If there's anyway you can do it, stay home with your kids!
Kids grow up so fast, they're really little for such a short time. I encourage you to be there for them, if at all possible. I know it's a tough job, but it is very important!
Stay home with your babies if you can!
You won't ever regret it.
It hasn't always been easy, but I'll never regret being home with my kids before they went to elementary school. Now that they're in school, I work part time while they're at school. The first 5 years really does go fast.
- It really was kind of hard on our marriage. For the first 4 years or so, I worked 6am until 2pm, and my husband worked from 3pm until 11:30. That way one of us was always with the kids. None of that pesky daycare for us! Although I missed spending time with my husband, we had to do it for a while to pay the bills. I think it helped that we had the same values when we got married, and we worked at things together. Things aren't necessarily easier now, but I think we definately bonded over putting our kids first.
Saving money on kid's birthday parties
Bake your own cake.
It seems to me that kid's birthday parties have gotten quite out of hand. We're supposed to entertain our kid's friends for a few hours, feed them, have a great "theme" to our parties, and send each kid home with a goodie bag. The goodie bags either have cheap stuff that will fall apart shortly, or you have to break the bank. I've decided not to do this anymore. I admit it, we can't keep up with the Jones'es. As far as a theme goes, I've found some great cake making books at the library that my kids love to look through. They pick out what type of cake they want, and we go from there. They don't really care if I have matching cups and plates. I've done a pirate cake, a Pokemon cake, a dinosaur cake, and more. Believe me, they weren't anything close to perfect, but the kids will remember them. As they grow, I'd let them do a little bit more each year to help with the cake. That made it even more special. I have on occasion gotten ice cream cakes, or a cake from a bakery or grocery store, but I really don't specifically remember what they looked like, or how they tasted. This year I'm making my own ice cream sandwich cake...Stack ice cream sandwiches two high (by however big you want to make the cake), then take some crushed cookies (I'm using Oreos), place in a layer on top of the ice cream sandwiches, drizzle some hot fudge on top of that, place another layer or two of ice cream sandwiches on top of that, cover in whipped cream topping (top and sides), put it all in the freezer for a few hours and you've got a wonderful, original, not-too-expensive, ice cream birthday cake!
Great Stuff on CafePress
Some of my favorite designs on CafePress...really cool stuff, check it out and let me know what you think!
Super Mom Women's V-Neck Dark T-Shirt
Stay at home moms, working mothers, they do a lot and deserve some recognition. Is your mom a super mom? Fun design shows how women take it all in stride. Cute tees show mom she's appreciated, loved.
Price: 28.99 
Math for girls Jr. Raglan
Math is for girls! Math is great, and so are these unique, fun, math designs! Great gift for the geek in your life. Girls and women of all ages will love this original, colorful, graphic design.
Price: 26.99
Barack Obama 2008 Ringer T
Barack Obama have your vote in the 2008 presidential election? Barack stands for Hope, Peace, and Change. Colorful Obama 2008 Tshirts make great gifts, or get one for your next Obama rally.
Price: 22.99
Healthcare for everyone Jr. Ringer T-Shirt
Healthcare for everyone! Spread the word with this cute graphic, a wonderful gift for the activist in your life!
Price: 25.99
Peace Signs-colorful Women's T-Shirt
Peace signs, Love, colorful design. Lots of beautiful peace signs make a statement. Graphic design for the peace lover or political activist in your life. For men, women or kids, tshirts and more!
Price: 21.99
Groovy Links
- Creative Thought T-Shirts and Gifts
- Original t-shirts and gifts with cats, religion, bizarre humor, funny sayings, peace sign clothing, yoga, terriers, universal health care, political (Obama to Hillary), and weird stuff. For men, women and kids, our graphic designs make unique gifts. Tees, sweats, coffee mugs, posters, greeting cards
- Fresh Green Tees
- Fresh Green Tees is my online store with t-shirts, gifts, hats, posters, dog dishes, note cards, buttons and more. Everything in this store is focused on going green, and preserving our earth. Please check it out, and bookmark it, as we are adding new items almost everyday. Every item comes with our sincere hope that you'll love it, but, if you don't, every item also comes with a 30 day, 100% satisfaction guarantee, or your money back.
- StuntMom - The Stay at Home Mom Blog
- Stuntmom is cool...a great blog with great links.
- Drowning Our Kids in Happiness - Stay at Home Mom Answers
- Of course, we want our kids to be happy...Stay at home mom blogs about life.
- Stay at home dads, breastfeeding, and issues.
- Stay at home dads issues article on green parenting page...lots of great links here.
- The Making of a Stay-at-Home Mom : Parenting Center : Discovery Health
- Get one mom's perspective on deciding whether to return to work after childbirth or becoming a stay-at-home mom.
- The Stay at Home Mother: Business Opportunities From Home
- Helping moms discover the many business opportunities from home that will allow them to be closer to their children. The Stay At Home Mother empowers moms with the skills and resources that will enable them to be successful, strong women for themselves, and for their children.
- From the Mind of a Stay-at-Home Mom
- Stay at home mom is funny, writes about tales of parenting 2 girls.
- Parents Blog - Families.com
- Parenting is a very special job. Find great tips here on how to make your job easier - or at least take comfort in knowing that others are going through the same thing!
Good family movies...
- 001- Night at the Museum
Chaos reigns at the natural history museum when night watchman Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) accidentall...- 002- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe
When four London children (Georgie Henley, William Moseley, Skandar Keynes and Anna Popplewell) are...- 003- WALL-E
In a futuristic world, human beings have destroyed Earth and evacuated the planet, leaving the clean...- 004- Ratatouille
Brad Bird (The Incredibles) co-directs this Oscar-winning Pixar offering about a passionate rat name...- 005- Cars
Prepare to peel out with this revved-up animated adventure featuring classic automobiles, plenty of...- 006- Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story
Down-and-out horse trainer Ben Crane (Kurt Russell) gets an equally broken-down (but once great) rac...- 007- Happy Feet
Living with his colony in the Antarctic, young emperor penguin Mumble is aptly named: While his frie...- 008- Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
After their parents are tragically killed, three young orphans -- siblings Violet (Emily Browning),...- 009- Kung Fu Panda
When the Valley of Peace is threatened, lazy Po the panda discovers his destiny as the "chosen one"...- 010- Bridge to Terabithia
New classmate Leslie Burke (AnnaSophia Robb) unlocks a mesmerizing world of fantasy and imagination...- Try Netflix free for 14 days
Some of my favorite parenting books
You can never have too many parenting books! Some are worthless and there are some that you'll refer to constantly as your kids grow up. Here are some of my all time favorite books for parents!
Stay at home moms?
Some people would give anything to stay home with their kids...some people wouldn't. How about you.
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Fun, parenting videos
curated content from YouTube
Great Stuff on CafePress
Eat Natural, Be Healthy Women's Cap Sleeve T-Shirt
A simple reminder to eat natural and be healthy, this cute design looks great on a t-shirt or tote bag. Do you know where your food comes from? Spread the word to be healthier.
Women's Cap Sleeve T-Shirt
Price: 24.99
Go Organic Women's Light T-Shirt
This cute, go organic, grow organic design is a great gift for any organic food lover, organic gardener, or vegan. Spread the word, detoxify, go organic and eat healthier. Eating organic is healthy!
Women's Light T-Shirt
Price: 23.99
Proud to be a hypermiler Ringer T
Spread the word about hypermiling, and look great while doing it. Save our precious fossil fuels, and help mother earth.
Ringer T
Price: 23.99
Proud Hypermiler Ringer T
Get one of our cool hypermiler shirts and spread the word on saving our precious fossil fuels. The price of gas is so high, hypermilers know how to save money and gas.
Ringer T
Price: 23.99
Some of my favorite books
I like a variety of books...sometimes easy reading, sometimes biographies, there are just so many good books out there, it's fun to get lost in a good book. It's very relaxing...here are some books I recommend!
New RSS: Add Your Own Feed
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byI Love Netflix Movies
I just love Netflix! It is wonderful! I've listed some of my favorite movies...check them out and let me know what you think!
- 001- Crash
Tensions erupt when the tangled lives of a Brentwood housewife, her district attorney husband, a Per...- 002- The Departed
To take down South Boston's Irish Mafia, the police send in one of their own to infiltrate the under...- 003- The Bucket List
When corporate mogul Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson) and mechanic Carter Chambers (Morgan Freeman) wind...- 004- The Pursuit of Happyness
Will Smith earned an Oscar nomination for an inspiring performance opposite his real-life son Jaden...- 005- No Country for Old Men
A hunter (Josh Brolin) who stumbles upon a dead body, $2 million and a stash of heroin in a Texas de...- Try Netflix free for 14 days
New Igo GREEN Tip of the Day
New InStyle Look of the Day
New Politics Today NBC News Widget
New Did you know? Random Facts
New Access Hollywood Gossip News!
New US National Debt
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New Saturday Night Live videos
New Washington Post Issue Tracker
New Lyrics Libs!
Great Stuff on Amazon
My favorite products on Amazon...especially for parents!
Educational toys are important, but so are fun toys...who says you can't have both? Check out some of these cool toys from Amazon!
New The Office Videos
New Astrology.com LoveScope Widget
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- ShortSaleRealtor ShortSaleRealtor Sep 15, 2007 @ 11:50 am
- staying with the kids is very important, great lens but maybe add a few more modules, that was the advice recently given to me
by freshgreentees
Hello world. I am a mother of two wonderful kids. I think parenthood is the most important job in the world, but awfully hard. I try to be creative ev... (more)
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