BlogHer - Comments

The Great Outdoors

JeanineMB — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:34:32 -0600

Lately our 2 kids, ages 10 and 13, have been abandoning their electronics in favor of heading outside. They have set up a "treehouse" around a tree that isn't really shaped right for a real one, but they have a rope swing, a flag and some old planter pots they have planted with flowers. I don't even have to shoo them out, they would rather be outdoors. This great fall weather is perfect, too.

love Legos!!!

ajsahm — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:26:11 -0600

My boys love there legos! They long ago out grew there train table. I did not want it to go to waste. A few large green sheets from lego and now my kids have endless enjoyment with their legos! Thank you for such a great product that has entertained generations!

Jesus H. Tapdancin' Christ that map is awesome.

Maria Young — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:14:46 -0600

And I pretty much say I live in North Carolina, usually. Not because I think someone will hunt me down, but because I'm ashamed of where I live and I don't want to claim it. Haha.

- Maria Young

http://immoralmatriarch.com twitter.com/maria0305

Fussiness for Three

readsmuzic — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:10:34 -0600

I calm my fussy baby by wraping her up tight and bouncing her.

I calm my fussy 2 year old by tickling him, or singing a song, or reading a book.

I calm my fussy self by locking myself in the bathroom for a few minutes while the kids scream from the safety of their beds.

keep it simple and organized

ajsahm — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:58:59 -0600

I simplify my life but being ready for the following day. Know what i am doing for each meal. All the kids clothes sitting out and ready. Backpacks and Coats sitting out. I write my goal for the day. I always keep it with in reason. This helps me feel great for doing the things i had planned. I alos end up with more time with my kids who are home at home all day and time with my kids when they get home from school.

this works great!

ajsahm — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:48:29 -0600

As you all know the time right before dinner is the time our kids start saying.."mommy I am hungry!" and "when is dinner going to be ready?". This can be very frustrating as a mom. We are working to get the food on the table and the kids are at our feet. Well there is a great fix for that! What we do in our home is put fresh veggies on the table while i am cooking. They can eat all the veggies they want while I am cooking. This keeps them happy and out of the kitchen. Plus!..extra veggies in the tummy!

not my thing to befriend my exes

gorillalovesac — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:45:24 -0600

I myself have a li'l problem with being friends from exes. I have some ill feelings for those that I had relationship with in the past. Its not my thing to befriend my exes.

__Gorillalove sac__

Moma of three!

ajsahm — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:42:29 -0600

well as a mom i of three i have some experience with a fussy baby. First and formost pay attention to your baby. Most of the time you should be able to tell what they need just by paying attention. I found that my babies were not that fussy. I kept then fed and dry. I also wear my babies! I love it and so did they. Put your fussy baby in your favorite carrier and they will be soothed right away. It is natural!

I'm sorry for your struggles :(

Tessa_W — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:40:10 -0600

I'm sorry to hear about your struggles. And you're right, your health is definatly important! I'm a big believe in the fact that breast is best and there are very few women that are physically not able to breastfeed. But that doesn't mean it's always easy!

I wish that there was more support and education and information out there on it. I was very lucky with a mom who successfully breastfed 3 children. Plus I grew up on a dairy farm so I understood the whole lactation process more than most new moms do (not that's new moms are cows but there are similiarities lol!). It's just sad that we don't have the same community support and knowledge that used to be there for new moms. With the introduction of formula, a lot of the previous generation doesn't understand breastfeeding the way that the generation before them does/did.

Anyway, I'm sorry to hear that you were unable to breastfeed. Good for you for sticking with it for 7 months with your first baby despite the struggles! I hope that if you have a third, that things are easier for you. It's not an easy choice when you know what you "should" be doing but you're totally right, if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. Good for you for doing what you believe to be best for you and your family. It takes a lot of courage to do that. :)

If you have a third might I suggest that you try to find a La Leche League group in your area? I know that the group in my area has been invaluable to me, not jsut with breastfeeding but with supporting me as a mother and giving me the confidence that I need to listen to my son's needs instead of doing what everyone else tells me to do.

www.aimedattheheart.blogspot.com

Northern Illinois University

mgnmccormack — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:35:43 -0600

Northern Illinois University in Dekalb. A wee bit from Chicago, but not many know it.

gmail is awesome

Tessa_W — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:30:00 -0600

I had several email adresses. I forwarded them all to my gmail account and put labels on them as to which address they were originally sent to. If they were about products or something, I skimmed them then automatically archived them (don't need to read about a product I'm not using at the moment but it was always there to look at later). If they were personal notes (from family) I didn't email back during work hours. Pretty soon gramma stopped emailing me every day (not a bad thing lol!). If they were from clients I emailed back once every day (usually in the morning).

I'm a facebook-a-holic. But I don't get any emails from facebook. It's personaly stuff that I look at once a day and there's that wonderful little "notification" area in the bottom corner that you can click on to see exactly the activity you can reply too. Again, just once a day.

So my tip: label/sort whenever you feel like it, then only reply once per day. And give yourself a time limit or you'll go nuts. Sending off one or two line responses is totally fine because it's not like you're paying for postage and need to make it worth the cost. And if you have trouble deleting, archive is a wonderful tool. It's still there if you really need it (and you can search through it just like you would be using google search) but it's not cluttering up your inbox. I am at the point that I archive stuff that's not relevent to me now (for example, my internet provider automatically withdraws from my account but sends me a reciept every month, i dont' read it. I check the box and archive so I can print it for tax purposes at the end of the year. I just search my mail for everything from my internet provider and they all come up).

Hopefully you get some good tips and life gets a bit easier for you! The biggest thing is tha tyou don't HAVE to check your email every time "you have mail" and you don't HAVE to reply to everything.

The more I try to organize my email

sassymonkey — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:27:48 -0600

The worse it gets. I've never found a system that works really well so I apply a few filters and rely on a good search. It generally works better than my attempts to file or label them.

Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.

Buy yourself the mixer!

sassymonkey — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:22:55 -0600

The mixer is not your key to finding a long-lasting relationship. You will love your mixer all the more if you buy it for you.

(And I highly recommend using it to make pizza dough. I love making pizza dough with mine.)

Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.

Another idea I came across -

jennyonthespot — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:22:45 -0600

Another idea I came across - was from Elisa Camahort (@ElisaC)... she does this thing called EMAIL BANKRUPTCY... "On the 1st of every month I move emails in my Inbox to a folder for the month and start with a fresh inbox."

I must say, this is very appealing to me :)

Fingers Crossed...

BustedPlumbing — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:20:06 -0600

Oh my gosh, my drive to work every day is 28 miles EACH WAY! The 32 MPG would really help keep my gas costs down (and help save the planet), but still give me enough room to store all my stuff!