STOP the holiday CHAOS!

Are YOU caught up in the holiday Chaos?

The holiday season comes but once a year and for most Moms out there, it’s a good thing. While the holidays are a wonderful time that bring family together in joyous celebration, if you’re anything like me, the holiday season also brings on enough stress to be crushed under! So, this season, instead of stressing, let’s focus on some tips to

STOP the holiday CHAOS!

As much as I’d like to deny it, most of the stress I experience during the holidays has nothing to do with outside sources. What I mean by that, is that most of it comes from my anxiety over wanting the occasions to be “perfect“. There have been very few time that another person is the source of my holiday madness. So, the easiest way to mange that stress is to plan ahead. If you tend to freak out during the holiday season, join me over the next 2 days to see if some of these tips can save your sanity this holiday season.

The first category I want to talk about is

Dinner and House Preparation.

If your plans for the holidays are to travel to another person’s home or another location, then these tips may not be necessary for you. However, if you’re like my family, though we travel for the holiday season, we may also have a small gathering for our immediate family and/or friends. And, these tips are helpful when hosting ANY event in your own home as well!

In my case, the first stress I have when hosting in my own home is cleaning. Though your house may be clean (most days, if I’m lucky, lol) and well kept, there is a special kind of clean when hosting a party. I call it “Deep Cleaned”. For me it means scrubbing base boards, washing windows, dusting things I don’t usually dust and basically scrubbing every surface of my home. When it’s holiday season, however, you usually have a lot more on your plate and cleaning seems to be the biggest and most tedious task.

My first suggestion: Hire Someone.

Don’t be shamed into thinking that hiring a local maid service to deep clean your home is not an option. I know a lot of Moms out there who are hesitant to hire someone because of the stigma of

A) Not being able to do it yourself, B) That it must mean your house is disgusting

and/or C) That you are a snob or lazy.

For one, if I had the money to hire someone to clean my house ALL of the time, I would. There is nothing wrong or lazy about allowing someone to clean your house. Plus, there are many Moms out there who are in the business of cleaning houses. That makes it a Moms helping Moms situation! But especially hiring someone to deep clean your home before you host an event is just sensible. By taking that pretty big task off of your plate, you make room for doing the things that you can’t necessarily hire someone to do. Consider it an investment and breathe easy! To help find a maid service near you try Care.com

However, I know times are hard and money is tight already, not including the holiday extras, so if you need to cut the cost, hire a kid. It could be a friend’s kid, the baby sitter or a youth from Church or the neighborhood. By hiring a kid you cut your cost, but you also allow a kid to make money for their holiday season!

My second suggestion: Ask for help.

If you’re a Mom to a child basically 5 and up, you already have one volunteer for cleaning! lol But seriously, let your child(ren) help with the cleaning. Give them a task at a time and reward them with something they will enjoy for every task completed. You can even make certain tasks that may be harder or take longer worth a larger reward. And don’t be afraid to ask your family and/or friends to help you either. Find that friend, sister, brother or cousin that wouldn’t mind rolling their sleeves up for a nice dinner and/or movie. Then you get help, plus some bonding time with the person!

The next stress that I have is with the food. Good cook or bad cook, either way, most Moms out there do not have just a TON of experience organizing, preparing, cooking and serving LARGE meals. Sure, we may cook for our family of 5-8, we may make very intricate and detailed dishes and we may have served food plenty of times. But doing all of it from top to bottom for more like 10-20 people can be a daunting task.

My first suggestion: Keep it Simple.

If you’re like me, the holiday season is the reason for new recipes, as well as old favorites and traditions. For example, one tradition/old favorite I have developed over the last couple of years are cheese balls. I began doing it one year and have since perfected 3 recipes and thought of about 15 more. So for me, every year, it’s about making something that is better than the year before as well as bringing back the favorites collected over time. But when you’re hosting an entire meal, it’s a different story. Time won’t always permit you to do ALL things bigger and better. So, keep it simple with some of your dishes. You still have specialty dishes, but make them special. Not every side needs to be an intricate affair. It can be refreshing and exciting to have simple sides, with just a few specialty dishes.

My second suggestion: Plan Ahead.

Cooking several dishes, several additions and a large hunk of meat can be overwhelming. However, there are ways you can plan ahead that can help you keep your dinner running smoothly.

For instance, prepare your table ahead of time. Set out plates, bowls, cups, utensils, etc. Have it all done before you even begin to cook, that way even if you happen to need more time on your turkey or ham, you can allow guests to sit and begin on salad, rolls or even sides. For suggestions on easy holiday food, check out “25 Tips for an easy holiday” from www.Food.com.

Another tip is to prepare as many dishes as possible a day in advance. Many dishes that are served during holiday season can be made and stored over night. Then all you have to do is put them in the oven the next day for heating. For this, I suggest buying the disposable aluminum pans. They come in just about every shape and size, most often with lids for storing and they are obviously, oven safe. And, you don’t have to clean them afterwards!

My third suggestion: Ask for Help/Hire Someone.

Now, there are two ways you can ask for help with preparing the holiday meal. One way, is to just ask a friend or family member who will be attending the party to come early and help you with the food. If you don’t have anyone that can be available, try hiring someone to be your Sous Chef. Basically, a person that can do the more tedious aspects of the cooking, like stirring and mixing. You could, again, hire a teenager you know or you could place an ad on CraigsList. There are MANY chefs and/or caterer’s that would be willing to help for a few hours for extra cash.

Hopefully, you found at least one tip that can help you eliminate some of your holiday chaos!

Join me tomorrow when we talk about the second category: Presents and Gift Giving. Where we will discuss ways to minimize spending and eliminate gift-giving stress!

Until Next Time,

Wild Mommy MC

@WildMommyMC

WildMommyMC@yahoo.com

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Early Morning love

 

 

 

 

After spending Wed-Sat at her cousin’s wedding, missing her daughter and husband, Hollis Stair wakes up to this…

“After 4 days, I get my morning with my sweet baby girl.

Waking up so early never felt so good.”

The Beautiful Hollis Roberts-Stair, her Husband Brian and adorable daughter, Lydia.

And Ridley, their furry family member!

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Often times, we forget that those early mornings are sometimes the sweetest!

And just as I have said before, absence DOES make the heart grow fonder.

It’s important to take those breaks, to do something for yourself or enjoy something with a friend.

Then, when you return, you’ll see how much more you actually APPRECIATE those early mornings!

 

Until Next Time,

Wild Mommy MC

 

Wild SICK Mommy

Well, as you can see I have been a little bogged down lately, so my blog has suffered!

Right after my return from a WONDERFUL beach vacation, my daughter and I caught some bug and were sick for the past few days! So, in honor of our illness I decided to do a “Sick Mommy” Blog, all about how to handle YOU sick, but still be a great Wild Mommy!

The first thing we have to do as moms when we’re sick, is ADMIT IT!  This has got to be my biggest issues when I am sick. I hate having to say “I’m too sick to do…” Whatever!  It’s like taking away my red cape! I am Mommy, I am supposed to stay well so I can keep everyone else well!

Well, that isn’t how it always turns out and unfortunately, being on the front lines between children and cleanliness, Moms are SUPER EXPOSED to all those nasty little germs!! So, now you’re sick. You are sick, and what most people DON’T even THINK about is that you CANNOT CALL IN! There are no real “sick days” as a mom. (Nor holidays, vacations or weekends!) So, sick or not, your little one will still need general to specific care, and you are the care-giver. So, again, like I said, first thing is first, just go ahead and admit you are sick.

Hello, I am Wild Mommy MC, and I am a very sick mommy.

Good, now we can begin!

So, not to sound cliche or anything, but the best thing you can do is start off with rest. As a full-time mom, I find that my personal, alone time tends to come after bedtime! Well, when you’re sick, this personal time should be rest! Don’t stay up late like usual, go ahead a get in bed early. Honestly, sleep is the best thing you can do.

But, once you’ve gotten your sleep and still feel crappy, here’s how we continue.

1- Throw out the rule book

Number one to sick mommy days is throwing out the rule book for the day.  I usually will NEVER condone throwing out the rule book because consistency is really all we have with our kiddos, but on sick days, you just can’t handle the rules. I’m not saying your kiddos gets a free pass, but you will need to cut them some MAJOR slack and allow leniency with the rules. Not only will they be more stressed because you are sick, but you will be more likely to OVER STRESS rules if you are sick and tired. So, to keep the peace, just throw the book out for the day!

One of the rules I find I can throw out almost completely is FOOD!

2-Sick Food Ready

Again, realize this is only ONE DAY And that the stress it will relieve is worth the ONE day of bad nutrition. If you feel you are becoming sick and are not pantry ready for illness, stock up! What you’ll want is EASY meals. Something microwaveable (TV Dinner) or instantly “servable” (Lunchable etc.). Also, if you are sick and not your kiddo, another good tip is to treat them more that day. Allow a little ice cream or some cookies. If you include the dessert incentives, you can actually get good behavior out of them all day long just for ice cream! And you’ll be surprised at how much stress it can relieve just to be able to take meals off of your to-do list.

3- Role Reversal

As parents, when we get sick, we often forget that there is someone to take care of us. We get so wrapped up in taking care of THEM, we forget that they can care for us too! One thing I have found VERY helpful when I am sick is allowing Boo to switch roles with me. Instead of me caring for her, I allow her to care for me. Now, obviously you want to begin by telling your child how sick you are, and what to expect of you for the day. Be honest, tell them you do not feel like playing. I know, it sounds like sacrilege to hear me say that here on WildMommyMC.com, but you DON’T feel like playing today, so the best thing you can do is get that on the table! Once they understand your sickness, give them something to do. Like I said, role reversal is great!

So, over the past few days that I have been sick, Boo has helped me clean the kitchen, clean my bedroom, do the daily chores and helped actually CARE FOR ME.

It may sound like she had a bad day, but she actually enjoyed it. Including her in my chores made the chores not so difficult and kept her engaged instead of bored. Because we all know bored kids = annoyed moms. lol

I started by giving her little tasks, like helping me put up the plastic dishes or picking up trash. But as she’s gotten older she’s learned how to do laundry, wash the dishes and she’s pretty good at just caring for me. As I was sick along the way of raising her, I’ve taught her how to care for sick people, too. Watching me, she’s learned to remind me to stay hydrated, rest and take it easy. And that’s the 2nd side to role reversal, letting your babies take care of you. It does wonders for illness to have little baby hands stroking your hair or rubbing your back.

And that leads us to the last tip,

4- LOVINS’

The single most important thing you can do when you are sick is cuddle and love on your kiddos. Now, DON’T EXPOSE THEM IF YOU ARE STILL CONTAGIOUS! lol of course! But, once you aren’t, let them in! When you’re sick, you tend to disengage. and that is NORMAL! The best thing you can do to combat that is physical affection. It will help your child to stay connected to you even though you can’t be involved and it will make you feel a WHOLE LOT BETTER!

So, being a Wild Mommy isn’t all fun and games. Sometimes, it’s about just trying your hardest. And that’s really all we can do when we’re sick. Try hard. Remember, they’re kiddos, and they don’t really have a memory that will allow them to recall what being sick is like. So, when they DO press that last nerve, instead of complaining or yelling try asking for a hug or kiss instead.

And please, please, get better, because tomorrow is ANOTHER day of Motherhood, sick or not…

ALSO, for 40 ways to entertain your kids while lying down check out:

www.babycenter.com/0_40-ways-to-entertain-your-kids-while-lying-down_10350158.bc

 

 

Until Next Time,

Wild Mommy MC

@Wildmommymc

WildMommyMC@yahoo.com

2 heads are better than 1

So, I want to start off by saying:

To my wonderful boyfriend, Wild Daddy.

He’s the one who gave me the name Wild Mommy.

And he’s the one who has helped me become Wild Mommy and Wild Wifey!

He is a wonderful man who makes me laugh and smile  through it all.

Thank you Wild Daddy, for being you and loving me. Oh, and loving Wild Boo too!

So, onto the blog…

In honor of Wild Daddy’s birthday, we’re going to talk about SHARING PARENTING.

One of the biggest things I feel are to blame for the breakdown of society is the break down of FAMILY.

Every Wild Mommy needs another Wild partner to share parenting with.

This person does NOT need to be your ACTUAL partner.

It could be a Wild Daddy, Wild Mommy, Wild Uncle, Wild Cousin… whatever!

The only things that matters are:

1-You agree on parenting styles (or they at least bend to your design)

2-They are of the opposite sex* and

3-They love you and your child.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I was a single-mom for a while, and I have the UTMOST respect for any single parent. No, you DO NOT need a husband or wife to raise a child. BUT, you should have a counterpart present in you child’s life.

Too many kids out there are growing up with only ONE parent to look up to for guidance. The biggest issue with this problem is that children need both FEMALE AND MALE examples of good people. Again, I am not arguing that only “couples” should have kids or that the only way to raise a kid right is by being a couple, all I am saying is make sure that whatever influence YOU make in their life, you have an equal but opposite influence as well. Not only will this allow your child the best possible experience, but it will also allow you breaks which create a better relationship between parents and children.

I think we can all agree that men and women are different. From our physical appearance to the way our brains work, we are so very different. And that’s where being a single-parent, you can run into issues. Perhaps it’s easier for same-sex parent-children, but I have seen many a mom struggle with a rowdy boy and seen many a dad struggle with a sensitive girl. The differences between males and females not only create diversity but these two types of DIFFERING roles are NEEDED in society. No matter how equal our gender rights are, we must all be aware that there are differences between us that are important! and it is DOUBLY important that we teach our kids these gender roles, but include the idea of breaking societal norms!

So, how do you do this? By setting a good example yourself. If you’re a Wild Mommy, teach your kids about being a GOOD WOMAN. Then, introduce them to a GOOD MAN so he can set that example. Again, this doesn’t have to mean a “DAD” in the normal sense. It can be grandpa or uncle or even a friend of the family. The ONLY point is to make sure they have good examples of BOTH genders. Because when you only have ONE, your child can become majorly off balance.

Example: There was a time period, between my divorce and meeting my boyfriend, where my daughter, Boo, had no male influence in her life.  It was me and Mammaw raising a 2 year old. (That was also WAAAAAY too smart for her own good, and still is!) At the time, I remember thinking “This single-parent thing isn’t so bad”. But, I saw very quickly how hard it could get. Boo began misbehaving all the time. She had an attitude 5 miles long and her favorite word was “No”. Now, though most people chalked it up to “terrible twos”, even me, once I met my boyfriend he revealed the real situation. Boo hadn’t had a DAD in a pretty long while. and she hadn’t really had ANY male influence. Though I had been disciplining and handling her attitude, it never WENT AWAY. However, 3 months into dating my boyfriend, Boo had almost COMPLETELY gone away. Now, I will say, my boyfriend REALLY stepped up to the plate on this one. He took it upon himself to be a good MALE role model for Boo. Not only did he do the positive things like playing with her and loving on her, but he disciplined her too! And like I said, 3 months, and she had CHANGED! She stopped misbehaving all the time, she QUIT talking back to me (which was my boyfriend’s BIGGEST pet peeve, her disrespecting me) and she seemed HAPPIER. She NEEDED a MALE in her life. She needed that security and consistency. Not only that, but she needed to see how a MALE is supposed to treat a FEMALE, via role model.

I wish I had relied on my brother more during the times when I had no partner. I think Boo would have benefited quite a bit!

All I am saying is, find someone of the opposite sex to set an example for your child.  It may not be detrimental to their health, but it is definitely BENEFICIAL to their growth into good adults!

Join me Friday as we continue to learn more about being a WILD MOMMY and raising a WILD CHILD! Also check out “Ways to stay WILD” tomorrow for tips on being an extra AWESOME Wild Mommy.

Wild Mommy MC

@wildmommymc

WildMommyMC@yahoo.com

Easy craft to do together…

Hey Wild Mommies!

Here’s an easy craft you can do with your kid and ways to make it bigger, better and more difficult!

Spy glass: Take Glue, a Marker, The cardboard roll from a toilet paper roll or paper towel roll, Paint (any kind will do!) and Any dime-sized “decorative” pieces (ex: pieces of jewelry you don’t wear), Alternative to paints include: nail polish, food coloring etc.

Paint and glue things to the roll, then write “_________’s Spyglass” on it!

Belt: Take a belt, scarf, sock or the like.

Tie/belt the item loosely, putting the knot/buckle at their hip!

Sword: Take paper, cardboard, glue, crayons and marker.

Outline a sword on paper and have your kiddo color it. (If you have any small items left from your “spyglass” use them too!)  Then, cut out the paper and glue it to cardboard and cut the cardboard out in line with the paper.

Combine those crafts with some pirate like clothes and you’ll have a top notch, one of a kind Pirate Costume!

Plus, once you have spent them time doing the craft, and you need to make it ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE, your kiddo won’t mind playing on their own! Just say “Okay, no go play treasure hunt”

Bonus: Include an actual treasure hunt with map and TREASURE while they color or WHATEVER and they will be occupied even longer, plus work on good skills!