Thought it was time for another update since it has been a few weeks since I talked about how things are going with just one car.

It’s actually still going quite well. With my son’s upcoming birthday I can think of some times when I would love to be able to run errands more freely, but once again it’s just a matter of better planning. I have to think about what I need in advance.

One night this week I know I’m going to have to head out to do the shopping for the party. I have to check my paper plate supply, plastic silverware, etc., as well as figure out what food we need. And of course I have to get cake mix since I always bake at home. Then the birthday boy gets to help me decorate the cake, always an interesting and tasty experience for a two year old. Read the rest of this entry »

When you’re just starting out working at home or even if you’ve been doing it for a while, you need to consider the downsides to working at home. It’s not all fun.

I’m fortunate in that things are working out well for me as a work at home mom, but there are times that I realize I’m letting things get out of hand and working too much.

Working too much is a very common hazard. It’s just so EASY to go back to the computer and keep working. The kids might want to play, you might really need to get dinner going, but there’s just that one little thing you really, really want to get done.

When I catch myself at it, I make an effort to do better. I take more time with the kids. Today we went to the park for lunch, for example. Didn’t quite turn out how I hoped, but overall we had fun. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the advantages of being an at-home parent is how much more time you have to do things with your family. There’s no rushing about trying to get everyone out the door first thing in the morning, clean and neat and well fed.

Yeah, right. Except when school’s in session.

In my opinion, in many ways it is harder for stay at home parents to get their kids going on school mornings. Not due to any particular failure on their part, but simply because many of them don’t have a morning routine. When the kids aren’t in school there’s little need for one. No rush for both mom and dad to get ready while the children do the same. It makes it a little more challenging sometimes.

But a good morning routine is very helpful, especially when it comes to encouraging good eating habits. Breakfast is a meal very easily skipped, despite its importance.

Routines will vary from family to family, but the most important point to consider here is the need to leave enough time for everyone to get breakfast. Read the rest of this entry »

Working at home is a dream situation for many people. The ability to be there for your family, avoid that miserable commute, be your own boss… lots of people would love that situation.

What many fail to think about, however, is what it really takes to work at home. Being at home often gets hectic. The kids are demanding, every little problem in the house needs attention, there’s the temptation to do housework instead of paying work or worse yet, to just watch television.

I’ve dealt with plenty of challenges as I’ve worked at home. The biggest was when my son had surgery for craniosynostosis, and then had at least two helmet checks per week, plus surgical followups and regular checkups. Hectic didn’t begin to describe it. But can you imagine how hard it would have been to cope if I had been working outside the home? Read the rest of this entry »

I finally did it!

I wrote a free ebook for the subscribers to my newsletter. It’s called “Keeping the Kids Busy.” You can probably guess what it’s about.

This is one of those things I’ve been meaning to do for ages and I finally got around to finishing it. I’ve had a partially complete version sitting for the past month or two on my hard drive, but today I decided to finish things off. Take that, procrastination!

The ebook offers a variety of craft ideas and resources as well as ideas for fun activities. The focus isn’t just on keeping the kids busy so that you can get work done, but on having fun with them. In my experience, if I take the time to play with my kids, they are better about giving me time to work.

I’ll be informing my current subscribers when I send out this week’s newsletter, so that they can download it too.

[tags]free ebook,freebie,family,keeping kids busy,kids,children[/tags]