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Posts Tagged ‘frazzled mom’

How I Saved My Marriage

Thursday, March 31st, 2011

By Guest Blogger Alisa Bowman


About four years ago, our toddler ran away from us at the grocery store. I chased her into the pasta aisle where she was holding a big jar of red sauce. My heart rate sped up as I realized I was about to become that parent, the mother who watches her child smash a jar onto the floor of aisle 6 and then walks away as if nothing happened.

In that moment, I understood why parents do things like that. It all became clear. They are just too exhausted, unappreciated, overwhelmed and resentful to have to deal with one more mess.

That is why I sweet-talked that jar of sauce out of my kid’s sticky little hands as if it were the most precious and fragile family heirloom. I got it back on the shelf. Then I realized that my daughter had run away again.

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Posted in Marriage | 25 Comments »

When Mommy’s A Mess

Thursday, October 7th, 2010

Do you ever feel, that as the centrifugal force of the house, that mommy’s mood sets the tone for the the whole family? This Blog post came to me a couple of weeks ago, when my girlfriend said, “Can you Blog about how when we are not good, the rest of our family never feels good? And how we can pull ourselves out of these slumps?”

So really, what happens if mom’s not happy?

Now, if you have a family of 4 plus people, chances are there are constantly multiple things going on at once… different opinions, different ideas and different hormones levels too!  And chances are again, these many factors vary throughout your week. For example, sometimes my household is happy, and we’re grooving to Kool & The Gang and (shhhh) Justin Bieber in the kitchen, and other times mommy’s ranting about unfinished homework, laziness around helping out, too much Wii and television, or disrespectful words.  Sometimes we’re laughing, sometimes we’re tense. But one thing I know for sure… when I’m on edge, EVERYONE IS ON EDGE.

And see, this is where I sit on the fence… am I to fake it, and fake happiness when I’m tired or stressed for the sake of peace and harmony, or should I be my honest self, my true self, show my kids that life isn’t always flowery, and bring everyone down with me? Cuz really, I would LOVE your opinion on this issue. My ass in on the fence. I always wrestle between protecting them, and giving them the truth. My heart says truth, but with a grain of salt, yes?

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Posted in Kids, Marriage, Motherhood | 19 Comments »

Eight Tips to De-Stress Your Life

Friday, August 20th, 2010

By Guest Blogger Candi Wingate

I am a married woman with two beautiful sons. I have a “full-time-and-then-some” job in the home. That job description: Wife, mother, housekeeper, cook, chauffeur, personal secretary, and more… I also work a full-time (and then some) job as the President and CEO of Nannies of Nebraska, Nannies4hire.com, Babysitters4hire.com and Care4hire.com.

This is a typical day for me… After 11 stressful hours at work (and no lunch on many days), I head home for time with my family. I am tired, frustrated and hungry. I want to decompress and have a little “me-time” before attending to my husband and two sons, cook dinner, clean the house, and do all the other things associated with my primary full-time (and then some) job as wife and mother. But, of course, I get no me-time, no decompression. I walk in the door, and the kids are all over me. They haven’t seen me since early in the morning, so they want to talk, play, and connect with me. Of course they do. And they should. My husband wants to know what’s for dinner.

whats for dinner

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Posted in Career, Kids, Marriage, Motherhood, Stress, Wellness | 15 Comments »

A Working Mom’s Guilt

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

By Guest Blogger Kami Lewis Levin

I’m really trying to take a more Zen approach to life.  I’d like to be able to let things roll.  I’d like to be able to kick back and relax.  I’d like to enjoy a stress-free, yell-free household.  Those specific behaviors, however, appear to go against the essence of my being.  It turns out, I’m pretty type-A.  With a pinch of OCD.  And a tendency to get worked up.  Like crazy worked up.  Generally about really dumb stuff.

stressed out mom

But THIS is not about your run of the mill dumb stuff.  THIS is important.  THIS could alter the empirical nature of my existence on this planet.  And although it is very much all about me, THIS might well influence other young moms out there to follow along in my footsteps.  Or not.  Much depends on your point of view.

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Posted in Career, Kids, Money, Motherhood | 21 Comments »

The Over OVER-Programming of our Kids

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

It’s that time of year again. Springtime in the city. Time where as moms, we try to figure out how we’re going to fit in all our kids’ activities into one week. It’s also time where my mommy friends take the phones and give me a ring to discuss, “What are the boys doing this spring? Hockey? Ice hockey? Street Hockey? 3-on-3 hockey? Swimming… private or in groups? Tennis… outdoors  or indoors? Soccer? Softball? When? Weekdays, weekends? With what friends? How old do they have to be to do hockey? Oh 3… too young… Oh that program… it’s closed. ” Holy shit, my head is spinning this morning! After all, if worrying were an Olympic sport, I’d take the gold for sure. ‘Member??

frazzled mom

Now, I’m all for programming our kids. After all, the school days are long, and especially at a school such as my son’s (where he learns three languages), it’s the gym time that suffers. Plus I truly think diving into a sport or hobby gives kids good self esteem, and something they can call their own and be proud of. The problem sometimes is US MOMS. I think we’ve taken it waaaay too  far. I have friends with kids in programs 5 DAYS A WEEK!! One mom I know has her daughter in piano, ballet, gymnastics twice a week and swimming all in 7 days, plus school till 4. Isn’t that a little MUCH? Now I’m definitely cutting us all some slack, because it’s easy to go overboard. And after all, we only want the very best for our kiddies, right? We want them to thrive. We want to expose them.

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Posted in Kids, Motherhood | 8 Comments »

A Tale of Travel

Monday, January 11th, 2010

I know today’s Blog post is not very “On The Fence,” but yesterday was nothing short of a scene out of Bloopers, and a must-share for my Mommy readers. Plus hey, I’m the boss around here, so today, we’re off the fence! Look out for my next post on The Dark Side of Friendship, coming soon. Oooh.

This past weekend, as the end of my vacation drew near, I must admit I was looking forward to coming home and getting back to the regularly scheduled routine. We had an incredible trip and really got to soak in the rays for some time before the Florida freeze hit. The kids had a ball, as did my hubby and I together.

Yesterday we flew home, and amidst some chaos, all I did was laugh the whole way through. That’s because one of my New Year’s resolutions was to not sweat the small stuff too much. My husband was sweating, but not I!  I was taking it all in stride. Our day went something like this…

We awoke early, but that was the easy part (we’re all early risers here). I rushed to pack lunch and snacks for the boys as we were flying during lunchtime. If you fly coach these days, they don’t always serve food, nor sell it, so I was just trying to be a good and prepared mom. We had some leftover plain pizza in the fridge from Saturday, so I packed it to be safe. And then onwards and outwards to the airport we went.

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Posted in Kids, Motherhood, Stress | 4 Comments »