Stay-at-Home Moms

If you are a stay-at-home mom and are looking for something to do, you can make friends with top affiliate programs like Friend Finder, or you can take up a hobby. When starting a hobby, it is important to choose something you like, not something you can grow to like. Finding the right hobby can be difficult, especially if you have little ones running around. You want to make sure you pick something you enjoy, but is also easy to put down and finish later if need be. Scrapbooking is a hobby many people enjoy. There's something very relaxing about gathering together photographs and placing them in books to enjoy over and over again. Your creative side can really come out when learning to scrapbook. Stamp collecting is another hobby that is quite popular. Many stamp enthusiasts enjoy collecting as well as sharing their stamp collections. However, this may be tough to do with young children, as they can get themselves into your pile of stamps and make a mess everywhere. If you start a stamp collection, make sure you keep your materials and supplies up high enough so that your children can't get into your collection. Bead-making is another hobby many people like to do. With this hobby you are free to create many beautiful designs as well as patterns. Some people even start selling their jewelry and find that they make quite a nice side income off of their hobby. Whatever you decide to do, don't let being a stay-at-home mom deter you. There are plenty of hobbies that you can enjoy while still spending quality time with your children. The best part of a hobby is that you can put it away until the kids go to sleep, then have the leisure of working on it in your spare time.

Your Income May Need Patching

If you ever do freelance work for anybody, you know how it goes when you try to collect on a bad debt. But how about when the client has changed his or her mind or wants to renegotiate the pay structure when you've already begun working on whatever it is? In a situation like that, you can still end up getting your money in full later on, but just try and tell the electric company that you'll be getting paid in a few weeks, hopefully, when they start throwing out terrible sounding words like "disconnection." It's enough to make you want to disconnect your phone line, isn't it? Hopefully things like that don't happen to you. You set your rate, your client agrees to it, and there is no delay in the pipeline your work has to travel through. But in the real world, sometimes bad things happen, even to really good people like you. It's like when someone at a party who's had a few too many falls over and makes a hole in the wall, only it's your money and your life style we're talking about. When a client is being obstinate, you can buy yourself some time using emergency cash loans. Usually, a small issue can be resolved in time to get everything straightened out, finish the work and be able to pay back the loan. And in cases of a long term project, you should still be receiving at least a percentage of your total compensation before the entire thing is completed. When you take out an emergency cash loan, you put a little patch over a rough spot in your financial picture. In most cases, that plus your short term savings (if you've had the time and good fortune to build any) should be able to carry you through about anything, unless there's a natural catastrophe or something.

Good Pets

We are trying hard around here to ignore Joaquin's pleas for a new pet. He, of course, wanted a puppy. Now though, it seems as he will take anything. After I said no to a puppy he asked for a kitten. After I said no he asked for a rodent of some kind. His father made a joke about going to Grandma's house with a piece of cheese and catching himself one, but he did not think that counted. Today I grabbed the mail and found postcards from two companies advertising specials. One went right in the trash because we didn't need what they sell. The other one was from a local tropical fish store. So, I could get him a small tank with some pretty fish for not too much money. Does anybody else think that this is a good compromise for getting him a pet? I had a very small tank once. It had two beautiful guppies in it. The problem was, one of them was so mean. It would bite the tail on the other one. Then, one day, the yellow one was just gone. Mom told me he died, but I think she got rid of him because he was so mean to the other fish. Anyway, it is obvious that my mind is wandering. I was talking about a new pet. I think I know what happened though. I am distracted by the sunlight. It is beautiful outside today. I wanted to stop and write, but now I can't wait to get out there and enjoy some sunshine! So, I will leave you with a question. What is your favorite part of a warm sunny day? Is it the outside? The lower energy bills? The way so many people seem to be in a better mood? Comment and tell me!

An Over-Worked Mom

When you’re a mother, sometimes it feels like you are running a bed and breakfast. The only difference is you don’t have commercial refrigeration or get paid for your services. You have to cook meals, make beds, do laundry and manage the house, with little to no thanks. This can be a physically tiring and mentally straining situation. Sometimes you probably feel like collapsing on the couch and letting everyone fend for themselves. There are a lot of things you can do, however, to lighten your burden. You can teach your kids how to do a few things for themselves. It won’t hurt them to cook a few meals and wash their own laundry. It will actually make them more independent, which is a good thing for you. Don’t be fooled by your kids. They are fully capable of doing a lot of things you do for them. You should also set up a chore chart. There is no reason for you to do all the work when there are other capable hands in the house. Even the younger children should have chores, even if it is something as simple as fixing all of the pillows in the living room. You can be creative and find jobs for everyone. Another thing you can do is coordinate carpools to all of the different activities that your children are involved in so you don’t have to drive them every single time. This will save you a lot of time which means you might actually have a second or two to sit down and relax, unless you fill your time with more things to do. While you want to be “Super Mom,” sometimes it’s better to take things a little slower and not sweat the small stuff. You are going to make yourself sick if you keep getting burned-out every day.

For Thanksgiving..

My mom got this for the kids at Walmart- unbelievable price. This is why I love Black Friday! Kids would totally love this since it has two boards, they won't end up fighting at all.

Quality Affordable Clothing for Children

Clothing these days is not cheap, no matter if you are an adult or a child. But children's clothes seem to be getting ridiculous as far as pricing is concerned. Buying growing children clothing in specialty stores or department stores is way too expensive. There is hope, you can purchase great quality children's clothes without having to break the bank. Searching online for auctions on children's apparel at a cheap price could even help you. You can even buy your child's sizes in lots and you would have multiple items for the same low cost. You may also shop discounts online. Certain department stores offer a selection that is different from their main stores, at a fraction of the cost and, they also have different clearance sales online than what you'd find in retail stores. Going to rummage sales, yard sales or garage sales on a regular basis can help ease the pain of shopping for your children's garments. People sell unworn clothes at low prices. Check out the local newspapers for these sales. But take caution when you buy from these kinds of sales and make sure you check over the clothing for stains, holes, tears and rips. You may also want to look at into shopping at local consignment or resale shops. These store's inventory is very selective in the clothes that they take in or purchase. You can also check out thrift stores. Make sure you check for underarm holes, seams, etc. when purchasing at these shops. You may also want to shop at discount stores or department stores when they have their clearance sales on off-season clothes. You may go in and shop for your child's garments a size larger for the next year. Hopefully these tips will help you find great quality clothes for your kids at reasonable and even low prices.

Online Casinos: A Welcome Diversion

Being a stay at home mom can be one of the hardest jobs in the world, and one that is certainly far underpaid. You are at the beck and call of your kids all day, worrying about housework, what to make for dinner, getting laundry folded before the kids help you unfold it, packing school lunches, wiping runny noses and the list goes on and on. When you have a few brief moments of solitude, and online casino can provide a welcome change of pace. Sitting down at the computer while the kids are busy with an activity, and logging in to an online casino site can help you take your mind off all the things going on in your day. In fact, in order to retain your sanity and patience, you need a few moments to mentally check out. Find an online casino that works with micro cash, or even source out some free games. This way you won’t have to worry about spending the week’s grocery money. Games like slots can be played quickly and can handle multiple interruptions, like if you need to go referee your kids. Some online casinos also offer chat functions so that you can get in a bit of adult interaction even if it is impersonal. You can join groups or leagues and get to know people a little bit better and join them in games and competitions. Before deciding on which online casino you want to use, keep your eye out for joining incentives and bonuses or other specials that they may be running to stretch your dollar. And, when the kids get cranky you can easily log out and save it for another day. Like anything, moderation is key. Just don’t get addicted to the online casino and you’ll do just fine.