Murphy's Laws for Moms

Let's face it; I'm not really made to be frugal.  However, in today's society, frugality can be a necessity.  So, I try.  I have saved money using cloth diapers, making my own baby food and home-cooked meals without going to the grocery store; I gave up clothes shopping for Lent (probably my greatest Lenten sacrifice to date)...I'm making a real effort at not spending money. The difficult thing is that I have wants.  They're not needs.  They're not, "I can't survive without it" or "That will make work so much easier."  No, they are wants...I want what others around me have.  I want the nicer car, the exotic travel, the ease of life that seems to come if I just get that newer gadget...you get the idea.  These are all a part of the "I see - I need" syndrome which I have to resist on an hourly basis. It's not easy to resist these urges.  I am the person that marketing departments are trying to get when they put items in the che...

Transition is always difficult.  Whether it's moving to a new home, changing jobs, changing relationship statuses...there are always obstacles to overcome and challenges to face.  The same is true for transitions in my Sweet Pea.  The periods of transitions are the toughest for us.  First, it was transitioning from in the womb to in my arms.  After all, she had to learn to breathe on her own, nurse, sleep during the night and stay awake during daytime - not to mention allowing all of her body systems to function.  That's one tough job for someone so tiny.  The next major transition was to eating solid foods.  She had to learn tastes, textures, swallowing while getting rid of the tongue thrust reflex.  Other transitions are to moving her own body via crawling or walking, talking and communicating, playing on her own or entertaining herself.  The list goes on and on and on.  While these periods of change have included many sleepless n...

This past week, I was blessed to be able to listen to a fabulous presenter, Will Parnell, Director of the Helen Gordon Child Development Center at Portland State University.  During his talk, he discussed how we, as adults, can look at our children not as children of needs, but children of rights.  With this approach, we can actively listen to our children and involve them in society instead of assuming that they are helpless and are in constant need of our assistance.  Even at a very young age, children have possibilities.  We just have to listen to them - even when they can't speak for themselves. As a mom, there are days that go by when I wonder where the hope is for me.  My Sweet Pea is either not sleeping well, not eating well, not building her vocabulary, not crawling, not walking...you get the point: she's not doing what I see other kids her age doing.  I know, I know...every child develops at a different rate.  You hear this over and over from ...

I have a lot of friends that are gourmet chefs.  While perhaps not classically trained in the art of cooking, as I watch them meander through their kitchens preparing delicacies from around the world, I realize how much of a foreigner I am in my own kitchen.  I tend to stick to the easy-to-prepare, no-fuss recipes.  My go-to recipes tend to include chili, meatloaf, pot roast, enchiladas, grilled chicken, salmon, and spaghetti. My husband is the king of leftovers and so I rarely have to eat this after-thought of my preparations.  I don't like leftovers. However, as I begin this new challenge of not spending money on groceries and simply using what I already have, I found that I have a ton of leftovers in my fridge and freezer.  While, in a typical month, I would probably just toss these if my DH hadn't eaten them in a week, I feel like I need to also partake in this cleansing so that I can truly fulfill the goal of my challenge of not wasting food. Therefore, on ...

Perhaps if you've been reading my blog for a while, you've realized that I'm a person who loves a challenge.  I think that's part of why I've survived being a mom for nearly an entire year...yes, my Sweet Pea is almost one!  It's amazing how fast the time flies.  Granted, I don't remember half of it, but I have my previous blog posts to help me remember it all. As my second year of being a mother begins, I had a thought...really a dare from my husband.  We have saved so much money by using cloth diapers and cloth wipes - as well as making most of our own baby food - that I wonder where else I could save money.  After all, I love to spend money, but I can't spend money I don't have! So, here's the idea.  For the month of March, I am going to attempt to only make meals with items that I already have in my pantry, fridge, and freezer.  I'm going to attempt to spend nothing - or next to nothing - on groceries (which is usually one of our top expe...