Balancing Life at Home When Home is the Workplace

Posted on September 27, 2013 by llpitlwp

Do you know how to work from home without ruining your own life along with your family’s life?

I have been trying to do this for a few years now and it is difficult and the learning curve is steep for me as a grandmother.

When my own kids were young, I worked part-time as a nurse…either teaching nursing at a community college or working in Labor and Delivery, while my children were in school.

It was manageable but I was always fighting with the clock and trying to be two places at once. It was the 80’s and I had a pager which kept me in touch with my family in emergencies but life as a working mother was a definite struggle. There was no internet like today so support for moms in the workplace was limited.

Over the last few weeks, I have been struggling with time constraints and a type of “writer’s block”. It might be a “seasonal” thing which I experience in the Fall when the summer ends and the days begin to shorten. It is not depression but it is a melancholy that envelops me at times during this transition from lazy summer to frenzy fall.

I have been finding it difficult to balance my time…so I just stopped trying and put my blog on hiatus for a short while until now. My e-mails are full with ideas for some semi sponsored posts and my thoughts are bursting about how to stay well and happy with all that is upcoming during the seasons ahead.

And then my friend Jessica Gottlieb posted this just the other day on her blog. It hit home with me…even though I am now a grandmother working at home and trying to keep up with being a caregiving grandparent, wife and mom. She put a very good perspective on what it is important for the SAHM and in my case the SAHGM, “stay at home grandma”.

I have been learning over the past few weeks how to readjust now that school is back and there are hours where I am alone free to work on my own business.

It is a work in progress…

There are a lot of mompreneurs in my Facebook feed. Many are bloggers, network marketers or affiliate marketers. I’m lucky that cell use was very expensive when my kids were toddlers. The park can be boring, train sets can be mind numbing, putting on a princess dress for the 93rd time in a day would make a martyr twitchy but those are the reasons you wanted to work from home. You wanted to raise those kids so spend the time with them and not with the screen. Raise the kids, be a parent who has a job. It’s really easy to be the parent who turned their home into an office but it can’t be fun to be that kid.

via I Know How to Work at Home Without Ruining Everyone’s Lives | Jessica Gottlieb A Los Angeles Mom.

What do you feed your child?

Posted on September 27, 2013 by llpitlwp

I am a sucker for good advertisements and here is one of those irresistible videos from Plum Organics!

http://amazingmoments.shopigniter.com/post-3/post_4_live_upub_2-amazingmoments-post-4

Life and the “Invisible String”

Posted on September 12, 2013 by llpitlwp

Every Thursday I read a post on my FB page from Eric, who is Jessie Rees’ dad. He writes a post to Jessie, his little girl who died from an aggressive cancerous brain tumor.

I began following Jessie’s story before her death and marveled at the strength and determination of this little girl, who was fighting cancer. Jessie Rees Foundation

Today, I also read part of “Donna’s Cancer Story” written by her mom. September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and her mom remembers Donna by posting her story each year during September.

Her “Family Portrait” post really resonated with me as a nurse, who many years ago took care of children and families going through such crises. Donna’s Cancer Story: Family Portrait | Mary Tyler Mom.

Another mom that I am know through blogging lost her son, Henry to a drug overdose when he was just a teenager.

It is a sad story and though addiction is not “cancer”, in my opinion, it is a type of “cancer” that can go into remission but it lurks always in the background just waiting for a moment of weakness or crisis to rear its ugly head. It preys on children. Henry’s Fund.

In 2010, I lost my teenage son, Henry to drug overdose. In celebration of his life and legacy, my sister Betsy and I founded Henry’s Fund, a non-profit organization that provides grants to pay the direct costs of high quality treatment and aftercare for young drug addicts between the ages of 12 and 23.

via About the Blogger – Big Good Thing.

This morning, my friend Jessica, (Momma’s Gone City) talks about visiting her sponsored child in Guatemala. It made me think about how small the world is and how we as mothers are somehow all connected by life and its challenges.

First, I want to thank all of these “friends” who share their lives with me through social media. I appreciate their words and the way they share their feelings. I feel somehow connected by an “invisible string” of humanity to each one of them.

September is “Childhood Cancer Awareness Month” and it is my hope that someday we will be able to conquer this disease but for now we can at least help by supporting their fight any way we can.

Every September, America renews our commitment to curing childhood cancer and offers our support to the brave young people who are fighting this disease. Thousands are diagnosed with pediatric cancer each year, and it remains the leading cause of death by disease for American children under 15. For those children and their families, and in memory of every young person lost to cancer, we unite behind improved treatment, advanced research, and brighter futures for young people everywhere.http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/08/30/presidential-proclamation-national-childhood-cancer-awareness-month-2013

Book review: ‘Apron Strings’

Posted on September 11, 2013 by llpitlwp

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love my Irish heritage,

and

I fell in love with Ireland on my first visit there about 15 years ago.

I thought my grandmother was in the kitchen when I visited Dublin and shared my first Irish breakfast with my family.

It was like I was a little girl again, sitting at the dining room table watching my grandmother cook breakfast in our small NY kitchen.

My husband and I have visited Ireland several times and have especially enjoyed the warm Irish hospitality and Irish cooking.

So when I came upon Nessa Robin’s blog, I was in heaven.

I baked her Easter cake for my family.

Again, I was treated to a taste from my childhood when my Nana used to bake a cake from “scratch” and frost it with chocolate glaze.

Now, Nessa has published a cookbook, ‘Apron Strings‘. She has successfully shared her family recipes along with her personal and professional remedies.

A nurse, Nessa currently is a SAHM raising her family and blogging about her life as a wife, mother, daughter, and now a cookbook author.

‘Apron Strings‘ is beautifully written and Nessa’s photos make me feel like I am in the kitchen with her and her family.

I love a cookbook that is personal and that shares the stories behind the recipes, Nessa does just this.

She feels like a friend giving me a recipe.

Nessa has made me want to travel back to Ireland and visit the Irish countryside that has inspired her.

See for yourself…have a look at ‘Apron Strings‘.

Disclousre: I was given a copy of ‘Apron Strings‘ for purposes of this review.

Book Reviews:

A few of my favourite things | Carolanne’s Kitchen.

One of our absolute favourite blogger’s kitchens to visit is the warm and inviting ‘Nessa’s Family Kitchen’ which is lovingly filled with beautifully taken photographs of family and food, delectable yet doable recipes and best of all is as a busy mum to four children, Nessa knows the limitations and demands placed on a mum’s kitchen.

Book review: ‘Apron Strings’ by Nessa Robins | MummyPages.ie – mummypages.ie.

Back-to-School: Your Kids Health

Posted on September 4, 2013 by llpitlwp

I both love and loathe this time of year. I love that my kids are excited to see their friends, make new ones, meet their teachers, and have a genuine enthusiasm to learn new things. But…I loathe that the passage of time is staring me squarely in the face, declaring…yes, your kids are growing up and moving on. Get used to it.

via: Back-to-School: On keeping your kids healthy and safe all year long | Confessions of a Dr. Mom.

Back to school, as I said in my last post signals “a new beginning” which is at best bittersweet.

Given my feelings and I am apparently not alone, there are things to keep in mind that may help keep your kids healthy and safe.

My first recommendation is to get enough sleep yourself and make sure your kids get on a back to school sleep schedule and stay on it.

Sufficient sleep will help to keep your immune system in its finest form to help ward off the coming colds.
Making sure that your kids are up to date on their yearly check-ups and their immunization schedule…I am in favor of vaccinations so no need to chastise me for this.
Make sure all of your emergency medications are up to date at home…get rid of expired and near expired meds…make a kit with bandaids, antiseptics for cuts, cleansing cloths etc….keep it in a place that is easily reachable. You should also have one in the car.

Be aware of recommendations when it comes to OTC medications for children.

Be aware of your child’s symptoms and whether they are allergy symptoms or cold symptoms.

Check with your pediatrician if you are not sure.

As a parent or caregiver, you are in charge of your kids’ health. Now that it’s allergy season, your child may be experiencing symptoms from allergies or a common cold – that can strike year-round.

There are many over-the-counter options available to help make your child feel better when he or she has a cold or allergies, but be careful to only use a medicine that treats your child’s specific symptoms. Our “Decrypting Your Child’s Symptoms: Colds vs. Allergies” checklist can help you better understand your child’s symptoms and how to treat with care.

via Medicine Safety | OTCsafety.

Last but not least, keep your child home from school if he/she is sick. If your child has a fever he should not return to school until 24 hours after he is fever free.