Stuff Parents Need

Easing the chaos in the nest, one find at a time.

What to Do When Traditional Careers Don’t Fit Your Life Anymore

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Today I’m going to share a little bit about my professional journey since becoming a mother. It is only my experience, and isn’t an attempt to speak for all mothers. We all feel differently!

Before I had my first child, I enjoyed a career in higher education. It was extremely rewarding to work so closely with college students and help them as they discerned their vocational goals. It was very demanding, but I had the time to give to them.

And then Darah was born. I was fortunate to be able to stay home with her for 11 weeks, and then she went to a day care center just across the street from where I worked. I visited her every day at lunch. And I cried on many of those walks to and from my office.

I was really and truly shocked at just how miserable I was.

A series of unfortunate events transpired over the first year of Darah’s life (random blood clot and hospital stay for my husband, interstate wreck for me and Darah, and the loss of a 4 day work week). We decided enough was enough and seized the opportunity for a fresh start in another city. I was going to get to stay at home full-time with my daughter and give her the time and attention she needed.

And after a while, I was really and truly shocked at just how miserable I was.

I was actually happier than when I was working full-time outside of the home, but I was still left feeling a bit empty, and as though certain parts of my brain were no longer being exercised. I also would look at my framed bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and feel pangs of guilt. We spent a small fortune on my brain, and continued to make monthly payments on that investment. I really didn’t like that I wasn’t making any financial contributions to the family. I think many stay-at-home moms struggle with this issue. The work of raising children is perhaps the most crucial work in the entire world, and yet, the pay is TERRIBLE (aside from those sweet, slobbery kisses, of course).

This is when I decided to get more serious with my blog work, and to start learning all I could about social media marketing so that I could turn a fun hobby into a source of income. While my blog isn’t a big income generator at this point, I am learning new things every day, I am keeping my skill set sharpened and adding new tools to it, and I’m having a really great time. When I do earn money with the blog, it feels SO GOOD! I love being able to help provide for my family while still being able to stay at home with my kids. It definitely takes a lot of discipline and a willingness to work at odd hours (I get up between 4 and 5 am most days to start work), but it is worth it!

I have also recently realized that I’m not so sure that I will ever go back to a traditional work environment. If I’m not able to grow my blog to the point where it can replace a traditional full-time income, I may have to get back in the rat race. But I feel very motivated to keep honing my skills and learning how to work smarter from home. My kids will both be in school all day long in just a few short years, but that doesn’t mean that my work is done as a parent, so I will likely still feel the tug to be at home for quite a few more years.

If you are like me and looking for ways to step out of the 9-5 grind, but also need and/or want to provide financially for your family, opportunities to work full-time or part-time from home are growing! I really love the website working mums, which is a premiere resource for our sisters across the pond. It has a really comprehensive list of LEGITIMATE (that’s the key!) flexible work opportunities.

Even though this site doesn’t list opportunities to work from home in the states, it does contain some sections that you should peruse if you are seeking a flexible work opportunity. Be sure to read their career advice posts as well as their career toolkit, which can help you put your best foot forward and help you think about all your options as you seek to more seamlessly blend family life with career aspirations. Definitely check them out.

I’d also really love to hear if any of my readers are currently pursuing opportunities that provide more flexibility in your schedules. What kind of work are you doing?

This post brought to you by our friends at http://www.workingmums.co.uk. 

Simple Toddler Fine Motor Skill Activity: Ribbon Weaving

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I got this idea from Pinterest (where else?), and more specifically, from a fellow Chattanooga blogger named Sara who posted this idea on a site where she is a contributor. Here’s the original weaving activity post for your reference.

This activity is so great for developing fine motor skills with toddler. Hand-eye coordination is strengthened, along with the pincer grasp, which is a pre-writing skill. I also have found that when Darah does this activity, she becomes a bit more quiet so that she can practice concentration. Additionally, it encourages creativity, as you can break from the traditional over/under pattern and let the child create whatever s/he likes with the ribbon. This is actually the route Darah and I are taking right now, and we’ll work on doing a staight line pattern a little later on.

So, what you need to do this activity is a cookie cooling rack and some ribbon. That’s it! Gotta love an activity that doesn’t require 45 different items!

I tied the ribbon to the edge of the cookie sheet and then showed Darah how to put the ribbon through a hole and pull it out the other side until it is taut. Then I showed her how to pull it back through from the other side, choosing any hole she liked.

The end result is a toddler masterpiece!

Your child might enjoy doing this activity alone, or might want you to do it with her. Darah likes to take turns with someone else, and one person chooses the holes on one side, and the other person chooses the holes on the other. Thus, this also becomes a team work activity! So many great lessons all rolled into one very simple game!

How I’m Getting the Stink Out of Laundry: Febreze Laundry Odor Eliminator GIVEAWAY!!!

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Ok, so my stinkiest laundry is definitly cloth diapers. Let’s just be open and honest about it…I’m washing material that has pee and poo on it. It doesn’t get much more stinky than that!

And I have a new washer and dryer set. I got the fancy front loaders that I’ve been oogling over for probably 6 years, now. They sure are nice.

Unless you have really stinky laundry.

And then they are sort of terrible. They use so little water that if your clothes really need to be rinsed very thoroughly over and over in order to get fully clean, you are hard-pressed to figure out the right “formula” for getting your laundry truly clean.

Every time I wash cloth diapers, I feel like a sorcerer, concocting an intricate spell the requires great concentration and a bit of luck to pull off.

I’ve added all sorts of different detergents and other potions to my routine, and I’ve tweaked the wash cycles, soil levels and spin speeds I use again and again. Just when I think I have it all figured out perfectly, the stink returns! It’s a never-ending battle.

But Febreze Laundry Odor Eliminator has now been added to my routine. I did some online research to see if others have had success with this product. A few folks out there are reporting good results, but for the most part, I think people haven’t really tried it, yet. Nobody wants to be the one who goes first and have something mess up all her diapers!

Well, I stepped up to the plate and decided to just go for it. And I’m so glad I did! Febreze works by capturing the odors that are in the water during the wash and when your water leaves the machine, so do all those trapped odors!

Here’s my method:

I add 1/4 cup of Febreze Laundry Odor Eliminator directly to the detergent section when I run my first quick rinse of the diapers. I add another 1/4 cup of the product along with my detergent when I do my long wash cycle. My diapers come out smelling nice and clean, and so far, they aren’t stinking as soon as they get soiled (which is a sign of a diaper that wasn’t fully clean). I can’t promise that my diapers will never stink, as I’ve only been using this for about a week, but so far, so good!

I also like that the scent of the product is very light, and won’t interfere with any other scents that may already be present in your detergent. I happen to prefer unscented detergents, but if you have a favorite product that smells delightful, Febreze will not interfere with that smell. In fact, your laundry may even smell better as the scented detergent doesn’t have to work as hard to mask odors!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a Febreze odor eliminator kit!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.

Disclosure: I received complimentary products for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own. 

Control the Drool Without the Dropcloth: Underbib Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

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I’m so excited to be sharing with you yet another clever invention by a mom! It’s called the Underbib and here’s why I love it.

All babies hit a period of of infancy when they become drool monsters. Layah is currently in this stage, and that means that we go through 3-5 bibs every single day. They all get SOAKED with drool! She hasn’t yet developed the ability to know how to swallow her saliva, so it all just comes running out of her mouth.

Bibs are plentiful around my house, so my problem isn’t with having enough. What irritates me is when I have her all dolled up in a really cute outfit, and then I have to cover the whole thing up with a bib that probably doesn’t even coordinate with the outfit.

I know, I know, there are bigger problems in life. But I’m telling you, this grinds my gears!

That’s why the UnderBib is so clever. It is a bib that is put on using magnets, and it is actually designed to go UNDER your baby’s outfit. That way, baby’s skin stays nice and dry and your cute outfit isn’t covered up! 

See the magnet clips around the top of her dress? The bib is actually under her dress! If your child also likes to try to take off her bib, the UnderBib can help with that, too. She won’t even know it’s there!

The bib is also able to be work on the outside of the outfit, if you’d prefer that the outfit not get any drool on it, either.

Super neat, right?! This is another one of those, “Why didn’t I think of that?” ideas.

The UnderBib is available for $14 or you can score a package of 2 for $25. Oder here!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win an UnderBib!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary product for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

A Lesson in Gratitude for Sharing with #SpinbrushCFK

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You may remember that about a week ago I did some shopping for oral care supplies to donate to a local nonprofit organization as part of the #SpinbrushCFK Simple Service Project. I purchased several items at Walmart, and if you missed it, you can read all about my Champion for Kids shopping trip here.

We donated the oral care products to Room in the Inn, which is a transitional housing facility for women and their children who are experiencing homelessness. It was my aim to get Darah very involved in this project, and for this to be an opportunity to talk about sharing and gratitude. I started off by laying out all of the products we were going to donate for Darah to see (I’ll tell you about the aluminum foil, which likely seems out of place, later).

Darah was quick to notice the Arm & Hammer brushes that had stickers, and picked them up to give them hugs.

When I told Darah that we would be sharing these toothbrushes with other children, her face fell. She let me know in no uncertain terms that she wanted to keep these toothbrushes. I’m actually really glad that she felt that possessiveness take over, as it gave us the opportunity to really talk about sharing.

I asked her to think about the times when she has gone to someone’s house to play, and how wonderful it was when they shared with her. I also asked her to think about all the times that mommy has come home from the thrift store with new treasures, all because someone else donated them to share. I told her how thankful I was that people share with us all the time, and she said that she was thankful, too.

Then I told her that part of loving other people is to share with them whenever you are able. We had the opportunity that day to share with other people, and isn’t that so wonderful? At this point, she really got excited about sharing, and it made my heart melt. If Tim and I can raise children with compassionate hearts, we will have left the greatest legacy.

So we got in the car and went to Room in the Inn. Upon our arrival, Darah immediately spotted the playground!

We then headed inside and met with Mary, the administrative assistant and former client. She had an amazing story to share and I’m so glad we had the opportunity to visit with her.

 

Then I asked Darah to unpack all the things we brought to share.

The products I selected were based on a conversation I had with the staff at Room in the Inn before I went shopping. I called to see which oral care products they needed the most, and I’m so glad I did, because the answer surprised me. They said they actually had an over-abundance of toothpaste, adult toothbrushes and dental floss, but that they had nothing for children. They also mentioned to me that they could really use some aluminum foil, so I picked some up for them while I was shopping (check out how I found a really good buy on aluminum foil in my Google+ shop link!).

Before you make an in-kind donation, you might want to give the site a call to make sure you are getting what they really need the most. The answer may surprise you, and your call will definitely ensure that your donation gets put to use!

I want to encourage you to check out the Champions for Kids nonprofit and think about small act you can do to help better your community. You can follow them on Twitter or Facebook, too.  And if you liked those fabulous toothbrushes with the stickers, get connected with Spinbrush and Arm&Hammer via Facebook and Twitter, too!

Disclosure: I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Champions For Kids #CBias #SocialFabric. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own. 

Master Lock dialSpeed Electronic Combination Lock GIVEAWAY!!!

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Just in time for back-to-school (and back-to-lockers for many kids!), Master Lock has brought forth an innovation in combination lock security. It is my pleasure to introduce you to dialSpeed Electronic Combination Lock.

Electronic combination lock…what the heck, right?! Well, there are lots of handy dandy things this cutting edge product can do!

It offers an electronic interface which makes it quicker and easier to use than a standard combination lock.

It comes with a resettable primary code and the option of creating 3 additional guest codes. If you share a locker space with someone at the gym, for example, you can both access the locker without having to memorize the same code! That’s especially cool if the code you use happens to be used elsewhere for you.

There is also a permanent backup master code at masterlockvault.com for your device. This means that as long as you can get online, you won’t be locked out forever if you forget your code!

This lock comes with a CR2032 battery that has an estimated 5 year life span before it needs to be replaced. There’s also a low battery reminder so that you aren’t ever surprised to find a dead bolt (snort! snort!) on your hands.

I just got my dialSpeed in the mail, and it looks pretty darn slick! I’m impressed with this new way of approaching how to work a combination lock. I think the generation of kids currently in high school would really love it, too! It speaks to their electronic sensibilities!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a dialSpeed from Master Lock!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my site.

Disclosure: I am a member of the Master Lock Live Secure Safety Squad, and as such, I receive complimentary products as a thank you for my time. All opinions expressed here are strictly my own, however. 

 

Back to School Boost for Moms Ebook Sale! Great Reading, SUPER Cheap!

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It’s almost time for the kids to be back in school, and that means that there’s about to be even less time to do even more things. Just typing that made me anxious!!!

But several bloggers have teamed together to offer some of their best tips and tricks that can help you get prepared. There are 5 ebooks up for sale in one bundle unit and the price has been slashed, because this time of year we need all the extra funds we can get for that school supply list!

For just $10, you’ll get the following 5 ebooks:

  • Tell Your Time
  • The No Brainer Wardrobe
  • Cupcakes! 12 Months of Happiness
  • Feast in 15
  • Create Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule
These 5 ebooks will help you ensure the important things in life don’t fall through the cracks, teach you how to shop in the most successful way for your wardrobe, answer some questions you likely have about how to make the perfect cupcake for that party that your child will be having a school later on, teach you how to speed cook your dinner, and give you a step-by-step guide to make a cleaning routine that actually works for your family!
If you purchased all 5 of these books separately, it would cost $28.95. These are all popular ebooks that have received high praise from reviewers. I have personally read a few of them and have benefitted from them!
If you’ve got just a few more days to squeeze in some summer reading, you’ll get the best bang for your buck and the best results for your investment of time with this bundle. It’s only available August 1-8, though, so hurry up and order here!
Disclosure: This posts contain affiliate links. I wouldn’t promote this if I didn’t know that it was a killer deal, though! 

Diploma Frame Makeover: It’s Not Too Late! Scholarship Opportunity and HUGE GIVEAWAY!!!

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When I graduated from my master’s program, my parents purchased a beautiful frame for my diploma. I couldn’t believe that they would fork over close to $200 for something like that, but I had to admit, it did look rather fetching, and I was very proud to hang it up in my office.

In fact, shortly after beginning my professional career, I decided to make the investment in getting my bachelor’s degree framed, as well. Since I already had experienced what a positive feeling I had when I saw all my hard work beautifully framed, and since I worked for twice as many years to get my bachelor’s as my master’s, I decided it needed some recognition, too. I never regretted spending the money on the diploma frame.

A handful of months later, I asked Tim if he wanted his bachelor’s degree frame. He said he was completely uninterested. No big deal to me; I dropped it.

Then, in 2007, he earned his master’s degree in city planning and was employed as a planner. He had an office and everything. It was time to let his degree shine! I brought up the issue again, and once again, he shot it down. He just didn’t want to spend the money, plain and simple.

I decided not to drop the issue this time, and put on my “frugal gal” thinking cap and came up with a plan. You see, that same year, he earned the student of the year award in his department. He received a framed certificate. The certificate was the same size as his diploma. I decided I could just switch out the two certificates and then he’d have a free framed diploma! When something is free, you can easily overlook the fact that the matting is a horrid burt sienna color, right? RIGHT!!

So my DIY version of a framed diploma worked for about 3 days, and then the diploma itself started to move around inside the frame. I kept telling myself that I needed to take it off the wall and fix it. And fix it, I would! Someday…

Someday turned into 3 years, and for 3 years, Tim’s diploma sat in a very ugly frame, CROOKED. It looked absolutely terrible, and never even got hung up!

Then, a few months ago, it was time for us to move. I put it on the bed to wrap it up, and left it there for a few days, during which time our rather large cat decided it was the perfect place to sleep. She totally broke the frame with the weight of her body!

So now Tim’s diploma was ugly, crooked AND broken. What a tribute to all his hard work and to the degree that helps him provide for our family!

I decided enough was enough, and started my research on the best company for quality diploma frames. Church Hill Classics (also known as diplomaframe.com) had a spectacular selection, as well as a reputation for excellent customer service. Furthermore, this company offered several different choices for what a diploma frame for University of Memphis (Tim’s alma mater for his master’s degree) could look like. I believe we had 11 choices! I was extremely impressed with the options.

On top of all the frame selections, you can also customize the mouldings and mattings to get exactly the look you want. I think this is just fantastic, and is a far cry from Tim’s DIY frame that quickly went from thrifty and smart to ridiculously bad.

Tim selected the silver engraved medallion frame, and it has the emblem of the school at the top, along with the University of Memphis embossed along the bottom of the mat. The wood frame has a deep, rich color. It’s really quite spectacular. Check it out!

 

 

 

 

Do you have a high school or college degree that has never been framed, or that is framed but honestly looks really bad? It’s NEVER too late to put all your hard work proudly on display! Church Hill Classics can help you show off your diploma in style, whether you are graduating next year or gradated 20 years ago! Once Tim saw his diploma in this beautiful frame, he had to admit that it looked great, and he said that he wished he had done it a long time ago. Learn from our follies and get your degree framed properly!

I also want to point out that Church Hill Classics has a scholarship contest that will be launching in the fall, the “Frame My Future” Scholarship Contest, and they will be giving away $6,000 to 5 lucky winners! Details on the scholarship can be found at http://www.framemyfuture.com. To sign up to receive notification of when the giveaway will begin, click here. This is a really fun way to help pay for your education, so don’t miss out on the chance!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader is going to win a diploma frame OF YOUR CHOICE!!!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary frame for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own. 

Easy Young Infant Entertainment: Pinwheels

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Newborns and young infants have many great qualities. They smell good, they are squishy and soft, after a while they coo and give the sweetest smiles, and they are the world’s best snugglers.

But if you’ve ever been in charge of the full-time care of a young baby, you may quickly find you are out of ideas for things to do with a baby during his or her awake time. I mean, you can only play peek-a-boo for so long!

A few weeks ago I found something that entertained Layah for quite some time. I borrowed a toy from big sister Darah and it was a hit.

It’s a pinwheel!

I set it up so that it would stand up without my help (just use blocks or whatever you can find, really). Then I helped Layah practice sitting up and faced her where she could see the pinwheel.

And then I blew on it from where I was. Her eyebrows raised and her focused intensified. She probably watched for 5 solid minutes, which in baby time is like 3 eternities.

We have played with the pinwheel almost every day for a few weeks now. I’m so glad I thought to try it out. Now get yourself over to The Dollar Tree or wherever you might find a pinwheel and get ready to impress your baby!

If you want to remember this easy baby game, don’t forget to Pin it!