Just go with what you feel is suitable for your kid.
The following items are no longer essentials, but definitely good to have:
9. Stickers
10. Glitter
11. Tissue Paper
12. Craft Sticks (or Popsicle Sticks)
13. Googly Eyes - My son will play with these whether or not there is an art project involved.
14. Contact Paper - Great for suncatchers, sticky collages, place mats, or just preserving your artwork
15. Pom Poms
16. Modge Podge - Great for yarn lanterns, collages, and a ton more
Finally, try not to pay full price for pretty much anything. Definitely raid your local dollar store like Dollar Tree and Deals. Then wait for your craft store to have sales. You can download the Joann's and Michael's and Hobby Lobby apps to stay informed on sales. Crafting is a great way to spend quality time with your kid, add to your seasonal and holiday decor, and just have fun. I will be posting some of T and my Halloween craft projects soon!!
xoxo,
Emily
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Prepping for Baby #2
Disclaimer: The Multitasking Mom is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Anything linked within this post are items that the author, herself, would purchase and all other content continues to be the author's own opinion.
At first, when you learn that you are pregnant with #2, you think: "I've done this before" and "I know what to do" and "I won't need to buy hardly anything". But, depending on how long it's been between babies, there are things you forget, things you can't reuse, and things that the first child is still using. For example, for T, we got a convertible crib which is now in it's toddler bed form. While we won't need a new crib for #2 (the toddler bed will be converted back) we will need a new bed for T. While were on the topic, he will also need a new dresser for all his big brother sized clothes.
Other things that may or may not be reusable are clothes. Some are too stained and damaged to save, others may be gender specific. So how do you check what you really need?
My method is to pretend like this is a first baby and download an app or printout a baby registry list. You can find registry 101 lists here: http://www.thebump.com/a/registry-101. Then check off the things you know for sure you don't need to re-buy for example an infant carrier, and infant car seat, high chair, bouncer, etc., i.e. anything that is reusable and not gender specific. For items you will be passing down, adjust the listing to your needs. So I will cross off crib and write toddler bed and next to dresser, I will write "for T". These are things we will still need to buy before #2 comes around.
Some of our clothes and towels and accessories are gender neutral. So they can for sure be reused. If you find out the gender of baby #2 in advance this can help you finish off your shopping list. If your second person is the same gender as your first, there may be very little to buy in regards to clothes. If not, you can sort through what you have saved from number one and then update your registry list to reflect what you already have.
No matter what the gender, we definitely plan to have a new theme for baby #2's nursery, so bedding and changing table covers will be replaced either way. We will also be replacing our baby monitor which T broke one day by spiking the monitor across the living room...
My favorite site to register on is Amazon's Baby Registry. They just have everything. We plan on registering for a few things for T too! We want him to feel like a part of the celebration and not be left out. We will also be registering for some items at a brick and mortar store as we know some people prefer that. (I can say that I'm not one of them, but we like to accommodate.)
Cheers,
Emily
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Make Dinner Fast and Easy
As a busy mom who works full time, sometimes its hard to motivate yourself to cook a full meal or even cook in the first place after a full day of work. We need go to ways to make dinner fast and easy. Sometimes dads are able to pitch in. Sadly, in my house that is not the case. My husbands culinary skills are not the most robust. He can boil water and make a mean grilled cheese though...
Why Not Add One More
This is quickie post to explain me being MIA for like a week. I have been feeling tired and run down and pretty much not like my normal energetic self. This is completely atypical for me. I eat well, I workout, and so generally, I am one of those super annoying always active people.
These last few weeks, not so much...
So, we did some tests and went to the doctor, and we can now officially say "We are expecting #2 in May 2016!!"
In a way this is nice because it forces me to take a break and take some things off my plate. For example, I will probably not be performing for a while or competing in pageants. I will still be teaching dance however, which is awesome since I need some dancing in my life!! I will also still have my nonprofit to run and my job and grad school. So still plenty to do!!
We will also be moving prior to the baby coming (fingers crossed). We definitely need more space if we hope to fit another person in our house.
T is super excited to be a big brother although he has no idea what that means. I think he just likes to say the phrase. Either way we plan to try to include him in things as much as possible. For example for the gender reveal I want to have him open a box and then either blue or pink balloons will come out. I know he won't know what it means, but I thought it would be a fun way to include him. We also got him a big brother book and shirt.
Any other ideas on including your kids in prepping for a new baby are definitely welcome!! Definitely put your 2 cents in the comments!!
Thanks for all your love and support!! More tips will be coming later this week, don't you fret!!
Cheers,
Emily
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Family Time: Mixing Work and Play
OK. So based on the title of this blog, clearly we're busy. We're parents and workers and family members and we have our own interests to pursue. We have bills to pay, houses to clean, food to make, and a laundry list of other things that we need to do in order to keep of family organized and running smoothly. All these things however, cut into the most important time we have, family time.
As I see it, we have 2 options here: do some of these things as a family, or let some of them slide. Only some. Admittedly, there are certain things that we can't let slide and aren't appropriate family time activities. Like paying bills. I have yet to find a useful way to include my toddler in that and it is definitely not something we can let slide. But a lot of our other tasks can be made into family activities.
Laundry, for example. In our house the break down is my husband loads the washer and dryer and T and do the folding and putting away. I always let T help me. Sometimes its actually helpful and sometimes its not, but we have fun either way. When I fold my husband's and T's t-shirts, T's job is to identify the characters on the shirts. Sometimes he wears special laundry time attire for this job, i.e. one of my husbands shirts. Another T job is to sort out all the socks so that we can match them and roll them up. He thinks its a game. He gets to work on his matching skills and we get to have fun together, AND the laundry gets done! Win-Win-Win!!
Another family time activity can be putting toys away. T and I play different games depending on what we have to clean up. Sometimes we have races to see who can clean up the fastest. Sometimes we put all the toys of a certain color away first and then move on to a new color. Sometimes we let some toys help us put away other toys. For example, recently Sulley assisted us in putting away our puzzles when were done playing with them.
A few other family chores include setting the table and dusting. T is excellent at bringing dishes and utensils from the kitchen to the dining room table. He also loves to dust. If he sees you with a dusting cloth, we demands a wipe so he can clean as well. We like to have dusting races and see who can clean their half of the table first. We also test each other to see if we can remember how to put things back the way they were. As long as its a game, it doesn't feel like doing chores!
Some things that slide: sweeping under furniture, sometimes the dishes, a full cleaning of the bathroom, definitely cleaning above windows and light fixtures. The thing is, I am OK with that. My house doesn't need to look like a museum, we live there and it should look like it. I would rather sit on the floor and play Legos than make sure my sink is constantly empty. Being busy means you have to prioritize, and for me, my priority is having fun with my toddler before he's not a toddler anymore.
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Toddlers and Trips: How to Combine the Two
As a toddler mom with several road trips under her belt, there are a few useful tips that I’ve learned that I though I’d share. Especially, with all the pumpkin/apple picking trips coming up, I thought this might be pertinent.
The first tip is about departure time. We have found it best to choose a departure time shortly before lunch. We pack a lunch, pack up the car and head out. As soon as the toddler starts to get cranky, we whip out our packed lunch and eat. This keeps him content a while longer. After lunch is his usual nap time, so we get additional quiet travel time as the short man naps. This process gives you a good several hours of travel time without having to entertain your toddler.
When going on longer trips, we like to plan our route and note interesting locations along the way. We plan breaks in our trip by finding places that only take 1-2 hours to check out, but are perfect for toddlers to get their wiggles out.
While driving, we make up games based on what our toddler is into at the moment. So when he was all about colors, we would point out the colors of the things we passed by. When he's into singing, we have sing-a-longs of his favorite songs. When he's into counting, we count the cars we pass. We also have special toys reserved for when we are out of the house. This makes them more exciting to play with since we don't get to play with them all the time.
While we are not cool enough to have a built in DVD player in our car, we will load a few movies and TV shows onto our iPad as a last resort. The best thing is to be prepared and have several options for your toddler. Toddlers are fickle creatures and can be unpredictable, but coming in prepared is your best bet.
Good luck!!
Cheers,
Emily
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The Liebster Award
I am very excited and honored to have received a Liebster Award, which recognizes new bloggers. The award is given to new bloggers from other bloggers with less than 200 followers. It’s a fabulous way to show encouragement and support to the blogging community. I began creating my blog in August, and I'm just starting to promote and talk about its contents because well, I am a busy mom! I was nominated by Eileen who writes an awesome food and family blog called everydayeileen.com! Eileen has great recipes some of which I have pinned myself, and her story is truly inspiring! I highly advise you all to please check out her blog site everydayeileen.com and like her on social media! She is awesome! The rules, or guidelines, if you will, for the nominees of a Liebster Award are:
Post your award to your blog. Answer the questions that were given by the person nominating you. Nominate a small group of other new bloggers you’ve discovered. Create 10 questions for your nominees to answer. Thank the blogger who nominated you, and link back to their blog.
1 What three pieces of advice would you offer to other new bloggers?
My 3 pieces of advice would be:
1) Just start! you can worry about making your site pretty and adding cool features little my little. The important thing is to get your content out there.
2) Be consistent. It's hard, but regular posts keep people interested and lets new viewers know that this is something you are actively working on. It makes them more likely to subscribe. Even if your post just says I don't have time for a post, you are showing that you are active and aware that a post was due.
3) Have a good mix of fun and content! People come to the internet for info, so you need to provide useful content. But every post doesn't have to be strictly informative. Share fun stories and show that while you have great info, you are a person too!!
2 How did you come up with the idea or theme of your blog?
As a busy mom, it just made sense to share what I have learned about balancing life, family, work, and everything else. I don't know if I'm an expert, but I have definitely learned a lot of tips and tricks along the way. I have always been super busy/involved, so some of these tips come from my pre-mom life, but all of it is useful now!!
3 What is something you would like to do with your blog that you have not done yet?
Eventually, I would like to have guest posts to expose my audience to other talented bloggers. I hope to also have the opportunity to post on other blogs down the line.
4 Where would you like to see your blog in one year?
In a year, I hope to have a healthy following and have shared lots of useful advice with my audience. I am also working on 2 books that I hope to promote here and elsewhere!!
5 What is the average length of time you spend on preparing a blog post?
Generally, about an hour or two including adding pics, and tags and headlines, etc..
6 How much time during the day do you spend on your blog?
I try to post about 2 times a week. I also send out a weekly newsletter which can take up to an hour to put together. On the rest of the days, I just come on to check comments and messages.
7 Has has social media helped you with growing your blog, and if so, what is your favorite form of social media?
Somewhat, I am still working on that end. My favorite form is Facebook. Twitter is too fleeting. You post something and its pushed down the feed in seconds. I also really like Pinterest for sharing posts.
8 Describe yourself using three words!
silly, smart, ambitious
9 What has been your biggest blogging challenge?
At this point, I'd say getting exposure. This early on, finding topics to post about is easy. The difficulty is getting these posts in front of the targeted audience, busy moms. Some moms feel they are too busy to sit and read blogs, so I try to keep my posts short but informative with a healthy dose of humor!
10 How do you motivate yourself to keep the blog up and running?
I motivate myself with the knowledge that I have something important and useful to share. Even if each post only helps one person, that one person is better off. I recently had someone tell me that they loved one of my posts and they would be using the info. Hearing positive feedback in definitely motivating as well!!
So, drumroll please!!! Here are my nominees for the Liebster Award, I really ask that you all check out these websites! These bloggers are providing some great information and I am really impressed with their content, and when you do check out their sites, share the love by subscribing to their blogs or liking their Facebook page, Twitter, etc…
Tassika, www.tassika.com - a motivating blog by a strong and talented woman and author
Katie, www.katiejoyphotographyny.com - a fantastic blog about family and photography.
Here are my questions for you all!
1 Please tell us about yourself and your blog?
2 What inspired you to create your blog?
3 What three pieces of advice would you offer to other new bloggers? (That was such a great question, I had to pass it on.)
4 What is something you would like to do with your blog that you have not done yet?
5 Where would you like to see your blog in one year?
6 Who are some of your favorite bloggers and why?
7 What are your current top 5 favorite things?
8 Describe yourself using three words!
9 What has been your biggest blogging challenge?
10 How do you motivate yourself to keep the blog up and running?
Congrats to the new nominees! These are some great sites everyone should go check out. And once again, thanks to Eileen www.everydayeileen.com !
I am looking forward to following these bloggers and can’t wait to see what they will be posting about next!!
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Your New Family Calendar
One of the best ways we have to keep our family organized and on schedule is to have a family calendar posted in a central location in the house. T and I created one over a year ago and it has been serving our family ever since. Ours is made of chalkboard stickers and it is posted on our dining room wall. Each month we update it with all of our various schedules. Each person has a different colored chalk to represent their activities. For my husband, since his work schedule changes every week, we write what his work hours are. For me, I work a 9-5, so i just write in when I'm off. We also write in our extra-curricular activities, like when each of us have rehearsals or events. T has his own color for his activities like dance class or doctors appointments.
Everyone posts their activities, so that everyone else knows what is going on. That way things can be more easily planned and scheduled. If we want to plan a night out, we just look at the calendar. If we want to invite people over, we can easily see when everyone is free.
A calendar however, is only as good as how accurately it is maintained. Its's easy to start the month and put in your work schedule or days off, and the already planned events. Where the difficulty comes in is when things come up during the month, especially when you schedule things when you are not home. Here are 2 things I do:
Use a family calendar app like Cozi, this way when one person adds something to the calendar, everyone can see it. It really helps prevent overlaps when everyone has a busy schedule or at least lets you know when both parents have plans and you are going to need a sitter. Whats great about Cozi is that if you are used to just adding events to your phone calendar, Cozi can automatically import those events to the shared calendar so you are not doing double work.
When you add something to your phone calendar while you are out of the house, set a separate reminder for yourself to add that event to the calendar when you get home. Often times we start the month organized but as we get busy, we forget to add things to the family calendar. Then when the day of an event arrives we are totally flustered. If you set up a future lunch date with a friend while you are out, add it to your calendar and also set a reminder on your phone for a time when you know you will be home to add it to the wall calendar. This ensures that your calendar is always accurate.
Now back to the wall calendar, I think a big bold calendar is best; especially one that is easily editable. While the paper calendars you buy at the store are great for knowing the date and having nice pictures, they are not so great for this purpose. As plans change, these calendars can get pretty messy. I recommend either a chalk board or a dry erase board calendar. These are not too expensive and they wipe clean, i.e. you can use the same calendar for years and years!
Here is a ready made chalk board calendar which you can get for about $20:Chalk Board Calendar
For our calendar, we just bought a roll of chalk board contact paper and cut it out to form our own calendar. You can find a role for just over $6 here : Chalk Board Sticker
As a final option, here is a link to a dry erase board calendar for about $10: Dry Erase Calendar
No matter which option you choose, the calendar is only as good as how well it is maintained.
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T's First Dance Class
Today I brought T to his first dance class. As a dancer, this was a day I was waiting for, for a very long time. It was also my son's first class experience without one of his parents with him. As a family, we are lucky enough that I work days and my husband works part time nights and weekends, so T is able to stay home and not attend day care. His one other class experience was swim class over the summer, but his dad was in the class with him. This time he was on his own.
As a dancer mom, I had mixed emotions. I couldn't wait for his first class, but I was unsure of how he would react. He had watched me teach class numerous times, but now he was the student and mom was going to off with the other moms in the waiting room.
At first he was excited to have space to run around in the dance room, but when class started he wasn't so sure. I stayed in the room at first to see if he'd warm up, but I soon realized he would not be participating if I was there. I took my first opportunity when he was detached from me, to make my getaway.
Conveniently, the dance school has cameras so you can watch your child from the waiting room. I watched as T stood by the door waiting for my return. He was intent on the class however. Soon he edged his way closer to the action. Eventually he stood with the group. By the time it was time to tap at the bar he was ready. Admittedly, he wasn't the best at following directions and was generally facing the opposite way at the bar, but he was participating!! I couldn't be prouder!!
This is especially noteworthy as he is also the youngest kid in the class and the only boy. The class ranges from 2.5-5 and he just turned 2.5 a few weeks ago. All in all i think it was a success. He already attempted to kiss one of the girls and came out of the class saying "T shuffle." What was helpful is that his teacher is one of my closest friends so he didn't feel like everyone was a stranger.
I can't wait until next Saturday to see how he progresses!!
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Surprise Eggs And Family Finger?!?!
This one goes out to the moms of toddlers and preschoolers. When my son was really small sometimes when we were out, we would let him watch videos on YouTube. It started out with us parents choosing Toy Story or Sesame Street videos as these were his favorite characters. Eventually, he learned how to pick his own videos to watch from the ones suggested. This led him to find the biggest baby crazy I never knew existed:
Surprise Eggs
You can find surprise eggs all over YouTube from all different channels and accounts. Some videos provide narration of the toys that are found in the eggs, others just provide music. The eggs are either plastic or chocolate wrapped in foil and generally feature various cartoon characters. Inside the eggs are small toys, stickers and key chains. Surprise eggs are difficult to find in the states as they are not distributed in the U.S.. This led us to have to order these eggs online so my son could open a few of his own. We have purchased a few boxes which we have given to him for special occasions.
On the other hand, the watching of egg videos eventually leads to watching videos for Shopkins and Mashems and pretty much any other toy that comes in a blind bag or surprise box. These other toys are available in the U.S.
These videos can be anywhere from basic to elaborate with puppets, animation, and giant eggs decorated in play doh to look like popular characters. My son can now sit and watch several videos of people unwrapping surprise toys in a row and be fully entertained. He now knows characters from shows he's never even seen because he's watched the toys unwrapped. He can even narrate a few of the videos with the host.
One time we went to a friends house who has a daughter about 6 months younger than T (my son) and she was watching Bubble Guppies. My son immediately started naming the characters. My friend asked me if he liked the show. I responded, "He's never seen it. He just knows them from watching their toys being unwrapped on YouTube." She looked confused; I told her just wait, her daughter will be doing it too!
Due to this obsession, we now have 15 Mashems at home several Shopkins, a minecraft mini figure and a few mini pops from Funko. When at the store my son will recognize any toy that comes in a surprise bag or box and proudly announce the name of the character. While this makes is easy to pick little toys every once in a while that we know he'll love, it makes it difficult to walk by the toy aisle of any drug store.
This brings me to my son's other YouTube obsession: Family Finger
This is a video of a hand and a song about the different fingers. The song starts out "Daddy finger, daddy finger, where are you? Here I am, here I am, how do you do?" They then repeat this for mommy, brother, sister, and baby. This can be very easy to learn for toddlers. Parents are on the fence of whether this is good or bad....
This video has thousands of versions using images of pretty much every cartoon character. So for example, there's a Toy Story family finger where each finger is one of the characters from the movie: daddy finger = Woody, mommy finger = Bo Peep, brother finger = Buzz, sister finger = Jessie, baby finger = Potato Head. The song is pretty catchy much to every parent's chagrin. My son has taught every member of our family the family finger song. He can sing this song endlessly without getting bored. Somehow he doesn't find it as mind numbing as his parents do.
Luckily, we are not alone. My husband was in H & M recently and he heard another toddler singing the family finger song. The toddlers dad confirmed that his daughter was also obsessed with the videos on YouTube.
Is your toddler or preschooler obsessed with family finger or surprise toys? Are they obsessed with something else from YouTube?
If you too have a child obsessed with Surprise Eggs you can find an assortment of eggs here: Eggs This is where we got them for the T monster and he loved them!! He also reenacted his own surprise egg videos...
Cheers,
Emily
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Pre-mom vs. mom vs. post-mom
Ok so the post-mom part of the title is a bit inaccurate, you never stop being a mom once you become one. I just mean to say post having your kids at home, but for title purposes, that seemed more catchy.
Today, I'd like to talk about why I think it's so important to be a multitasking mom, and it has to do with the 3 phases of a mom's life: pre-mom, mom, and post-mom.
Prior to becoming a mom, we all had lives and ambitions and we had a lot more time to ourselves to pursue whatever we wanted. We probably had jobs and families and all, but for the most part our free time was our own. Pre-T (my son), I worked full time, danced for sports teams, taught dance, took dance classes, was studying for actuary exams, and participating in community theater. When offered a new performance opportunity, I jumped at the chance. If a team practiced 3 times a week plus games, who cared. Dancing was how I enjoyed spending my time.
Now that I have T, guess what, I still enjoy dancing. Not only do I enjoy it, but I still pursue it. Just differently.
I still need to work full time to support the family. But my love for dance didn't stop just because I made a person. The thing about dance is your child rearing years are also your prime dance years. It's not exactly a field that you just jump back in when your kids are grown. Plus it makes me happy. I don't want to wait 18 years to make myself happy. So I adapt.
I still dance for companies and teams, but I choose teams that don't require as many practices. I teach at places that allow me to take my son with me and I specify when I am available to teach. I choose not to teach on weekends so I can have family time and I am available for all those fun weekend events that come up. I also select gigs that only require a few rehearsals, if any.
I make it work because while I love my husband and son and spending time with them, I know I am a better mom when I am feeling fulfilled. I am super lucky to have supportive family and friends as well. My inlaws are always willing to watch T if I have a rehearsal, my husband will bring T to my performances, and the places where I teach allow T to sit in class with me. Without that kind of support, I could never balance it all.
The emotional support is key as well. My husband encourages every endeavor I pursue. He never questions when I say I want to try something. When I decided to try pageants, that meant that our family vacations we're going to be wherever I was competing. My husband just asked when and where. He never questioned or complained or asked me to stop. We make it work.
This has a lot to do with my husbands pursuits as well. My husband works, but he also pursues acting. He understands the need to fulfill the part of yourself that was there pre-kids, so we work with each other so that both of us can pursue our outside interests.
Now back to the 3 stages. While it's important to pursue your interests during parenthood because you will be a happier better person, it's also important for after your kids grow up. If you do nothing for yourself when your kids are growing up, then what do you have when they leave? A lot of time and nothing to do. While it's perfectly acceptable to start trying new things at that point, it's nice to have something that you've maintained throughout.
You're the same person at all three stages. Your goals and dreams and inspirations may change, but you should never stop pursuing them. It's what makes you, you.
Love yourself and make time for yourself. It's one of the most important tasks in your multitasking life!!
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