The Mom Challenge: Week 15 Create healthy dental habits

Find all of the other challenges here.
One of our jobs as parents is to teach our children how to take care of themselves. But also to create healthy habits that will take our kids into a healthy adult life. So this week we the challenge is to make sure we are creating healthy dental habits.
When I first started writing this I have to admit – honestly, I don’t know many dental tidbits for kids. Brush teeth. Go to the dentist. Eat less sugar. And that’s about it. So I set out to do some research. I learned quite a bit – hopefully something will be new to you too!
* Don’t wait until there is a problem to take your child to the dentist for the first time. The American Dental Association suggests taking your child to the dentist within 6 months of getting their 1st tooth and no later than their 1st birthday. After that you should go every 6 months.
*Limit sippy cups to mealtime and snack time. And have your child drink/swish with water after any sugary drinks (including juice!)
*Use a non fluoride toothpaste until your child is old enough to spit out the toothpaste. Make sure you explain that swallowing the toothpaste isn’t good!
* Once permanent teeth come in break the thumb sucking habit! It could lea to misalignment of teeth.
* Pacifiers can also interfere with normal tooth and jaw development.
* Skip the soda! Did you know 20% of 1and 2 year olds consume soda everyday. Don’t start the soda habit. Our dentist suggested milk at meals, 100% fruit juice (you can do 1/2 juice 1/2 water) for snack time and water for the rest of the day. Now that Josh is older we do milk at breakfast and dinner. We do juice at lunch and water for the rest of the day. Josh loves water! The kid is a fish! 🙂 Josh was 7 before he tried a Sprite for the first time. We do let him drink it on occasions but not often and only as a treat (or a 7up/ginger ale if he’s sick).
* Brush teeth at least twice daily – three times is ideal!
(I thought this photo was so funny!) lol
Now, here is the hard part. Getting your kids to brush and brush well! You should brush for 2 minutes, which can feel like eternity for kids!
*Pick out a fun toothbrush. There are so many options! Characters, musical, light up ones, electric, manual. Find one that your child will use. The best toothbrush is one that your child will use!
* Set a timer for the 2 minutes. Set it for yourself too! You might be surprised – are you brushing long enough?
* At about 6 you can start using mouthwash. There are a few kids mouthwashes that work great. Also you can buy kid’s floss picks. I have found that floss picks are easier than floss for kid’s to use. There are some that are made just for kids!
* You can buy a pre-mouthwash. Kids swish and their mouth turns blue. They have 2 choices brush the blue away or walk around looking goofy! 🙂
* Reward for good check ups! It’s exciting to have a good check up

Amanda

       

The Mom Challenge: Week 14 Rewarding Vs. Bribing

It’s week 14! If you are just finding us (welcome!) you can find all of the other challenges here. Make sure to log on The Blog Frog to talk about this week’s challenge! If you aren’t a member it’s free and easy!

Josh has a reading log that we fill out each day. He has to read 100 minutes a week. No problem. We love to read at our house! So he picked out his first book (one that he hasn’t read yet. Yes, my child has discovered that in order to rack up lots of quick AR points he can take tests on books he’s already read from last year.).

He chose Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl. Needless to say in two nights he said he was finished with the book. I asked him “Are you sure you read it all and not just bits and pieces?” “Yep.” “And you are ready for your AR test?” “Yep.”

He said he read it. He reads in the living room so I had seen him reading it. But did he really finish the entire book in 2 30 minute sessions (plus whatever time he was reading in bed underneath the covers with a flashlight. Yes, Josh, you got caught, again.) So I told him, “If you get a 100% on your AR test you can have an extra 15 minutes of video game time. Now are you sure you are ready to take the test?” “Yep.”

So did I bribe my child or reward my child? I think I suppose you could say I bribed him to do well. I don’t think I did. I think I offered an incentive to do well. I rewarded his hard work with video game time. (He got a 100% by the way! Woo hoo! Josh really loved this book in case you couldn’t tell so if you have a child around 4th grade it might be a good one to add to your library list!)

What about those desperate times in the grocery store where we say “If you behave I’ll buy you some M&M’s when we check out.” Bribe? Or reward?

I think as parents we really need to look at the two and decide which are we doing. Your child learns (sometimes too quickly) how to get what they want. They learn what buttons to push, what behaviors to do, how to ask, and sometimes who to ask.

Take the store for example. If your child is not having a very good day and you tell him/her I’ll get you some candy if you behave. The child has 2 options. Behave and get candy. Not behave and (hopefully) not get candy. Next time you go to the store the child will remember, hey I got candy here. But if your child isn’t going in kicking and screaming you probably aren’t going to say behave and I’ll buy candy. You probably won’t even thinking about it. You get to the check out line, the child asks for candy and you say no not today. And the child starts throwing a fit. After all they just behaved in the store. Last time they were naughty and you had to remind them; this time they did it all on their own! You and your child leave the store angry. What did you just teach your child? You taught them – misbehave and then you can have a chance to get the candy! You just rewarded your child

Children need rules. Parents need to set these rules and expect the rules to be followed. That’s why they are called expectations. Your child shouldn’t be rewarded for doing something they should have done in the first place!

“Clean your room and I’ll buy you a video game.” You are basically telling your child “If you let your room get dirty enough, fight with her about cleaning it she will get fed up eventually. And then she will offer really cool things for you to do something you should have done weeks ago. Otherwise you are going to have to clean your room each week, earn an allowance and save up the money to buy that $50 game you want. Take your pick.” You raised a smart kid. Which option do you think they will chose?

Here are my definitions for bribing and rewarding because sometimes it’s hard to know which one you are doing!

Bribing – offering your child something for doing something/acting a certain way. Usually bribing happens out of desperation and frustration. And USUALLY the bribe is for something the child should do/act anyways. Often is rewarding a negative behavior.

Rewarding – offering your child something for a job well done

Rewards don’t have to cost money! Rewards can be praise, hugs, kisses & high fives! I think it is so important to reward kids. Josh had to take his AR test anyways. But he rocked it and so he earned extra video game time. Looking back I wish I would have established this rule prior to the first book being read, but I didn’t. Now he knows. Working hard on AR points = extra video game time.

We do set up a system for report cards. A’s = $10 B’s = $5. Is this bribing him to get good grades? He should do that anyways right? If at your job your boss offers you a bonus if you meet a certain sales goal – is that a bribe or an incentive? See the line between the two can be tricky! (If anyone is curious, I believe our system is truly an incentive. C’s = $0 D’s = -$5 F’s = -$10. Josh works hard all year because he doesn’t want to owe us money at the end of each 9 weeks!)

So the challenge this week is to look at your motives. If you hear yourself saying the words “If you do this, then I will do that.” Stop. Are you bribing your child? Are you teaching your child that they will get rewarded for negative behavior? If you have been bribing your child for a while and your child is used to only wanting to do things when there is a reward know that this is a hard habit to break! Stick with it!

Reward your children. Don’t bribe them.

Join us over at The Blog Frog to talk about it! I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Amanda

       

The Mom Challenge: Week 13 – De-Stress the mornings

If you are looking for the other challenges click here.
Ah. Back to school. Every year part of me gets so excited for this time. New pencils and notebooks. Thoughts of what new things the year will bring. There are new friends to meet, field trips to attend and spring breaks to plan.
There is also homework, waking up early and preparing for next day.
Oh yes. That part.
Early mornings are honestly the part of going back to school I look forward to the least.
Why is it that perhaps the most stressful time of the day is the part that sets the tone? My goal this week is to send my child off to school with hugs, love and a positive attitude.
Here are some tips to make mornings easier:
1. Make sure to get a good nights sleep.
2. Plan ahead of time. Lay out the clothes for the next day, have backpacks ready, make lunches the night before, fill out, sign papers, write notes to the teacher, get lunch money together all the night before.
3. Fix breakfast in advance. I make batches of French Toast, Pancakes, breakfast pizzas, breakfast burritos, and biscuits and keep them in the freezer. During the week I just have to pull it out and throw it in the toaster or the oven for a few minutes. Quick and easy. And healthier and cheaper than buying frozen breakfasts at the grocery store!
4. Set the alarm for 10 minutes early. Ten minutes can make all of the difference in the world! If you wake up just a few minutes earlier than you don’t have to worry as much when small bites are taken. When teeth brushing takes a few extra minutes and when little ones get distracted when they should be putting on their shoes.
5. Put backpacks and any other items that need to be grabbed by the door. I can’t tell you how many times in the past we spent – rather, wasted – time searching for backpacks, coats, mittens, and shoes.
Do you have a special tip or trick that you use to make your mornings run smoothly? Share them over at The Blog Frog!

Amanda

       

The Mom Challenege Week 13 The Value of a Dollar

Have you ever taken your child out to the store and they ask for everything? Or how about when the Christmas catalogs start coming and they circle everything inside? Or maybe you have a teenager who thinks life is totally unfair because really, do they need $200 jeans?
At our house we are struggling with the value of a dollar. The “can we get this?” and the “will you get me that?” questions are in full swing. And honestly, the 3DS has made it worse. “For only $7.99 I can download this game.” “Can I have $5 to download this?” “Can I have some money so I can have points?”
In fact, just today we were at WalMart and I got talked into buying a pack of Skylander characters. (Does anyone else’s child have this game? Honestly, the toy company is a genius and mom is an idiot for buying it. Bought the game for $80…but you can’t unlock parts of the game until you buy all the types of Skylanders ($10 each). And then their accessories. Geez. I think we have a mini fortune in Skylanders at our house.)

Anyways. We got the Skylander pack at Walmart. Then we were on our way to Target to finish back to school shopping. Where he saw another pack of Skylanders (Ice Skylanders – we’ve been searching for those!) Fine. Get them. But I’m taking the other one back to Walmart. “Why Mommy?? Please can I keep it?”

So I told him, if you earn the money I won’t take them back. I need to get my child to understand the value of $1!
My goals are that I can teach my child:
1. The value of hard work.
2. To save for a rainy day.
3. To give back.
4. Not to spend what you don’t have (Although as with the Skylanders I’m in direct violation of this rule!)
1 – the value of hard work. Chores. This is my deal with chores. I believe that they should be done. I don’t agree with an allowance being paid every week and chores not being done. I want my child to learn, when he works he gets paid. No work = no pay. So we have chores and Josh gets to pick which ones he does and which ones he doesn’t do. He knows how much each one is worth and how much he could possibly earn from it. (See my chore magnets here)
2 – to save for a rainy day. I love the idea of splitting up your child’s finances. The save, spend, share plan. Brilliant. Have goals. Are they saving for long term or for a certain item that they really want? Talk to them and discuss it.
3 – to give back. Chose a charity together. If you are helping an animal shelter make sure your child is the one picking out the treats. If you are dropping of toys make sure they get to pick out the toys. If you are simply donating money make sure your child is the one handing it over. It is theirs! Let them feel good about what they did!
4 – not to spend what you don’t have. Moms (and dads) we are going to have to learn how to say no. No you can not get that today – you don’t have the money. No I will not loan it to you. No you can not be 5 and have a line of credit with the Bank of Mom. Sorry. We can come back later when you have it and get it then. (This one will be tough for me!!!)
There are a TON of great resources out there to help you teach your children about money. One is
Tykoon. It’s a FREE program and a great resource for parents and kids! You sign up (FREE!) and then set up a profile for each of your kid. You enter how much allowance they get OR you can set up tasks for them and an amount they earn for doing each one. You can even set up for them to earn TV time, video game time or to stay up late! The money that they earn is automatically divided up for savings, sharing and spending. On the child’s profile they can chose a charity they want to help, make a wish list of things they want to save for and accept tasks from you. They can set up savings goals and see how much they are earning. It’s pretty cool! If you would like to sign up here is where you can do it! We just started but Josh really likes checking his profile and watching his money add up when he checks a task complete! I like that he can see what he is saving for and pick out his own charity!

Here are some great books you might want to check out:

(the 1st one is for your Kindle!)

And also make sure to check out Family Education. They have TONS of great (FREE) articles on raising money smart kids at all ages!

So the challenge this week: Start thinking about how you can raise money smart kids? Do your kids already have chores? Do you allow them to spend all their money? Can you open a bank account for your child? Come join us on Blog Frog to talk about how we are raising money smart kids!

Amanda

       

The Mom Challenge: Week 12 hugs and kisses

This is week 12! If you are looking for the other Mom Challenge posts visit here!

I’ve thought for a few days: to post or not to post. This seems like such an obvious one and I’m sure one that is done regularly by so many. But then I thought about kids growing up. Josh is almost 9 and I will admit that I don’t hug him as much as I used to. Before you judge me, know that I tried! But sometimes hugs are met with pushes aways and “MOM, I’m not a baby” phrases. Our bedtime hugs are still there and hugs before he goes anywhere and are still there but what in a few years. Will he continue to hug me before he runs outside to play with his friends? And at 16, 17, or even 18 will he hug me goodnight?

So yes I am going to post this.

Saying images-Saying Photos-Sayings Pictures-Quotes

This week’s challenge is to hug your kids. Not just once. Not just twice. But hug them at least 3 times. In the morning – send them off to start their day with an I love you and a hug and kiss. During the day sometime- tell them you love them or you’re proud of them and sneak in a hug. And before they go to bed. And not just a quick hug! Make your hugs count!

Make sure that you are consistent with your hugs. Daily hugs will come to be expected!

If you have a teenager explain to them that they aren’t optional. Tell them they don’t have to hug you back, but you are going to hug them even if they are there rolling their eyes.

(I love this – boys hug too! Source)

Don’t be discouraged. If you have a (pre) teen who is acting like they are too grown up for hugs just know that you shouldn’t give up. Again consistency! After a while of hugging them every morning before they leave for school know that they will eventually come find you for that hug.

Hugs are important. And I think it’s important for us mom’s to realize that growing older doesn’t mean that hugs are any less important. Just because our kids tell us they are too grown up for them doesn’t mean they need them. So hug your kids this week. If you have younger children vow that even they get older that you will continue to hug them daily.

After all who doesn’t love a hug?

Make sure to visit us over on The Blog Frog (it’s free to sign up!) to chat! 🙂

Amanda

       

Week 11 – The Mom Challenge – Use the teachable moments

Welcome to week 11 of The Mom Challenge! If you are new to The Mom Challenge – welcome! You can visit all of The Mom Challenges here. Make sure to head on over to The Blog Frog – it’s free – to chat with other moms about The Mom Challenge!
Today is the 4th of July – happy birthday USA! Thank you to all of the service men & women who help make our country great! 🙂
I thought it would be a perfect time to talk about using teachable moments. They happen everyday, there for the taking. All you need to do is to take them and use them to your advantage.
Take today for example, teach your kids all about this great country of ours!
If you have young children, teach them a patriotic song like Yankee Doodle or the National Anthem.
If you have older children, try state trivia or share stories about the Founding Fathers. (IMom has a great Founding Father stories here) Purple Trail has some great trivia as well!
Not everyday is a holiday, but you can still use everyday experiences to teach your kids. Baking? Have them help measure out ingredients – or if you need 1/2 a cup have them use 2 1/4 cups and show them it is the same. Are you grocery shopping? Have them help determine the best deal. How much is an item with a coupon? Have a home improvement project? Teach them how to use the tools!
Kids at all ages can be taught amazing things.
This week’s challenge – use the teachable moments. What are some times this week you can do this?
Happy 4th of July everyone!

Amanda

       

Week 10 of the Mom Challenge – How to raise readers

Welcome to week 10!
If you are looking for the other weeks click here.
One of my goals for Josh this summer is to make sure that he picks up a book everyday. Luckily for me my child loves to read. Raising a reader is so important – and I believe something that needs to be stressed early in life.
Here’s a quick top 5 reasons why you need to raise a reader.
1. Build a relationship with you. Reading bedtime stories together is something that children look forward to each night. (Having that routine also helps makes bedtime easier! Consider it a bonus!) One day your children will look back at the times you spend together snuggling together reading books. This is something you can do with your child at an early age and can continue until they are older. When your child gets older let them read in bed. Josh is 9 and some nights he just wants to do it himself. So our deal is you can go to bed on time or you can stay up an extra 15 minutes if you chose to read in bed. I’ve never had going to bed on time win this battle!
2. Helps them academically. This goes without saying that reading regularly will help your child’s grades go up. It helps not only English grades with reading, spelling and grammar but it will also help in all subjects. If a child is struggling to read than how can you expect them to read their science book and comprehend what they are reading?
3. Allows for imagination. Reading takes you to another world. You can go back in time or to the future. You can see things through a dogs perspective. You can be president. Let your child experience these things! Let them pretend – let them imagine!
4. Speech skills will improve. A child who reads often sees and hears the correct ways of speaking and has an easier time communicating through speaking and writing. Teach children that you see something in the present and the future, but in the past you saw. You aren’t gonna, you are going to. Set your child up to succeed with teaching them the basics of communication! Not only will this help your child in school, but it will help them for the rest of their lives.
5. Reading is fun. Just in case you need proof.
“Sometimes reading is more fun than my 3DS.”

– Joshua, age 9
So what can you do to help your child be a better reader and love reading?
1. Read to them everyday. If your child is older try our method of giving them the choice to go to bed or stay up a little later and read. If your child gets in the habit of reading everyday it is one that they will likely keep throughout their life.
2. Let your child pick out their own books. We all like to read certain things. Let your child experience the magic of books through their own interests. Sometimes it’s ok to suggest things and sometimes it’s ok to say you can read that later. If you are reading to your child at bedtime why not alternate who picks out the bedtime book. Then, you can share some books you read when you were younger and your child gets to share some new books with you.
3. Keep a reading chart. You can keep track by the minutes or by the books. Make sure to keep it fun! Here are some that I have found online that I really like!
Here is a whole summer reading kit that is free to print out! The ladies at How Does She and Chickabug really out did themselves with this one. It’s really awesome.

Delia Creates made this wonderful free printable summer bingo card originally for her summer bucket list. I think it would be a great summer reading list as well. Just simply print and add in book titles. When your child reads the book they cover the space! BINGO!

4. Get your child their own library card. Make sure to make a really big deal about it! Going to the library is a great (free!) activity to do with your child. And there is so much more than just books! They have movies, computer games, story packets and activities to do.
5. Show your child you love reading too. Make sure your child sees you reading. If they see you reading on a daily basis they will follow in your footsteps.
(Cute free print available in many colors from Naptime Delights)
6. Give them a variety of material to read. You can give your child books, plays, books on CD, magazines, comic books, cereal boxes – just about anything!
7. Make sure they aren’t just reading the words. Ask your child questions about what they read. Do an activity that correlates with the book. For example if you read Captain Underpants why not try your hand at drawing your own comic strips. Or if you read If I Ran the Zoo why not take a trip to your local zoo. There are so many things you can do to encourage conversation and really make the books come alive!
Helpful Links:
Looking for some book list inspiration? Check out these links:
The Iowa Farmer’s wife wrote this awesome list of 60 ways to make reading fun.
Some companies that can help make reading awesome:
I See Me is a book company where you can submit your child’s information to create personalized books.

Amanda

       

The Mom Challege: Week 9 Excuses excuses

(Here is a list of all of The Mom Challenges!)
Ready for my soap box rant? Here it goes. My biggest gripe about people is that sometimes it seems as a society we are getting lazy and unable to take responsibility. Everyone has an excuse. I understand as parents we want the best for our children (oh trust me I do!) and that we want our children to have things that we may not have had (yup, I agree) and that we would love it if our children didn’t have to struggle like we have had (again I agree). BUT that does not mean that we should teach our children the easy way out and how to make excuses and blame problems on someone or something else!
For example, there is a school in a town we used to live in. The grading scale was the same that it was at my old high school, a little more challenging than the 90% and above is an A, 80% and above is a B scale that are at some schools. The parents were having a fit because they wanted the school to change the grading scale so their child’s GPA scores would be fair compared to a child who went to a say an easier school when they went to apply for college (which by the way the college takes in to account the high school’s grading scale). The school ended up changing the grading scale. Parents were happy. Kids were really happy. But what does that teach your kids? You don’t have to work as hard? That bad grade on your test wasn’t you fault it was your schools? Well I graduated from that high school (I moved halfway through my senior year – BOO) and you know what happened? Lots of kids got into college (esp since it was a known fact that you barely had to show up your senior year of high school to get an A – after all you were a senior you deserve to not have to do anything. My English final? Watch The Lion King. Right?) First year of college – I would say ¾ of the kids had to drop out because they couldn’t keep up with the work! They had been trained to not have to!
Pinned Image
(Don’t build walls for you or your child! Source)
I remember when Josh started Kindergarten. We went to open house met the teacher, put his supplies away and got packets of information for the following year. Then everyone went down to the cafeteria for a snack. The kids were all talking about how excited they were and the parents were all complaining about how hard it was going to be! “They have to read before they can go into 1stgrade?” “They start addition in Kindergarten? I didn’t do that until at least 1stgrade.” “This is ridiculous!” Guess what. The kid’s all learned how to read. They all learned addition.
(Source)
Josh is going into 4th grade. Do you know how many kids who asked me to help them tie their shoes at his last day of school party? The teacher said they don’t know how to do it. Instead of teaching them it’s easier for the parents to buy Velcro or those spring-y shoe laces that don’t need to be tied. Because it’s hard and your kid’s complain their solution was taking the easy way out.
(Free printable available here)
Kids (and adults) CAN do hard things. At one particular daycare I walked in on snack time. They were giving 2 year olds cups – without lids! I thought are you crazy? My child would make a HUGE mess. But they didn’t. Because someone gave them the opportunity to learn how to do it. They challenged them.
We, as parents, need to stop making excuses for our children before we ever give them the chance! We need to teach them that failing is ok – there is always a next time. Not if at first you don’t succeed its ok because it’s someone/something else’s fault. I call it the McDonald’s is making you fat messed up way of thinking syndrome.
You have to fail in life. Otherwise you wouldn’t strive to get better. So this week’s challenge: Whew. Finally getting to it! (Is anyone still reading?!? LOL)
Don’t make excuses for your children. Especially before they even have the chance to try. Challenge your child on something. Help them through the first few times and show them they may not get it the first time. They will have to work at it. But if you catch them throwing out the blame game card, stop them! Tell them it’s ok for them not to have gotten it but it’s not ok for them to blame others. Just simply try again.

Join us over at The Blog Frog! I would love to chat with you! 🙂

Amanda

       

The Mom Challenge: Week 8

Josh’s school does something special every Friday afternoon. It’s called Passion hour. In the beginning of the year each teacher chose something they were passionate about. Each classroom has a different passion – cooking, sewing, recycling, aviation etc. Then the kids get to chose one of the themes and go learn about it. Now the 6th graders are leading the passion groups sharing some of their passions every Friday.

The kids love it. I love it. The kids learn smoothing new – they are exposed to new things. And they see that it’s important to have something to be passionate about.

This week the challenge is to help your child find something they are passionate about. It could be painting, clay, sports, space, tractors. Even small children have something that they are really into. Or if your 2 year old loves to color why not try finger paint. Or puffy paint. Or looking up fun art projects. Passions are something that are for all ages!

Has your child not found their passion yet? Give them a camera – let them take some pictures. Go out and play Frisbee golf. Build a card house (do people still do that?) Try all kinds of things. It will be fun to try out new things and who knows maybe you will find some new passion as well!

If your child already has something they are passionate about why not harbor that and get involved with them. Just an hour this week. Learn about their passion. Help them explore it – explore it yourself. Have fun!

What are some things you or your kids are passionate about?

Amanda

       

The Mom Challenge: Week 7

Hello ladies! I’ve got so much to share with you all this week! I’ve been so busy lately, but you know hard work pays off! {Or it is supposed to anyways right?!?!}
If you are new to the mom challenge visit here. It’s a list of ALL the past challenges. Also make sure to login to The Blog Frog. It’s free to join! And I was thinking of starting a live chat on Saturday night? Thoughts?
Alright this week’s challenge is for us. The short order cooks, the chauffeurs, the accountants, the cheerleaders, teachers, maids, and doctors otherwise known simple as Mom. Being a mom is hard work! We are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. For life.
But you know what. Even supermoms need a break. I was talking to my mom the other day and I told her “You need a hobby.” Her response: “I don’t have time for a hobby.” (My mom still has 2 kids in elementary school! My youngest brother and I are 20 years apart! WOWSERS!)
I realized that there are probably lots of women like my mom. Work, come home, clean up, make dinner, run kids to this place and that place, come home, clean up some more, sleep. Repeat.
(No that is not my mom. LoL) (source)
Us moms need to take care of ourselves! How can we expect to be re-charged and on top of our game if we don’t get 15 minutes to ourselves! My mom claims she does stuff for herself. She does yard work (In my opinion it’s only called yard work if it’s a chore. If you like to do it you call it gardening…but whatever.) And sometimes she reads (aka falls asleep in her chair with her book in her hands).
So this week’s challenge is to set up a date. A date with yourself. Tell the hubby (or find a sitter) to come watch the kids (or take the kids out!) and do your own thing. This does NOT include: running errands, cleaning up the house, surfing Pinterest looking for dinner ideas, or doing laundry. This time is just FOR you. And YOU only. Go get your nails done. Meet up with a girlfriend for appetizers (and a margarita), go shopping (for yourself!!), go see that chick flick, head to the flea market, take a nap! Do something for yourself! You deserve it!!

Amanda