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Practical Tips For A Hassle Free School Year (Specially Made For SAHM)

If the school year started with last week, ours will only start tomorrow.. uh oh.

Are you prepared mommies?

We need to wake earlier, cook breakfast, prepare the kids, take them to school.. prepare their lunch, fetch them, teach them.. then dinner..and don’t forget to wash the dishes!

just thinking about it, makes you want to go back to sleep and wish vacation isn’t over yet? right?

Oh well, that was me a few years back.. but this year, weeks before the start of school year, I already trained myself to accept the fact that I can no longer sleep until 10 AM teehee

Imagine my situation:

4 kids.. 2 are grade school students, 2 will be home schooled.. and a demanding husband (joke lang pow!) and a few blogs to manage..it’s not easy, it’s NOT! and the school year hasn’t started yet! waahh

but well, I already made a plan for this year and hopefully I can keep up to it. So here are some Practical Parenting Tips For A Hassle Free School Year:

Prepare yourself psychologically. It helps a lot that you, as the main man, err woman of the house knows and understand the position you are in. Oh yes, you’ll be the one to wake up earlier, you’ll be the one to cook breakfast, wash the dishes, etc.. no one else will do it (of course not unless if you have a helper).. My point is, ACCEPT IT! Accept the fact that since this is your home, you will be the home manager.. and will be the one responsible for almost everything. Believe me, it really helps if you will accept that you have no time for yourself.

Make Time For Yourself. Now if you have accepted the fact that you HAVE NO TIME FOR YOURSELF.. make time! The thing is, if you think you deserve a me time but you never had the chance to actually claim it, you will end up feeling sorry for yourself.. trabaho na lang ng trabaho, walis dito walis doon, hugas dito, hugas doon..ni hindi man lang ako makapagsuklay ahuhuh.. got the message? Go make your time even if you think you have no me time. Make time for yourself not because you deserve it but because YOU WANT IT and they can’t do anything about it.

Create a schedule that you can follow, even for weekdays. As a mom, I can imagine how we, mommies love to multitask which most of the time ends with not being able to finish, even just one task. Create your schedule, time for cooking, time for this, time for ME TIME, time for kids. From there, create your routine.

Want to peak on my schedule? Basically, my morning is about exercise, cook, prepare myself, MAKE UP, prepare the kids etc..

Prepare Yourself Physically. And I mean, physically, like as if you’re working, get ready, take a bath, wear make up.. the works. It helps in conditioning yourself that you’re ready.. ready to face the day, ready fro anything that you will encounter during the day. In fact, I read somewhere (oh please forgive my memory.. blame that to childbirth!) it helps if you will not wear you usual house clothes, wear something that’s nice, something that you will wear when going to the mall or to the grocery. It also helps if you will wear a shoes. Remember, you’re a manager! And yes, make up, everyday.

Orient Your Kid/s with the schedule. Let them know what are expected from them. Let them understand their role in keeping the house less chaotic and of course in keeping your sanity intact. Give them responsibility too.

Procrastination is now you ENEMY. What you can do at night, do it.. like preparing what you need for breakfast, ironing uniform, preparing your clothes, cleaning the house. I works for me very well.. that I never go to sleep unless the house is clean, that’s one less household chore for me in the morning.

Establish a Study Habit. I sound like I am all about routine no? but that is really the key! a routine is very helpful to make sure that all things are done and that you don’t miss a thing. It helps to keep you more organized and less chaotic. It’s not as if, one day, you will teach your kid in the morning before going to school then a few days after, you will teach them after school. Establishing a study habit will give you an advantage in managing your time and not only that, it will also be helpful to your kid/s in the long run.

And lastly, keep your laundry clean (full post for this one coming soon). Basically, separate the clothes accordingly, specially the socks, the uniforms and the undies and hankies. It would be a lot easier to find these garments if you wash it separately from the other.. making it easier to prepare it for the coming school week.

Smartphones: Mom’s Best Friend

I never thought I’d be the next in line to sing the praises of smartphones, but I’ve come to the conclusion that they are a must-have item—especially for new mothers or mothers with young children! Why for this particular group? The diversity of apps you can get is just too helpful to ignore. I’ve even been trying out some of the new augmented reality apps and they’re blowing my mind! Here are the top maternal uses of smartphones:

Find retail stores without losing your mind—Whether you’re looking for grocery discounts, localpharmacies, directions to the nearest restroom or just a place that sells sunglasses on an especially bright and sunny day, the GPS features on smartphones are insanely accurate. Needless to say, you can save a lot of time in traffic not traveling the wrong direction on the wrong street during the wrong rush hour.

Use Foursquare to save some money—I wish I had known about place-based messaging sites longer because I’ve already saved a lot of money. I’m the mayor of three different venues on Foursquare and routinely get freebies and discounts simply by checking in to the place when I’m there. Also check out Gowalla and Facebook check-in.

Recipe apps—How many times have you been at the store gathering ingredients for dinner when you realized you didn’t know what the special sauce was made of? Or, you leave the store realizing you forgot the main ingredient? It’s hard to make chicken fajitas without the chicken! Fortunately, there are hundreds, possibly thousands of food apps that list the ingredients you will you need for delicious, inexpensive meals.

Augment Your Reality—Okay, this sounds a little out there, but augmented reality does have practical uses. Have you ever been driving down a street about to run out of gas, desperately hoping for the next gas station? An augmented reality app would overlay the nearest gas stations and what their prices are.

Yes, mommies use technology too and I’m here to tell you that smartphones are a must for new moms or moms leading a team of toddlers down a busy street. Use apps for shopping, meal preparation, driving, and insanity reduction!

This is a guest post from a fellow mom and yes, I am in tune with her in singing praises for Smartphones 🙂

Happy Easter!

It’s Easter here already and let me just say, HAPPY EASTER!

We’ll be having our first Easter Sunday party here! yay! was busy yesterday preparing for bunny ears, flowers, eggs and planning for this event..

Our front looks like this:

Those are the bunny ears we made and some flower from paper plate.. making flowers from paper plates is a lot easier. Today I’ll be putting the eggs for their egg hunting activity..(oh I hope my bagets will be careful with my plants).

Anyways, here are some inspirational Easter Quotes that we can ponder (from Quote Garden)

Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won’t stay there. ~Clarence W. Hall

The joyful news that He is risen does not change the contemporary world. Still before us lie work, discipline, sacrifice. But the fact of Easter gives us the spiritual power to do the work, accept the discipline, and make the sacrifice. ~Henry Knox Sherrill

Easter spells out beauty, the rare beauty of new life. ~S.D. Gordon

Where man sees but withered leaves, God sees sweet flowers growing. ~Albert Laighton

We live and die; Christ died and lived! ~John Stott

Once more to new creation Awake,
and death gainsay,
For death is swallowed up of life,
And Christ is risen today! ~George Newell Lovejoy

Let the resurrection joy lift us from loneliness and weakness and despair to strength and beauty and happiness. ~Floyd W. Tomkins

The story of Easter is the story of God’s wonderful window of divine surprise. ~Carl Knudsen

Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in spring-time. ~Martin Luther

And here’s a funny Easter quotes:

I lied on my Weight Watchers list. I put down that I had 3 eggs… but they were Cadbury chocolate eggs. ~Caroline Rhea

again,