Nix9to5

WAHM Mommy Guilt

// January 10th, 2011 // 4 Comments » // Balance, Children and Babies, Life in General, Work at Home

Well, we’re only a week and a half into 2011, and I have already thrown away my chances at the coveted Mommy of the Year award. Today, my little Bear has a fever, and instead of snuggling with him on the couch all day, I took him to his grandparents’ house so that I could make an attempt to complete some copywriting projects on which I am sorely behind.

I worked so hard to be able to stay home with Bear, and now, I’m taking him to mother’s day out two days a week and taking him to “Beela and Papa’s” two days a week. I keep telling myself that it’s still better than when I was working full time, but it still makes me feel very, very guilty. Until today, I had been telling myself that one benefit of working from home is that, if there is ever a day I don’t want to take him to MDO or don’t want to take him to his grandparents’ house, I don’t have to. I can just stay home with him and we can play.

Today kind of blew that theory. My sick baby is not here with me, and I’m feeling like a negligent mommy. I guess I’d better get over it and get some work done. I don’t want all this guilt to be for nothing.

Here’s hoping today ends with a ton of work completed and a Bear who feels much, much better.

As for the Mommy of the Year Award, there’s always 2012. At least throwing in the towel this early takes the pressure off for the rest of this year.

OKC Groupon for 3.5 Hours of Housecleaning!!

// January 5th, 2011 // No Comments » // Balance, Deals, Family, Time Management

This summer, I bought a Groupon for 3 hours of house cleaning from Ms. Picky. I haven’t redeemed it yet, although I desperately need to. I’m thinking that once I (finally) get the Christmas decorations put away, I’ll call Ms. Picky and have her come take care of things for me.

If you missed out on the Ms. Picky deal, or if you have already redeemed yours, Groupon is offering another hot housecleaning deal. For only $45, you can get three and a half hours of housecleaning from King’s Green Cleaning . I’m all about having someone come take care of my house for me–how’s that for time management and organization?! Here’s what Groupon has to say about this deal: (more…)

More Organization Help from the Blogosphere

// January 5th, 2011 // No Comments » // Balance, Budget, Family, Organization, Time Management

I was looking for some hot deals on Hip2Save and I came across an article on getting organized. The article listed several free downloadable resources, including budget trackers, meal planners, and more. As I looked through these, I found several I really liked on Mommy Tracked. These “Tools for the Tired and Time-Starved” (which describes me perfectly) include to do lists, to delegate lists, week-at-a-glance sheets, menu planners, weekly family planners, baby schedules, checklists, cleaning schedules, and more. There are three pages of organizational downloads, so there is sure to be one (or more!) that works for you.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

On a related note, one of my goals this year to help me more effectively manage my time is to be sure I’m up and dressed before the Bear. Unfortunately, after exactly one day of accomplishing this, Bear decided to get up earlier and earlier each of the subsequent two days. I thought we were finally getting him closer and closer to a 7:00 wake-up time, and then–bam!–6:00 this morning. That means that it is now 9:00 and I’m still in my pajamas as I write this post. Comfy, but not so much organized. Maybe we’ll have more luck tomorrow.

Any suggestions for keeping the Bear in his room until 7:00? We have the “bunny clock,” and he knows he’s not supposed to get up until the bunny wakes up, but he understands that more in theory than in practice . . .

Where Has the Time Gone?

// November 18th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Balance, Children and Babies, Life in General, Time Management, Work at Home

My loyal readers (Mom) might have noticed that I was MIA for a long, long while this time. This was largely in part to the Bear’s new refusal to sleep through the night. Bear was always a good hibernator, but for the last month or so, I think he’s slept through the night maybe 4 or 5 times. This refusal to sleep has led to an exhausted Mama Bear, who, instead of working when the little cub is napping, has been napping herself. That, in turn, leads to getting further and further behind on my copywriting projects.

We’ve been trying a number of tricks to try to get the Bear to figure out that sleep is good, and that if he wakes up and doesn’t see Mommy in his bedroom, that doesn’t mean he needs to get up and stand by my bed until I go put him back in his own. Things have been improving, but they still aren’t perfect. That’s why, in a fit of desperation, I ordered this:

I ordered it from One Step Ahead. One Step Ahead has every baby and child-rearing gadget, contraption, or toy that you never knew you needed. This toddler sleep training clock is one of those things. It sounds like the PERFECT solution to our sleepless nights and our shortened naps. Once we took the side off the crib and turned it into a toddler bed, the Bear realized he was no longer trapped behind bars. When he was in a crib, he’d wake up and either play happily in his crib for 15 minutes or so, or he’d see the bars, figure nothing was going on, and roll over and go back to sleep. Now, he wakes up, sees the wide open space, and decides he needs to come check on Mommy. I’m hoping that we can teach him that when the bunny is asleep, the Bear stays in bed. He can get up when the bunny gets up.

This just arrived today, and I’m SO excited to try it out! I’ll let you know how it goes.

If you want to get your own, enjoy shopping at One Step Ahead, or just want to see what all you never knew you needed, remember that shopping through Ebates will get you cash back on your purchase. I used Ebates to buy this clock (and some other things I just had to have) at One Step Ahead and not only got 3% cash back, but got a special Ebates coupon code to score free shipping. If you haven’t signed up for Ebates yet, you will get a $5 cash back bonus on your first purchase. I’ll use Ebates for all of my online holiday shopping, too. Last Christmas, I used Ebates to avoid the holiday crowds and nerve-wracking parking, and got a big fat check in return for shopping in my jammies. Sweet!

I won! I won!

// October 8th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Balance, Couponing, Life in General, Money Matters

Have I told you how much I love Amanda over at Simple Saving Savvy? Without her coupon match-ups, I would have probably only saved about .75/month and given up on couponing long ago. Instead, I’ve knocked $400 off of my monthly grocery bill and I understand that I should never have to actually pay for toothpaste or pasta again.

Well, Amanda has given us yet another reason to love her with her Fruitful Friday Giveaways. She given away so many different products . . . tote bags, wallets, salon services, Barnes & Noble gift cards . . . I could go on and on. On her second Fruitful Friday Giveaway, one thing she gave away was a four-pack of movie tickets from WeeklyCinema.com. These tickets could be split up any way you want–take a family of four, have a couple of date nights, or go by yourself four times for a little “me time.”

I am so excited that I won the movie tickets!! I’m planning to use them for a couple of date nights with the Hot Husband. We almost never go to the movies, largely because tickets are so much more expensive than renting, but also because they frown on you if you show up in pajama pants and because every popcorn-eater in the joint manages to sit directly behind, beside, and in front of us, even if the remainder of the theater is empty.

Still, for free date nights, we’re willing to risk it.

Thanks, Simple Saving Savvy!

The Work at Home Reality

// August 27th, 2010 // No Comments » // Balance, Time Management, Work at Home

My dedicated readers have noticed that, once again, I have been missing in action. My husband returned to work two weeks ago when teachers reported for the beginning of school. Since that time, the reality of being a work at home mom has set in. I am so happy to stay home with my Bear all day, and I don’t regret my decision for a second. I went up to my old school yesterday to have lunch with a friend, and while it was good seeing them, and I miss my friends, being there for even the short time I was there just really helped solidify that I made the best decision for myself and my family.

However, the reality of being a WAHM is more difficult than I anticipated. I told myself that I knew that I would be every bit as busy as a WAHM as I was as a mother who worked outside the home. I told myself that, but I am not sure I fully grasped it.

Here is the reality: (more…)

More on Time Management

// July 27th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Balance, Organization, Time Management, Work at Home

When my All You magazine came this month, I was pleased to see that, in addition to a bunch of coupons, it had reader tips called “Organize Your Life for Free (or Close to It!).” Here are some of the tips that I liked:

Maintain a family schedule online: “We use cozi.com, a free site, to keep our schedule in order. It also has a shopping list tool, which is great because I can jot down products as I think of them. It links directly to my husband’s work calendar, so we can be sure our appointments don’t conflict.” — Kristin Strobe, 35, Avon Lake, OH (I haven’t checked out this site yet, but since I spend so much time on the computer, it seems like it might be a good way to keep up.) (more…)

WAHM Tip #3, continued: Organization

// July 26th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Balance, Life in General, Organization, Time Management, Work at Home

About a month ago, I asked for your suggestions on getting organized and effectively managing time–things that I have definitely been struggling with as I make the transition from working mom to work at home mom. I got two responses, which lets me know that one of the following is true:

You are struggling just as much as I am.
You know enough about time management to list “Don’t Waste Time Commenting on Blogs and Piddling around on the Internet” as one of your top time management strategies. (Note to self: Stop piddling around on the internet.)

I’m just going to hope it is #1 so that I don’t feel so lonely as I fumble along trying to make this work (plus, if you aren’t wasting time on the internet, then you aren’t reading Nix9to5). Since I’m working on the assumption that balancing it all is hard for you, too, I’m going to give you the two bits of advice that came from Nix9to5 readers. Tomorrow, I’ll follow it up with some tips from the August issue of All You magazine. (If you don’t subscribe to All You magazine already, consider it. It has great ideas for saving money and time and comes loaded with coupons.) (more…)

Shame on me!

// July 22nd, 2010 // No Comments » // Balance, Life in General, Time Management, Work at Home

I was mildly chastised today for my failure to keep this site updated. Those of you following me on Facebook know that I recently got a new project from one of my clients, and while I thought I was almost actually ahead on work, that one project has now put me thoroughly behind. Never fear, though. I got a lot done tonight and I’m planning on hitting it furiously over the weekend. With any luck, I’ll be back on track with Nix9to5 by Monday.

Oh, and Mom? I got some new pictures up on the Totsite, too.