Mother's Day Dilemmas Solved or Mother's Day Jugging Act

Mother’s Day Juggling Act

Mother's Day Dilemmas Solved

674 words

Kerrie McLoughlin

Please contact me at mommykerrie@yahoo.com if you'd like to see this piece in full to consider purchasing it for your parenting magazine, either online or in print!

Remember Mother’s Day before you were married? The day probably revolved around your own mom, stepmom or other mother figure. Then your mother-in-law came into the picture, and you had to really split your time every second Sunday in May. Once YOU became a mother you probably realized that juggling Mother’s Day visits (as well as your own “selfish” needs and wants) should be an Olympic event. While it’s true you can’t make everyone happy all of the time, I believe you CAN honor all the moms in your life — including yourself — every year. Here are some ideas:

Dilemma: So many moms, so little time.

Solution: Change it up. Who says Mother’s Day should only be celebrated on that specific Sunday in May? I like to have my stepmom over for dinner one night during the week leading up to Mother’s Day. Then maybe we take my mother-in-law out to dinner the night before. When Sunday rolls around, I have my mom over to hang out with us at our house for part of the day, and we make sure to serve her a special meal and shower her with cards and flowers. I get the best of both worlds on Mother’s Day: being with my own mom and being with the little ones who made ME a mom.

5 Tips for Working From Home During the Summer

5 Tips for Working From Home During the Summer

By Kerrie McLoughlin

690 words

It’s hard for kids to understand the concept that “Mommy or Daddy has to work,” especially in the summertime when fun is supposed to rule and you are in sight. Of course you can attempt to get everything done early in the morning or late at night while they sleep, but that doesn’t always work out. I'm often asked how I work from home while caring for my own 5 children, as well as having extra kids over during the summer. Here are a few of my own ideas for making summer work for everyone!

Trade care. My next door neighbor's kid often knocks on my door to play while his dad is making work telephone calls from his own home. I'm a proofer/writer, so I can be interrupted and don’t need total silence, whereas his dad needs periods of absolute quiet to conduct his business. Believe it or not, tossing his kid into the mix often helps me out because now my kids have someone new to play with! If I take his kid a few days a week, he often reciprocates by watching my kids for a few hours on the weekend. If you have family who enjoy taking your child for a few hours and have a kid who can detach easily, take advantage of this!

Surviving Your First Year as a Stay-at-Home Mom

Surviving Your First Year as a Stay-at-Home Mom

By Kerrie McLoughlin

960 words without sidebar

1,053 words with sidebar

Please contact me at mommykerrie@yahoo.com if you'd like to see this piece in full to consider purchasing it for your parenting magazine, either online or in print!

Congratulations! You’ve taken the plunge into the zany SAHM (stay-at-home mom) pool. While expecting your baby, you may have envisioned days of doing exactly what you wanted to do while your baby snoozed away, but you have probably by now realized that your tiny, new — permanent — houseguest is running the show. Now what?

I’ll never forget the time a family member asked me, “Are you bored yet?” Melissa Stanton, mother of three and author of The Stay-at-Home Survival Guide, says, “When a spouse comes home at the end of the work day, sees the breakfast dishes still in the sink, and asks, ‘What did you do all day?’ it can be hard to answer. All you know is that although you never sat down or stopped ‘doing,’ you didn’t accomplish anything of substance. Every nose wiped, snack served, doctor appointment made and errand run prevents a SAHM from being able to, say, balance the checkbook, write the great American novel or just relax and be the lady of leisure many perceive SAHMs to be.”

6 Mother's Day Traditions

6 Mother’s Day Traditions

By Kerrie McLoughlin

461 words

Please contact me at mommykerrie@yahoo.com if you'd like to see this piece in full to consider purchasing it for your parenting magazine, either online or in print!

Ah, it’s time for my favorite holiday: Mother’s Day! I always feel relaxed and pampered on this one day of the year and I definitely milk it and enjoy it. Here are some ideas for Mother’s Day traditions you might like to see in your house this year — or any year!

Note: Please don’t feel like your loved ones should hit all six or you’ll go on a laundry strike. Just print these ideas out, leave them lying around and surely they’ll catch the hint!

1.      Flower Mom with love. Flowers are a favorite – and very easy – way to make a mom feel special. My very favorite flower is Lily of the Valley because it reminds me of my own mother. One year my husband planted some in front of our house, and they bloom every year as a reminder of what he did for me on Mother’s Day. Consider hitting the local florist for a bigger bouquet in a colorful vase. A potted flowering plant or hanging basket of petunias would be low-maintenance and long-lasting.

Make the Most of Your Maternity Leave

Make the Most of Your Maternity Leave

By Kerrie McLoughlin

725 words

Please contact me at mommykerrie@yahoo.com if you'd like to see this piece in full to consider purchasing it for your parenting magazine, either online or in print!

Many moms will tell you they think working a full-time job is easier than being a full-time stay-at-home mom. As a guest blogger at ScaryMommy.com so eloquently put it, “I want to go back to work. Not because I don’t love my one-year-old but because I want to escape him. … Rather than obsess over the nutritional content on his high chair tray. Rather than watch the Wiggles for one more minute.”

Allison Hahn, Psy.D. shares, “When you come back from the hospital beginning maternity leave initially it is an overwhelming experience in terms of how little you actually know, regardless of how informed you thought you were, about caring for a newborn.” She continues, “What can be particularly shocking for professional moms is how little they get done during a day. The typical thought is ‘I have the whole day at home for several weeks? I’ll get that re-fi completed, get the shed painted, write that novel and keep the house spotless.’ It is shocking to realize that you get NOTHING accomplished …”

Mompetition ... Don't Play Along!

Mompetition … Don’t Play Along!

By Kerrie McLoughlin

694 words

Please contact me at mommykerrie@yahoo.com if you'd like to see this piece in full to consider purchasing it for your parenting magazine, either online or in print!

According to UrbanDictionary.com, mompetition is “the one-up rivalry that moms play making their child seem better, smarter, and/ or more advanced than yours. May involve two or more moms and any number of children, even full-grown.” I like the “even full-grown” part of that because it is so true. Ever see a couple of 60-something women comparing number of grandchildren and number of married children and their jobs? Oh, yes, it happens daily, and it has to stop.

I've never really been competitive; maybe it's the Only Child thing. I just don't really care what other people are doing and don't have the desire to one-up them. That being said, I always know when I’m dealing with mompetition. At a random outing, a mom might start by asking you a lot of questions about your life. These are not normal questions in a normal manner, but they are lots of POKING questions. These moms are trying to find your weak spots and decide in which areas of life they are BETTER than you.

Here are some examples of mompetition, then some ways to handle it:

·         "My kid is only 12 and is almost an Eagle Scout. Congratulations on your 17-year-old Scout getting his Fingerprinting badge!" (For those of you non-Scouters, an Eagle Scout rank is HARD to get, takes years, involves a major service project and is usually earned by an 18th birthday.)

8 Egg-citing Easter Traditions

8 Egg-citing Easter Traditions

816 words including sidebar

Kerrie McLoughlin

Please contact me at mommykerrie@yahoo.com if you'd like to see this piece in full to consider purchasing it for your parenting magazine, either online or in print!

Easter was always an exciting holiday when I was growing up. I would spend the night with my grandparents the night before Easter, and I could SWEAR I heard the Easter bunny scooting across the floor in the night. Upon waking I’d bolt out of bed to see what candy and other treats I’d been brought, then we’d head to church for Easter services and a massive egg hunt. My day would end in a sugar coma on the couch, watching The Wizard of Oz with my parents. Below are 8 ideas for Easter traditions you can try with your own kids. Pick and choose a few of them each year … and stick with the ones your family loves!

1. There are so many great treats your family can make together a night or two before Easter. Dying and decorating hardboiled eggs is a classic, but you could also make something out of the ordinary like Jell-o eggs or egg-shaped sugar cookies. Last year my husband and kids made Rice Krispy eggs dipped in melted chocolate chips, then they added sprinkles before the chocolate set.