Ready to Learn Mom

Whether you’re looking to contribute to your family’s finances or earn some cash to cover special or unexpected expenses, many people want more ways to make money at home.

From freelance to full-time gigs, we have a range of fields and resources below to help guide you in discovering the options that exist. Only you can decide if an opportunity is right for you.

During a Take Control Tour last year, Tory Johnson helped Skye Starner, a Colorado mother of three, find a job she could do from home.Don’t limit yourself solely to responding to advertised openings. Sometimes the best way to land a home-based job is by calling someone you’d like to work for and offering your services.

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1. Figure Out What Really Matters to You in Life
Personal coach Laura Berman Fortgang, author of NOW WHAT? 90 Days to a New Life Direction, says getting your priorities clear is the first and most essential step toward achieving a well-balanced life. The important point here is to figure out what you want your priorities to be, not what you think they should be.

“I use an exercise for figuring out what matters most,” Fortgang tells WebMD. She has her clients take a couple days off from work to contemplate the following series of questions:

1. If my life could focus on one thing and one thing only, what would that be?
2. If I could add a second thing, what would that be?
3. A third?
4. A fourth?
5. A fifth?

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Put bedtime bugaboos — and your kids — to rest with these expert solutions.

Evening rituals help teach children when it’s time to go to sleep.

Problem: Your child gets up repeatedly after you’ve put him to bed, calling, “Mom, I need a glass of water.”

Why it happens: Kids make bedtime curtain calls for many reasons. Preschoolers may be asserting their independence: “You can’t make me stay in bed!” Or they stall because they’re afraid of the dark. The most common reason, though, is that you’ve slipped from a consistent routine you had when they were babies.

How to rest easy: Before-bed routines are important for children of all ages, says Lynn D’Andrea, M.D., director of the Pediatric Sleep Disorders Center at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, in Wauwatosa. “Kids start to think, I’ve done my routine — now it’s bedtime,” she says. The evening ritual could be as simple as reading your child a story and wishing him a good night. Another tool is a bedtime pass, a card your child can turn in for one nighttime request. Preschoolers also benefit from rewards (like extra playground time) for staying put.

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If you could do one thing to transform your life, I would highly recommend it be to find something you’re passionate about, and do it for a living.

Now, this isn’t as easy as it sounds, but it’s well worth the effort. If you dread going to your job, or find yourself constantly lacking motivation, or find what you’re doing dull and repetitive, you need to start looking for a new job. Staying in your current job will not only continue to make you unhappy, but you are not realizing your full potential in life.

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It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day routine without thinking too much about where time goes. So, before you find yourself saying, “She grew up so fast!” get in some quality bonding time with your kiddos today.

Challenge 1: Build relationships with your kids

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By Sandra Martini

Remember the commercial of the woman in a business suit top, pajama bottoms and bunny slippers while on a conference call? Way back when, I used to think that symbolized home office life. Ahhh, the joy of it. 

Remember the commercial of the woman in a business suit top, pajama bottoms and bunny slippers while on a conference call? Way back when, I used to think that symbolized home office life. Ahhh, the joy of it.
 
Once I started running my business from home, however, reality set in very quickly!

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By Leanne Phillips

There is not much that will ruin your day more than not getting a good night’s sleep the night before. Sleep is not a luxury–it is a necessity. A lack of sleep will affect your ability to focus and your ability to concentrate. A lack of sleep will also have an adverse effect on your performance. You will not do your best job if you are running on little or no sleep.

Contrary to popular belief, there is no such thing as “catching up” on sleep. Once you have lost sleep, it is gone forever. Extended periods of sleep deprivation will eventually affect your health. The concept of beauty sleep, however, is not a myth. Getting sufficient sleep each night is one of the best (and most inexpensive) beauty aids on the market.

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Help your child develop a list of things they would like to try in their lifetime! Make a game of crossing off each activity as it gets completed – hike a local trail from start to finish; climb a viewing tower; visit states; tourist attractions; gaze at stars; watch a sun rise and set; etc.

• Add plenty of activities that they can try once without any commitments!
• Read the local paper with them to find fun activities to try:
  • Libraries offer learning chess classes; author visits by topic; art and craft projects, etc.
  • Zoos offer all kinds of special activities such as camping at the zoo, special exhibits and activities
  • Local communities offer special events, such as history re-enactments, cultural events and art exhibits
  • Museums offer special events and exhibits as well
• Go on-line to research fun activities and create more learning by subjects of interest!

Have a family policy that a child may try anything with parental approval once and if they elect to enroll, must stay in for a certain period of time before quitting.  Set the ground rules – if your child hates 4-H or Girl Scouts and it becomes a chore – there needs to be an exit strategy in place, first before a child enrolls and the child needs to buy into the rules of engagement! 

Hope these help!

Smiles – Stacey

Stacey Kannenberg
“Ready To Learn Mom”

The key to a child’s success in school is directly related to parental involvement in school and extracurricular activities.  I believe that it is the job of the parent to build a network of support for their kids at home and school.  If you want your child to have friends at school, help them build a network.  Start networking at the park, zoo, church, library, school events, community activities, PTA and school board meetings as a family to help build a base of friends for the entire family. 

I recently posted this on my blog and thought some of these tips might be of interest to you!

Tips for families getting ready for that first day of school:

• Make an appointment to visit the school with your child to turn it into a fun adventure;
• If your school or teacher is in session during the summer, see if you can visit inside the classroom;
• Involve your child each step of the way!  Asking them if they would like hot or cold lunch and explain that hot lunch is made at school and cold lunch is made at home and brought to school in a lunch box to eat in the cafeteria;
• If you live near school, do frequent “drive-bys” and point out the school and playground;
• If you can, during off-school time, stop and play on the equipment or practice walking up to the door pretending it is the first day of school;
• Share stories with your child about your days in Kindergarten:  “Mommy used to play on the monkey bars, do you know which one is the monkey bars?”;
• Ask your child questions to get them excited and talking about school;
• If the public is welcome, visit the school and school library, to get your child familiar with the new school layout;
• Check the school schedule to see if they have any summer events coming up that would interest your child and get involved now;
• Find other families that will be attending the school and plan some summer fun together.  If you don’t know anyone at the school, call the school for direction;
• Join the PTO/PTA!  This is a MUST and a great way to build a network of friends at home and school;
  Start reading everyday for 15 minutes with your child – start practicing this now, as this will be a requirement when they begin school;
• Start making those doctor appointments for immunizations, eye and dental visits;
• Make sure your child is familiar with the kindergarten curriculum:  the alphabet mixed up; numbers 0-10 mixed up, basic colors, shapes, coin, counting objects to 10 and how far they can count to 100;

Practice will make for a great first day of school!
Smiles – Stacey

Stacey Kannenberg
“Get Ready To Learn Mom”

By Martha Beck

Friends don’t let friends do all the work.

When my friend Riley and I met for coffee, I was feeling somewhat gloomy, looking forward to a little emotional support. As I sat down, however, Riley recounted a harrowing tale. Only hours before, as she was chomping happily on some caramel corn, one of her front teeth had snapped off, right at the gum line! Her dentist glued it back in, but I mean… The horror! The horror!

My bad mood disappeared as I grilled Riley about every detail, told her it was perfectly normal that the incident upset her more than global warming, and affirmed that her teeth looked great (they did). After a while, Riley drew a deep breath, exhaled, and relaxed.

Read More at Oprah.com…