It would seem that this month we’re all reevaluating how we spend the daze. I’m working on an extreme home(school) makeover while contributor Lauren examines how to embrace a new season of motherhood.

January is always a time of fresh starts. I can’t wait to crack open my newly purchased calendar each year and plan our days. Knowing that I get to start over is a great feeling. You’re allowed to readjust the way you do things: your schedule, your commitments and even your vacation.

As a mom of several little ones, I’ve also learned that those times of needing a fresh start often happen at odd times of the year. I have caught myself completely revamping our schedule in the middle of October. Or I’ve recognized my need to overhaul our school curriculum at the end of April.

These aren’t typical planning times for most people.

With young children, each season of life passes unbelievably fast. During the first twelve months, those milestones are reached about as quickly as they outgrow clothes. All of a sudden the baby who slept in the swing all day is now a little toddler pulling all of the books off of the shelf.

But what does this mean for you as a mom? How do you keep up with your husband, your family life and your home through these quickly moving seasons of babyhood? How do you gracefully manage it all?

Examine Where You Are

Take a close look at where you are: do you have a newborn who wakes every 2 hours? Has your little one transitioned to only 1 nap a day? Do you have a little tornado that destroys every room in the house before you can blink? (We do!) Do you still have one or two children who need help feeding themselves at each meal?

All of these time and labor-intensive stages require energy.

It requires the kind of energy where you feel drained and exhausted every night when you lie on your pillow. While it’s fulfilling to spend each day with your children, it also can make a mama weary.

Be realistic with yourself if you are in this draining stage. It’s impossible to have a spotlessly clean house and still tend to those sweet faces that love you so dearly.

Be Willing to Give Your Schedule an Overhaul

My 13 month old started walking this past week. My little Mama’s heart just smiles every time I see her pop herself up and go again. She’s a red-head and very feisty and determined to walk where she pleases.

So last week, in the middle of January, I had to completely revamp the way our school flows in the morning. The baby is now old enough to stand at the desks and pull my son’s pencil out of his hand or stick her fingers in the do-a-dots the girls are working on. This new walking stage presents a new set of joys and challenges to work through.

Regardless of the time of year, be willing to stop what you’re doing and re-evaluate.

You don’t have to keep doing things the same way, despite the fact that major changes have taken place in your family. If you’ve just added a newborn to your family and you aren’t sleeping well, you don’t have to start school at 8am sharp as you did before. If your 7-month-old has just learned to crawl, you might have to add a chore time in the afternoon to vacuum the floor so she doesn’t crawl in crumbs.

It doesn’t have to be January to re-evaluate and create a new plan that can make your household run more smoothly.

Give Yourself Grace

There are harder times and there are easier times in mothering young children. If you’re facing one of those more challenging times right now, life will seem much more manageable if you give yourself an ample amount of grace.

I admittedly suffer from a healthy dose of mom guilt: Am I serving meals that are healthy enough? Have they had my full attention today? Did I make school “fun enough” this week?

During those times when mothering is more difficult, I have to remind myself that God intentionally did not make me superwoman. It is in these times that I must give myself grace. This may look like serving super simple meals for a while or maybe just doing very basic house cleaning for a couple of months.

I’ve proven to myself many times over, that when I give myself grace things seem instantly more manageable.

Don’t Rely on Yourself

As I said, God intentionally didn’t make me superwoman. He purposefully gave me more on my plate than I could handle. I honestly don’t know any mom that can handle a marriage, a home and a child or children without help from the Lord. He designed us to rely on Him.

When I lose focus of that and become too busy for a quiet time, the results are disastrous. I think it is God’s way of reminding me that He never intended for me to walk the road of motherhood without His help. I’m grateful He loves me enough to remind me to rely only on Him.

What are your biggest struggles as you enter different seasons of motherhood?

– Lauren Hill is the ‘Mama’ behind Mama’s Learning Corner, a site that features all kinds of educational ideas and tips as well as free printable worksheets. She is the mom of four young children and loves to learn alongside them.

Embracing a New Season of Motherhood is a post from: Life As Mom. © Jessica Getskow Fisher - All rights reserved.

Teaching my boys to cook is a great way for us to eat well and spend less, while they live under my roof as well as after they fly the nest.

Ever since my firstborn could stand up on a kitchen chair, we’ve encouraged our kids to help in the kitchen.

(That’s he and I almost ten years ago. We were remodeling our kitchen, but that didn’t stop us from cooking up a storm together.)

Now that the older ones are older, I’ve realized that I haven’t done the best job in making them independent in the kitchen. In fact, the older kids have been usurped by the littler ones who want to help. We haven’t moved too far past someone standing on the kitchen chair helping mom.

Only the names have changed.

When Shaina told me last month that her five year old could bake cupcakes unassisted, I realized the error of my ways. In the name of a clean kitchen and conserving resources (ie ingredients flung about the kitchen), I’ve kept my children in the dark, or at least not allowed them to fend for themselves.

This month, as part of my Pantry Challenge and my food goals for the year, I set about to change that.

I just can’t do it all. Therefore, teaching my kids to cook will help us to eat well and spend less while they live in our home. I won’t be the sole cook and bottle washer or as tempted to run for take-out on a night when I’m just too tired. I can call in the reserves!

And teaching my boys to cook will help them to eat well and spend less once they leave our home as young men. They’ll be able to fend for themselves, be independent of restaurant fare, and possibly woo the girl, too.

While my younger three are 7, 5, and 3, and still quite suited to being assistants, my older three are definitely cooking school candidates. At 9, 11, and 14, they love to eat and are perfectly able to make part or all a meal.

If they know how.

So, that’s the mission I’m on. It hasn’t happened in three weeks’ time. No, I think this will be a year-long goal, but I’m hoping that by this time next year, I’ll have some full-fledged sous chefs on my hands.

Here’s what we’ve done so far:

1. Create a recipe book that is easy for them to access.

I enlisted FishBoy11 to help with this project: a family recipe book that everyone could access. My recipes are all over the place. How could they know that some are only online while others are on ratty recipe cards in my grandmother’s handwriting in a binder on the second to the top shelf of the bookcase in the schoolroom?

Yes, I’m complicated.

So, at the beginning of the month, I printed out copies of the month’s meal plan as well as the recipes to go with. He created dividers as well as a book cover, and compiled them all in a binder. Cool.

2. Enlist a child’s help with kitchen prep whenever possible.

A lot of my cooking this month has been hodge podge lately due to the Pantry Challenge. But, one thing that has been constant has been prep work as concerns all the fresh produce we get each week in a subscription box. Everyone is pretty eager to see what each week holds as well as to taste what’s included.

Kitchen prep lessons have involved juicing lemons, making lemonade, washing spinach, peeling sundry root vegetables, and otherwise exploring this world of strange and new fruits and vegetables. What WILL we do with those rutabagas and lemon grass, anyway?

As a result, the kids are learning about the produce as well as the techniques used to prepare it.

3. Offer cooking tutorials often.

As I’m cooking dinner each night, I’ve been more intentional about including a child in the prep work and/or offering a tutorial/running commentary about how to make a certain dish. I’ve given the rice pilaf lecture at least twice in the last three weeks.

I figure that repetition and visuals are helpful to learning and if I’m right there while someone’s stirring the pot, they will become more comfortable in the kitchen.

 What’s next?

As the month draws to a close, I’ll be enlisting their input on the meal plan for February as well as their help in a round of freezer cooking. Yes, this should be interesting….

But, I think that teaching my boys to cook and making them independent in the kitchen is a worthy goal for the year and a great way to eat well and spend less!

This post is part of an ongoing series about how to eat well and spend less. Along with some fabulous foodies, organizers, and frugalistas, I’ve been bringing you suggestions on how to eat like a king without becoming a pauper to do it. This month we’re discussing our food goals for the year.

From wasting less in the kitchen to saving money on healthy foods to eating better for baby, we’ve gotcha covered on all manner of tasty resolutions.

Be sure to check out what the other ladies are sharing this week or browse their archives:

• Aimee from Simple Bites
• Amy from Kingdom First Mom
• Carrie from Denver Bargains
• Katie from Good Life Eats
• Katie from Kitchen Stewardship
• Mandi from Life Your Way
• Shaina from Food for My Family
• Tammy from Tammy’s Recipes

Have you made any Food Resolutions this year?

Teaching My Boys to Cook (Eat Well, Spend Less) is a post from: Life As Mom. © Jessica Getskow Fisher - All rights reserved.

Keeping a written record of your valuable (ie replaceable) possessions can save you a lot of stress if a natural disaster, theft, or fire strikes your home.

It’s common knowlege that we frugalites like to make sure we get a good deal on the things that we purchase. There’s also the understanding that we take care of what we have. No one wants to replace something unneccessarily. That’s why buying adequate homeowner or renter’s insurance is a wise way to protect your investment and personal belongings.

However, theft, fire, and natural disaster are events that could force any one of us into shopping for replacements.

Anyone who’s suffered property damage and the subsequent insurance claims knows what a hassle it is to create a list of valuable possessions that need to be replaced. The insurance company can’t replace your child’s baby book or your wedding pictures, but they will often work hard and spend money to replace the lawn furniture that got sucked up into a cyclone or the tv that was stolen.

However, if you don’t really know what you had or what it was worth, you may be on your own to replace it.

That’s why it’s good practice to keep track of what you own.

A quick way to document your possessions is to walk your home with a video camera and capture on film all those special items. However, if you ever do need to file a claim, you’ll still need a written record with a description of the item, serial number, date of purchase, place of purchase, and purchase price.

Download this free printable household possessions inventory. Now’s as good a time as any to start a written record of your valuable household possessions. Log in what you already possess and then as you acquire new items, write down the information right away. And yes, it might take some time to catch up on the bookkeeping.

It could save you a lot of hassle as well as replacement costs in the event of loss of property.

Today’s Frugal Friday!

Keep a Record of Valuable Possessions (Frugal Friday) is a post from: Life As Mom. © Jessica Getskow Fisher - All rights reserved.

Any kid subject to orthodontia work is going to struggle with pain as well as hunger. Here’s our list of foods to comfort kids after a trip to the ortho.

Over the last five years we’ve ushered three of our children into the world of orthodontia. We’ve done palatal expanders, retainers, and braces, among other things that I can’t remember the names of. And each time, there’s been a challenging season of what to feed them since their mouths are so sore.

Lucky for them, I broke my jaw in college, so I can definitely empathize with an inability to chew and mouth pain.

The general advice is “soft foods” but that can feel overwhelming when you’re used to a regular diet of pizza and tacos. Here are some of the things that have been helpful in our repertoire of foods that comfort kids after orthodontia.

For when they can’t chew:

• DIY Smoothies (add some protein powder for extra oomph)
• Yogurt with Maple Syrup or Honey
• Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
• Roasted Vegetable Soup
• Milk Shakes
• Pureed Butternut Squash (You can also puree other vegetables, like carrots or sweet potatoes)
• Crockpot Applesauce (can be made with pears, too)

For later when they can chew a little:

• Raspberry Baked Oatmeal
• Rice Pudding
• Chicken Noodle Soup

What soft foods do YOU recommend?

Foods that Comfort Kids After Orthodontia is a post from: Life As Mom. © Jessica Getskow Fisher - All rights reserved.

Spending just a few minutes chatting with your child each day can make a big difference in their disposition and in your relationship.

True confessions: At least one of my children knows exactly what button to push to create utter havoc with everyone in the general vicinity. He’s not mean spirited. In fact, he’s often an absolute joy: pleasant, hard working, and helpful. But, like us all, he has his moments.

Unfortunately, his moments often bring out my moments.

I discussed this situation with my sister one morning and with my husband that evening. Since they both had the same answer, I figure it just might be divine intervention.

“Maybe you and he need some time together just hanging out.”

Maybe.

So, the very next day, when he started slamming on that button with all his might, I invited him to “my office.” Not the office in the house, but the hammock in the backyard. It was a beautiful day, sun shining, blue skies, fluffy clouds.

He thought he was busted. I made invited him to sit in the hammock with me. We lay there looking at the sky, talking about random things. Then we talked about the button-pushing. Then we talked about more random things.

And the day went much better.

We’ve spent many a day lounging in the hammock since then. {button pushing, button pushing} But also just because. The critic in me says he’ll just start pushing the button so that he can go lie in the hammock with Mom. The Pollyanna in me says to start every day in hammock time.

While I don’t think it’s a cure for all that ails us, it was a poignant reminder that hanging out together is just fun — and it does help a kid’s disposition to know that they are loved, that their company is desirable, that someone values time spent with them.

May every day have some hammock time.

Hammock Time is a post from: Life As Mom. © Jessica Getskow Fisher - All rights reserved.

Occasionally, readers write with questions that I know others might be able to add to or benefit from. Today we’re talking about morning wake-up help and how to get kids ready and out the door.

Q. I am hoping that you can help me (and possibly other readers as well) find some ideas for getting my 5 year old out of bed and dressed in the morning. As much as I wish it were otherwise, I have to wake her up around 6am. Every morning its a struggle and it often takes 30 to 45 minutes to get her up. I’ve even resorted to waking her up earlier (5:45am) to allow for this. It still doesn’t help much. I am late to work nearly every day. My boss has not said anything to me at this
point, but it certainly isn’t healthy for my career. In the fall, my daughter will start Kindergarten and the time crunch will be even more important so she won’t miss the bus.

Getting out of bed isn’t even the only problem. Having her get dressed in a timely fashion takes nearly as long!

I have tried punishments – doesn’t work. I’ve tried incentives – works for a short period of time only.

I’m just about at my wits end. Can you or your readers supply any ideas for helping my sleepy girl get going in the morning?

Thanks so much,
Sara

A. Hi Sara,

While I don’t often have the same challenge you do since we homeschool, there are mornings when I need to get the crew “up and at ‘em” at an early hour to drive to a class, doctor’s appointment, field trip, or test. I can certainly understand your struggle and can assure you that you are not alone. I know there are plenty of moms in the same boat with us.

When I know that we need to get going early, my preparation begins the night before. I have the kids pack their backpacks, lay out their clothes, and put their shoes and bags by the door. We also try to make sure the house is relatively tidy before we go to bed that night because messes slow us down tremendously. I also pack lunches the night before AND make breakfast. Even something as simple as setting out bowls, spoons, cups, and cereal boxes seems to save time in the morning.

As for physically waking kiddos up, I try to make sure that they go to bed early so that they are getting enough sleep and feeling rested when they do wake up. And, truth be told, some of my boys prefer to sleep in their (clean) clothes so that they don’t have to mess with getting dressed on a busy morning. They literally roll out of bed ready for the day.

Well, there is the wet comb to deal with the bed head, but you get my drift.

These are things that work for our family to get up and out the door in time for classes and appointments. However, that doesn’t mean we/I always do them. In fact just yesterday we needed to get on the road by 8 and there was a fair amount of hustle, bustle, and smoke coming out Mama’s ears. We can have great plans and things still not turn out the way they should.

These tips certainly don’t address any deeper issues like if your daughter is willfully disobeying. But, my guess is that if she’s got adequate sleep and her stuff all laid out for her, then it should be a little easier. But, I myself had a kid who stayed in bed (awake) for 45 minutes while I was getting ready because he just didn’t want to go with the plan. I feel your pain.

One thing that I’ve realized with my younger kids is that they still need help sometimes when I think they should be able to do it on their own. So, perhaps you can help her get ready or invite her to get ready in your room while you get ready for the day. A little companionship could go a long way.

Anyway, that’s my two cents. But, please know I wouldn’t want you to do it “my way” just ’cause. I hope that you can discover what’s best for you and your daughter.

Dear Readers, it’s your turn.

What helps your kids get ready for the morning?

Q&A: Morning Wake-Up HELP! is a post from: Life As Mom. © Jessica Getskow Fisher - All rights reserved.

As moms, we can aspire to greatness:

• to feed our children healthy food that they will actually eat — without complaint
• to provide cultural, athletic, and literary experiences that they will enjoy
• to provide a clean and tidy home where it is their joy to clean up after themselves
• to teach our children to love one another, never to argue in an unkind way
• to be that sweet nurturer, always with a soft answer, whom they desire to confide in

I don’t know about you, but I don’t live there. My life is full of messes, stains, less than kind words, and dinners that are absolute train wrecks.

I lay in bed at night reviewing all the ways I’ve failed as a mother, how wretched and weedy my garden growns.

I was too harsh when….

I should have….

I missed saying goodnight to….

It’s so hard to fight Discouragement in the watches of the night when I’m tired and Perspective has ceased to keep me company.

Somehow a new morning and the bright sunshine can change my perspective. I see the uniqueness of our family. I see how much one child has grown in his struggles for self-control. I hear a son complement and encourage another one. I hear a nine-year old say to his big brother, “You need to be more confident, because you’re pretty awesome.”

In those moments, sunshine sparkles on the dew of a jumbled, but prettyish garden.

Will I focus on the weeds and berate myself for letting them grow? Or will I admire the beautiful blossoms already growing in my garden and praise God for them?

Will I pine away for what might be? Or will I enjoy what is already?

Today I’m choosing to be thankful, and embrace the beauty that’s in my garden — today.

How ’bout you?

How are you thankful for what’s growing in your garden?

Disclosure: I’m partnering with Hallmark to bring you ideas for celebrating life, the ultimate special occasion. I’ve been compensated for my time spent writing. However, my opinions, jokes, family photos, little extras, and funny quirks are all my own. You can sign up to receive regular emails from Hallmark.

How Does Your Garden Grow? is a post from: Life As Mom. © Jessica Getskow Fisher - All rights reserved.

This guy turned eleven today. I am amazed. Not only is it amazing how quickly the time has passed, but reflecting on his birth story last night, I was reminded of what a TREMENDOUS miracle my second born really is. All my children are, of course, but once you read our story, you will understand more.

When I grocery shop with my children, I attract a fair amount of attention. My mom would say that it is because I have such beautiful kiddos. (Of course she would say that!) But, in reality one of the reasons that we stop traffic is that we somewhat resemble Mrs. Mallard and her babes marching on down to the Public Gardens . Make way for me and my ducklings! When I hit the aisles at Stuff Mart, I am followed by Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, and Ouack. You counted right – I have six kids.

The average person who sees me and my brood might assume that infertility is the last of my problems. But, the average person would be wrong.

Head here to read the rest of the story and find out what locusts and my birthday boy have in common.

God Restored What the Locusts Had Eaten is a post from: Life As Mom. © Jessica Getskow Fisher - All rights reserved.

The following is written by Life as MOM contributor, JessieLeigh:

We all know one of “those families”– the ones who have their children’s lives so full and micro-managed that there’s not a single spare moment to breathe or relax. I definitely do not advocate over-scheduling little ones. I’m a firm believer in family-time, down-time, and prayer time. That being said, I do think that it’s possible to enrich your child’s school years through some carefully selected extracurricular activities.

Here are three broad categories to consider as you navigate the options:

Team Sports

Baseball, softball, basketball, football, soccer, and many others fall in this camp. Even preschool aged children can join many t-ball or youth soccer leagues. Not only do these sports help keep children healthy and active, but team sports also help your child work on teamwork, trusting, cooperation, turn-taking, and sportsmanship.

These activities require lots of interaction with other children and they help little ones learn to win, and lose, gracefully. A team sport helps teach young ones to cheer for one another and make choices that benefit the whole team rather than just the individual. Seeing a child choose to bunt the ball and take an out in order to bring his teammate home is truly a lovely thing!

Individual Sports

Sports like swimming, ballet, and the martial arts are often practiced as a group, but focus more on individual growth and development. As a child moves up the ranks from white to black belt, she is primarily competing against herself.

While swim teams and dance teams certainly exist, these are sports that can easily be practiced and developed individually. These teach independence, self-awareness, and self-confidence. A child’s success or lack there-of will rest, for the most part, on her own shoulder’s. There is a lot of responsibility in that. Like team sports, individual sports are wonderful for their role in keeping children strong, healthy, and active.

The Arts

While most schools do include Art and Music in their subject line-ups, extracurricular activities provide the opportunity to delve deeper and specialize more. Taking a painting class or studying the violin allows a child to explore his creative side.

Some children thrive on the almost mathematical nature of music (where there is a “right” answer/method) while others prefer total freedom and abandon in how they share their art. Either way, learning an instrument, being part of a chorus, or doing extra art work can help a child explore another side of learning and experience the joy of creating something all his own.

For our family, we try to limit each child to one or two activities at a time and, if they’re involved in more than one, we like to see them come from two different categories. They’re young yet, and practice times tend to minimal, so that’s what has worked for us, thus-far. For now, we find that our children still have plenty of time leftover to relax and rest-up.

What do YOU do?

Are your children involved in extracurricular activities? What are their favorites and why?

– JessieLeigh is the mother of a former 24-week micropreemie and two full-term blessings as well. She is a determined advocate for the tiniest of babies, including the unborn, and a firm believer in faith and miracles. She shares about raising such a precious, tiny baby over at Parenting the Tiniest of Miracles.

Extracurricular Activities to Supplement Academics is a post from: Life As Mom. © Jessica Getskow Fisher - All rights reserved.

photo source

There’s a garden nearby where children play happily, never bickering or squabbling. They share nicely and politely. Always. They are impeccably dressed, no stains or tears in sight. The older  help the younger and obviously enjoy each other’s company.

The yard is well-tended with beautiful flowers, neatly trimmed bushes, and lush lawns, all local, indigenous plants, grown organically. A fountain catches rain water and recycles it throughout the garden. The vegetable patch provides all the food the family needs, including milk from the goat in the nearby barn and fresh eggs from the adorable chicken coop that guards the garden gate.

In the center of the property is a gazebo with a round picnic table where feasts are served three times a day, all well-balanced and elegantly prepared. And, of course, the children eat neatly and politely without complaint. Not that they would have anything to complain about, regardless, no picky eaters live here.

Nearby under a weeping willow, is a large hammock, heaped with soft pillows. Adjacent stands a sturdy table piled high with books. The mother begins to read aloud and the children flock to her. When she’s not reading to them, they devour every book in sight, from Good Night, Moon to Augustine’s Confessions. One child recites Plato while another practices her Spanish.

photo source

When they tire of reading and recitation, the children turn to athletics. They’re all captains of their respective sports teams.

If not a ball, bat, or racquet, each plays beautifully on a musical instrument.

This garden is never untidy, has never known chaos, has never heard a harsh word or even an angry glance.

This garden doesn’t exist. 

It’s a figment of our imaginations. And it is a source of Mom guilt if you’ve ever found yourself comparing your mothering prowess to that of another or to a small portion of this fictitious vignette.

No mom can be everything. No mom can provide every possible experience and benefit to her children. No mom is perfect.

Look for the beauty, rugged though it may be, in your garden. Nurture it. Water it. Find out who you and your husband and your children are together — as a family. Cultivate that unique creation. And enjoy the days because they pass oh, too quickly.

The most beautiful garden is the one that God plants specifically for you.

This is an ongoing series. If you missed the first installment, you can go back to the beginning.

The Most Beautiful Garden (The Grass is Always Greener) is a post from: Life As Mom. © Jessica Getskow Fisher - All rights reserved.