An Impromptu Picnic

This mom has a lot of favorite things, but I definitely love a wonderful, long picnic. At least I love the idea of a picnic. In reality, making the picnic spread, getting everyone in the car, and getting to the perfect picnic spot can take longer than the actual picnic itself. So today our family did what will become a new favorite – we did a impromptu picnic and although it seems odd to try and plan such a thing I believe we will from now on. What are mom’s favorite tips for a quick & painless picnic success?

Dont’ plan for a full day extravaganza. Instead keep it short and simple. Minimize the goal so that it is easier to manage. Instead of packing a full day’s supplies you just need to get the family in the car and grab the food.

Have one adult get all the kids on the car, so that the other adult can pack up the food that is needed.

Don’t get fancy. Ditch the tablecloth and nice basket and instead get a brown bag and start filling it with the items you will need.

As the food doesn’t need to sit around all day going bad, this also means you have more picnic choses.  If you aren’t going far don’t even bother with the cooler, and instead grab the cheese slices, bread, mustard, chips, bag of grapes, cookies, and drinks and go, go, go.

 

Putting it all in Perspective

This last week seemed incredibly hassled. I found myself constantly on the back foot never really getting ahead (welcome to parenthood).  I was running around trying to get the family ready for our “road trip,” planning a birthday party, and oh, yes, working and raising a family. Whenever this mom gets overwhelmed and starts to feel like it is all unraveling, one thing that helps me cope is to put it all in perspective. What are mom’s favorite ways to do this?

Read the NY Times or Watch BBC World News to remember the plight of others. In reading about, or watching the footage of, the recent cyclone in Mynamar or the earthquake in China, it reminds me of how blessed our family is.

Break the cycle of the day with a walk, book, or prayer. Honestly, I have found the way to put it all in perspective is to change both my physiology and my psychology.

Count your blessings everyday. It sounds cheesy, but I do think this is valuable. I remember once Oprah did a show on keeping a daily journal of everything you were thankful for, and I think there is something to that. Recently a close friend of mine lost her mother. My friend knew her mother was dying, but nevertheless it was inevitably still difficult when her mother passed. Every day I talk to my mom or hear the words “ma-ma” I feel like dissolving in tears of gratitude for still having all of my family.

Watch an episode of John & Kate Plus Eight. Honestly, think about it, two twins and a sextuplets. We have it so easy by comparison!

Ditch the list of to do’s and play with the kids for a bit, smile, and laugh. As a stranger in the drugstore just told our family “enjoy every minute of it because it is over in a blink of an eye.”

Blo(ah)g, Blo(ah)g, Blo(ah)g

Several years ago one of this mom’s favorite things to do was watch Seinfeld. I loved Jerry’s “Blah, Blah, Blah” comment and found myself frequently using (and abusing) it. Now in my family the new tag line for mommy is becoming “Blo(ah)g, Blo(ah)g, Blo(ah)g” – an obvious take-off from the before mentioned catch-phrase. Yes, mommy is enjoying her new found way to voice all the things our family and friends have been discussing for years, but really what is motivating me most is to share some of the insights we have come to after these discussions and musings. Sometimes moms (and dads) don’t have a place, time, or energy, to think through the things of life, and so I am happy to supply a few hints to help. So, let the blo(ah)ging continue!

A Place To Call Your Own

Blocks on the floor, links in the bath, cups on the counter, stuffed animals on the couch, and crumbs in the bed. Yes, once kids enter the picture, welcome to the loss of serenity. Saying that, I wouldn’t trade this place for the world. But I might just barter for a little place of my own. No mother with young children could really dream of such a thing (even our chest of drawers is invaded on a daily basis), but recently I have been trying to carve out a little “mommy space” and I have found that it actually makes me a better mom. This really isn’t a place per se, but it definitely is a frame of mind. So this mom’s favorite tips for creating “a place to call your own” are:

Arrange a hair (or even a doctor) appointment late in the day (after Dad gets home). I did this recently and took a couple minutes on either side of my appointment to catch my breath and quickly read the March (yes March) edition of Food & Wine magazine.

Get up a little bit earlier than normal. Not that sleep deprivation is a good state of affairs, but I find that if I can grab a few snippets of time in the morning before the chaos begins, I am more on top of things (and I might get my hair combed).

If you are so lucky to have a “nap-time” in your child’s routine – take advantage of this! At least once a week skip the errands you set yourself during nap-time, and instead take some time to read, breathe, catch up with friends, etc.

Make a mommy date with a friend sans children. Meet a friend for a quick coffee, walk, dinner, or snack. You don’t have to be gone long, but the break will do you a world of good.

Choose a family activity that you like to do. I love walking, so with family in tow I find myself crafting a place to call my own by doing something that I really enjoy.

Ditch the Baby Einstein cds, and when there is a moment of quiet, listen to your favorite music.

Finally, give yourself the permission to create your own place to call your own.

Keeping connected

Ever since our family expanded we found ourselves wanting to be more connected or our family and friends. However, we also found that we are not very good at it! We have close friends and family spread around the world and we find ourselves blaming post office lines, time zones, and our schedules for not being in touch. But really, that is no excuse. We desperately need to improve this, but a few little things have helped:

We send one package with all the birthday, Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Easter, etc. cards in them. It feels odd writing them all at once, but actually this has worked for us.

We use skype. This is a phone service through the computer, and it has saved us lots of money (and if your computer has video capability you can actually see the other person).

We found friends that use shutterfly and we post pictures for them to see (and right now they do have a coupon deal if you want to order picture gifts)

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Breakfast in Bed (sort of)

I know Mother’s Day has been and gone, but I still think that the weekends should be a time for breakfast in bed. Okay, okay, I know that sounds unrealistic, especially when everyone is running around doing their own thing. But honestly I think we all might be missing something here. In our family we have been trying to slow things down lately. How? By choosing to. We stopped trying to cram everything in on weekends, rushing from here to there to get everything done. We started to stay in on Fridays because we found out we could order a nice dinner to go. And most importantly we started ‘breakfast in bed’ for the whole family. Does anyone really bring me a tray on Saturday morning loaded with my favorite goodies? No, but we do all stay in our p.j’s and hang out, slowing making breakfast and mom still gets her nice big cup of coffee. So now on Sunday night instead of feeling exhausted we feel like we caught a little snippet of family r&r.

Blogging Mama

Okay, so really this is all new to me. Most of my time I spend working my “real” job in the professional world and of course raising kids and keeping the family together. But recently I realized that there is a whole new blogging world that exists out there, and I had no idea before I entered this realm. I didn’t know what an RSS was or a mama blog, but I have come to realize that this is the new place where community exists and I am quite glad that I have stumbled upon it. As I learn more about interesting blogs (especially mommy ones) I will keep you all posted with an added column on mom’s favorite blogs!

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Online Stores

If you haven’t noticed, this mom loves online shopping. In some ways, I never thought I would. I remember a few years ago when there was an advertisement for refrigerators that would keep track of groceries that were running out and then order them online for you. To me, that just took it too far. But honestly, lately our house is akin to “Cuba.” Why? Because we are trying to make what we have last and we try not to replace things at a whim. So why list so many products here? The reason I am always blogging about mom’s favorite products is because when we spend money I want it to go far. I don’t want to keep purchasing diaper bags, children’s toys, clothes, or other products because the fads have changed or because the item I purchased wasn’t up to snuff. That is how I got into online shopping. I started researching the prodcuts before I bought them instead of impulse shopping, I have found that this mom has had a high success rate in making her budget go further for less by having a little patience (big surprise!). So which online stores have mom’s seal of approval?

Of course, the one and only Amazon where you can buy almost everything you need! But also dvd rental companies such as Blockbuster and Netflix. We also now do all our travel booking through Kayak, Orbitz, Travelocity, Expedia, or Hotwire. We even buy our clothes with discount coupons from Target, Gap or Banana Republic (because you can exchange them or return them in the store). We also started to do a bit of online grocery shopping with Peapod and Amazon. And of course, we now have ordered almost all of our gifts online (where we have found more unique and personalized items through Acorn, PBS, iseeme.com). Not to mention we save on gas, shipping, and time, as most of these retailers ship for free. See my quick links to go directly to these sites.

As always, please share what your favorite online stores are!