Women are all about routines.  We have to be!  Since we tend to pile a lot on our plates, we need schedules to keep everything running smoothly, and this is especially true for work-at-home moms.  A solid routine will ensure that work is done in a timely manner so that clients are satisfied and bills get paid. It will also guarantee that kids get to school, play dates, soccer practice, violin lessons, and whatever other activities they can manage to cram into a day (don’t forget homework), and you should be able to squeeze in a little time to clean the house, run errands, and prepare three square meals plus snacks.  There are, after all, twenty-four usable hours in every day, as you can probably attest.  Well, maybe you’d better pencil in some sleep time or a weekend at the spa.  The point is, women are multi-taskers who take on a lot.  And establishing a routine is absolutely essential if you want to continue to work, parent, and run a household.

However, routines aren’t only good for you.  Imagine for a moment what it must be like for a child to grow up in a household that is in constant chaos with a caretaker that is frazzled, at best.  Children thrive in stable environments where they can anticipate what is coming and they know that they can depend upon the adults in their lives to behave in certain ways and set parameters for what is acceptable.  Those who are constantly being shuffled around a shifting work schedule, never knowing when you’re going to forget that they have a classmate’s birthday party to attend, or if you’ll renege on your promise to help them practice for a recital or study for a test, or what events or queries are important enough to come in your office and interrupt you for, are more likely to clam up, or alternately, act out their frustrations in socially unacceptable ways.  They may be nervous and apprehensive and they will eventually begin to distrust and disrespect authority figures…namely you.

Children require boundaries and a measure of stability that cannot be provided by a house stocked with instant food and a television for a nanny.  The majority of women who opt to work at home do so because of the flexibility it allows them to interact with their family, but living the dream can quickly become a nightmare if you don’t plan accordingly.  You can easily get behind with work and leave yourself playing an endless game of catch up if you don’t get organized at the outset and implement a realistic schedule that works for you and your family.  Certainly there will be times when the day-planner goes out the window.  Kids get sick, deadlines get changed, and plumbing and electrical problems that require your attention will arise.  That’s just life and as the parent with a “flexible” occupation, you will most likely have to deal with the day-to-day disasters.  But for the most part, establishing a routine will allow you to get everything done, reduce your stress, and make the time that you do spend with your family quality time.

Jennifer Kardish writes for Spirit Pins, a company that specializes in custom lapel pins and sports team trading pins.

Image source:   mom-goals.com

A loud sound is filtering down the hall into your room. You lazily glance at the clock on your nightstand to see a glaring green 6:30 A.M. sign flashing in your face. Your husband is still fast asleep as you nudge him, at first, gently, then roughly to go get the crying baby. He mutters something inaudible as he stumbles out of bed. It’s been three months and the child still hasn’t slept through the night. Which reminds you, it’s been three months and you still haven’t worked off all of that baby fat. You think about all of the excuses you have made these last few weeks and frankly, you are running out of them. You have a cold? Already taken. You really should finish the laundry? Check. There is far too much work to do? Used that one yesterday. You realize it’s been a little more difficult than you thought adjusting to life, working at home and getting in your much-needed workouts with two children, two dogs, and a workaholic husband. The noise of the baby dies down as your husband grumpily slumps back into bed. He thinks he is allowed to go back to sleep, but instead, you hit him and loudly exclaim in a state of epiphany, “The family needs a work out plan and you’re going to help me plan it!” You frantically tear off a piece of paper from a notebook lying on your nightstand and begin your list, your husband sleepily gawking at you.

1. Walk to school. If you live close to your children’s school, set a goal to walk with the family to drop off and pick up your child. This is great way to not only save gas, but to ensure the safety of your child. It is a great start to the day and allows you some extra time to get to know the area you live in. For some families, mornings are the only time spent together, so by initiating a walk, quality time is spent with the family.
2. Join a gym. Most gyms have a care center for children, which not only allows them time to socialize with other children, but allows you time for your much needed workout. It is important to allot specific time to yourself during the day in order get that energy you need for the rest of the afternoon. The gym is a non-stressful environment that enables you to bring your family along with you, but uniquely gives a moment to yourself.
3. Buy a workout DVD. If you are too busy, or can’t afford a gym membership, buying an exercise DVD is a great way to include the whole family in on your workout routine. A DVD can be played over and over, which allows you to lose weight in the comfort of your own home. It is simple and easy, allowing the work-at-home-mom a convenient way to get in that exercise time. Plus, the luxury of a DVD is that you can pause it and re-start whenever you want! Perfect for the busy mom takings calls and sending emails.
4. Blast some music. Sometimes all a mom needs is a moment to let lose. Designate a half-an-hour to getting down with your family. Children love music and what better way to get out all of their wild energy then to dance together as a family. This is a fun solution to getting in some exercise while creating lasting memories together.

Jennifer Kardish writes for a discount vouchers website where you can find Argos.co.uk discount vouchers and Dell discount codes.

Image Source:  debfit.blogspot.com

Everybody knows that disposable diapers are bad for the environment.  They also cost a ton of money and they may irritate your baby’s sensitive skin.  And yet, despite all the negatives associated with purchasing disposable diapers, people continue to buy them.  Why?  Well, the main argument seems to be that it’s simply easier to throw a diaper away.  But this may not necessarily be true.  The idea of getting down and dirty with an entire pail full of used nappies is not very appealing, but considering that women did it for hundreds of years before disposable options came along, there must be a method to the madness.  Regardless of what you may think you know about cloth diapers, there are a lot of reasons to give up disposables and make the switch.

1. Get service.  You may not realize that there are diaper cleaning laundry services that will not only clean cloth diapers, but will in fact rent them out to you so that when your baby has outgrown them, you don’t have a closet full of cotton triangles to contend with.  These services generally cost $20-30 per month, meaning that they will most likely cost you less than disposable diapers (among other benefits).
2. DIY.  Save even more money by washing cloth diapers yourself.  And don’t think you have to wash them by hand, either.  If you have a washing machine, all you have to do is throw them in.  Of course, really messy diapers may need to be sprayed a bit with some sort of hose attachment, but overall, it’s just as easy to toss them in the wash as it is to toss them in the trash.
3. Save money.  The average two year old has already gone through about 10,000 diapers.  If you consider that disposable options will cost you about $20-25 for 100, then you could be spending upwards of 1,000 per year on diapers.  That’s a lot of greenbacks that could better put into a savings account for college. 
4. It’s the healthy choice.  Disposable diapers are made with a lot of synthetic products, not to mention dyes, fragrances, and other chemicals that can harm your baby’s most sensitive parts.  Have you noticed that they make your child’s urine turn into gelatin?  That’s a chemical process.  Cloth diapers, on the other hand, are cotton (you can even get organic cotton, if you like), which is safe, natural, and probably a lot healthier for your child.  And if you’re worried about your baby stewing in a dirty diaper, just remember that urine is sterile and solids aren’t absorbed by disposable diapers any better than cloth.  As long as you change the diaper regularly, you’ll probably notice an improvement in diaper rash and other irritations.
5. Landfills.  Approximately 18 billion diapers go into landfills every year and in case you didn’t know, they aren’t terribly biodegradable.  In terms of non-recyclable waste, diapers are one of the worst offenders, so do something good for your baby, yourself, and the environment by investing in cloth diapers.

Jennifer Kardish is a writer for Cloth Diapers. The website is devoted to educating parents on the benefits, both eco and health related of cloth diapers for your baby.

Image source: ecochildsplay.com

Attention moms!  There is a great new daily deals site (with awesome content too!) aimed at fun moms, and I have just become an affiliate member.  Not only is the site fabulous, but you can earn money as an affiliate too (regardless of where you live and whether your city is supported)! Check it out here Juice in the City.
 
Juice in the City aims to bring moms what they really want: insanely good deals on crazy-fun things to do…and great content.  Each day Juice in the City features something fun for local moms to do at an incredible price.  Juice in the City started in the SF Bay Area and is rolling out new cities across the country every few weeks. 
 
Check it out and sign up!  Make Money, Have Fun, Be Your Own Boss- work from home, on your own time.

I am thrilled to have the opportunity to complete another personalized gift giveaway from the sister site of Dakota’s Personalized Gifts, The Anniversary Rose Gifts !  If you are looking for traditional anniversary gifts, treasured keepsakes, personalized frames, and romantic christmas gifts, check out this unique online shop! 

I received a Pretty In Pink Personalized Sport Bag, which includes my initials embroidered.  As described- this personalized bag features a lot of pockets as well as a large main compartment, sturdy handles, and a handy shoulder strap for easy carrying.  This bag is going to make a great sports bag as well as a travel bag!

Short Bio: 

Taken from The Anniversay Rose Gifts- We started in a spare bedroom about 5 years ago more as a part time hobby than a business with The Anniversary Rose making roses for the traditional anniversary gifts (i.e. 1st year paper, 2nd year cotton, 5th year wood etc) cutting rose petals by hand with scissors.  It quickly grew from a part time hobby to a full time business, adding help and equipment to keep up. Then, we started expanding into personalized anniversary gifts.  We started getting many requests from our customers for personalized wedding, Mother’s & Father’s Day and Christmas gifts etc.  That’s when we started Dakota’s Personalized Gifts. Soon the business took over a second bedroom and the garage, the following year it occupying two bedrooms, the garage & a full basement. With no room left to expand we were forced to move into a commercial location in 2009.  We continue to expand with new products and updated equipment all the time which allows us to produce most of the personalized items in house.

The Id Choose You Again Keepsake Heart Clock has to be one of my favorite personalized gift items.

The Anniversary Rose Gifts has offered one WAHM Resource Site reader a chance to win a $50 GC.  So check out their site and enter for a chance to win! 

Giveaway Entry Rules for The Anniversary Rose Gifts $50 GC:

Earn 1 entry for every comment you leave on this blog post from now until 09/08.  Leave a comment for each entry completed.

Go to The Anniversary Rose Gifts and let me know about your experience. (2 Entries) 

Post about this giveaway on your blog and link back to me.  Leave me your link to show the post. (2 entries)

Grab my Blog Button and post it in your sidebar.  (1 Entry) 

Follow me on Google Friend Connect, which is located on the right side bar.  (1 Entry) 

Subscribe to my feed via RSS or email.  (1 Entry)

Follow me on Twitter, and tweet about this giveaway.  (1 Entry)

Click to vote for me at Top Mommy Blogs.  Just click the banner on the right sidebar (Top Mommy Blogs) and tell me you clicked.  (1 Entry) 

Giveaway Rules: 

This giveaway is open to the U.S.  Random.org will be used to select the winner.  Giveaway ends 09/08/10 at 11:00 pm CST.  The winner will be announced and must respond with a current email address within 48 hours to claim.  Otherwise, another eligible entry will be chosen.  Please make sure that you leave a way for me to contact you in case you win.  Good Luck!

Click on the Giveaway Linky  for other great giveaways or to submit your giveaway!

I received no monetary compensation for this post.  The Anniversary Rose Gifts provided a sample product for my review.  The opinions herein are my own.

Image source: The Anniversary Rose Gifts

Since your own personalized workspace is in your home, it can be even harder to get anything done.  Do you find yourself spending most of your time reorganizing paperwork, readjusting furniture, or shifting around piles of boxes – just being plain distracted inside your home office even when the kids are playing outside?  Have you wondered how you can change your work habits by simple refitting your workspace?  Give feng shui a try in your home workspace and soon you will be on your way to increasing and maximizing your potential productivity and efficiency.

Because your workspace is located within your home, the first and most important feng shui guideline to follow is to make sure you choose a space that is as far away from your personal bedroom as possible.  This allows you to keep your personal life and your work life separate, and the more distance you are able to put between your work area and your bedroom the less likely the energy from your personal life will infiltrate the positive and creative energy you need in your workspace to remain productive.  Not to mention, the further you are from the bedroom, the harder it will be for the kids to find you and distract.  They’ll know, when mommy is in the office, she shouldn’t be bothered.

Surround yourself with the energy you want to bring to fruition.  Plan the décor of your workspace with productivity and success in mind, and as you begin to place things around the space you will spread out that positive energy.  Only bring items into your workspace that make you feel happy, appreciated, and successful.  Since you’ll be surrounded by these things often while in your home workspace, stay away from placing things around you already associated with negativity or old baggage; after all, you don’t want to bog down your working mentality with negative and distracting energies.  Keep the kids play things out of your workspace, this will only bring in that distracting energy and will take away from how productive you can really be.

Be mindful of the quality of light and air flow into your workspace.  You want to keep your mind happy and healthy, and it needs an adequate amount of oxygen and light to function in the most productive and creative of ways.  The most natural light you can manage to have flow into your workspace, the better.  This will allow you to feel more comfortable and will make your mind that much more alert and awake.  The more eased you allow your mind to be, the more likely you’ll leave all the household stress out of your home office.

Place your desk so that your back is not turned to the door, this is called a commanding position.  Finding a spot in your home office where you can place your desk so that it is not aligned with the doorway and you don’t have to stare at a wall is the most powerful commanding position.  This will allow you to attract much more strong and successful energy into your workspace and will help you increase your levels of productivity.  Plus, this way you can see if the kids are running down the hall towards your office and you can stop them before they cross through the door. 

Keep your space clear of extraneous and unnecessary clutter.  Clutter not only takes up extra space in your work area, but it drains your energy and distracts you from being as efficient and productive as possible.  Plan out days, maybe once a week, when you set aside a small chunk of time to clear your workspace of the items you don’t need that are just taking up space.  The rest of the house can be a mess, but keep that home office in order so that you can keep your work productivity in order.

Jennifer Kardish is a writer for scented candles, where you can find an amazing assortment of high end brands at competitive prices.

Image source:  workathomemum.com.au