I’m currently colleagues with two moms of babies and toddlers. When I talk to them, I am reminded of what my life was as a work from home remote tips when you have babies and toddlers. I was a remote worker before anyone had ever heard of remote work! Way before the pandemic made telework a way of life for the majority of the nation, I was juggling work and deadlines WITH bottles and naps.

But, I’m realizing how challenging working from home and raising babies and toddlers was back then. When I got pregnant, I never once thought of daycare as an option. Nothing against daycare but I knew I wanted to stay home with my children. But I had a new home, mortgage, and many expenses, so not working was out of the question.

Fortunately, a coworker had had a baby the year before. She had asked her supervisor if she could work from home. She was reliable, diligent, and productive. Rarely missed a deadline. When I got pregnant, I was a little hesitant to ask my supervisor to also work from home, but had a feeling that I would be permitted to follow in my co-worker’s footsteps as I was a very reliable Editorial Production Editor.

I formulated a proposal and asked to work on manuals that I was currently managing. You see I had been an Editorial Production Editor for manuals, books, journals, and newsletters for about 4.5 years and had a reputation for knowing my products inside and out, adhering to schedules, and having strong relationships with authors, copyeditors, proofreaders, indexers, and typesetters. As an Editorial Production Editor for a health care and legal publisher, I was the point person who handled each book, manual, journal, and newsletter from raw manuscript to printed product. I was young, but knew that I had a lot riding on each product and had to step up as the buck literally stopped with me.

But, there were downsides to working from home…many downsides. The days were long. The nights were even longer. And I worked weekends. Many weekends. I also did a lot of my work over the summers when my husband was off for summer break.

Life was hectic. I was tired all.the.time. Some days I couldn’t see straight. I definitely knew that my children were relying on me to keep them safe and did the best I could. But I also I had my client who made constant demands on me and remote projects that had to get done. From the time my oldest was 3 weeks old, I had sole editorial responsibility for 4-6 books, journals, manuals, and newsletters in my remote job. Somehow I made it work. I definitely did not have any work-life-balance during those years.

But, I did come up with tips for surviving the work from home with babies and toddlers years:

• Daily Schedule: Make a schedule for the day. Once my baby woke up, I changed her diaper, put her in a clean outfit, and gave her a bottle. After she was fed, we played with toys. I noticed immediately that I wasn’t talking to anyone during the day. It was just me and my baby but the house was silent. So to eliminate the silence, I started narrating my day. “Here’s a new diaper.” “Let’s read a book.” “Is that the school bus coming down the road?”
• Naps: Put your baby on a napping schedule as soon as you can. When my oldest was 4-6 weeks old, I started putting her to bed after her last bottle at midnight. Soon she was sleeping 2, 3, 4, and then 5 hours at a time. With 5 hours of sleep, I was more alert during the day. 5 hours became 6. 6 hours became 7 and so on. The more she slept, the more I slept, and the more alert I felt during the day.
• Nap/Bedtime Routine: About 15 minutes before nap, I would warm up her bottle, find her favorite blankie, and starting reading her baby board books as she drank her bottle. Once she had finished her bottle, I put her in the crib with her lullaby music to help her sleep.
• Office Remote Work Space: I know some people can work anywhere, anytime, but I am not one of those people. Back then, laptops were not common, neither was having more than one computer at home. I don’t know what I would do now without my Lenovo Thinkpad! My only choice back then was to set up my home desktop computer to use for work. We have a 4-bedroom home…one bedroom became the baby’s nursery and we had the master bedroom, which left two bedrooms. I set up the bedroom opposite the baby’s nursery as my home office with desk, hutch, bookshelves, and folding chair. It was small and hot, but I liked having all my work in one designated spot in the house. later we installed a ceiling fan.
• Office Equipment…Laptops, Printers, etc.: That bedroom was so hot with the desktop computer and combined printer, copier, fax machine whirring away 24/7. Oh and did I mention that we had to install a phone jack in my home office for the dial-up modem? No wifi back then. I connected my desktop computer to the phone jack with a very long cord…Ethernet Cable. It was pioneer times and I was practically on the Oregon Trail! Don’t even get me started on how long it took to connect my computer to the internt via dial up. Think the Muppets connecting to the internet with a screeching dial-up modem…the “internet handshake.”
• Remote Work Routine: No matter what you are doing, a reliable routine is always a plus. Now back then, I knew I was neurodivergent in some way, but didn’t yet have a name for or a diagnosis for what ailed me. It would be 15 years before I got the diagnosos of ADHD, but I had survived high school, conquered college, crushed working, and succeeded at a graduate program, so I had some executive functioning skills, but I was no where near having a work-life-balance.
• Time Management Skills: One trick that helped was a having a hat…that’s right I had a baseball cap from a ski trip to Killington, Vermont. Once my baby was down for a nap, I put that baseball cap on and it was off to the races…uh work. Wearing a cap made me instantly focused on getting my work done in whatever time I had…usually 2….but sometimes 3 hours…while my baby slept.
• Recordkeeping: To further complicate my already complicated work-life-balance, I was paid in a variety of ways…by the hour, by the page, by the project, and later by the click. I needed every single dollar so to keep track of billable hours, I maintained a detailed log of billable hours, mileage, travel expenses, and doing business expenses, like printer cartridges, paper, office supplies, etc. I invoiced my client once a month without fail. For projects billed by page or completed projects, I billed once each project was done.
• Disaster Plans: Life with babies and toddlers is unpredictable and transcends planning. You never know when a sick or cranky baby with throw off your precarious work-life-balance. Having contingency plans was a must. I am not even joking! I developed a sixth sense of sorts about my baby’s health and never made set-in-stone plans as I never knew what the day would bring. I knew the phone number of the pediatrician and the exact hours for the “no appointment needed sick kid” visits. And…I’m not proud to say this…but can say this now that I no longer have babies and toddlers…but back in those days…I never told my client that my child was sick…instead I always said that I had female issues or stomach problems. No one wants to ask any questions! Desperate times called for desperate measures and I never wanted anyone to “dump” me as a remote worker because of my kids. I know that employers and clients are now more understanding of working moms, but back then I was a pioneer in the work from home remote space.
• Daily Calendar Scheduling: In fact, all doctor’s appointments, day trips, work deadlines, and remote meetings were loaded in to an online calendar, similar to the Skylight Calendar Max.
• Let It Go!: In the words of Frozen’s Elsa, “Let It Go.” And adopt a Get ‘Er Done mentality. Establish what absolutely needs to get done each day. Daily you must manage baby and toddler care, your hygiene and sleep, remote work, bottles for baby, food for toddlers, food for you, basic cleaning, and recycling/trash pickup. But…something has to give. For me what had to give was…deep cleaning, cooking from scratch…microwave meals and easy prep meals work, doing dishes on a daily basis…I used paper plates a lot and don’t regret it, and massive home improvement projects.
• Have fun!: Work is work. Work pays the bills. Work has to get done no matter what else is going on in your life, but make time for fun. I set up play dates with mom friends, story times at the library, days out with grandparents, day trips, and even errands.

Working remote with babies and toddlers is not for the weak, but with planning and flexibility it is doable. I had my fair share of challenging times:

• Making copies at the office to make a FedEx deadline with a baby and toddler securely fastened in the double stroller. To keep the toddler happy, I fed her M&Ms after the healthy snacks had been eaten. You do what you have to do to get the job done!
• I once asked the FedEx lady who I saw on a daily basis, but was only “Hi and Bye” with to come in to my kitchen to hold my baby while I frantically wrote out FedEx labels. She was such a good sport! Email was in its infancy back then and you couldn’t send large files over the internet so I had to copy and FedEx galley proofs to my book authors.
• Or the day I had to take a very rare conference call in the downstairs bathroom while my toddler was supposed to be watching Blues Clues. She started pushing the Fisher Price Baby & Toddler Push-Along Toy Corn Popper in to the closed door as I kept putting the phone on mute. Yikes!
• Or taking my toddler to a free Kindermusik class with the goal of persuading the teacher to join my Do-Re-Me & You MLM downline. My toddler had already been to Kindermusik class that week and knew that this class was not for him!

The hectic and unpredictable baby and toddler years won’t last forever…enjoy them whenever you can!

Disclosure: I was not compensated to write this post. The views expressed are my own. This post contains affiliate links.

The post Work from Home Remote Tips When You Have Babies and Toddlers first appeared on Musings from Me on Kids, Preteens, and Teens: Seizing Family Time.

I had a trip home from college that was a doozy. I was a freshman…new to being away from home…new to the United States…at least as an adult. I had lived in the U.S. as a child. I was more than ready to see my family for Christmas and the New Year.

My journey started early the morning after my last final. My transition to college had been a rocky one. I took classes that I thought would be interesting…big mistake. I didn’t know then that I had ADHD although there were signs…big ones. I soon realized that I was at a distinct disadvantage in my American Studies class as I last took history when I was in 6th grade. It’s hard to learn everything about America history, georgraphy, politics, and culture in just a few months. Also, my intro Biology class was a mystery and I had to drop the class…of course after the deadline.

I powered through my finals as best I could. I was ready to go home. I hadn’t seen my family since college drop off. I had been a little homesick early on, but quickly found my footing with dorm life, friends, frat parties, and all. After 3 months of only speaking to my parents on the phone, I was ready for family time over the holidays.

By some minor miracle, I did not sleep through my battery alarm clock…remember no iphones back then! The taxi I booked arrived on time and I was off to the races. Walking from the entrance of my dorm to the taxi, I stepped in a huge, icy, cold puddle. Not a great way to start a trip!

I took a taxi to the Lancaster, PA, train station. From there, I took the train to Philadelphia. Once in Philadephia, I took another taxi to the Philadelphia Airport. I knew I had a 6-hour layover, but hadn’t factored in what I would do to pass the time. Remember…no phone, no iPad. There was also no TV in my terminal. There were also no restaurants or shops. Did I even have a book? Weird.

I boarded a plane to JFK, 10 hours after leaving my dorm room. Bear in mind, that my parents had no way to contact me nor me them. I possibly called them on a payhone, but may not have with the time difference. They just knew that I would make every connection with time to spare.

After arriving at JFK, I realized that I was having trouble with my massive suitcase with the Wendy’s Where’s the Beef sticker. There were no sturdy, high-tech wheeled suitcases back then. You carried or dragged or pulled a suitcase with flimsy wheels hoping that the suitcase wouldn’t topple over!

I remember feeling so relieved after checking in my suitcase with the British Airways gate agent. This was pre-9/11, so there was no TSA security check. Your luggage was x-rayed, but people weren’t. You boarded the plan without screening. Yikes.

I probably watched a movie on the transatlantic flight. As I say it was the 1980s, so the only entertainment was via the in flight screens. At some point after dinner, giant screens were lowered, headphones distributed, and everyone watched the same movie. News reel of the events of the previous few days, a short documentary, followed by the movie. Google says that the movie on a JFK to Heathrow flight in 1983 might have been The Right Stuff or Tootsie or Trading Places or Star Wars: Revenge of the Jedi now called Star Wars IV: Revenge of the Jedi. I have no idea what I watched.

Sometime after I left my dorm room, my dad left his aprtment in Milan to begin his long journey to Manchester to celebrate Christmas…and pick me up at Heathrow first. His journey was driving from Milan through Switzerland to France to catch the car ferry from Le Havre, France to Southampton, England. After a 10.5-hour drive through 3 countries, he boarded a 6-hour car ferry. It was late December, so the ferry cross could have been very rough.

Once he landed in Southampton, he had a 1.5 hour drive to Heathrow…probably longer due to rush hour traffic. At the point where I exited through International Arrivals at Heathrow, my dad was standing there to meet me. Amazing. Remember, I did not have a phone so had no way to contact my dad.

Our trip wasn’t done as we had to drive to Manchester…actually Wilmslow. After a 3.5-hour car ride, I was so happy to be home!

The post International Students: Going Home for the Holidays Travel Tips first appeared on Musings from Me on Kids, Preteens, and Teens: Seizing Family Time.

Tell Me Lies is basically a college drama about sex, lies, and new technology. Over 3 seasons, those crazy kids at fictional Baird College discovered the best…and the worst…of technology:

• Flip phones…all conversations happen over phone.
• BlackBerry phones…lots of texting, but no group texts
• iPhones…hey look I can take selfies!
• Digital instant cameras
• Digital still cameras
• Chunky, clunky laptops
• Plagiarism software
• Livejournal and issues with email access and forgotten emails
• No mention of online grading or dial up modem or WiFi…yet-Someone just added his phone number to someone else’s cell phone.
• Massive desktop monitors.
• Wood college stackable dorm beds and rocking desk chairs.
• Students being excited getting a single dorm room.
• Class registration in person.
• No campus or other surveillance cameras.
• Someone typed, printed, and hand delivered an anonymous letter.
• Coin-operated soda and washing machines.
• FaceTime calls.
• Calling a drunk person a yellow cab in pre-Uber days.
• MacBooks just entered the chat.
• White message boards on dorm room doors.
• Uh oh! Disappearing term papers not backed up to the cloud!!!
• Wired earbud headphones.
• They need rape whistles!
• Only having to delete files from computer hard drive because nothing is backed up anywhere! Helpful for covering up issues…
• Paper standardized tests with scantron bubble sheets.
• Facebook has entered the chat.
• Car keys with remote controls.
• But, there were no foam mattress toppers in the 2000s and probably no Twin XL beds.
• Audio messages have made an appearance.
• Flat screen computer monitors.
• They have discovered Moly…MDMA.
• Taking photos on your flip phone and uploading them to Facebook when you get home.

Discloure: I was not compensated to write this post. The views expressed are my own. This post includes affiliate links.

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In fact for middle child, what started as a college tour became a family vacation with oldest child tagging along! Our #Collegetourcation was a 4-state, 6 college, and 5 tourist attraction road trip. And we even saved money! Here’s how we saved money on our family’s college search:

1. Stayed in suite hotels…there are 5 of us and suite rooms have 2 queens and 1 sleep sofa. Plus all suite hotels have free breakfast buffet. At many Hampton Inn & Suites, they give out To-Go bags of water bottle, muffin, apple, and granola bar. We always grab one after breakfast.
2. We booked hotels midway between 2 colleges, so that we could do a morning tour at one college, drive to the next college, and do another morning tour. We scheduled tours allowing for adequate drive time. One day, we had 2 tours, but that was hard on youngest child.
3. We stocked up on Costco packs of snacks, water bottles, and Gatorade. We traveled in August and were grateful for drinks. Once we arrived at a hotel, we unpacked a bagful of snacks and drinks, thereby saving money.
4. Though not the healthiest option, we did eat at fast food restaurants. It’s cheaper and kids got to experience new restaurants (Zaxby’s in GA, Cook out in NC and FL, and Sonic in VA and MD).
5. Once checked in to hotel, we also ask desk clerk for local pizza place that deliver. 2 large pizzas, 1 salad, 2-liter of soda, cups, plates, and napkins was reasonably priced. We either ordered bottles of soda or brought drinks from minivan up to room fridge. 

When my youngest child applied to college, it was 2020 and we were 10 ten toes deep in the Coronavirus. Life looked very bleak. I was working remotely. So was my husband and oldest child. My middle child was doing remote learning for college, while youngest child was doing remote learning for high school.

My oldest child graduated from a private liberal arts college in New York State, while my middle child graduated from a state college in Pennsylvania. My youngest child knew that we might not be able to tour any colleges. COVID-19 changed life so much. There was nothing we could do. All the youngest child could do was work with Dad Knows Better on a college search strategy.

With multiple college tours with his siblings, intensive internet research, and a data-rich spreadsheet, youngest child started formulating a list of colleges to submit applications. But, it was a short list. Very short. While we wanted him to submit at least 5 applications, my youngest child was set on applying to only one school, maybe two.

We managed to plan a tour to the college that was youngest child’s number one choice. Youngest child applied to 2 schools in the fall of 2020. As part of the tour for the top choice, youngest child was offered Instant Admission. What a whirlwind of a day! Not only did youngest child get admitted, but youngest child fell in love with everything about the college! Youngest child even converted his acceptance to Early Decision.

College. That’s all we seemed to have talked about the past 10 years. With all three kids now graduated from college, I am so glad that we are done!

The post COLLEGE: College Search To Find the Perfect Educational Fit first appeared on Musings from Me on Kids, Preteens, and Teens: Seizing Family Time.

Beauty Care, Hair Care, and Skin Care Gifts for the Holidays

I have the worst time keeping my hands from cracking. Every winter I get cracked cuticles. The skin on hands are super sensitive. I constantly knick and cut my fingers and hands doing routine tasks as my skin is so dry. With the holidays just around the corner, here are some beauty, hair, and skin care products:

LifeCell All in One Anti-Aging Cream

TYMO Rotating Curling Iron

Shark CryoGlow LED Face Mask

Disclosure: I was not compensated for writing this post, but the post does contain affiliate links. The views expressed in this post are my own.

The post GIFT GUIDE/REVIEW: Beauty Care, Hair Care, and Skin Care Products for the Holiday Gift Giving first appeared on Musings from Me on Kids, Preteens, and Teens: Seizing Family Time.

The Vitamix demo person made a fruit smoothie AND Gazpacho Soup within minutes. I was reeled me in hook, line, and sinker. I found my family and insisted that we NEEDED a Vitamix. My family was easy to convince.

I worried that after the initial excitement, the Vitamix might lie dormant, BUT nothing could be further from the truth. I’m blending fruits. My kids were experimenting with different fruit smoothies. Making smoothies out of veggies I rarely eat, which was a very good thing.

I planned to make all.the.fruit smoothies with the Vitamix. Soon we were stocking up on fresh fruit AND bags of frozen fruit. We mized in Agave for added flavor. Agave syrup proved to be the key ingredient with strawberry, blueberry, and whatever fruit we had around. The Vitamix sure made a yummy drink!

I love a good discount! I scour the internet for deal before I make any online purchases. With the holidays just around the corner, definitely check out Amazon, Costco, Sam’s Club, Target, and Walmart for deals.

Disclosure: I was not compensated to write this post, but the post does include affiliate links. The views expressed in this post are my own.

The post GIFT GUIDE/REVIEW: Blending Fruits and Veggies with Vitamix first appeared on Musings from Me on Kids, Preteens, and Teens: Seizing Family Time.

Debt free? Seems like a pipe dream at the moment. With kids in college, public school, private school, and all kinds of activities, having no debt whatsoever seems like an outlandish idea. Or is it?

Could we be debt free? We’re always saving…for retirement…for tuition…for kids’ activities…for a rainy day. Could we save more? Could we pay down our debt faster?

We own our own home. We’ve paid off the cars. We don’t take expensive vacations. We live off the beaten path so eat out only occasionally and rarely do expensive date nights or weekend getaways. My husband and I see a movie every month or two…if that…see friends for dinner twice a year. We are hardly high rollers. Is becoming debt free closer than we think? I want to explore the possibility and work towards eliminating debt.

Disclosure: I was not compensated to write this post, but the post contains affliate links. The views expressed in this post are my own.

The post TIPS: Family Finances, Banking, and Getting Out of Debt first appeared on Musings from Me on Kids, Preteens, and Teens: Seizing Family Time.

Wondering what to get him for Valentine’s Day? Look no further…I’ve got you covered!

Burt’s Bees Gift Set: Surprise home with a Burt’s Bees Gifts Set, featuring 6 Products in Giftable Tin – Cuticle Cream, Hand Salve, Lip Balm, Res-Q Ointment, Hand Repair and Foot Cream

Bourbon & Whiskey Barrel Aged Coffee Box Set with Four Whole Bean Single Origin Coffees (Colombia, Sumatra, Ethiopia, Rwanda) Premium Small-Batch Gourmet Roasted Coffee Gift (Pack or 4)

Romantic & Fun Scratch Off Date Night Ideas Card Game, Perfect Couple Gifts for Her or Him, Couple Gifts for Boyfriend, Girlfriend, Wife, Husband, Engagement, Birthday or Anniversaries

Disclousre: I was not compensated to write this post, but this post contains affiliate links. The views expressed are my own.

The post GIFT GUIDE/REVIEW: Get Ready for Valentine’s Day first appeared on Musings from Me on Kids, Preteens, and Teens: Seizing Family Time.

The flavor of the coffee must be rich and pure. The taste is always better with a Keurig brewer.

Keurig coffee brewers are very easy to operate. My youngest set one up for me. He brewed me a cup of Pike’s Peak Roast that was absolutely delicious!! He did a good job! I brewed a cup the next morning and had no problems at all. I’m usually in a fog in the mornings!

Disclosure: I was not compensated to write this post, but the post does contain affiliate links. The views expressed in this post are my own. 

The post GIFT GUIDE/REVIEW: Home Brewed Coffee, Keurigs, and Coffee first appeared on Musings from Me on Kids, Preteens, and Teens: Seizing Family Time.

I purchased a PowerBall ticket. I bought it on a whim. A few weeks ago. If I won the PowerBall, I would pay off all.the.college loans. Paying off loans would be a gift to my family. Having all.the.money would be a blessing. We wouldn’t have to struggle to pay off college loan, which would be a huge weight off my mind. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t regret a penny spent on my kids’ education. It was money well spent.

Paying off mortgage would be next. Renovating my home top to bottom would be next. Or maybe we would start afresh and buy a new home. I like the lot my house is situated on but not parts of the house itself.

Pay off college and high school tuition. Check. Set up grad school accounts for all three kids. Check. Book a cruise followed by a trip to WDW…all expenses, VIP tours, the works. Check. Buy new cars for all of us. Check. Then invest the rest for retirement, plus set up trust funds for kids. If I won money, the possibilities for what to do with the money would be endless. I would have ZERO problem spending the money!

The post FINANCE: If I Won the Lottery… first appeared on Musings from Me on Kids, Preteens, and Teens: Seizing Family Time.