Taking Care Of Yourself (guest post)

a guest post by Barbara Mack, author and blogger for StocknGo.

As mothers, we often let our needs go and focus all our attention on taking care of others. I’m here to tell you that doing this is not a good idea. If you are not healthy and happy, you can’t properly nurture others. It’s not selfish to make your own needs a priority; it’s good sense.

Let’s take a look at why it’s so important to take care of you:

It is very important to your health and the health of your children to eat a good diet. Eat healthy and try to maintain a healthy weight: This can prevent or control diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer. You have more energy and you feel better when your diet is healthy. If you feel ill all the time, it’s harder to deal with everything. I don’t know about you, but if I even get a headache, I get cranky. And not only does eating right improve the way your body works and strengthen your immune system, it provides a good example. ‘Eat your vegetables’ has a lot more weight when we’re eating them as well. We want our kids to grow up healthy, too, and a good diet is part of that.

Getting plenty of exercise is also important to your health, both mental and physical. Have you had a stressful day? Working out or a brisk 30-minute walk can help you calm down. Exercise actually floods your body with natural chemicals that leave you feeling happier and more relaxed. A happier, relaxed you means happier, more relaxed children. Physical activity also makes you stronger, and can help keep weight under control. Exercise. Really. You’ll feel better, and again you’ll be giving your children a positive example.

Give yourself a treat once in a while. Yes, you should, and yes, you do have time. It’s just as important to have a beauty routine or a ‘spa day’ as it is to eat healthy and exercise. It relieves stress and makes you more confident. The things that make you feel better about yourself also make you look better – bonus! There’s a great product at StocknGo called the Pamper Me Gift Basket, and it’s designed to do just that. It has everything from Kim Kardashian perfume to a sleep mask to an exfoliating glove, and it will make you feel like a new woman.



Take care of yourself, and in the process give your children self-confidence. By taking care of your own needs, you prove to your children that you are important. You’re ensuring that your children will learn from your example and always take care of their own needs, as well. That’s important, and it’s necessary. So you see, it’s not really selfish. It’s practical…and fun.

Taking care of you should always be a priority. I know there are times when you can’t go at the top of the list, but you should never be at the bottom, either. You have to strike a balance between the needs of others and your own needs. It’s not selfish to take care of yourself; it’s just good sense.

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Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This is a picture of Gabby when she was nearly 17 months old. I was not very good at photo manipulation back then (and I'm still not), but this was a picture I created for Saint Patrick's Day 2004.

I forgot to do anything for my kids for St. Patrick's Day today and I always do something to celebrate, so I had to come up with some quick ideas.

My one and only idea was to throw some ingredients together and make the kids some green cookies for St. Paddy's Day. You can find the recipe for my Quick Saint Patrick's Day Cookies on my Kids Creating Cakes blog.



While browsing my friends' posts on Facebook, I found a St. Patrick's Day coloring page from my friend Jen Goode on Projects For Preschoolers. So I quickly printed them up for the kids to color.



I didn't have time to go to the bookstore or the library, but if I had, I would have tried to buy something like this book to read to the children.



It can be bought in the US here:


And it can be bought in the UK here:

Fortunately, the kids were so thrilled with the fact that the cookies were green that they didn't even notice that I was unable to find their St. Patrick's Day buttons, and I couldn't find the St. Patrick's Day ribbon that we usually hang on our front door for the day.


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Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day doesn't have to be just for lovers. It is easy to make Valentine's Day special for children too.

For example, I have a friend who's daughter brought out a scrapbook she had made. In it, she had saved every Valentine she had ever gotten, and she had at least one Valentine for every Valentine's Day since her birth because her daddy gave her a Valentine every Valentine's Day, even when she was a baby. She was so pleased showing me the scrapbook and it was obvious how much those Valentine's from her daddy meant to her; they made her feel special and loved.

Back when I lived in California, the schools had a special take on Valentine's Day. The teachers would bring in white paper lunch bags for the kids todecorat with construction paper hearts and glitter. Each child would have his or her name written across the top of the bag, and then all of the bags were hung in a row along the wall, low enough to make it easy for children to reach into them. On Valentine's Day, all of the children would bring Valentine's for every child in their class.

By the end of the day, the bags were brimming with cute little friend-valentines, Hershey's Kisses, conversation hearts, and other treats. Thechildren's faces lit up as they peered into their Valentine's bags at the end of the day and got to see all of the loot they were getting to take home with them. And every child there felt closer to each other because they had all given each other valentine's. Some of the valentines were homemade, some were store-bought, some included candy, but no matter what, they all implied that the giver liked the person receiving the valentine.

This tradion doesn't happen here in England. So I bought enough heart-decorated party bags for every child in my little ones' classes. (The 4 yea rold, the 5 year odl and the 8 year old are the three I am referring to.) I bought enough party-favor heart-decorated notebooks to go around their classrooms, and I bought enough Valentine postcards for each child in their classrooms. I then bought some chocolate-toffee candies and added one to each bag, and then tied the bags off.

What the bags contained wasn't much. And yet, the children loved them. My children came home full of smiles and stories about hwo happy they had made everyone in their classes. Even the four year old announced loudly to me upon arriving home, with a big smile, that, "Everyone said THANK YOU to me!"

It doesn't take much to make Valentine's Day special for children and to teach them to make it a day to show our love for one another as friends and fellow human beings, not just romantic love.






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Blog Design Giveaway!

I have to admit, I haven't put much effort into the design of this blog. Visually, it needs a lot of work. I put effort and heart into the posts I write here, and I should put just as much effort into make sure that this place is also pleasing to the eyes.

I read about a giveaway for a blog design and decided to see if I could win. Unfortunately, I am not very savvy about web design. I can never seem to remember html codes for things and what I do learn about html, java and css just gets read and then forgotten. So I can use all the help I can get!lo

You can have the chance at winning a blog redesign too though!

Visual Serendipity is having a blog design giveaway (worth $250)! Head on over to her site for details of the giveaway.



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Reaching For The Stars in 2011

My family's motto last year was "The Courage To Dream." It's still our motto, because it is one that has worked well for us and it is something I believe in, but, just so we don't sound repetitive, I've re-worded it for this year. This year, we are reaching for the stars.

I believe that everything we hope for and wish for is possible, if we are willing to work towards it. I want my children to believe this too. I strive to show them, through my example, that believing in themselves and in their ability to do great things can help them to achieve their dreams.

I also want them to know that it is possible for each of them to have an effect on the world around them. They, individually, each have the power to create change in the world around them and to shape the world more to their liking.

My children all have beautiful, intelligent, creative and loving souls. They constantly amaze me with their kindness, their wit, their hearts, and their unique and powerful imaginations.

If anyone can change the world and make it a better place, these kids will be the ones to do it!

Happy New Year!

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Christmas Jars

These jars are simple to make and are also a great way to recycle. All you need are some acrylic paints and some empty jars. Let your kids paint the jars any way they want to and then figure out what you want to fill the jars with to turn them into gifts. You can fill them with red and green m&m candies to give them extra festive appeal. Or you can make chocolate spoons to put in them. (I suggest tying a ribbon around the jar to make it even prettier.)

Here are some of the jars that my kids and their friends came up with. They wer elimited by the fact that my supply of acrylic paints was running out, so they didn't have a lot of colors to choose form.

















Examples of the jars with some ribbon and full of chocolate spoons:









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Teaching Our Children To Have The Courage To Dream

Very few people have the courage to live life to its fullest. Very few people are willing to take risks in life. Very few people are actively striving to reach for the dreams that they hold deep in their hearts. But there are a few. What is it, exactly, that those few have that makes them different from the rest? What makes them keep trying? What keeps them from settling for less like so many other people do? And if you had to choose whether or not your child would be the type to sit back and settle in life for whatever he was given or would be the type to reach out and take few risks and grab for his dream, which would you choose?

Most of us would say that we want our children to dream and to believe that they can make those dreams come true. Most of us want our children to reach for their dreams. Most of us want our children to set themselves goals and then work towards making those goals a reality. But if we are not living our dream, how are we supposed to teach our children the importance of living their dreams? If we have given up on our dreams, how are we supposed to teach our children not to give up on theirs?

The best way we can teach our children to reach for their dreams, to make goals and achieve them, is by doing so ourselves. Dreams don’t always have to be about careers. Some dreams are very different from that. And how we, as parents, achieve them, teaches our children some important lessons about life.

An overweight mother might dream of losing weight. By taking steps toward being healthier and losing the weight, she would show her child the importance of setting goals and reaching them. If she loses the weight in an unhealthy manner, the weight loss is not likely to be a lasting one, and the child will only learn to go for the quick and easy route or that reaching goals isn’t really all that likely or lasting. But if the mother loses the weight by eating healthily and adding in some moderate exercise to her daily routine, her weight loss will be healthier and more lasting. From this, her child will learn that setting goals can be productive and that it takes time, effort and commitment to meet those goals.

A hard working dad might hate his 9 to 5 job. He might have dreamed about writing a novel ever since he was a child. By continuing to work at his 9 to 5 job, without giving any outlet to his writing dream, he is showing his daughter that it’s better to take what you’re given and accept your lot in life. He will teach her to settle. But if, on the weekends, he writes short stories for magazines and writes a bit more of his novel, he is showing her that it is important not to give up on your dreams. If he actively researches what it will take to find an editor and literary agent, joins writing clubs and continues feeding his dream of writing by taking positive steps towards it, he teaches his daughter that it is worth the effort to work towards your dreams.

A hardworking mom might be unhappy in her current position at work. She might dream of moving higher up the ladder in her profession, but she lacks the education required to do so. If she just accepts that this is as good as it can be for her, then she teaches her child to settle. She teaches her child to give up. But if instead, she starts taking some night courses that will help her eventually get the required education that she needs in order to get a promotion, then her son sees a better example. Her son sees her not giving up. Her child will learn that education is important and that it is important to obtain whatever learning is needed for reaching our dreams.

A dad might have lost his job and be looking for a new one. He might let himself get depressed and mope about the loss of his job. From this, his child would learn about self-pity. If instead, the dad never loses faith in himself and never loses the belief that he will find another job, so he keeps putting himself out there for interviews, then his child learns that it is important to believe in yourself if you want to reach your dreams.

These are just random examples of how people raising families can not just reach for their own dreams but can also be an example of doing so to their children, but there are many different scenarios that will still teach our children to value goal-setting. If we want our children to believe that they can attain their dreams, we have to believe it for ourselves. Children learn from us, not just from what we say but from what we do.

What is it that makes those few people with the courage to take risks and reach for their dreams different from the rest? What is it that makes them keep working towards their dreams? What is it that makes them keep taking step after step towards reaching their dreams no matter what obstacles stand in their way? It’s actually quite simple. They don’t give up. No matter what stands in their way or what seems to be making the task seem impossible, they keep working for it. They believe in themselves and in their dreams. They ignore the people who tell them it can’t be done. They think positively about the outcome of all of their work. They know in their hearts that they will obtain their dreams. They picture themselves reaching their goals. And we have to believe it for ourselves too, if we want to teach it to our children.



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