10 Retorts to the Question, "The Kids are in School all Day, What do you do all Day?"

I quit working over a year ago and it was a bit of a rough transition.  I went through every emotion under the sun and I have categorized my transition into 5 phases:

• The honeymoon Phase - I was so delighted to be able to go to the pool anytime we wanted and not have to deal with needy customers on a daily basis.  This phase lasted for approximately two weeks.
• The "This is really my new life?" Phase - Once I got over the lure of the pool, I realized how hard this was going to be.  Since it was summer, I had to drag the kids with me anytime I went to Target or the drugstore.  They always complained about going, and I found that Amazon Prime became my new friend.  Suddenly, there was nothing new to look forward to.  There were no big deals that would close soon (and bring a big commission check with it).  This phase lasted for about 1 month.  I began taking a lot of naps during this phase because it helped me cope with my new life.
• The "I've got to find something to do" Phase.  - During this phase, I started doing freelance work at a frenzied pace.  I began yearning to have conference calls and I wanted a paycheck.  I even did work for free sometimes, just to have something to do.  I NEEDED to use my brain.  This phase lasted for about 6 months.
• The "Okay, my kids really are fun" Phase - This is where things really got fun.  I began to really appreciate staying home with the kids and my freelance gigs didn't seem as appealing anymore.  I learned to cook.  I began to realize how fun life could be when home with the kids.  This phase lasted about 3 months.
• The "I can rock this job the way I rocked my other job" Phase.  This is where I am now. I began to really think about what I could do to make my husband's life better.  I could keep the house as clean as possible, I could cook super yummy meals, I could make as many memories as possible.  This is when life really started to get amazing.  Unfortunately for me, the kids also both started full time school, and I became incredibly sad that my special time with them was over.  

1. I can read to the kids in the mornings while they're eating breakfast because I’m not rushing off to get ready for work at the same time and I can clean up the kitchen after they leave.  This makes nights easier because the pressure if off for reading to them for the required twenty minutes.
2. I can take the time to work out and make my body healthy and as de-stressed as possible so I can treat everyone as nicely as possible.
3. I can run errands during the week so I don't have to drag the kids with me on the weekends and I can focus on family time.
4. I can make healthy meals from scratch while they are at school and have them ready to put in the oven when they get home.  Plus they're yummy, which make my husband happy after a long stressful day at work.
5. I can make our home look nice and I have time to get it as organized as possible.
6. I can be the one who is responsible for paying the bills and keeping the house running so my husband doesn’t have to worry about it at all.  We divide and conquer.  He makes the money, I make the house run perfectly (well, okay, it's not perfect.  Sometimes we have ants and sometimes I forget to turn on the oven.  I'm only human)
7. I can take naps so that when everyone gets home I have plenty of energy to listen to all their troubles, put everyone to bed without being impatient, and I can help my husband navigate his stressful day and have the energy to listen effectively (something I couldn’t do when I was working).
8. I can get caught up on the non-urgent but very important things like keeping up to date with our photo albums so that as they grow up they can easily look at memories and find photos for school projects.
9. I can be attentive to the kids when they are home sick and not just put them in front of the TV while I am on the phone all day on conference calls.
10. I can make the most of days off and early release days so we can make memories even though they're in school most of the time.  

I know that one day, probably soon, I will get back to work.  But for now, I am thriving and taking pride in every single thing I do for my family.  It's important.  My family is important.



Also, check out my book!  It's about making the most out of the time with your little ones!


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5 Things Efficient (and Happy) Moms Do Every Day: Part 1

There is no reason that Moms can't run their households like a very efficient workplace.  They are very similar.  Both at home and at work we must prioritize our time, plan for the future, and check things of our to-do list.  I find that the more efficient I am the more free time I have, both for me and for my kids.  Not only that, I'm much happier.  With this in mind, I have worked hard to come up with ways to save myself time at home, just as I did when I was working at a Fortune 500 company, and you can do it too!
Get an Email Organization System Get a system for your emails.  I recommend using Outlook (if you need help setting that up, check out this old post I did with lots of great information).  The trick is setting up folders and filing away things you have done so that you can use the in-box as a to-do list.  Then spend 15 minutes per day organizing and going through emails.  You can even set up rules within Outlook so that all those annoying emails from Gymboree go straight into the "Coupon" folder so you don't have to see them in your in-box but they are there if you need them for your next trip to the mall.  Here is an example of my folders (notice how many coupons I have accumulated!  That's over 5,000 emails that I never had to sort.  They just went straight to that folder for future reference)

Get a blue-tooth Headset Purchase a head-set for multi-tasking.  You can fold laundry, work on dinner, organize files, clean out your purse, all while you wait on hold for the cable company or catch up with your Mom!  I use mine every single day, and it is so much better than using the speakerphone.  Here is the one I use.

Wake up Early At a minimum, wake up thirty minutes before the kids do, so you can get your day organized, wake up in the peace and quiet, and take a shower.  If you can even wake up early enough to get a little bit of exercise, even better!  You will feel so amazing if you give your body a little time to get some endorphins first thing in the morning.  Buy a cheap treadmill from someone on Craiglist for the basement and the kids will never even know you're awake.  Then take a few extra minutes to sort your emails so you have a fresh slate for the day.
Review your budget Moms should run the budget for a couple of reasons.  First, we won't overspend if we know what our goal is.  Second, we are the ones who make a lot of the decisions on what to get for birthday parties, clothing, etc., so again, it makes sense for us to take control of the budget.  The trick is looking at it every day.  I like to use Mint.com.  It's free, and easy to set up.  You can set up monthly budgets and then link to your credit card and bank accounts so you can make sure you are sticking to your budget each month.
Use your Phone for Notes Make lists on your phone like books you want to read, music you want to download, birthday ideas for kids, etc.  I like to use the "Notes" feature on my iPhone, that way it's always handy.


Helping Moms stay organized and efficient is a passion of mine!  I will be continuing this train of thought with a 2nd post about 5 more ways to make the most out of your days.  I will also begin consulting with Moms on getting organized, so if you're feeling overwhelmed with budgeting or emails or anything else, let me know!  I can help!

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15 Fun Ways to Work on Letters and Sight Words

1. Egg Hunt for Letters and Sight Words - Write words or letters on small pieces of paper and leave place them in eggs for a fun hunt!
   
   
   
   
   
2. Make Letters with this Easy Home-made Play-Dough
3. Write letters to friends or family or create a Pen-Pal
4. Matching Game - Write letters on several different sheets of paper.  Use Play-Dough to create shapes and then ask your child to match each shape to the correct letter.  Such as matching "Star" to "S".  Have your child physically place each shape on the correct letter.
5. 
6. ABC Activity Using Dot Markers 
7. Rock Letters
8. Hunting in sand for letters
9. Using glue and Christmas sprinkles for fun sensory letters and words
10. Letters with Home-Made Puff Paint
    
11. Play Bingo, either by making your own, or buy this cheap one from Amazon!
12. Play Scrabble Junior - It's a lot more fun than than we thought it would be!
13. Do "Homework".  Make letters on a page and have them circle each letter as you say it (This works especially well if kids have an older sibling and you can tell them they are doing "homework")
    
    
14. Cut out objects from a magazine and spread them on the table.  Tell your child to pick out every object that start with "s", and so on.
15. Letter Tree - Make a large tree and make sight words on "leaves".  Have your child glue the sight words to the tree and let them hang it in their room so they can see it often.

For more ideas on engaging your children and keeping them busy, please consider buying my book, co-written by an amazing Kindergarten Teacher! We give you lots of fun ideas on ways to work on fine motor skills, reading, math, science, and lots more.   The Happy Mommy Handbook: The Ultimate How-to Guide on Keeping Your Toddlers and Preschoolers Busy, Out of Trouble and Motivated to Learn.

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The 10 things my kids say all day (every day)

Well, it's 4th of July week and I'm guessing that most of you are off enjoying fireworks, BBQ, and sunshine.  In honor of that, I will keep my post short this week, since you have far more important things to do.
I thought it would be fun to do a round up of the most common phrases I hear all day...I suspect they are similar to what you hear in your own house.  Do me a favor, and tell me what are some things your kids say to you all day long too!
1.  Please Mom, can I have just one more chance? 2.  Please Mom, can't you wipe me just this once?  I'll do it next time, I promise!  3.  Mom, can you find me the bug jar?  I found another roly-poly! 4.  Mommy, I'm hungry!  Can I have something to eat? 5.  Please Mom, I PROMISE I won't do it again! 6.  But Mom, he/she started it! 7.  But Mom, why???? 8.  Can I play a game on your phone? 9.  Just one more minute? 10.  Mom, do I really have to take a rest today? So, Happy 4th of July!  I hope you have some wonderful family time!  

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