Economic Stimulus Check
May 19, 2008
My economic stimulus check has arrived from the government; yay! I’m so happy. Since I’m in the midst of planning for our summer vacation I decided to use this bonus money to help with our summer time fun planning. The first thing I’m going to do with the money is to purchase some books for the kids. I chose to do this instead of sending them to summer school since I work from home and it would take time from my day to transport them back and forth to the school. I bought the following from Rainbow Resource:
1 Mathlink Cubes Primary Activity Book (001227)
1 Teddy Bear Counters at the Fair Activity Book (010131)
1 Pattern Block Book (013718)
1 Summer Bridge Activities 6-7 (004214)
1 Mathlink Cube Activity Book 3-6 (001226)
1 Summer Bridge for Young Christians PK-K (031751)
1 Summer Bridge for Young Christians Gr.4-5 (015149)
1 Summer Bridge for Young Christians Gr. 1-2 (031753)
1 Teddy Bear Counters – Set of 100 (018735)
1 Snap Cubes – Set of 100 (013362)
1 Pattern Blocks & Boards (011915)
These book will provide activities for the kids to keep their brains sharp during the summer and will provide enough “homework” to last them all summer long. I also purchased some learning “toys” and books to go along with them to provide the children with fun things to keep them occupied on those inevitable rainy days.
Single Mommy Time
May 16, 2008
As single moms we need to spend some time doing fun things for us just as much as we need to spend time doing fun things with our kids. If you have some weekends when the kids are with their dad then try to spend some time doing something just for you. Go to a movie, get a manicure, go window shopping, take time to read a book, whatever it is that you enjoy doing carve out time to do that for yourself. You will make a better mommy for your kids when you spend time recharging your own batteries.
If this is a weekend that the kids are gone why not take some time to do something you enjoy. Give yourself a break and have a great weekend!
Time Management for Single Moms
May 14, 2008
Single moms have to juggle all the things that other moms do but also have to do it all by themselves. There just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day to accomplish everything that needs to be done. Michael Lee wrote an excellent article listing three very good time management tips for single moms that I have found to be very useful.
His first tip was to plan and organize:
“Your days should be mapped out to maximize time. At the start of every phase in your life, a new job, a new year, after your birthday, etc., plan how your days go. Scheduling is imperative, if you seek to do the most that you can with every hour that you’re given. Stick to your schedules, giving allowances only for priorities and your children.”
This is really an awesome idea that I use every day. I have tried various ways of scheduling such as creating an hour by hour listing of what I’m going to do, and writing lists of things that the children and I needed to complete during specific blocks of time. But the best form of scheduling that I have found to work for me is a basic plan of what we are supposed to be doing. For example my schedule right now looks like this:
7:00-8:00 before school prep
8:00-9:00 work prep
9:00-12:00 client work
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
6:00-7:00 after supper activities
7:00-8:00 bedtime prep
The children and I have lists of things that are to be completed during these time frames. For example one of the children’s lists includes the following activities to be completed after school:
Unpack backpack
5 minute bedroom rescue
Homework
Fold and put away laundry
The second single mom time management tip he offers is to prioritize:
“Just list down everything you need to do, and then rank them up by urgency. Limit yourself to ten per day, and tick off these tasks as you finish them. If something comes up that you also must attend to, prioritize only the most urgent and most important tasks to fill your day with. Remember, you are no Superwoman. Take care of your sanity too.”
Every day at the end of my day, I take a simple spiral notebook and list the tasks that I need to do for the next day. I have a heading for each of my clients and list what projects/tasks they need me to do, another heading for school and list the assignments/projects that I need to do for each class, and a heading for household tasks where I list the chores I need to do. Whatever I don’t accomplish that day I carry over and rewrite for the next day. If there are a lot of things on my list I put a star beside the top three things that I need to do in each category so that I make sure I work on those first. Another important step that I do each day is to budget a specific amount of time for each category. Each client has a specific amount of time allotted to them, a specific amount of time allotted to homework, and a specific amount of time allotted to household chores. This helps to ensure that I have a balance in what I’m doing and don’t spend too much time on any one area and neglect the others.
The third time management tip for single moms is to delegate:
“When you know that you can’t do everything on your schedule, you need to ask for help and give some of your tasks to others. Remember that you’re only human. You need to have time for yourself, too. You also shouldn’t let yourself get run down by multi-tasking. If you can’t mind the kids because you have to work, get daycare. You could also look for a babysitter.”
Another important aspect of delegating for single moms is in the area of chores. You are only one person and can’t be expected to do everything. You can and should expect your children to help you with the various household chores that need to be completed each day.
At the end of July I will be launching a new book called Chore Time Challenges; this will be an excellent resource for single moms to give them new ideas and inspiration for getting their children to help out with household chores and since it’s written from the perspective of a single mom you’re sure to find that this is geared towards ideas that you can implement without the assistance of another parent in the house.
If you wish to read the article “Time Management for Single Moms – How to Save Hours in a Day” by Michael Lee you can visit: http://www.articlesbase.com/self-improvement-articles/time-management-for-single-moms-how-to-save-hours-in-a-day-138471.html.
Lost Child
May 12, 2008
Sometimes it can seem almost impossible for a single mom to keep up with all the latest in her child’s lives. The have so many things they want to tell us about homework, teachers they love/hate, friends, enemies, and many, many other things. I found out the hard way last night that one of the most important areas of your child’s life to pay attention to is their friends.
My 7 and 9 year went to play at a friend’s house about three blocks away; I’ve taken them to this particular friend and they have played there quite often so I was comfortable with letting them walk there alone. I told them they had to be home by 7:00; when they didn’t arrive home on time I sent my 13 year old to go get them. He came back and I could hear children playing outside a few minutes later. I called them all into the house to start their evening routines and went about doing what I needed to get done. After about 15 minutes I noticed that something was definitely wrong; my 7 year old son was not in the house! I asked the eldest child to go outside and get him; he went outside and said he wasn’t there. I asked my daughter where he was; she said he’s still over at my friend’s house. So I told her to go get him; she came back and told me he wasn’t there. This is the point where panic set in; loosing a child is a very scary thing and when you’re a single mom with a limited support network it can be downright terrifying when you don’t know who to turn to for help. We all got into the Jeep and went to her friend’s house but he was not there; the neighbor child came outside and told us that he saw my son heading “that way” as he pointed up the street. We circled about 4-5 blocks for another 10 minutes and even went past my daughter’s friend’s house who was now not home.
I decided to head up the street once more before turning home to call the police; my son had now been “missing” for about a half hour. As we reached the end of the street my daughter started yelling at some children she saw in the church parking lot in front of us. I asked her if any of her yelling was going to help us find her brother (yes I was beyond aggravated). She told me that the girls were in her brother’s class and that he talked about them all time. Really? When did I miss those conversations?
She got out of the Jeep and ran over to them and they informed her that he was at their house; we followed them and discovered that their house was over 10 blocks away from home! I was too overjoyed at finding him to really yell and after hearing what he had to say I was really glad that I didn’t. I simply told him that he was grounded to the house for a week. He said, “okay, mommy I had fun; when I’m ungrounded can I go back to visit them again? He obviously had no sense of the seriousness of his behavior or how it had affected his family. His only though was about how much fun he had while playing with his friends.
We stopped by my daughterss friends house to let her know that we found her brother and as we pulled up by their driveway her dad came up the street in the car. He too had been out looking for my son. I’d never really spent much time talking or building a relationship with him to consider him part of my support network but he was there when we needed him.
I’m very aware that for single moms it can be quite difficult with keeping on top of all your child’s activities but I learned three very important lessons from last night’s “lost child” episode:
1. Take time to listen to your child “Im sure you’ll be amazed at what they have to say and sometimes you just might learn a little piece of information that will save you a lot of frustration later.
2. Instill in them your boundaries “I know that I had never made it clear to him that when he decided to change his plans that he needed to check in with me first. If I had made this clear to him in the first place we may have been able to avoid this incident.
3. Make friends with the parents of your children’s friends “if your children are over there visiting their children they can offer you their knowledge of your children and become an extra pair of eyes and ears for you. It is important to have a support network that will be there to count on when you need it.
A Mother’s Day Card
May 11, 2008
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