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Healthy Mom Life – Managing the Household
One of the most important lessons that I have learned as a mom is that it’s not necessary to have a perfectly clean home. The laundry does not need to be color-coded and ironed and put away instantly. Some toys sprinkled throughout the house is not really a big deal, and if I let some dishes go overnight my house will not suddenly melt into a disastrous oblivion. The truth is, I am a terrible homemaker. I am better at building businesses and writing than I am at making sure the house looks spotless or figuring out something creative to cook for dinner. It’s not that I don’t clean, because…
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Parenting Through Change
Parenting is hard. Let’s face it, kids don’t come with a handbook and just when you think you’ve got things down, life throws a curve ball at you. Maybe you have a job change and you need to move or your lease got too expensive and you need to find a new apartment. Maybe the world around you changed and you’re just trying to figure out how to raise your kids through it all. Have you ever wondered how to parent through change? It’s not easy. Routines get upended, kids get cranky, parents get crabby, and the stress can overwhelm everyone. The past six months have been weird. I mean…
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My Secret For Managing My Children’s Messes
I hate to clean. Truly. Maybe hate is a strong word, but I definitely don’t like it. Cleaning takes away from more exciting things like playing, going on field trips, and creating projects. It takes me away from writing and reading and painting. And it’s definitely NOT fun. I especially dislike cleaning up after other people. Let’s be honest, when you have kids, 80% of the mess is theirs anyway. Dishes, laundry, toys on the floor, it’s all theirs. Because I hate it so much, I had to design the functions in my house to help contain it as easily as possible. Aside from taking a garbage bag and leaving…
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I Taught My Daughter How to Read
You can too This has been one of the most terrifying parts of homeschooling my daughter. She’s only 4, but has been showing a lot of readiness signs for reading. We’ve taken it slow, with little expectation. But I’ve struggled with the fear of whether or not I would be able to teach her one of the most important learning milestones of her entire life. I had never taught someone to read before. I have read countless books to my kids. I have taught and reinforced letters to my oldest son (who was in a charter school for Kindergarten and First Grade). But his teacher was phenomenal and did the…
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How to Live on Only One Income
Is it possible to quit your job and live on only one income? Yes. No. Maybe. I saw this question asked in a business group I’m in and it got me thinking about my journey. For those of you single mamas already rocking it on one income, you’re amazing, you’re a Rockstar and I have nothing but love for what you do for your kids. For those married mamas in a two income family who work outside of the home and want something different, this post was written for you. It can be confusing to determine if you can make the jump to live on only one income. It’s going…
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Say Goodbye to Toxic Cleaning Products
When my oldest was one, he licked the toilet bowl. Okay, maybe not the bowl itself. But he got a good glob of those blue gel toilet cleaner things and ate it. Not only was I grossed out, but I was also terrified. He was our first child, and I had no idea what I was dealing with. I had to call poison control because I didn’t know if he needed his stomach pumped if the stuff would burn his esophagus, or what. I had my cleaners high up and away so he couldn’t reach them, but this was unexpected. Who would’ve thought that a one-year-old would eat goo out…
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Work From Home Opportunities for Homeschooling Moms
It's possible to homeschool even if you need to keep working. Discover some options that could help you make the switch.
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How do I Run Businesses AND Homeschool?
It’s possible to homeschool, run a business, and get time for yourself without losing your mind. People have asked me how I do it all. How can I run a blog, a business, homeschool, and keep my sanity? The answer will surprise you. First of all, I don’t do it all. And no, I don’t have a ton of disposable income (yet) to hire out everything. I try (sometimes imperfectly) to live by the following principle: You can’t do everything, but you can do the things that matter the most. It’s not a bible verse or a word from God. It’s a common-sense mindset that has freed me to say…
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Confessions of a Crunchy Mama
I never imagined being a “crunchy mom”. I loved the smell of bleach, I owned at least 10 different scents of body sprays (Hello Love Spell!), and I loved my dryer sheets. That fresh laundry scent. Mmm. I used to silently mock people who preferred organic food, natural deodorant, and who dried their clothes outdoors. I thought they were strange, pretentious, or in a hippie cult. Boy, was I judgmental! Little did I know that their choices were based on an understanding that things in nature are far better for our bodies than those created in a chemistry lab. They understood than many things we “can’t live without” were causing…
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God Gives Us More Than We Can Handle
We are often told that God never gives us more than we can handle. Discover how God does in fact give us more than we can handle to show us that he can.