Life-Self Balance

 

As moms, wives and caretakers, we are the center of the home. Have you noticed that when you're "off," the rest of the family doesn't seem to be quite as "on?" We certainly have. My husband has been known to say, "The baby is upset. Are you OK?" Nine times out of ten, he's absolutely right. Our children, our most precious assets, simply aren't happy if their moms aren't. To be our best with our kids, we need to be our best with ourselves, too.

Featured Articles:

Top 10 Things That Are Wrong With This Picture
It looks like they might of had sex in the last two months, judging by the glow...

Resilience
The pain of labor taught me something — it taught me how to survive...

The Fun of Twilight's Eclipse
These books bring back the feelings of joy, excitement and torture of first love...I felt that tickle of anticipation and teenage angst this last weekend when I had to run some errands...

Declaring My Independence
The move I made some fifteen years ago did me a lot of good as I learned that the way my family did things wasn't the way every family did things...

A Spicy Makeover
When I discovered this spicy orange floral fabric in the clearance pile I knew that it would look great in my family room...

A Better Way: Mother's Month & One Year Anniversary Contest Winner
The first year of my daughter’s life was like sailing against the wind. It's was still a beautiful experience, yet tough and exhausting..but the wind changed. It always does...

Five Easy Ways To Be More Green
Here are five easy ways to be more green in your life. Make these simple changes today and do your part for the environment...

In Which I Get A Mommy Necklace
After an extremely long month of sinus infections (me), pink eye and ear infections (my daughter), and the stomach flu (my husband), I was done, and I wanted a present — something new or shiny to cheer me up a bit...

Outlaw Zen
The energy to accomplish your work and to support your family is non-negotiable. You just do it...I find when I just put my head down and do what needs to get done - somehow miraculously it gets done and oddly it energizes me...

Target Is Like Crack
Whoever does the marketing for Target are geniuses. Really. They should be given the task of figuring out how to stop global warming or provide health care for everyone...

Letting Go
Very quickly I realized I had messed up...we had rescheduled an appointment and I forgot to write it down. There I was, my messy house, dirty breakfast dishes, pine needle carpet, crazy post-run hair and clothes...

Weight Loss Journey, Week 3
I actually wore jeans that didn't have the big maternity band around them yesterday. I almost cried with joy...

The Least Important Things
This offer was handed to me. An amazing offer. The title is one I’ve wanted for a very long time, a title I wasn’t sure I’d ever get. There it was, looking me right in the eye. “Here I am lady,” it seemed to say...

Balance, Peace and Productivity?
We manage our families...work outside the home, and then attempt to give something back to ourselves by calling a dentist appointment "me" time...

Weight Loss Journey, Week 2
The battle of the bulge is won in the small, silent moments when we're alone in the kitchen and choosing whether or not to take that next bite...

My Time - Weight Loss Journey
OK, so it starts. Hide behind the internet no more, right? You, dear readers, will know whether my pictures change, or not. Gulp...

How To Realign Your Lifesytle Using Eco-Principles
While you may not be able to go save the rain forest, you can begin by changing how you view your home...

My Biggest Flaw
I have exactly two hours, three days a week to do whatever I want. Today I wanted to watch television...(Don’t judge, I could have lied and said I wanted to read a book.)...

Not My Time
It’s about the “someday” thing...the idea that I’ll get to ME someday. The problem is, the last time I checked, someday wasn’t actually on any calendar...

Top 10 Things I Am Coming To Terms With
No matter how little I eat or how much I run, I will always look about 4 months pregnant...

Creatures Of Habit
Eccentricity flourishes under this roof and there is rarely a day without someone hoarding something that ought not to...

Top 10 Reasons You Are Not 18 Anymore
You buy pregnancy test in hopes that you ARE pregnant...

Two Days Off And A Ray Of Light
The old saying... if mom was not happy, nobody’s happy was true in our house...

Top 10 Things I Choose Not To Worry About
Her not walking yet. I have yet to find a resume that states "Walked before ten months old..."

To-Do Lists
I have become such a do-er that I'm starting to wonder what I'm doing here...

Top 10 Reasons Why Raising Children "Mad Men" Style Is A Piece Of Cake
Quality time with your daughter is spent installing a night light in her room so you will not have to be disturbed by her frightened crying...

11 Days
That is the exact number of days one or both of my children were home from school last month. The reality is that last month was a lot of things but balanced was not one of them…

Playing Dress-Up
As I opened my suitcase and stared at the stylish, modern dress I had carefully packed, I suddenly found myself doubting my wardrobe decision...could I really pull this off??

Top 10 Things I Dream About
Watching something that doesn't teach me how to count...

Top 10 Ways I Keep Myself Relatively Sane & Happy
As a nation, we are overworked, completely stressed out and simply...unhappy. This is how I am fighting back...

Weighing In On The Weight
In high school we had the SATs, and as news moms we have pregnancy weight: how much you gain during, and how fast you lost it afterwards...

Milk For Your Meeting?
So there I was, in a meeting for our site, and BAM! I realize there is breast milk leaking through my shirt! I was reduced to a milk machine. Business woman no more...

Top 10 Things I Hate Hearing Moms Say To Me At The Playground
"It's cute how your daughter bangs her head against the wall like that..."

Sunday Bloody Sunday
Here come those fat little delicious feet stomping...to our bedroom. My arms are open. My heart is smiling. And yet, all I really want to do is crawl back beneath the blankets and daydream...

The Person I Used To Be
I remember those days in my early to late twenties when life was all about me. I was selfish but it was okay...

How My Heart Looks On My Sleeve
Hello, my name is Amy and I'm the mom gushing about the love for her daughter to anyone who will listen...

Top 10 Signs You Are Ready To Have A Kid
It's 1:00pm on a Saturday and you are bored out of your mind...

The Joy of Car Dancing (in Them, Not on Them)
No one to ask me for milk, or crackers, or if I've fed the dog…so for five minutes, I dance my sitting backside off...

Top 10 Things Parenting Magazines Suggest That Make No Sense To Me
"Make sure you develop interests and hobbies outside of being a parent."

Flow
Such is my life as a mother: definitely chaotic and full of purpose...and enlightened with little pockets of clarity sprinkled in...

The Other Side Of Stretch Marks
My lower abs finally gave into the weight I was carrying and, well, stretched me.  And humpty dumpty was never to be put back together again...

Top Ten Reasons Being An Older Mom Kicks Butt
My body was going to s**t as it is, pregnancy just gave it a little push.

Top Ten Things Only Mothers Do
Buy a whole new wardrobe for your kid even though you have only one pair of jeans that fits you and it's the maternity kind...

The Meaning In Minutes
I think it’s funny how I define luxury these days — not with first-class tickets or diamonds or designer clothes, but by time.

Making Time for Mom
Admit it… you're the one in the family that's taking care of everyone — except yourself...

Cleaning House
When exactly did I become a crazy person about house cleaning? I was possibly the world's messiest kid...

Twilight's Edward
They kissed, he held very very still and had to pull back...and that, my friends, was it. I was hooked...

Easy Rider
When I finally get to mount my bike ... the feeling of freedom never fails to wash over me...

Motherhood: This Is Not A Drill
I'm having a crisis of womanhood here, with "self" and "mom" stretching further and further apart, and this rubber band is about to snap.

Losing Weight — Yeah Right. As If.
Oh forget this! PUH-leze...I look fine, especially when I wear this tent of a dress. My husband still loves me, I think.

Why I Love Mother's Day
Mother’s Day never really meant that much to me.  It was like, “Eh, that’s great ma.  Knock yourself out.”

I Feel Lost, Where Did I Go?
I was a healthy, well-adjusted, socially competent person, I swear! ... Now?  Um, not so much...

Exhaustion is a Four-Letter Word
It’s not just about keeping my eyes open, it’s about stopping them from recoiling into my skull...

Honor Lost
As a mom, I’ve noticed that my word has waned a bit...

Just Say NO to the Status Quo
So my mom says: “..this is not supposed to be an easy time in a marriage.”...

Lucky & Sad Go Hand in Hand
..a pocket mirror right now, I know I need look no further than its reflection to find the cultprit...

Chill Time
Just me, a blanket and my jammies please, many thanks...

Befriending My Bathtub
The bathtub wasn't always my friend...more like a casual acquaintance...

Tune the Noise Down & Tune In
...we were talking about the laundry.  Feel free to insert your pity here...

Back in Another Life
There I was, partying like it was 1999 because it was - well, about 1999...

Inner Struggles of an Insecure Mom
What I do know is that the mom I just passed on the sidewalk has figured it out, for sure...

Memoirs of a Boxy Brown Sweater
I have a brown v-neck sweater that does absolutely nothing for me...