Money Saving Mom®

Happy Monday morning! I hope you had a fantastic weekend — I know we did!

We got to spend time in Kansas City with Ruth from Living Well Spending Less and her family (that’s both of us pictured above). She’s a dear friend of mine, so it was such a blessing to get to hang out together — even if our hours together seemed all too short.

Our children had a blast together at the Deanna Rose Farmstead. They got to bottle-feed goats, ride ponies, go fishing, ride on a hayride, and mine for gems. It was so much fun!

Links I Loved

I read a few great posts this morning that I had to pass along if you have a little extra time to read today. Enjoy!

Much About Doing Nothing — “When did summer vacation become so complicated? When did summer begin to feel rushed, frantic, hurried, exhausting? When did we make summer about squeezing in as much entertainment, fun, and activities as the schedule could manage?”

The First Thing You Must Do on Monday Morning — “If there is only one thing you do this Monday morning before beginning your week, it’s this: Do Nothing. Yup, you heard me. It’s not fancy advice, and it doesn’t require a set of instructions, a coach or an app on hand. Instead, it’s just a few simple words.”

She Says I’m Honest — “Can we all just exhale and be honest with each other? This is real life. This is my life, and quite frankly, it’s not always ‘pinnable’…”

How was your weekend? Have you read any great posts recently? If so, share the link in the comments!

I resisted joining Google+ for a long time because it just felt like one more social media network to keep up with. But thanks to the encouragement of Jimmie Lanley and my amazing assistant, Lisa, I finally made the plunge. And I’m really happy I did, because I’m actually coming to love Google+ — believe it or not!

So if you’re on Google+, we’d love to have you come over and follow the Money Saving Mom® Google+ page. It’s another way for you to get easy access to all of the coupons, deals, freebies, money-saving tips, frugal ideas, intentional living information, and other resources that I post here on MoneySavingMom.com. It’s very similar to our Facebook page — but on Google+!

But that’s not nearly all!

I’m incredibly excited to let you know that we also set up a Money Saving Mom® Google+ Community! This online community is an upbeat and encouraging place for frugal folks to hang out, share your money-saving wisdom, ask questions, post pictures of great bargains you’ve snagged, and inspire each other as we seek to wisely manage and stretch our resources.

I’ve always wanted to start some sort of community where Money Saving Mom® readers could regularly connect — and now we’ve done just that! We want this community to be a vibrant place – your go-to spot for connecting with like-minded folks — so please join in the fun!

Lisa will be updating and moderating both pages for me. We’ve been beta-testing things for the past few weeks before publicly announcing the page and community and she’s been doing a fantastic job. You’ll love her and will be in very good hands with her at the wheel there. 🙂

By the way, if you don’t already have a Google+ account, you’ll need to sign up for one in order to participate in the Money Saving Mom® Google+ Community (don’t worry, it’s free!). You can do that by navigating to the community, clicking on the red “Join Google+” button at the top of the page, and then clicking on “Create an Account” on the right side of the page.

Also, mark your calendars! On Thursday, August 22, 2013 from 3:00pm – 4:00pm EST I’ll be doing a live Q&A on the Money Saving Mom® Google+ page! More information is to come, including how to watch and participate, submit questions ahead of time, and grab the recording of the Q&A session if you aren’t able to tune in.

P.S. I also have a personal account on Google+ where I will be posting a few links to articles that I’ve loved or other tidbits from life. You’re welcome to follow me there, too.

Last week, one of my children made a really negative comment out of the blue.

It caught me off guard and I immediately got ready to launch into a dissertation on why we don’t say things like that. But right before I opened my mouth to give my big speech, I realized something: this child had heard a very similar comment from me recently.

No, it wasn’t a comment I made to them or even when I had realized they were listening, but nonetheless, I had said it and I’m pretty much positive that’s where this child picked it up from.

Ouch.

My children are watching. My children are listening. My children are observing.

It’s been wisely said that more is caught than taught. What are my children going to “catch” from me today? Enthusiasm for learning? Grace for difficult people? Grumbling about interruptions? Critical words toward others?

• If I want my children to have clean rooms, I need to do more than just tell them to keep their room clean. I need to set an example by keeping my room clean, too.
• If I want my children to be wise with money, I need to do more than just talk about the importance of financial freedom and stewardship. I need to set an example by practicing good money management skills in front of them.
• If I want my children to be respectful of other people — no matter who they are, I need to do more than just verbalize how imperative it is that we show respect. I need to set an example by constantly being respectful in my words and deeds for everyone I come in contact with.
• If I want my children to use their time wisely instead of squandering it, I need to do more than just remind them often to use their minutes well. I need to set an example of diligence and focus in my own time management.

I will never be a perfect parent. In fact, there is no such thing. I need God’s grace every moment of every day as a mother.

I struggle. I make mistakes. I have to ask forgiveness.

But in spite of my inadequacies, I want to do my best to give my children something great to imitate. Because at the end of the day, my children are going to learn more from the life I’m living before them than from the dissertations I give them.