I have been on a bit of a break from my blog I suppose, although not intentional. In my attempt to earn money for my family, find a career I enjoy, and build a financial base so I can homeschool my daughter when she turns 4 (her 1st birthday is in a week), I have begun to try on many different hats.
Today I applied to rate examinations for a leading national company (*fingers crossed*). This would happen online so I do hope I get it!
I also have begun to write half-heartdly for examiner.com. Half-heartedly only because I'm not a huge fan of having to stick to just one topic...especially local...I'd be much better at national. I am writing on homeschooling and enhancing your child's education while they are at home. It has proven to be very interesting and I have many fun articles planned for the upcoming weeks. (If you would like to become an examiner please reference me in your application so I get a bonus!)
I also have begun to write for Hubpages.com. On here I write about anything that I want: dogs, breastfeeding, cloth diapering, homeschooling, crafts for kids, etc. Please come check it out! Again, if you want to write for them, please reference me (Mommy S) on your application so I get a bonus!). I'm not yet sure what this one pays as it is mostly advertising-driven.
I also have a few other pots in the fire so to speak. I'll inform you of them should they work out (or not). Also, if you have any other thoughts for me, I'd be more than happy to listen and investigate!
Stay tuned for more on working from home: how I experience it. Also, I'll be posting some craft ideas and some more on cloth diapering in the coming days!
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Product Review: Bummis Swimmi Diaper
Rating: A+
I would buy more of these in a heartbeat!
Review:
We recently began taking Baby "S" to the pool at our local YMCA. As I'm sure you know by now, I'm not a fan of disposable anything due to personal experience, so of course I did a little research and ordered two Bummis Swimmi Diapers. Most of the reviews I read were positive for this diaper. After using it once, I love it! Here's why I think this is the best swim diaper out there:
The outside of the diaper is very soft which is good if your little one has chubby legs that will rub on the diaper. The inside is a breathable mesh that does not stick to baby's bottom. The diaper itself is very stretchy. I ordered a size Large (22-30lbs) and on Baby "S" (about 25lbs), I was able to cross the tabs over to make it nice and secure without getting any disturbing red marks on her thighs. In addition, the diaper is very trim. It fits easily under her swimsuit and is not very bulky at all.
The performance of the diaper is superb. We had no leaks of any kind. It keeps everything in that should be in. After about 45min of swimming, the diaper was quite heavy when I took it off, leading me to believe that it does absorb liquid (poll water and urine both) quite effectively.
The only drawback I have found for this diaper is the lack of laundry tabs. You must fasten the diaper as you would if it was on the baby for washing. This is not a big deal when it is going through the wash, but when you hang it up to dry the tabs get caught on everything, including the diaper itself. I do wish that it had laundry tabs to make washing easier. On the washing note: it is very easy to wash (just toss in with your other diapers or your swimsuits), and it dries very quickly. I threw mine in the wash at 9pm last night, and hung them up to dry. By 10:30am both were dry so we could use them again this morning.
Overall, a wonderful swim diaper! I highly recommend this to everyone! (at $12/swimmi you really can't beat the price! Imagine how many disposables you'd get for $12....try making that last through the summer!)
Happy Diapering!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
New Goals For My Life
This is a follow up to the below post that I wrote.
I have decided that while I still would like nothing more than to stay at home with my daughter, it is just in the cards right now. However, homeschooling her is still very important to me. Therefore, I have decided that my goal is to save enough that in another 3-ish years I can stay home with my daughter for the purpose of homeschooling her through elementary school provided my husband has a job at that time.
I plan to save this money by:
* (hopefully) getting a new job seeing as how in two months old I will be out of a job.
* Writing for hubpages.com
* Writing for Examiner.com (I just got accepted! Yay!)
* Also, you'll see ads going up on my blog soon as well
And just for fun, I've picked up an old book idea of mine and am in the process of writing a mystery book that might hopefully get published one day.
Here's hoping I can achieve my goal! I'll keep you all posted!
I have decided that while I still would like nothing more than to stay at home with my daughter, it is just in the cards right now. However, homeschooling her is still very important to me. Therefore, I have decided that my goal is to save enough that in another 3-ish years I can stay home with my daughter for the purpose of homeschooling her through elementary school provided my husband has a job at that time.
I plan to save this money by:
* (hopefully) getting a new job seeing as how in two months old I will be out of a job.
* Writing for hubpages.com
* Writing for Examiner.com (I just got accepted! Yay!)
* Also, you'll see ads going up on my blog soon as well
And just for fun, I've picked up an old book idea of mine and am in the process of writing a mystery book that might hopefully get published one day.
Here's hoping I can achieve my goal! I'll keep you all posted!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Honesty During A Tough Time
I have kept many things to myself over the past several months. Times here at my home have been very difficult. I have found little support for what I'm going through and that has made the tough times seem even more difficult. Therefore, I feel that it is time for me to share my story here. My hope in sharing this is that it will provide support to someone else out there.
We planned for our daughter. We wanted to feel secure enough at our jobs, and financially secure as well. We felt financially secure enough to buy a house and still try for our daughter. The same day that we brought our daughter home from the hospital, my husband was laid off. My job at the time was only 5 mornings/ week.
It has now been 11 months. My husband is still looking for a job and 2 weeks ago I was informed that my job will not be continued for next year. In 2 months we will both be unemployed and looking for jobs.
That is difficult enough I'm sure. On top of it all, I don't actually enjoy my chosen profession and I would love to find some kind of a job in another profession. However we clearly don't have the financial stability to send me back to school, especially if I'm not sure of what I may want to do with my life. All I know for sure is that I want to stay home with my baby and any others that we may have in the future. I'd love to find a work-at-home job that could help to support my family when my husband finds a job.
A large part of my difficult time lately has been my intense desire to stay home with my daughter. I become jealous of my husband for being able to stay home with her all day long. He gets to experience everything with her and although I do cherish every moment I get with her, I yearn to be there all the time. Then directly after that, I feel guilty for not being more grateful that I have a job and she has her daddy at home with her. I also feel miserable when it is time to apply for another job because I am becoming both discouraged with the rejection and dreadful of spending another year not at home with my daughter.
My husband cannot understand why I feel the way I do, and honestly I can't expect him to understand. We're very different and in general moms and dads feel differently and view parenthood in vastly different ways. I do often wish that I had someone to talk to or vent to. I admit (with a slight bit of embarrassment) that I have begun going to therapy to try to understand how and why I feel the way I do and how I can cope with it.
I have so many emotions running through me all at once. I feel anxiety and guilt much of the time because of my feelings and desires. I still hold hope that one day in the future, when my husband finds a job, that I will be able to find a way to supplement our income from home so that I am able to stay home with our children and homeschool them (only through the 4th or 5th grade).
At the same time, I also want to feel like myself again: more laid back, not so controlling, and certainly not so miserable and jealous. I have been praying and seeking counseling, but having someone to speak with as more of a friend would be helpful I believe.
Hopefully, this reaches some of you so that you know you are not alone out there. It is okay to feel what you are feeling as long as you learn how to cope so it does not become a long-term problem and negatively affect your life.
I will keep you all updated on my journey. All things will pass eventually. I'm trying to learn to ride this out and discover God's plan for my life.
We planned for our daughter. We wanted to feel secure enough at our jobs, and financially secure as well. We felt financially secure enough to buy a house and still try for our daughter. The same day that we brought our daughter home from the hospital, my husband was laid off. My job at the time was only 5 mornings/ week.
It has now been 11 months. My husband is still looking for a job and 2 weeks ago I was informed that my job will not be continued for next year. In 2 months we will both be unemployed and looking for jobs.
That is difficult enough I'm sure. On top of it all, I don't actually enjoy my chosen profession and I would love to find some kind of a job in another profession. However we clearly don't have the financial stability to send me back to school, especially if I'm not sure of what I may want to do with my life. All I know for sure is that I want to stay home with my baby and any others that we may have in the future. I'd love to find a work-at-home job that could help to support my family when my husband finds a job.
A large part of my difficult time lately has been my intense desire to stay home with my daughter. I become jealous of my husband for being able to stay home with her all day long. He gets to experience everything with her and although I do cherish every moment I get with her, I yearn to be there all the time. Then directly after that, I feel guilty for not being more grateful that I have a job and she has her daddy at home with her. I also feel miserable when it is time to apply for another job because I am becoming both discouraged with the rejection and dreadful of spending another year not at home with my daughter.
My husband cannot understand why I feel the way I do, and honestly I can't expect him to understand. We're very different and in general moms and dads feel differently and view parenthood in vastly different ways. I do often wish that I had someone to talk to or vent to. I admit (with a slight bit of embarrassment) that I have begun going to therapy to try to understand how and why I feel the way I do and how I can cope with it.
I have so many emotions running through me all at once. I feel anxiety and guilt much of the time because of my feelings and desires. I still hold hope that one day in the future, when my husband finds a job, that I will be able to find a way to supplement our income from home so that I am able to stay home with our children and homeschool them (only through the 4th or 5th grade).
At the same time, I also want to feel like myself again: more laid back, not so controlling, and certainly not so miserable and jealous. I have been praying and seeking counseling, but having someone to speak with as more of a friend would be helpful I believe.
Hopefully, this reaches some of you so that you know you are not alone out there. It is okay to feel what you are feeling as long as you learn how to cope so it does not become a long-term problem and negatively affect your life.
I will keep you all updated on my journey. All things will pass eventually. I'm trying to learn to ride this out and discover God's plan for my life.
Absence Due To Family Trouble
My apologies for the absence. My grandfather was in a very bad car accident about two weeks ago. We weren't sure if he would make it for the first few days. He is now in a rehabilitation facility, recovering much faster than we anticipated. We are continuing to pray as he will not truly be out of the woods for quite awhile longer. I will do my best to stay on top of my blogging from this point forward. I have much to share with you since my absence! Looking forward to upcoming posts!
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