H2O and You
By · CommentsOne thing I’ve heard over and over by people participating in the New You by the New Year is that they “know” they should be drinking more water, but it’s just so hard to do.
I’m rowing in that same boat. I do really well for awhile and even begin to crave water, then, something happens, and the habit I had been developing is gone and pretty soon I realize I haven’t had one real glass of water for days. Seriously – days! Is there anyone out there doing the same thing? Read More→
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Help! I Can’t Quit Overeating!
By · CommentsHelp! I Can’t Quit Overeating!
By Julie Morris, RN © 2009
My blood pressure gauge frantically tapped out the message I didn’t want to hear. While thoughtfully removing the stethoscope from his ears, my doctor said what I already knew: “You have got to lose weight!”
After years of dieting, starving and bingeing, I was fatter than ever. The harder I tried not to overeat, the more I found myself eating. Here I was, RN Supervisor of a large medical-surgical floor in the local hospital, telling people what to do to get healthy, and I couldn’t lose the weight that could kill me. Even though I was only in my 30’s, my doctor told me that I could have a stroke if I didn’t lose weight. I had dieted a thousand times before, but this time nothing seemed to work.
Parenting How To: Shopping With Kids
By · CommentsThe “I’m Blessed By You” Note
By · CommentsOne of my greatest desires in life is to be a true blessing to my children. They sure are to me! Today, my son John, put his hand on my shoulder as he towered above me and said, “I’m really glad you’re my mom.” (insert tears)
I responded with, “You’re still my favorite.”
To which he then retorted, “You’re still my favorite mom.” Read More→
There are many of us who are so busy we just can’t imagine that we would be able to squeeze one more thing onto our plate.
I even fnd myself speaking words like:
- ”I can’t take anymore.”
- “Grrr…I’m already too busy!”
- “There is no more room on my plate for one more thing.
Positive Goals for a Positive Transformation
By · CommentsSetting Positive Goals for a Positive Transformation
By Terri Camp
As you begin to ponder and write out your goals, I want to encourage you to make your goals “Positive” rather than “Negative” goals. What’s the difference? Isn’t a goal a goal? No. Your success on meeting your goals will be hugely influenced by the attitude of the goal.
Most of us make goals that take away something from us, but we don’t replace it with something that is good for us. A lot of goals will say something like, “quit eating chocolate.” That’s a negative goal. A positive goal would be, “In place of my daily chocolate, I will have 3 apple slices.”
Your goal steps should be worded in a way that doesn’t make you feel a loss, but makes you feel like you are gaining. Simply reading over your goals will give a positive lift to you rather than a feeling that you are sacrificing.
I recommend really thinking about the changes you want to make in your life. I usually think about four areas of change. You may have different ones than I do.
The categories of change are: Spiritual, Personal, Professional, and Educational. Rather than using the word “change” I’m going to use the word, “transformation” because that’s what you’re doing; you’re transforming your life. Where you are now is fine, there isn’t anything wrong with you. Don’t look at goal setting as if there is something wrong that needs to be fixed, but rather that you are transforming your life, into a better version of you. Don’t “change” who you are; transform into what you want to be.
Using the four categories, make a list of the ways you would like to transform within each category.
As you create your goals, I also want you to think of the ways you are going to achieve those goals. I call those “Goal Steps.” A Goal Step is a small step which you repeat until you reach your final goal.
Here are some tips when creating goals. Read More→
Who Am I?
By · CommentsAgain today I was signing up for a website which required information about me. I suppose I should have something readily available to use for such biographies, but I usually find myself feeling a little pressure at trying to define who I am — in 250 characters or less. Read More→
The Traveling Mom – Tips for Traveling With Kids
By · CommentsI used to love taking my kids on road trips. My mom lived 6 hours from us, so about four times a year I would pack up the kids and take them to Kansas City. Also, as a speaker, I would often pack the critters in my 15 passenger van and head off on some speaking tour. Occasionally, I would take a horse trailer to drop off or pick up a horse for Ashley. Here are some tips I have learned over the years either through personal experience or from other friends who had gone through some of the same “adventures.”
You can’t really prepare yourself for everything, but it is helpful to prepare yourself for sickness. It happens. I used to carry a large wheat bucket (when it rains it pours you know)in the back of the van. It would contain supplies that could quickly get dumped out for the roadside emergency. I found that it was a bit bulky sometimes. If you have room for it it can be multi-functional.
A friend (Hi Lynn!) recommended carrying gallon size freezer zipper bags in the car. Then the kid can just puke, zip, and toss. (No Johnny – not toss the bag game – toss in the trash when you get to a gas station) This tip is a lifesaver! Cardboard boxes don’t work! Zipper bags do!
Another tip is to not share a twin bed with the three-year old who has already been asleep. He will wake up and want to play. Plan a diversion while you sleep.
Set the expectations right off the bat…NO FIGHTING…ever! It may take a few times, but they will get the point. Fighting children are a distraction that can have disastrous affects. Pull over every time someone fights…don’t talk to them by looking in the rear view mirror. Assign the co-pilot to talk for you. Children do not have to fight while you drive. I often wished I had a little inspector gadget extend an arm so I could reach the kids in the back seat. Any fighters – get moved up closer. (this only works if you have a giant van like we had.)
Learn basic car maintenance. One time I pulled over at a rest area to let the kids get out for their scheduled break. When we all piled back in the vehicle it wouldn’t start. Knowing basic car maintenance (and having a child who prays) got us back on the road quickly. Here’s what I did – I opened the hood, looked at it for a bit, squinched up my face in a perplexed look, got a paper towel, removed the dip stick, wiped it off, placed it back in it’s long skinny hole thing, closed the hood, and started the engine. Ashley said she prayed. One of those things worked! The van purred like a kitten —-
Or was that the kitten? I had stopped once about two hours down the road to give the kids their scheduled drink and what did I find…but a kitten stow-away. If you have a lot of pets on the farm, or visit a place with small critters, you might want to be prepared with a couple of covered plastic dishes in your car. They also work for holding crayons, which I would never take on a car ride, and you should not either. They melt! That’s all I’m going to say about that.
Some great inexpensive car snacks are popcorn (that you popped the night before and put in little lunch bags) granola, m and m’s (they mostly don’t melt), and small cookies. Grapes are terrific for helping to quench thirst and hunger.
Schedule your trip! About every hour and a half pass out a small snack and drink. Every two hours, stop for bathroom breaks -EVERYONE GOES! It’s also good to do a little calisthenics while standing in the parking lot. Oh yea – teach your kids to get out of the vehicle and stand NEXT TO IT! Practice this at home when they aren’t in a parking lot. The kids always had to line up next to the van before we moved even one step toward our destination.
If you’re taking a long trip, give your kids activity bags to keep them entertained. We loved audio books! When we moved from CA to IA a good friend made each of our kids a cloth drawstring bag with several fun activity things in them. The kids loved it and kept those bags for a long time.
Time for you to add your own tips….
New Mommy Advice – For New Single Mom
By · Comments
Ta-Dah Mom Baby Shower
I want to have the first ever Ta-Dah Mom Baby Shower for my daughter.
A little bit about Tina: When I moved to Fort Worth and had to begin working full-time, Tina, who had just graduated from our home school, volunteered to stay home and home school the children, “so they wouldn’t have to go to school and have even more disruption in their lives.” Basically, Tina put her own future on hold for her younger siblings. She stayed home with them for eighteen months until I got my real estate license and could come back home. Read More→
Fun Fund Ideas
By · CommentsI had an idea today that I want to share with you.
Couponing With Kids from Terri Camp on Vimeo.
In our house, the kids plan the menus and give me the grocery list. Today I thought, perhaps I should show them how to do couponing. I would buy them a couple of the Sunday papers and they would do all the cutting of coupons, and looking at what stores have what items on sale. Then they could give me the lists, with the appropriate coupons. Read More→
