The Mediocre Mom's Guide to Greatness

Monday February 1st, 2010

Monthly Goal:

Sometimes us women are WAY too hard on ourselves and I think that we need to celebrate our accomplishments rather than dwell on our weaknesses.  So this month’s goal is to focus on the positive things you do.  Then leave a comment about something good you did that day.  Every mom needs a little recognition and we all know that our husbands and children don’t always give it to us so I say, let’s toot our own horn!  It doesn’t have to be huge.  It could simply be, “Today, I really wanted to yell at my kids and I didn’t!”  Let us celebrate your accomplishments with you.  Because focusing on our best qualities can be hard I’m going to motivate you with a little bit of a prize.  The person I get the most comments from will win a $25 gift certificate to a restaurant in their area.  If there is a tie then I will do a random drawing.  Please only leave one comment at day.  No fair leaving ten every day.  I will participate in this as well and post it on my daily blog posts.

Today’s Activity:

Plan an upcoming Birthday party.  If your kids are like mine they love to plan and talk about their next birthday even if it is eleven months away.

Note:

If there is a birthday coming up right away you can do some detailed planning, otherwise just let your kids brain storm about their dream birthday party.

Evaluate:

Max’s 6th birthday is just around the corner.  At first he said he wanted a baseball party but then it was a Batman party and then an Iron Man Party and then a Super Hero party.  Personally I thought the baseball party was a great idea and he had a super hero party last year so I did a little manipulating.  I told him a few game ideas that I had for an indoor baseball party and he seemed semi excited but then I thought of something that I knew he couldn’t turn down.  Pinatas are generally hit with bats and he LOVES pinatas!  So there you have it, we will be having a baseball party.

Prepare:

Next Thursday we will be having a family etiquette dinner so if today is your grocery shopping day then plan for a really nice formal meal.

Month Goal:

The nice thing I did for my kids today was bring them along on my birthday celebration.  We spent the weekend at Daniels Summit snowmobiling and doing the kids favorite thing (jumping from bed to bed in the hotel room).

PS…HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!  I’m 30 but I still feel like I’m 19!

Tags: birthday party, Giveaway, goal, plan, prepare, recognition
Posted in Birthdays, For Mom, Giveaway, Monthly Goal, Quick Activities | 2 Comments »

Thursday January 28th, 2010

Today’s Activity:

Find the time to exercise.

Note:

If you need to use your children as free weights to help keep them entertained then do it.  If you can bench your 5 year old them I’m impressed.

Evaluate:

I wasn’t able to go to yoga last night so I was glad to have an excuse to fit in a little physical activity.  After teaching the kids a few yoga poses they wanted to play freeze dance.  Because I didn’t want to go get the CD player and then try and find something that would work for dancing, I just made up songs and then when I stopped singing we would all freeze.  Not only was this very entertaining for the kids but I got about a 1/2 hour of exercise that I wasn’t planning on.

Prepare:

This is to help you get a head start on tomorrows activity.  Set your alarm to wake up 15-30 minutes before your kids usually do.  Once you are awake simply get an early start on your day.

Tags: exercise, prepare
Posted in Average Length Activities | 2 Comments »

Wednesday January 6th, 2010

Today’s Activity:

Although the mistletoe is put away show your husband you appreciate him by giving him a big hug and kiss when he gets home from work.

Note:

It’s great to show your kids that mommy and daddy love each other by letting them see you show each other affection.

Evaluate:

Well I’d love to tell you that this was great but it wasn’t.  Here it is 11pm Tuesday night and I’m off to bed while my husband is still at work.  Occasionally crappy work weeks happen and this is one of them.  Steven (my hubby) produces a local TV show.  52 episodes a year with a crew of 2 and an office manager and his boss.  When people in the buis learn that they do 52 episodes a year they are in shock.  Most shoes do about 22.  It’s a lot of work for not a lot of people.  But…sometimes we get to go on fun family trips with a camera tagging along.  Anyway, his bosses Mother-in-law passed away on Saturday and the funeral is tomorrow.  So my sweet kind husband is helping his boss prepare a video tribute for the funeral.  The thing that is most frustrating to me about this is that he really needed his big hug and kiss.  He took such good care of me and the kids while we were sick and now he is sick and can’t take a day off work because the show wouldn’t get done if he did.  So he is putting all of his time and energy into work when he should be resting.  When I spoke with him today I was going to stop by the office and I asked him if he needed anything and all he wanted was a big hug and a kiss.  Unfortunately when I called to tell him I was on my way he was gone because he had to go on a last minute shoot.  But…there is always tomorrow morning for that big hug and kiss.  Sad to say I couldn’t find any recent pictures of us kissing so this one of us from  10 years ago will have to do.

Prepare:

Friday is baking day so make sure you have all the ingredients to bake something yummy.   I’m going to be making these. You have to scroll all the way down to get to the recipe.

Tags: baking, indoor, kiss, Marriage, prepare
Posted in Marriage, Quick Activities | No Comments »

Wednesday December 2nd, 2009

Today’s Activity:

Plan a date night.

Note:

If you’d like to apply this to your monthly goal then do something physical together.  You can play a sport or simply go for a walk around the mall.

Prepare:

Buy some ice cream and HOT fudge for tomorrow…or make hot fudge with this yummy recipe. We will eat this tomorrow but more importantly we will use the carton for an upcoming holiday decoration.  SO be sure to buy LOTS of ice cream that comes in the big plastic containers.  We are going to make ice luminary lights so be collecting any kind of container that would make a fun shape for a BIG ice cube.

Tags: date night, ice cream, prepare
Posted in Quick Activities | No Comments »

Wednesday November 4th, 2009

REMINDER:

Today is your last chance to enter the costume contest!  We haven’t had a lot of entries so far and I would be so sad if we had to just bag it.  Please check this out for more details.

Today’s Activity:

It’s that time again.  Schedule a sitter for a night out with your sweetie*.

Note:

Plan something HE would want to do for this date night.  Surprise him with an action movie you really don’t want to see or maybe even double date with HIS friends.  This activity is about making you happier but if you make your man happy he just might give you a nice back rub as a thank you…or maybe chocolates.

Prepare:

Friday is another day for baking something yummy.  You will be making your favorite cookies and if they’re your favorite you will probably already have all the ingredients but if you don’t take a quick trip to the store today.

*If you are a single mom then plan a night out on your own, you deserve it!  It can be a girl’s night out or maybe you’ve wanted to ask someone out for a while.  Whatever it is make time for you!

Tags: baking, Contest, Costume, date night, prepare, sitter
Posted in Quick Activities | No Comments »

Wednesday October 7th, 2009

Today’s Activity:

We all know our kids are much happier when mommy and daddy* are happy right?  Take the time to schedule a babysitter for a night out with your hubby in the coming days.

*If you are a single mom then plan a night out on your own, you deserve it!  It can be a girl’s night out or maybe you’ve wanted to ask someone out for a while.  Whatever it is make time for you!

Note:

The Community Events section is up and running for Utah, Idaho, and Washington (our top three website viewing states).  Check it out, you may be able to find something fun to do for your date.

Prepare:

Friday we will be making caramel apples.  Plan a trip to the store before then to pick up some apples and caramel.  If you look on the Halloween isle you should be able to find caramels that have sticks with them, otherwise the sticks should also be on the Halloween isle.

Evaluate:

My kids and I enjoyed our hiking adventure.  It wasn’t really a hike per say, more of a walk.  We went to the Temple Quarry trail.  Max and Elese remembered seeing mountain goats VERY high up on the mountain the last time we were there so they asked about them the entire time.  Fortunately, we eventually saw one, although it really just looked like a little blot on the mountain.  Max tried to find shortcuts along the trail while Elese fell several times and insisted that I carry her.  My mom had never been there and it’s only about a 5 minute drive from where we live so she tagged along and enjoyed the colorful leaves.  I enjoyed watching my kids and Amber laugh and play while I appreciated the beauty and got a little bit of exercise.  I hope your hike was a success!

FYI

My computer has been feeling under the weather so everything I’ve done thus far has been done on my mom’s computer.  My computer should be up and running today!  So look forward so some pictures of me and my kids having fun together!

Tags: date night, exercise, hike, prepare
Posted in For Mom | 1 Comment »