Happy Mothers Day

Find out what Wikipedia has to say about Mothers Day and its history. What is Mothers Day

Help Find Madeleine

ABC’s 20/20 did a story this week about the missing little girl, Madeleine. A year ago the world learned that the sweet little girl named Madeleine had been kidnapped from the hotel room her family was in while vacationing in Portugal. You’ll remember the media making their buck off of the story as it turned from tragic, to accusatory, to critical. It was as if the parents were to blame for the kidnapping of their own daughter.

I watched the special on 20/20 and couldn’t help to think how horrible this really is for Madeleine and her family. An innocent little girl apparently taken from her hotel room while her parents, both doctors, were enjoying dinner with vacationing friends 50 feet away at the hotel’s restaurant. I can think of no harder thing for a parent to have to live with. The only thing keeping their heads somewhat on straight is the fact that they still have to raise Madeleine’s younger twin brothers.

Amazingly Madeleine’s parents are trying to turn their nightmare into something positive for all of Europe by pushing for a European version of the Amber Alert system here in the U.S..

At this point Madeleine could be almost anywhere and it would be easy to write her off and try to block her out of our minds. Please don’t. Please think of her every day and maybe you’ll spot her, or maybe you’ll spot some $#@$%#@!! in the process of taking some other child and be able to help stop this worst possible crime.

To stay abreast of this sad story or to help Madeleine’s parents continue to investigate this kidnapping please visit their site at: Find Madeleine

Never forget.

Let’s hope someone out there who knows her whereabouts does the right thing. Let’s also do what we can to help prevent this from happening to any other child. Be alert, stay alert, help protect children that can’t defend themselves.

How to Find Time to Make Me Time

You can’t read anything anymore without stumbling
across some article that stresses the importance
of “me time”. You agree it’s important.  You know
you need it.  But the reality is there just isn’t
any time for it.  All of the hours in your day
are filled up and you really don’t feel as though
you can sleep any less than you already do.   Are
you just going to have to do without?

Absolutely not!  If you want to take me time, you
have to MAKE me time.

In an average 24-hour day, 8 hours are spent
sleeping (hopefully), leaving 16 hours remaining.
If you work outside the home, telecommute or run
your own business, you’ve committed 9-10 more
hours (including commute time, if applicable),
reducing the hours available to 6.

Getting ready for work in the morning and going
to bed at night may eat up another hour and a
half.  Now you’re down to 4.5 hours left in the
day.  But you still haven’t cooked dinner, done
any laundry, helped with homework, chauffeured
the kids around and picked up around the house.

How can you do all of that and take me time? By
spending that 4.5 hours more efficiently.

The following tips will help you to do just that.

1. Dinner doesn’t have to eat up (pun intended) a
lot of time.  Between slow cookers and delicious
30-minute meal recipes, dinner can be ready in 40
minutes or less.

2. While your food is cooking, wash some of the
dishes you used during preparation and set the
table.

3. Have your family help you get dinner ready.
It’s a great opportunity to get something done
AND catch up.

4. While you’re making dinner, have your kids do
their homework at the dinner table.  That way
you’ll be available for quick questions.  If they
need help with problems that will be more long
and involved, save those for after dinner.  In
the meantime, they can finish most of their
homework while you cook.

5. When you’re on the phone catching up with
friends or family, clean the kitchen.  It’s
amazing what you can accomplish during a
conversation.  Wipe down the counter tops, empty
the dishwasher, clean the inside of the
microwave, scrub the top of the stove, and wipe
the refrigerator door.

6. Use your toaster oven more and your regular
oven less.  Many toaster ovens come with a baking
or convection feature.  Use it as much as you
possibly can.  Not only will you save on your
electric bill but the toaster oven is much easier
to clean.  And when the trays get so that you
just cannot clean them anymore, throw them away.
You can purchase inexpensive replacements at Bed,
Bath and Beyond or Linens n Things.

7. Limit after school activities.  Yes childhood
is a time to try many different things—just not
all at once!  Limiting extracurricular
involvements will reduce the stress level in the
family; allow kids plenty of time for homework
and sleeping and help you keep your sanity.

8. Create a box or tote bag for yourself stuffed
with magazines you want to read, notes you want
to write, bills you have to pay, grocery lists
you want to make, coupons you want to go through,
etc.  Take this with you whenever you drive your
kids to their activities.  While you’re waiting
for them, get out your box and keep yourself
productive in the meantime.

9. Determine a laundry schedule that works for
you and stick to it.  Some families like to do a
little bit each day.  Some families prefer to do
it once a week.  The nice thing about laundry is
that you can put a load in and then go do
something else.

10. Make your house LOOK clean, even when it is
not.
a. Keep it clear of clutter.  When a home is
clutter free it looks cleaner, even if the dust
is piled up.
b. Insist that beds be made every morning.  It
really only takes a minute.
c. Don’t let dishes pile up in the kitchen sink.
Put them in the dishwasher.  If they are not
dishwasher safe, store them in there until you
have time to wash them.
d. Do not allow clothes to be thrown around the
room or piled up.  If they’re dirty, they go in
the hamper.  If they need to be dry cleaned, put
them in a bag specifically designated for this
purpose.  Otherwise hang them up or put them
away.
e. Room most items from the bathroom counter
tops.  If something MUST sit out, purchase an
attractive container to store it in.

This great article was submitted by Jackie McLaughlin.
Jackie operates Making Me Time.com
(http://www.makingmetime.com), a website
dedicated to showing you how to make time for “me
time” every single day! Subscribe to her FREE
monthly ezine full of tips and tricks to free up
hours in your week. Just send a blank email to
makingmetime-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Explain Easter to Children

It’s not easy to do, but you should take time today to try and explain Easter to your children. We know it’s not about the candy filled eggs or the bunnies and most children know that. But, do they really know what Easter is about?

The best source of help I came across for you was at More4Kids here: Explain Easter to Kids.

Why Buy Heartmade

Want to buy that perfect gift that’ll make you feel good all the way around? Then consider buying “heartmade” (i.e. handmade) goods from a work at home mom.

Why buy handmade you ask? You’ll enjoy supporting a fellow citizen with a name and perhaps a family of their own more then supporting WalMart or some other corporation. You’ll be giving a unique gift to a unique individual made be an equally unique person. How unique is that? And finally you’ll be taxing our environment far less then if you had purchased something made in China and distributed through a myriad of middlemen before it ever reaches you.

Why buy handmade video

In 2 months around the Christmas season the site collected over 10,000 pledges to buy handmade. Seems like the ideal timing to give a shout out for small craftspeople and artisans. Buy handmade.

Groovy Mom Down Under

The photo is of Mary-Lou and her sons (and business partners) Ned & Digby. They live in Perth, Western Australia. Mary-Lou is the creator of groovy-kids-parties.com and she recently added her website listing to the momz.com directory for moms. Mary-Lou is a mother passionate about her kids, and she felt it was important to provide them with happy memories. So she did a lot of research at libraries and via the world wide web, put those lessons together with her own experiences and provides this information to help moms organize kids’ birthday parties and provide positive memories.

Check out her great website and send her note with your feedback or questions. She’s a great mom and one smart WAHM.

A Mural can bring Life and Imagination to any Child’s Space

The owner of SurfacesWithPaint.com, Dawn Papandrea-Khan, was kind enough to put this fantastic article about wall murals together for us. We hope you enjoy it.

Many parents are exploring their options in decorating and design for their child’s room even before the child is born.  A nursery is a great place to start.  How wonderful for a little baby to discover a world of imagination right in their own bedroom or playroom.

Great themes for a nursery can be anything from jungle animals, nursery rhymes, stripes or different shapes, flowers and trees, clouds, and so much more.  The possibilities are endless.   Some great places to find creative ideas are to: look in children’s books at the library, search the internet, buy a book on decorating children’s rooms, magazines, or you can seek help from a professional. 

When choosing a theme, think about how long you would like the mural to be in the child’s room.  Some families have one nursery that they use for all their children, but some will use the same room and have to re-paint as the child gets older.  If that is the case, it is important to choose a theme that can grow with your child.

If the child is older and you are considering a mural for them. a great way to choose a theme is to ask them what they would like painted on their walls.  Show them pictures and try to bring out their interests.  For instance, if a young girl is into horses, you could have a wonderful mural painted with that theme that she would love for years to come.   If a boy loves a specific sports team, you can have the symbol painted above their bed.  If a pre-teen girl loves bright colors, you can have all different geometric shapes painted on one wall.  Again, the possibilities are endless. 

In the end, be sure that you do the proper planning.  If you are attempting to do it on your own, draw out your design and practice a bit with your paints.  If you would rather have help with ideas. it is best to hire someone who can bring it all together for you. 

A mural is really worth the investment when it comes to your child’s creativity and imagination. 

Here are some samples of Dawn’s work.

The Cow jumped over the Moon

African Plains - Nursery Mural

Iraqi Christians go to church for Christmas Mass despite risk

As many of you settle back into the comfort of your daily routines please take a moment to think about our Christian Iraqi friends who went to church to celebrate Christmas Mass despite the risk of being targeted by terrorists rendered insane by their warped interpretation of Islam. I find it inspirational.

Shopping Can Be Easy?

Jacqueline, the owner of an online store, certainly thinks so or she would have chosen another name for her business. She chose to name her business ‘Shopping Can Be EZ‘ and I suppose there’s more to that than just a catchy name.

Since Thanksgiving online sales have exceeded nearly every analysts’ forecasts and it’s clear that more people are finding online shopping easier than packing up the kids and heading to the mall.

Not only does Jacquie offer the convenience of being able to shop for a variety of unique items from the comfort (and safety) of your home, but like many other woman owned online retailers her products include many that no amount of walking through crowds at your local mall would turn up. If you haven’t started buying some of your Christmas gifts online head on over to Jacquie’s ‘Shopping Can Be EZ‘ and check out the handbags, jewelry, pajamas, and hundreds of other great gift items.

Once you’re finished shopping there head on over to our shopping area in our Directory for Moms and you’ll find hundreds of other mom-friendly shops to discover.