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How to Get Kids to Stop Whining & Help With Chores
Do you have suggestions on how to motivate you children to help with chores and how to minimize whining? I would greatly appreciate any advice. -Amanda
First off, Amanda, I just want to encourage you: your desire to train and teach your kids to work will be such a gift to them. Truly.
You see, my parents were very committed to instilling in us the value of hard work from an early age. And I’m so grateful!
For as long as I can remember, I had chores that were assigned to me and I was expected to do. When we moved out to the country when I was 10 years old, I was given even more chores and learned more what hard work is all about.
I spent hours when I was in the my early teens working in the garden, watering trees, and mowing our huge yard. At the time, I didn’t necessarily love the chores, but looking back, I’m so grateful my parents taught us the value of hard work and instilled in us a strong work ethic.
In fact, I believe that a strong work ethic is one of the greatest gifts my parents gave me. It well prepared me for the struggles and setbacks I’ve encountered in the years since I’ve moved away from home and has helped me continue to persevere even when I might feel exhausted and ready to quit.
Practically speaking, here are 5 ideas to help minimize whining and encourage your kids to work:
1. Start Small.
Don’t overwhelm your kids with a bunch of new chores at once. Start your children out with one or two simple chores and then gradually add more as they catch on and improve.
In addition, make sure your children need to know what is expected of them when you assign a chore to them. If you never let them know what you expect of them, it will only result in frustration for you — and for them!
Need some age-appropriate chore ideas? Check out this post with some chore ideas for kids of different ages. (Keep in mind, though, that each child is different. What might be simple for one 4-year-old, could be utterly overwhelming to another.)
2. Be patient.
Training requires repetition. Don’t expect a child to do a job well at first.
Think about when you first started learning to ride a bike or drive a car. You didn’t automatically know how to do it.
You had to practice. You had to slowly learn. You had to make mistakes.
It often takes a lot of repetitive teaching, gentle correcting, and practice before a child can do a job well. Don’t expect perfection–especially when they are young. What matters is that they are putting forth effort and trying their best.
3. Teach By Example
It’s well be said that, “More is caught than taught”. We can’t expect our children to work hard if they don’t see us working hard.
One great way to encourage them by your example is to have your child work alongside you. Most children love to spend time with Mom, no matter what it is you’re doing. So take advantage of this and enthusiastically invite them to help you with whatever chore you’re working on.
While you’re working together, talk, sing, laugh, and praise them repeatedly for helping you. Let them see you working hard and enjoying it.
Yes, it takes longer, but it’s worth it! I remind myself that my goal as a parent is to work myself out of a job, so the sooner I can teach them to work alongside me, the more help they’ll become as the years go by!
4. Make it Fun
A few ideas:
- Turn on Music. We love to turn on upbeat music and sing and dance while working — it’s fun, it makes the time go by quickly and it makes chores much more enjoyable!
- Have a Race. We often set the timer and have a race to see who can finish their chores first. Or, you can race against the clock, instead of racing against each other or see how many things we can collectively pick up and put away within 10 minutes. When we all work together quickly, it’s amazing how much we can get done in a short amount of time!
- Use Child-Sized Brooms & Mops. My children got mops for Christmas one year from my parents and it was, by far, the hit present. All the cousins spent the morning cleaning Grandma and Grandpa’s kitchen tile after the presents were opened! And their enthusiasm for using them still hasn’t waned!
5. Find the Good & Praise It
It’s easy to want to focus on pointing out all the things a child does wrong and where they need to improve.
Instead of dwelling on what they didn’t do right, focus most of your energies on praising those things they did well.
Encouragement and affirmation go a long way. In the same way, criticism and harsh words can do a lot of damage.
Make it a goal to praise 10 times more than you point out areas for improvement. Not only will your words of praise build up your child, but they will motivate and inspire them to continue working hard and developing the character quality of diligence.
Reward Ideas:
Working for a reward is always more motivating! Figure out what motivates your child and then use that as a reward.
- Have your child work toward a larger prize. This could be something like a toy or DVD or a date with mom. Create a reward chart for them to track their progress.
- Give instant rewards. It’s a standing rule at our house that once all of your chores and homework is finished for the afternoon, you can watch a movie or have 30 minutes of iPad time. None of our kids want to miss this time so they are highly motivated to get their chores done!
- Download an app. Once a child completes a job and you sign off on it, they earn points. They can then cash out these points in the Amazon store for prizes you’ve pre-determined.
- Consider paying your children for some chores. We have paid chores and non-paid chores at our house. The non-paid chores are chores you do as part of contributing to our family. The paid chores are extra chores you can elect to do and get paid for. This system has worked well for our family. You can read more about how it works here.
What advice and suggestions do the rest of you have for Amanda?
4 Tips for Getting Great Clothes at Cheap Prices
Christa at Brown Sugar Toast has a great post up with 4 tips to get great deals on clothes.
Also, don’t forget to sign up for Swagbucks and you can earn free gift cards to use at stores like TJ Maxx and more.
Choose Courage, Even When You Really Want to Choose Cowardice
It’s been a rough week for me as a blogger.
While it’s usual for me to get at least a few fairly critical comments and emails on a daily basis, for some weird reason, this past week I was pummeled with criticism and harsh comments.
I was called names. I was told I was a terrible mother. I was told I am disobeying God. I was told I am dishonoring my husband. Even, my kids were called names I can’t repeat.
Most of these comments never made it out of moderation, but I still saw them. And with each one, it was a little like being stabbed with a knife unsuspectingly.
Because here’s the truth: bloggers are people, too.
We aren’t some object to hold up and throw stones at because we don’t have feelings.
As bloggers, we often share personal things on the internet and I know that when we do this we are opening ourselves up for questions and critique. However, this doesn’t mean that we are immune to discouragement or that comments that attack, belittle, or rip us apart aren’t hurtful.
Over time, I have developed fairly thick skin, but this past week, when the comments and emails kept coming from random places over even more random things, I felt beaten up and beaten down.
I questioned why I was doing this in the first place. Wouldn’t it be easier to close up shop? Wouldn’t it be safer and less exhausting to just stop blogging and speaking and writing?
I certainly considered it this past week.
But then I realized that reacting like that would be the epitome of cowardice. Because the definition of a coward is: “One who shows ignoble fear in the face of danger or pain.”
Anyone can be a coward. Here’s how: You just stick with things so long as there is no danger, pain, or hurt. When anything uncomfortable or hard comes your way, a coward balks and runs.
Yes, it’s simple and easy to be a coward. But there’s little joy or fulfillment. You never get to experience the rewards of hard work. You never get the thrill of jumping outside your comfort zone. You never get to know what it’s like to punch fear in the face.
So instead of cowardice, I’m choosing the exact opposite: I’m choosing courage. I’m seeking to sift out the truth from the lies. I’m continuing to check my comments and read my email and write those blog posts and say “yes!” to those opportunities that are stretching. I’m praying for wisdom and surrounding myself with wise counselors and cheerleaders.
Courage isn’t easy or simple. It means willingly facing the difficulty and danger. It means putting yourself out there. It means that you are risking getting hurt.
But it’s worth the risks for the rewards you’ll reap. Will you join me?
When you want to run away from that thing you fear, choose courage instead.
When you want to back out of that thing that scares you, choose courage instead.
When you want to wimp out of something you know you should do, choose courage instead.
When life feels overwhelming and you just want to give up, choose courage instead.
Choose courage, not cowardice.
A Day In My Life (it was a good day, but I am t-i-r-e-d!)
{I love his bed head look — and the fact that he came downstairs dressed in a button down shirt. He might not remember to comb his hair, but nine times out of ten, you’ll find him wearing a button down shirt it seems!}
It’s 9:26 p.m. and I am t-i-r-e-d! It was a good day, but a long day and I am ready for bed.
I went to bed early last night because I knew I needed to get up early this morning. Jesse woke me up right before 5:30 as he was getting up and around to leave for the gym.
It took me about 10 minutes to officially wake up and then I was ready to dive into my day! I went downstairs and made some coffee, prayed, and then decided to go ahead and get most of my blogging work done for the morning while it was quiet.
While I was finishing up with blogging/emails/business work, Silas came downstairs ready to eat (he always wakes up so ready to eat!) and Jesse walked in the door right about that time so they made eggs and then I made some sausage and berries and sat down to eat with Silas while I read my Bible and wrote a note of encouragement to a friend.
The girls got up and joined us for breakfast and while they were finishing up, I worked on Math & Language Arts with Silas. And then we all gathered around for our Morning Time together.
I then assigned them their projects/Daily Lists for the day and got started on cleaning up the kitchen.
It wasn’t too bad — mostly breakfast dishes and a few dishes leftover from the night before when Jesse and I had made an Oreo Pie together to take to Dessert Night with friends tonight.
I loaded the dishwasher, swept the floor, and wiped down the counter tops and table.
Before I was finished in the kitchen, I chopped up some apples and peppers to take with me for afternoon snacks.
I also packed some turkey and made some coffee to-go. And then cleaned that up and the kitchen looked as good as new… until the next meal. 😉
Even if it never lasts long, I love a clean kitchen!
I then headed out with my book to the treadmill in the garage to get in a brisk walk. I am still loving this book!
Afterwards, Jesse and I took some time to chat and catch up — talking about a few business and life things and he checking in and encouraging me (I’ve had a few pretty discouraging things happen in my life in the last few days and a few other things I’ve been feeling fairly overwhelmed by. Jesse is always so good to listen, pray for me, and just encourage me!)
And then I hopped in the shower, washed my hair, got ready to go and left to go meet my brand-new assistant at the shared office space. I spent the afternoon teaching her the ropes of some of her new responsibilities and getting in some blog work, too.
Before I knew it, it was almost 5 p.m. and time to run and errand and then head home. Jesse had a yummy soup waiting for dinner for us and we ate dinner and chatted about how our afternoons went. Then, we loaded up the kids to go over to to hang out with friends for a Dessert Night. It was so good to catch up and laugh until we cried.
8 p.m. came all too soon and we said our goodbyes, headed home, cleaned up, made a pot of tea, snuggled with the kids and said our goodnights and now I’m finishing up this post while Jesse finishes up a few projects. And it’s 10 p.m. and our bedtime. So I’m signing off for the night…
I hope you had a great day, too. I’d love to hear about it — tell us in the comments!
Shared Feb 23, 2015
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10 Goals For This Week (+ an update on my goals from last week)
10 Goals For This Week (+ an update on my goals from last week)
Goals from two weeks ago (we were out of town last Monday & Tuesday, so I didn’t get goals set or posted… such is life sometimes!):
Marriage/Mothering/Homemaking Goals
1. Continue on with our Morning Time routine. Read aloud for at least 20 minutes every day. (I almost hit this goal, but ended up missing a few days while we were out of town.)
2. Write a love note to Jesse.
3. Have a date with Jesse.
4. Write a note of encouragement to one person.Personal Goals
5. Exercise at least 4 times.
6. Finish at least two books.
7. Knit a Cosy Posy Ear Warmer. (I’m over halfway done with this! Yay!)
8. Try two new recipes: Trim Healthy Mama Waffles and Hot Fudge Pie.
Business Goals
9. Shoot a short video for a project I’m working on.
10. Finish up edits on the script/handbook on my soon-to-be-released course.(More details coming soon! I’m SO excited about this and how it’s coming together thanks to a great team who is putting so much heart and effort into it!)
This week’s goals:
Marriage/Mothering/Homemaking Goals
1. Continue on with our Morning Time routine. Read aloud every day.
2. Write a love note to Jesse.
3. Have a family movie night.
4. Write a note of encouragement to one person.
Personal Goals
5. Exercise at least 4 times.
6. Finish at least two books.
7. Finish the Cosy Posy Ear Warmer.
8. Try one new recipes.
Business Goals
9. Train my new local assistant.
10. Review/practice script for my new course filming next week. (More details coming soon! I’m SO excited about this and how it’s coming together thanks to a great team who is putting so much heart and effort into it!)
How did you do on last week’s goals? What are your goals for this week? I’d love to have you share your progress on last week’s goals and your goals for this coming week in the comments. Of, if you’ve blogged about it, leave your direct link below. Let’s cheer each other on to live purposeful and productive lives! You can download a free customizable weekly goal-planning sheet here.
My Monday Morning Plan + Today’s Cleaning Project
It’s Monday and guess what that means? That means it’s time for our weekly deep-cleaning project! Every Monday morning this year, I’ll be assigning us all a deep-cleaning project to tackle (well, that is, if want to join us!)
Today’s project is to deep clean the kitchen. Do as much as you’re able to do — whether that’s a complete deep clean or just getting the dishes down, the countertops wiped off, and the appliances wiped down.
We have a really full week this week. We’re prepping for a big filming project next week that a whole crew of people are flying in from out of town to film/produce (I can’t WAIT to share more about this course we’re designing — I think you’re going to love it!), we’re back to our normal extracurricular activities now that the snow has finally melted, we have multiple get-togethers with friends (which I’m excited about — we were cooped up at home because of the snow for almost all week last week!), Kathrynne has an all-day swim meet one day this week, there’s a film crew coming in for another short film project this week, we have a few different appointments, and I’m training my brand-new local assistant whom I just hired (She starts today — I’m so grateful to have found her!)
So needless to say, I’m making sure to streamline thing, simplify as much as possible, and keep my expectations for this week on the low side. 🙂
With this in mind, I got an early start on today’s project and did some of it this weekend. 🙂 I already cleaned out the fridge and microwave and swept the floor. So this morning, I just need to do the dishes, wipe down the outside of the cupboards, and wipe down the countertops.
Here’s my plan for this morning:
- Exercise, shower
- Bible reading/journaling
- Breakfast/Morning Time
- Chores/quick house clean up
- Clean the kitchen — dishes, wipe down countertops, and wipe down the cupboard doors
- Get girls started on their independent work
- School with Silas
- Work on laundry for 15 minutes
- Ready to go — lunch made — head to work at our office space
This evening, I’ll share a post about how my morning well and give you an update (with pictures) on how my kitchen-cleaning project went.
Need some motivation? Check out my post on 10 Ways to Make Cleaning More Fun.
Want to join me? Leave a comment to let us know you’re participating! If you have time, tell us what your morning plan is, too.
66 Slow Cooker Dinners
The Top 4 Most Popular Posts From This Past Week
How We Improved Our Finances by Living In A Bus
Guest post from Katherine:
The Dream:
When we were first married, my husband and I dreamed of living a self-sufficient life in a yurt on a couple acres. However, property values in our area were too high for us to buy at the time.
We spent a year begrudgingly paying rent. Then we found a converted school bus on Craigslist. We adjusted our dream to fit the opportunity and bought the bus with plans to live in it full-time — and no long term place to park!
Fortunately, friends offered to host us within a month. We’ve lived happily in our bus full-time for 3 1/2 of the last 5 years.
The Reality:
1. Tiny living has helped our financial situation.
We paid cash for our bus. Once we moved in, we put our rent money towards starting a successful business, building an emergency fund, and saving for a down payment.
We even went to Ireland for six weeks… and this summer we will be building a small, but not tiny, home.
2. Some traditional money saving activities are harder, but not impossible.
Buying in bulk? Preserving food? Gardening? They’re tricky, but we manage.
Our kitchen takes up a third of our square footage and when we stock up, we pack our cabinets full.
Dehydrating food is a space-efficient way to preserve. As for gardening and freezing, they depend on where you park your house.
3. We have an amazing host family.
Unless you have your own land or intend to move from RV park to RV park, you will need a host. Our hosts are happy for us to grow a vegetable garden and raise chickens on their property. We also have storage in their garage and attic.
In exchange for the space, we help them out in various ways like plowing the road in the winter and digging and fertilizing garden beds.
4. Mess builds up fast in a small space.
No matter how tidy I get the bus, everything explodes again within 24 hours. I am not a naturally organized person, so it’s hard to maintain order. However, I have learned to stay sane by blocking out part of every day for organizing and cleaning.
5. Contentment is the key to tiny living.
Tiny living is a great way to curb impulse spending as fun, new purchases quickly turn into annoying clutter in a small space!
I have to admit that our space does feel smaller now that we have a baby. As I seek to be content in our converted bus, I remember these words from Saint John Chrysostom, “If you see someone greedy for many things, you should consider him the poorest of all, even if he has acquired everyone’s money. If, on the other hand, you see someone with few needs, you should count him the richest of all, even if he has acquired nothing.”
Through living in our bus, we’ve created wonderful memories, developed better spending habits, and prepared for a financially sound future.
We have also skirted a number of pitfalls.
The Nightmares:
1. Stereotypes and Public Opinion
Some people assume that if you don’t live in a modern single family home you must be a drug addict, a hippie who’s forgotten what decade it is, or a loafer who can’t hold down a job. It’s not true, especially with the rise of the tiny home movement, but the idea lingers in many people’s minds. Be ready to prove them wrong.
2. Insurance Issues
It is possible to insure tiny homes and converted buses, but insurance may not be available in all states. RVs are obviously easier to insure. Although we did insure our bus (as an unfinished RV) for the 3 hour drive home, we don’t have insurance on it now because we don’t drive it.
The bus itself, a 1978 International with a bad transmission, doesn’t have much monetary value, so we have an emergency fund rather than insurance.
3. Legal Issues
From what I understand, living full-time in a tiny home, converted bus, or RV is often a legal grey area. If you are considering tiny living, you should look into zoning regulations, building codes, and covenants.
Most importantly, make sure your potential neighbors are fine with your plans.
In spite of these issues, I believe that tiny living can be a viable option for the right people at the right time.
Would living in a bus be a dream or a nightmare for you?
Katherine has worked as a whitewater rafting guide, ski instructor, and wilderness trip leader, but she embarked on her biggest adventure yet when she gave birth to her daughter last August. She is passionate about tiny living, outdoor adventure with kids, and micro-homesteading.
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Gretchen’s $46 Grocery Shopping Trip and Weekly Menu Plan
Dillons
1 Nature Valley Loaf Bread – $2
1.01 lbs Asparagus – $3.02
1 Sara Lee Cake – $2.99, Used $1/1 printable – $1.99 after coupon (The sale sign said B1G1 Free but it didn’t ring up as that. I’m guessing it was a sign they needed to take down from a previous sale.) 🙁
1 Thomas English Muffins – $1.59, used $0.40/1 coupon from the 1/11 SmartSource insert – $1.19 after coupon
2 Cucumbers – $0.79 each
1 gallon Dillons Milk – $2.50
1 bag Kroger Spinach – $2.50
1 dozen Eggs – $1.88
1 Simple Truth Almonds – Marked down to $2.79
2 Kroger Cottage Cheese – $1 each
1 Kraft Tarter Sauce – $2
0.59 lbs Broccoli – $1.12
2 Tofuti Cuties – Marked down to $0.95 each (I had never tried these before but thought it would be fun. They aren’t too bad!)
1 Kroger Sour Cream – $1
1.94 lbs Bananas – $1.14
2 bunches Lettuce – $0.99 each
2 Pineapple – $1 each
1 Celery – $1.49
I also used a $2/$10 produce coupon Dillons mailed to me.
1 pkg Kroger Chicken Drumsticks – Marked down to $4.43
Mega Sale Items (Buy 6, Get $3 off):
1 Trix Cereal – $1.79, used $1/1 printable (no longer available) – $0.79 after coupon
1 Honey Nut Cheerios – $1.79, used $0.75/1 printable – $1.04 after coupon
3 pkg Motts Fruit Snacks – $1.49 each, used 3 $0.50/1 printable – $0.99 each after coupons
1 Kraft Cheese – $1.99, used $0.75/1 printable – $1.24 after coupon
Total with tax ($3.04): $45.57
I also picked up a box of Fisher Boy Fish Sticks from Homeland this week for $0.99 but don’t have a picture of it.
Total for all grocery items: $46.56
Menu Plan for this Week
Breakfasts
Cereal
Toast & Eggs x 2
Oatmeal
Homemade Granola
Lunches
Fruit/Veggies/Cheese/Crackers x 2
Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches and Oranges x 2
Cheese Quesadillas & Carrot Sticks
Baked Potatoes, Cottage Cheese, Fruit
Spinach Smoothies/Tossed Salad
Dinners
Baked Chicken Drumsticks, Steamed Asparagus
Dinner with family
Church Valentine’s Banquet
Salad Bar, Pumpkin Muffins
Fish Sticks, Tossed Salad, Steamed Peas, Pineapple
Chicken Enchiladas, Steamed Asparagus, Fruit Salad
Spaghetti Pie, Tossed Salad, Green Beans, Double Fudge Banana Muffins
Shared Feb 20, 2015
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One book I read this week & how it surprised me (+ what I plan to read next week)
One book I read this week & how it surprised me (+ what I plan to read next week)
This book wasn’t even on my list to read last week but after reading Erin’s post on Adrenal Fatigue, I was so intrigued by it and the changes she’s made that I used some of my Swagbucks to buy a Kindle copy of The Adrenal Reset Diet.
I’m such a paper/hardcover book girl so you know I was anxious to read this book if I bought a Kindle version and read it on my phone. Because I basically never do that!
However, I’m so glad I did because this book challenged and inspired me in some fairly significant ways. I was surprised to realize that some different symptoms I’ve been experiencing recently are likely the result of too much stress in my life and not enough sleep.
I’ve made getting an average of 7 hours of sleep per night a priority for quite a long time now, but reading the book and going through the Adrenal Fatigue quiz opened my eyes to some different things — namely that I haven’t been functioning at my best capacity for awhile now. Based upon what I read, I’m pretty sure sleep and stress are the culprits. And they kind of work in a vicious cycle.
I’m so much healthier and rested and sane than I was five years ago when I was completely run down, exhausted, and stretched way, way too thin. (If you’re interested, I wrote about my journey of hitting rock bottom and the steps I took to recovery in my book, Say Goodbye to Survival Mode.)
After reading The Adrenal Reset Diet, my eyes were opened to the fact that I’m not thriving as much as I’d like to be or should be. The book gave a lot of different recommendations, but the three that I decided to try for the next 4-6 weeks are: 1) Going to bed by 10 p.m. or earlier every night and shooting to get 8+ hours of sleep every single night. 2) Eating a high-protein breakfast every morning. 3) Not drinking coffee after noon (the book suggestions 9 a.m., but I’m starting with noon since I’m all about babysteps!)
We’ll see how it goes. So far, I’ve already been able to tell a marked improvement in just a few days. That’s exciting and encouraging!
9 Books I’m Reading This Week:
Help Me, Jesus! I Have Nothing to Wear! — I heard the author speak at a conference not too long ago and loved her suggestions and tips for dressing well. I was so inspired, in fact, that I went and bought her book and had her do my color analysis at the end of her session. Can’t wait to dive into this book.
Parenting the Wholehearted Child — Can I be really honest with you? Parenting books aren’t my favorite genre. In fact, I typically steer clear of them.
I was raised in an age and culture where many families followed parenting books and discipline plans to a tee and, well, much of the fruit from all that didn’t turn out so great. It left a bad taste in my mouth for the whole “follow steps A, B, and C as a parent and you’ll be a Godly family/good parent” etc.
So yes, I kinda prefer to stay far away from anything that remotely resembles a system or method of parenting. Because I truly have come to believe that there are no one-size-fits-all plans.
At any rate, I was hesitant to start this book because it fell under the “parenting book” genre. But I’m so glad that I did. I’m two chapters in and it is honestly turning out to be one of the best non-fiction books I’ve read in a long time.
I just want to sit and read the whole thing in one sitting. But on the other hand, I want to process it slowly so that I can take it all in!
Unstoppable — I’m about halfway through this book and being challenged and convicted by it.
She Reads Truth Lent Study/Bible — I am loving the Lent study so far… as I have loved all the She Reads Truth studies. Seriously, one of the best things I’ve invested in for my personal spiritual development and relationship with God ever.
Stepping Heavenward — My new friend, Allison Burr, (who is not only been a huge blessing to my life by helping me with some business projects but is also just a week away from moving from Minnesota to just 15 minutes away from me — I’m so excited!) sent me this book and said it was one of her very favorites ever. Can you believe I’ve never read it? I’m working on remedying that stat.
Lizzy & Jane — So far, I’ve found this to be really engaging!
The Cricket in Times Square — I’m reading this to the kids right now and we’re about halfway through it. They’ve all enjoyed it and beg for me to read more chapters each — which is always a good sign!
Long Walk to Freedom & Kaffir Boy — I’m working through these as I seek to understand more about South African history.
What did you read this past week? Any must-read book recommendations?
Shared Feb 20, 2015
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Brigette’s $51 Grocery Shopping Trip and Weekly Menu Plan for 6
Brigette’s $51 Grocery Shopping Trip and Weekly Menu Plan for 6
Last week I didn’t go grocery shopping as our children were in various stages of the most aggressive and longest stomach virus that has ever hit our family. 🙁 My husband made a couple of “emergency” trips to the store for a few things, sweet friends stopped by with food, and we survived! I didn’t need to buy as much this week since we still have things to use up, but it felt great to get out of the house again. 🙂
Aldi
1 16-oz bag Frozen Tilapia Fillets – $3.49
2 16-oz bags Frozen Strawberries – $4.38
2 16-oz packages Frozen Ground Turkey – $3.78
2 3-ct packages Romaine Hearts – $3.98
1 bunch Bananas (3.33lbs @ $0.44/lb) – $1.47, plus receive $0.25 back from Checkout 51 – $1.22
1 bag Tortilla Chips – $0.99
2 3-ct packages Zucchini – $1.98
1 32-oz container Greek Yogurt – $3.89, plus receive $0.50 back from Checkout 51 – $3.39
1 3-ct package Green Peppers – $1.19
1 Dijon Mustard – $0.99
1 8-oz Swiss Cheese – $1.79
1 bag Mini Sweet Peppers – $2.29
3 16-oz cartons Egg Whites – $5.97
2 jars Kosher Baby Dills – $2.58
1 Gallon Milk – $2.99
Total after Rebates: $41.01
Harris Teeter
I bag Bananas, reduced – $1.00
1 box Honey Nut Cheerios Medley – $2.50, used $0.75/1 printable (doubled) – $1.00 after coupons
2 boxes Gorton’s Grilled Fish Fillets (B1G1) – $4.29, used 2 $0.75/1 printable (doubled) – $1.29/2 after coupons
1 32-oz bag Frozen Broccoli – $2.00
1 32-oz bag Frozen Spinach – $2.00
2 8-oz blocks Kraft Pepper Jack Cheese – $5.00, used 2 $0.75/1 printable (NLA, doubled) – $2.00/2 after coupons
2 packages Trans Ocean Crab Classic (B1G1) – $2.99, used 2 $0.50/1 printable (doubled) – $0.99/2 after coupons
Total: $10.28
Weekly Total: $51.29
Weekly Menu
Breakfasts
Cereal
Trim Healthy Mama Pancakes (I use pumpkin puree in place of the cottage cheese)
Baby Shower Brunch – I am bringing French Breakfast Puffs
Steel Cut Oatmeal and Bananas x 2
Veggie Omelettes for me, Scrambled Eggs and Toast for the Family x 2
Lunches
Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwiches, Mini Sweet Peppers x 2
Potluck Lunch at Church – I am bringing Cheesy Hashbrown Potatoes and Upside Down Praline Apple Pie
Build-Your-Own-Tossed-Salad x 2
Baked Potatoes with Pepper Jack Cheese and Steamed Spinach, Bananas
Leftovers
Dinners
Spaghizza, Homemade French Bread, Sautéed Zucchini
Dinner at a Friend’s House
Baked Parmesan Tilapia, Steamed Broccoli, Creamy Milk Rice, Tossed Salad
Pancakes, Scrambled Eggs, Turkey Bacon, Oranges
Taco Salad, Brown Rice, Apple Slices
Chicken Noodle Soup (with homemade noodles), Fresh Veggie Plate, Sliced Cheese and Crackers
Leftovers
Snacks
Greek Yogurt and Strawberries, Smoothies, Popcorn, French Breakfast Puffs
MOMS: Why You Need to Give Yourself a “Time-Out”
Not too long ago, I was talking with a mom and I was saying something about the books I was reading. She immediately shot back, “Oh, I love to read but I don’t have time to read because of my kids.”
My heart wanted to break right in two. Having kids is a lot of work. Trust me, I get that.
And it takes a lot of time and effort and work and sacrifice. Motherhood is no walk in the park.
Having your first child flips your world upside down and means that your schedule is no longer your own. You have a whole new set of responsibilities and to-do’s. Not only that, but you have a person who is now depending upon you and your spouse for their sole survival.
It’s a BIG thing. It’s nothing to shirk at. And it can suck the life right out of you — if you let it.
Which is why I’m about to say something that just might step on some toes…
Are you ready? Buckle your seat belts and hold onto your hats, because in the last few years, I’ve become pretty passionate about what I’m about to say:
Motherhood is a lot of work and responsibility, but it is NOT an excuse to stop using your brain and intellect, to stop enjoying life, and to stop taking time for things you love.
There, I said it.
It’s high time we quit using motherhood as a reason to no longer live life to the fullest, no longer feed our soul and intellect, to no longer enjoy hobbies and relationships like we once did.
Because here’s the truth: one of the BEST things you can do for yourself, your marriage, and your kids is to take time to refuel and refresh yourself. To stop and savor life. To make time for things you love.
Think about it. If you’re just constantly giving and giving and giving out to others, if you’re just pouring and pouring and pouring into your family, if you’re just wringing yourself dry to meet the needs of others and you’re never taking time to replenish, refresh, and refuel, no wonder you feel exhausted and spent!
No wonder you have nothing left to give. No wonder you’re so tired. No wonder you feel brain-fried.
No wonder you feel like you might just snap right in two if one more person asks you to do something or if one more child hollers “MOOOOOMMMMYYYYY!”
As women, we are capable of a lot. We can multi-task. We have “eyes in the back of our head”. We can pull all-nighters when our child is really sick. We can juggle a lot of balls.
But at some point, when a rubber band is stretched out too far for too long, it’s going to snap. At some point, when you keep running on empty, you are truly going to run out of gas and be stranded on the side of the road. At some point, the lack of sleep and running around like a chicken with your head cut off will catch up with you and knock you flat.
And that’s why I cannot say it strongly enough: Moms, give yourself permission to take time for YOU.
To do things you love.
To have coffee with that friend.
To work on that hobby.
To read that book.
To update your scrapbooks.
To work in the garden.
To S-L-E-E-P!
To piddle around in the kitchen.
To engage in stimulating discussions.
To study new things.
To try new things.
What fills you up? What refreshes you? What makes you come alive? What gets you really excited about life?
Set aside some things you think you “have” to do or “must” do or feel obligated to do to carve out some space to invest time into some of those things you truly love.
Investing in yourself is not selfish. Instead, it gives you more energy to be able to pour more into your relationships, your marriage, your job, and your kids.
P.S. If you wish you could find time to do things you love but you just don’t think you have any extra time at all in your schedule right now, I encourage you to check out Jessica Turner’s book, The Fringe Hours.
I got to read a pre-release copy of the book a few months ago and highly recommend it. It’s a must-read for all busy moms!
Want some practical help with setting up your day for success? It all starts the night before! Be sure to grab a copy of my brand-new online course, Make Over Your Evenings.
This 14-day online course includes videos, a workbook, and step-by-step projects and is designed to help you maximize your evenings in order to experience more success in your life, more order in your home, and more joy in your soul.
It’s time to stop sleep-walking through life and wake up to the amazing excitement and fulfillment that comes when you follow my simple plan to Make Over Your Evenings.
Why I Can Never Complain About Doing Dishes or Cooking Again
{These children usually just have pap to eat. We brought them some fruit and they were so excited to gobble it down!}
Of all the new and different things I experienced in South Africa, I think the thing that will stick with me for a very long time was seeing first hand just how significant the hunger problems there are in the world.
And I know they are not isolated to communities in Africa — or even in third world countries. Right here in America, there are children and adults who go hungry. There are children who go home from school and have no food at all over the weekends.
{This JAM porridge is much more nutritionally dense than the pap that most South African children in the poorest communities eat. You can read more about it here. Take Action Ministries in partnership with Help One Now makes and feeds this porridge to hundreds of children every day in an effort to help fill children’s bellies with something that provides nutritional value.}
We want to change the world and make an impact, but sometimes, that starts with offering a bowl of porridge. When you have an empty belly, it’s hard to think of anything else. It’s hard to dream or imagine a life outside of the confines of poverty.
Those of us who have choices in what we eat each day are tremendously blessed. We worry about whether we’re giving our kids enough variety. We stress over whether we should buy more organic produce.
We wonder whether we should give our kids a different kind of vitamin or whether they should be eating more meat or drinking more milk or going off dairy or gluten…
{Samp and beans — this was what they fed to around 100 kids at the Reagoboka Drop-In Centre the day we visited. It made me so happy for the kids to get something other than pap to eat. We got to eat it for lunch, too, and I thought it was quite tasty!}
And none of these things we worry about as parents are wrong. We should want to do our best to nurture our children and encourage them to develop healthy habits from a young age.
However, going to South Africa gave me a completely different perspective on life, including things like making food and washing dishes. I realized that there are many things that I’ve complained about in the past that seem so silly and inconsequential now when you think of them in the grand scheme of things.
Here are two things I will never be able to complain about again:
1. I can never complain about having to do dishes.
I’ve often grumbled over a heap of dirty dishes… wishing cooking and eating didn’t make such a mess, wishing there weren’t burned pans to scrub, wishing I could just go to bed instead of staying up conquering that mountain of plates and cups and bowls.
But how can I complain when I realize that those same dishes represent the blessing of food? Food that is readily available in our fridge and cupboards to cook and eat and, yes, dirty our dishes.
Dirty dishes mean that little people at my house have food in their bellies. That none of us know the ache and pain of a seriously empty stomach or the fear that must come when there is nothing to eat and no money to buy food.
{The kitchen where the Reagoboka Drop-In Centre cooks food for over 100 children every day. And you thought your kitchen was too small for your family!}
2. I can never complain about how much time it takes to plan & prepare meals.
So many times, I’ve thought how easy it would be if we could just skip eating — or at least stick with really simple meals. I’ve sometimes dreaded the fact that it’s getting close to dinner and I need to make yet another meal.
I’ve had times when I’ve wished my kids weren’t hungry yet again. (Didn’t they just eat a few hours ago??)
But here’s the thing: I’ve never known what it is like to see my kids go hungry. To desperately wish I could give them something to eat and have nothing to give them. To see them suffer from hunger and be literally helpless to do anything about it.
{Visiting the Maubane Community. While we were there, Take Action Ministries arranged a special treat — lunch for all the kids in the community! They had pap and Walkie Talkies — which are chicken feet and chicken beaks!}
Yes, we’ve had very lean years, but we always had food to eat — even if it meant eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches almost every day. We’ve always had a roof over our heads, blankets to cover up with at night, enough clothes to wear, coats to keep us warm in the winter time, enough money to buy gas to drive where we needed to go, clean water to drink and bathe with.
How can I complain about things like “having to cook yet again” when there are mothers all around the world who would give anything just to have something to cook for their starving child? To have even one small bit of food once a day to quell their baby’s empty stomach?
From here on out, I hope that I look at that pile of dirty dishes, that messy kitchen, that refrigerator needing to be cleaned out, and the meal that needs to be made with completely new appreciation. Truly, we have so much more to be grateful for than we often realize.
P.S. If you feel called to help the children in some of the poorest communities in South Africa, we’d love to have you join us and over 100 others as part of the Ten Dollar Tribe. You can read all about this group and how you can get involved here. And thank you, thank you to each of you who have already joined. We are incredibly humbled and grateful that you’d join us in this!