MamaManagement

This is not a To Do List. This is a Cosmic Book of Hopes and Dreams and Deeper Whys. (Sculpture by David Kracov) I've spent the last week or so in a heightened state of anxiety. It has not been fun. I tried blaming in on the move and all the extra stuff there is to do with the house and the life. I've spent more than four hours at the DMV in the last week and I still have to go back one more time. That's reason enough for anxiety, right? But then, last night, (after having a mini anxiety attack) I remembered what my last therapist said to me around this same time last year. Amy, this is your stress time. Every year, the activities and responsibilities ramp up in October, hit a frenzied peak in mid December, and then slowly descend back to normal by New Years. And every year your anxiety follows the same path. This happens every year for me since I had kids. Every. Damn. Year. And every year I am surprised by it (Every. Damn. Year.) and try to shove it down and p...

My family has been on edge, people. February was yuck. And March wasn't any better for them. The recipe has looked something like this: 2 cups Winter Blues 1 cup Cabin Fever 1 cup General Life Stressors 1/2 cup Grey Skies 1/4 cup Freezing Temperatures 2 tbsps Stuffy Noses and Sore Throats 1/2 tsp Aches and Pains 1/3 cup Sick of Everything Mix all together for a big batch of blah, and then go back to bed. My husband's been massively stressed out at work. My daughter doesn't even want to go to school because she's so sick of the noise and chaos of stir-crazy kids. Everyone's so on edge that they're blowing up and breaking down over even the smallest annoyances. Even my always happy little man has a lower tolerance for frustration these days. This family is in massive need of a mental health break. And that's exactly what we're doing right now. It's Spring Break week at the kids' school and we have run away to North Carolina ...

What I want life to feel like much of the time... Hello, dear friends! In this week's post, I'm giving you homework...but don't be frightened off by that. Because this is the kind of homework that could change your life. No, really. Ready yourself. Okay, so here's where you're about to see evidence of my former life in the corporate world. If you have ever worked in the land of corporations or business consulting, then you are likely super familiar with the terms Mission, Vision, and Values when it comes to businesses (usually all lumped together like it's one word: missionvisionvalues ). Most companies and brands and nonprofits have mission, vision, and values statements. For some organizations, these truly drive the business decisions and the corporate cultures...for others, they're more window-dressing and lip-service. But when they're used properly, they can be an excellent tool for drawing the map and driving the bus, for organizing ideas, an...

Geocaching somewhere in the forests of PA I'm notorious for NOT being on the cutting edge of, like, anything...ever. I am not a fashionista. I am not an early adopter. I don't have the newest technology. I am not "in the know" or the first to know about anything...except possibly a new book release. But even then...no, not really. Still not. And even I, the last adult besides my father to finally succumb to the smart phone movement, have known about geocaching for a couple of years. So, I know this post isn't really new news. BUT, when I first read about it, I remember thinking, that might be fun to try...and then never doing anything about it. (And maybe that's what you did, too.) I filed it away in the back of my brain, and moved on. That is, until this summer. Before I go on with my story, I should first answer this question (for those who don't know): What is geocaching? A cache hidden in plain sight Geocaching is a real world, out...

On the to-do list: Change ink cartridges in printer So. I just came back, let's see, 4 days ago, from a culture-sanctioned life-break commonly referred to as: Spring Break. At some point in our culture, everyone got together and agreed that we would celebrate the end of winter and the coming of spring with a little time off. The schools let my kids off of the hook. Nobody questions it when my husband takes time off work. We load everything into the car and head out on a family vacation. Which means that I just had a "break." So can someone explain to me why I so badly want another one? Is it Spring Fever? Is it longing for summer? Is it rebellion against the routine? Boredom with the monotony? Overwhelm with all of the activities? I don't know what it is, but I just want a break in the middle of it all. Not a regularly scheduled holiday. Not a culturally-sanctioned vacation. A Break. In the middle. Of it all. In the middle of the school commute. In th...

It's October 2nd and everyone is planning their fall activities...I know I am! So I thought I'd re-share last year's post on Family Outings for the Fall. We'll be doing all of these again this year...including the Family 5k tomorrow morning (and it's supposed to rain again!). What are you planning for this beautiful time of year??? Yesterday morning I awoke to a very cold house. Then I walked to my daughter's bus stop thinking, seriously, it's freezing out here...where are my gloves?!?! I came home and looked at the calendar and was shocked to find that it was, in fact, October. When did that happen??? (I know, about a week ago.) Looks like it's time to turn the heat on. Looks like it's time to get out the warm coats. Looks like it's time to finalize the Halloween costumes. And, it looks like it's time to fill the calendar with fun fall outings! (Woot!) We got things rolling this weekend, with our first Fall Family Activity: a 5k c...

Nobody is listening. Nothing is going as planned. Nobody is doing what they're told. Nothing is going right. Nobody is cooperating. It sounds like a recipe for yelling. Nothing gets my blood boiling faster than things not going the way I want/need/planned them to. Not all the time. But when conditions are right (i.e. Mommy's tired, stressed, etc.), look out. It happened just today. It was actually what prompted a change in this week's Top Ten Tuesday post. Another battle of wills between mom and child. I had a plan. In order to leave for the pool in time to get a reasonable amount of time there before coming home for dinner, we needed to get my son's nap in a little early. Everything was going according to plan...until it wasn't. Apparently my son did not get the memo...that I sent out...in triplicate. As we sat in the chair in his room, me encouraging sleep, him fighting it (despite being tired), I could feel my blood start to boil. I could feel my ...

Stop and Smell the Flowers. It's Top Ten Tuesday! I know, I know, it's exciting. While you try to calm down, I'll tell you where we're headed with this week's top ten list... My husband and I have been talking more and more about what our real priorities are and how we want to spend our time together as a family. We are both in a place of recognizing how fast time is going and how soon our kids will no longer really want to hang out with us. (We're going to blink and they won't even live in our house any more!) Right now we are their world. But that's not going to last. So maybe we ought to be taking better advantage of it. Maybe all of those urgent things on our to-do lists aren't all that important. Maybe playing IS important. Maybe making memories IS  important. Maybe slowing down and not acting (or feeling or being) SO busy all the time IS important. In the spirit of these notions, here is my list of the Top Ten Rules for a Happy Fam...