Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Snowed In!

I've been noticing quite a few moms are getting snowed in with their little ones and Cabin Fever is running rampant. Well I thought I would offer up a few ideas to ease your suffering since TV only goes so far.

1. Have a cleaning house party!  I know this sounds like a dull time for the kids but hear me out. First off make it into a game. You can race to see who can get the most chores done. Put different chores on slips of paper in a bowl that everyone can pick from. Then everyone takes turns picking a chore. When everybody has their chores...3...2...1...GO! When that chore gets done then go back to get another. Whoever gets the most chores done then they get to pick out what movie to watch that night or maybe they get to pick out what game you can play together as a family. If you have really little ones you can work together as teams. The kids will enjoy working together as a family and they will have a sense of pride at being able to help out and mom gets a clean house. The key to this one is to make it fun!

2. Scavanger Hunt!  Design a fun scavenger hunt for the kiddos! You can put things on there like find 3 things that are blue or find a wild animal (that could be a picture or a stuffed animal). This can be a lot of fun for the whole family.

3. Treasure Hunt!  Have your kids put together a treasure chest. Then you can hide it somewhere in the house. Now decide on a starting point and place clues around your house that lead them from one place to another and then eventually to their treasure. You can be really creative with this! Make some really cool pirate costumes and maybe even set up some pretend obstacles that they have to go through like placing pillows across your living room floor and they have to walk across the boulders so they don't fall into the raging river. Let your kids imaginations go wild.

4. Board Games!  These are always a good standby and everybody has at least a couple of these laying around. If not you could always break out a deck of cards. There are so many different games you could play with a deck of cards from Memory to Go Fish to War just to name a few. If that doesn't work you could always use them to make a house of cards.

5. Coloring Sheets!  You can find all kinds of different coloring sheets online! Just hit print!

6.Crafts!  I always like to go to http://www.familyfun.com/ they always have such neat crafts ideas for kids of all ages. Right now they have some really cool valentine craft ideas for kids. You should check them out!

Well I hope that helped get the creative juices flowing for some of you moms out there. Let me know what you came up with to keep your little ones busy. I would love to hear from you!

Friday, January 7, 2011

Getting Over Your Fears

When we start anything new it is normal to feel some anxiety and even fear. It's important however to make sure that we not allow that fear to cripple us and keep us from achieving our goals. The first step is of course to know what you are afraid of.

1. Identify Your Fear!  You have to ask yourself the hard questions and really be honest with yourself. Once you know what you are afraid of you can take steps to overcome these challenges. There is nothing that you can't overcome if you really want to!

2. Knowledge is Power!  Let's say you're a technophobe. You know that you can use the Internet to expand your business, but you can barely check your email. What do we do? Utilize your local library! Don't be afraid to become a reader. I guarantee all successful people have at least once read a book to expand their knowledge about something. Plus their are a lot of people who work at the library who are more than happy to help you. Most bigger libraries offer free classes on things like computer skills. A lot of times this is the best cure for whatever you're afraid of.

3. Watch out for the crabby people in your life!  Did you know that if you put a single crab in a bucket you have to put a lid on it or the crab will climb out! Now here's the interesting part if you put two or more crabs in the same bucket you don't need a lid! Why you ask? Well it's because as one crab goes to climb out the other crabs will grab hold of them and pull them back down. Now how does this pertain to you? Well let's say you're all excited about a new business venture you're about to undertake and you go to share your plan with your friends and family. The crabby person is the one who can't find anything good about your plan. They say and do whatever they can to discourage you from moving forward. DO NOT LET THEM PLANT THOSE SEEDS OF DOUBT! That's how they hold you back. Surround yourself with people who support and encourage you and offer you constructive criticism.

4. Maintain A Positive Attitude!  It is so important to stay positive! Now let's get real you are not going to be happy all the time. Those people are usually medicated. What I'm talking about is when those little doubts start to seep in. You know the moment where you think 'Oh my what was I thinking' and 'I can't really do this'. Take your 5 minutes of panic and doubt then WAKE UP! You can do whatever you set your mind to! It doesn't matter if you're training for a marathon or learning how to bake a cake, if you really want it you can get it with determination and hard work!

5. Know that it won't all be smooth sailing!  Keep in mind that the road to success in anything is a bumpy one. You will have set backs and at times you will fail! Just remember that failure is not a bad thing because that's how we learn. When you fall just pick yourself up again, brush yourself off and learn what you don't want to do again and then move forward with your new knowledge. The important thing is to not let one bad day deter you from your goal.

Well that's my take on overcoming your fears so that you can be successful. I hope it was helpful to someone and I wish you all much success in all of your endeavors. If you have any comments or constructive criticism I gladly welcome them. Thank you for reading!