I like to think of New Year’s Resolutions as more like a plan than a list of solid goals.  The goal is, as always, to be the best mom, wife and artist I can be.  I figure if i get around to most of these, I’ll be okay this year.

TEN:  Quality reading for you and for your little ones. I know you are busy, but nothing fills the creative well AND gives you a little escape from your busy day like curling up with a book, even if it is just for fifteen minutes before you head to bed, while you wait for your kids or during lunch at work.  This lucky Creative Mom got a Kindle for Christmas! And for the little ones, make it easy and check out the book “Honey for a Child’s Heart.” You’ll find great reading lists for all ages.  This helps with that overwhelmed feeling you get at the library.  This year introduce your kids to the classics: Pooh, Peter Rabbit, Little Sal, Max and the Wildthings, Narnia… and on and on!

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NINE:  Exercise. I’m not talking about training for a marathon, although major kudos if you are! Just head out for a walk, take the kids or use it to de-stress from your day.

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EIGHT:  Eat Real Food. Less fast food, more fresh food.  Cut out products that come in a box with powder or are neon blue.  Avoid foods with high fructose corn syrup. Always have options like fruit and whole wheat crackers available for hungry kiddos.

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SEVEN:  Do Worthwhile Stuff. Take the time to find out about the cool things in your area AND DO THEM.  Find activities that teach your kids about nature, about doing good and helping others, about staying healthy, about history and geography and art. You might just find yourself inspired along the way.

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SIX:  Stay updated. Keep an eye on what is new and exciting in your creative field.  Get inspired by others who do what you do.  Join a critique group, go to a conference, take a class… and save up to upgrade your Adobe software (:

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FIVE:  Simplify. De-clutter your life a little and breath a bit easier.  No Mom does this better than the Simple Mom.  If you haven’t checked her out, you should!

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FOUR:  Find your Balance with Chaos. No one can win the war against chaos.  My husband, the physics expert, says it is impossible.  He even had an equation to prove it.  So, your house cannot be perfect, your kids cannot always be predictable and your hair will not always do as you wish.  Find your balance between laundry and playtime, between TV and sleep, between work and home.  And if you lose a tough battle one day, don’t worry, chaos will always be around to battle with tomorrow.

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THREE:  Stay Connected. This does not mean spend an hour a day on facebook.  Call  your mom.  Send photos of your kids to your grandparents.  Check on your little brother.  Send birthday cards.  Have coffee and playdates and cultivate friendships with people worth being in your life.  Find good professional relationships with those who make you a better creative person.

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TWO:  Fill the Well. Inspiration can be illusive.  You have to get inspired.  Every creative soul needs different things.  Mine likes antique stores, nature walks, used bookstores, quirky movies and art galleries. Seek out your muse, and don’t be afraid to have your kids help you find it.  Seeing things through their eyes can be the greatest inspiration you will find.

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ONE:  Quality Time. As a military family, we know all about quality time. This is the most important item on this list, and it can be forgotten, put off or faked too easy.  Turn off the TV and play a game.  Have a conversation, read a book and talk about it, go on a walk together, really pay attention to your kids one on one with no distractions.  You might be with your kids all day, but even on the busiest days try and take some time to let them be your sole focus.  Because you’ll blink and another year will go by.

I admit it.  I am partial to this story.  My mom took me to see the Nutcracker Ballet when I was a kid.  I even played one of the mice in a local production when I was in kindergarden.  When I was little I loved the story of a girl at a lavish party being whisked away to a fanciful place.  Now I am touched by the story of transformative and unconditional love.  This book brings these qualities and so much more out of this classic story.  Her words are magical and her illustrations are all individual works of art.  My daughter loves the angels on the inside covers, the dancing, the ballerinas and the horses.  And, I love exposing my little one to one of my favorite holiday stories.

Find it on Amazon

A couple of weeks ago Heidi Klum laughed at one of the southern contestants on Project Runway for saying, “y’all”.  I don’t blame her. Being a military wife, I’ve lived all over the country and had friends from almost every state.  I might not have my husband’s Texas drawl, or my mother-in-law’s southern lilt in my voice, but I have been accused of overusing the “y’all.”  My Minnesota friends giggle and my New York friends roll their eyes, but I just can’t give it up.  I even use it in email.  That is why this week’s Why-Not of the Week is, give “y’all” a try!

First of all, I’d like to point out that y’all is a perfectly good contraction.  It is a combination of “you” and “all” put together with an apostrophe, just like “don’t”, “haven’t”, etc.  I believe “y’all” gets a bad grammar rap because it is used incorrectly as the singular second person when making fun of uneducated southerners.  No one really refers to one person as “y’all”.

Second, it is a better alternative than other second person plural options.  While “you” is most acceptable as a second person plural, it is confusing since it is more often singular.  “You” can easily be mistaken for one of your friends instead of all.  “You guys” is not gender neutral and it makes me think of Goonies….. “Heeeey you guyyyys!”  I’ve had friends from rural Missouri say “Y’uns” (not sure at all about that spelling).  While unique, it’s just a little out there for widespread use.

And finally, “y’all” just rolls off your tongue.  Go ahead, give it a try……… see, it feels good!  Kind of like linguistic lemonade on a hot Southern afternoon.

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November is National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo for short). You, along with tons of other enthusiastic and over-caffeinated amateur novelists will be challenged to write a 50k novel in one month.  This means that there is no room for editing, rereading or dilly dallying. You have to kick your internal editor out of your head entirely for thirty days and just write. Join the forums on www.nanowrimo.org and commiserate with fellow nanowrimos, join local groups and get together to commiserate in person and have a great excuse to lock yourself away and finally sit down to create your masterpiece!  I’ve participated for the last several years, and every year I think I at least learn something about myself or improve my writing skills infinitesimally.  I also end up with a big hot mess of a story, which then takes 11 months to edit.

You know you’re interested, just take a look at the Nanowrimo site and see what all the fuss is about.  You just might get hooked!

www.nanowrimo.org

Stay tuned for more National Novel Writing Month Enthusiasum!

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Also by Robert McCloskey, check out another classic, Make Way for Ducklings.

Blueberries for Sal on Amazon.com

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]]> http://www.creativemom.net/2009/09/13/creative-childrens-book-of-the-month-blueberries-for-sal/feed/ 0 http://www.creativemom.net/2009/09/13/creative-childrens-book-of-the-month-blueberries-for-sal/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheCreativeMom/~3/AeLWDRfLS-A/ http://www.creativemom.net/2009/09/06/the-best-iphone-apps-for-busy-moms-dads/#comments Sun, 06 Sep 2009 20:20:01 +0000 The Creative Mom http://www.creativemom.net/?p=305 I know you’re busy, so I’ll cut right to the chase.  I love my iPhone, and here are some of the reasons why.  This is by NO MEANS a complete list.  These are just a few apps I happen to have collected and use on a regular basis.  Have some better ones? Please add them to the list by commenting to this post!  I look forward to hearing from you.

Best Apps to Organize Mom (or Dad)…
Because Time is always in short supply.

Grocery IQ: I am a lousy grocery shopper.  I have to have a list or I’ll get distracted by the tortilla making machine and forget half of the dinner ingredients.  This simple app lets you jot down an item right when you think of it.  It gives you a categorized list, lets you check items off as you shop and has tons of extras like a favorites list and multiple store lists.  I’m sure it has lots of goodies I haven’t even discovered yet. Easy to use and  hopefully less likely to be forgotten on the kitchen counter. Shopper is another great grocery list maker too.

To Do’s: A simple, no frills to do list. Let’s you assign priority, move items up and down, as well as make notes under each one.

Notebooks: A step up from the basic notepad that comes with iPhone.  Totally worth a few bucks if you need to organize your notes into folders.  It saves as you type so you don’t have to worry about losing that novel you are writing on your iPhone.  And when you finish, you can just email it right to the publisher!

Flight Track: Because you always need to know right when to pick the grandparents up from the airport.

Phone Flicks: If your family has a Netflix subscription (and if you don’t you should try it out) save some time by picking up the free Phone Flicks app.  You can do most of the things you can do online and who knows if you’ll have time to sit down at the computer today.

iFitness: It is a bit pricey, but it is helpful if you need a new fitness routine or just need someone to tell you what to do at the gym.  It is also a great way to keep track of your workouts.

Facebook: A must have these days.  Post photos of your kids, keep up with all your friends at once, sent quick messages.  And, a great way to kill some time while someone sits on the potty for the eleventh time in one hour.

Clock In: A simple time clock.  Handy for anyone who works freelance or by the hour, or if you want to have a quick record of nap time length or feeding times.

Digital Clock: Just a digital clock.  I use this when we travel.  Make sure you’re plugged in though.

Kindle for iPHone: I don’t have a Kindle, but I always have a book on my iPhone.  It isn’t perfectly ideal for reading, but it works just fine.  I pull it out while my daughter plays for a few minutes in the bathtub.

Walt Disney World Resort Times Guide: This was super handy on our recent trip to WDW.

WDW Dining: Also super easy to find restaurants in the park.

Wikipanion: You don’t have time to run to the computer to look up the name of last season’s Dancing with the Stars winner.  But it will drive you crazy until you remember! Now the answer is at your fingertips.

Amazon Mobile: Oh yeah, shopping on your phone.  Now I just need my flying car.

Other iPhone time savers:  Make sure you are using all that your iPhone can provide.  If you don’t know how your Maps, Messages, Calendar or Contacts works, take some time and figure them out.  You’ll save tons of time in the future.  I also recommend MobileMe, which pushes all of your email, contact and calendar information so that it is always current on your iPhone, computer or web, no syncing needed.

Best Apps to Entertain Little Ones…
Priceless on a plane, at Daddy’s graduation or waiting in line at Disney World.

First Words: I thought this one was lame at first, but my daughter loved it.  It is basically just cheesy pictures and words.  My daughter liked the animal sounds.

iAlphabet: A great little ABC program.  Simple and easy to use.  Just tap a letter and it comes up with a picture and sound.

Bubble Wrap: Just like the real thing, only endless!  Great for entertaining husbands as well.

Koi Pond: My daughter likes the fish, but really I bring this one up whenever I need a moment of zen.  Just lovely Koi fish swimming in a pond. You make ripples in the water with your fingers and they swim away.

Disney Fairies Fly: Okay, this one is for me. More fun than you would think, and totally addictive.

iFart: My husband made me include this one. It doesn’t really deserve a description.

Other iPhone Toys…

I always have a few episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Little Einsteins on my iPhone just in case I REALLY need to keep a little one mesmerized for a while. We also found that with really little ones, a collection of familiar photos in your photo album is a great way to entertain and teach new words.  For a plane trip when our daughter was just learning her words we filled my husband’s iPhone with pictures of animals, shapes, letters, her grandparents faces and pictures of her.  She loved it, and so did the people sitting next to us on the plane.

Now it’s your turn.  What iPhone apps can you not live without?

Let’s face it.  Life with young children in the house can run at a frantic pace. As a work at home mom with a husband in the military I know mine sure does.  I can usually keep up the pace and get everything done with regular exercise, a daily schedule, morning coffee and occasional lifesaving visits from Nana or Grandma.  But some weeks just don’t get their share of mom-motivation.  It is a tough job, and sometimes your body needs a break, especially during those times when your little one isn’t sleeping as well as usual.  That’s why this week’s why-not is a simple one.  Nap with your little one for a week.  Give your body an extra dose of sleep for a week.  Take some time to relax during the afternoon, even if it is for just part of your baby’s nap time.  You may have to cut something out of your day, if you spend more than an hour watching TV or web surfing, this is a good thing to try and cut out.  I usually cut out laundry, but that usually backfires on me.  When I did this last, I had to cut down on my work since nap time is usually Mommy work time. Fortunately working freelance is feast or famine.  And I picked a slow week.

Taking a nap week is also a good way to help your little one get adjusted to a new nap schedule.  Dr. Sears* (without whom my child might be living wild in the backyard) recommends sharing sleep with your baby. If your little one is having trouble sleeping, sick, or just in an extra mommy-clingy stage take your naps snuggled up together. This can be especially helpful to breast feeding mommies trying to increase their milk.  Just nap after feeding using the side-laying position.  That being said, sharing sleep isn’t possible or ideal for some parents, and that is okay.  Just set up your baby monitor, put your little one down, and take a siesta of your own.

Try this why-not when your body is telling you that more rest and less chaos is needed.  Your baby will benefit from a happy, sane and well rested Mommy. Why not?

*Need some sleep advice? The Creative Mom loves Dr. Sears.  Check out The Baby Sleep Book

Need a great little book to read at bedtime?  Check out The Bedtime Book.

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Angelina Ballerina, written by Katharine Holabird and Illustrated sublimely by Helen Craig

This book is quickly becoming a modern classic.  It’s beautiful images and endearing tale of fulfilling your dreams are timeless.  The illustrations are full and rich, and you and your little ones will find new details hidden in each scene every time you read it. If this book isn’t already part of your library, especially if you have a little girl, you need to make just a little space on your bookshelf for a little white mouse with a pretty pink tutu.

Find Angelina on Amazon here.

This very first why-not is for the shoe lover in us all.  You know you’ve got that fabulous pair of heels tucked away in the closet.  You look at them every now and then and sigh, “I wish I had a place to wear you.”  Well, now you do.  Take those fancy shoes out, put on a cute skirt or even just a nice pair of jeans and head to…. the grocery store!  You’ll love being 3 inches (or more!) taller as you saunter through the cereal aisle. Make it a special occasion and let your little ones pick out their favorite princess slippers, cowboy boots or galoshes.  It will take a little of the hum drum out of a regular visit to the grocery store, and if you do get blisters, at least you can take them right off when you get home.  Why Not?

Learn more about the Creative Mom’s Why-Nots and learn how to submit your own!