I cannot begin to describe my excitement about this …

I have been working with Amy McCready of Positive Parenting Solutions to regain my sanity. After a long summer with my 2 girls, I felt like I might be losing it. Constantly asking, nagging, begging (whatever it may be that day) for them to do this or that. I knew my kids weren’t “bad” but I wasn’t feeling like the best mom. By the time school rolled around last week, I felt like I had failed at my first summer home with the kids.

Then I met Amy and learned that I just didn’t have the tools I needed to get the kids to mind.

I suppose if I were the spanking, punishing type I would have. But I am not. I vowed to not be strict or militant. I also vowed not to be the loosey-goosey type who lets her kids run wild 24/7.  But where was this happy medium I was searching for? I certainly wasn’t achieving it by myself.

So, as if an Angel from Above couldn’t bear to see me lose my mind, they brought me this webinar from Amy. I am now parenting my wonderful children with less stress and more joy. I didn’t think it would be fair to keep this all to myself, so Amy has agreed to share this FREE webinar with y’all too!

SIGN UP NOW and please share this with every parent you know. We should all get to enjoy the experience of parenting like this!

As the school year dies down in May, summer seems like it will last an eternity. As we all know, it actually rushes by and before we know it we’re hastily gathering school supplies and packing lunches. I’ve found a few things that will make it more pretty, more fun, and more healthy. I look forward to sharing these goodies with you over the next few posts and I hope you will love them as much as I do!

Last week was our first long family trip with two kids. We’ve taken the short 4-hour drive to Nashville with both kids, but we haven’t taken a full-fledged trip since our last vacation (which was when we had only 1 kid).  I asked around the Twitterverse and FB-union for some tips on traveling with kids and got a couple suggestions. The rest was up to us to figure out on our own, and we did. I will, in turn, pass along what I recommend.

The Challenges

• The oldest is 8 and the baby is 18 months … there are none in between, so we have a huge age difference to contend with.
• The baby is what one might call “high maintenance” – she is demanding, picky, and can throw a tantrum better than any 2 or 3 year-old I’ve ever seen.
• The trip required two early wake-up calls – as in 4am and 5am!
• Two airplane rides in one day with a toddler – doesn’t that sound fun?
• One of the planes was an 18-passenger tin can with no beverage service, much less a bathroom. (Of course we wouldn’t know about this challenge until after we were about to board.)

Tips from Others

• My friend Irene (@notsusiehomemkr) recommended ring pops … (doesn’t work for me since I try to avoid giving candy, but may for someone else)
• My cousin suggested the ABC game (great for kids who know their ABCs)

As you can tell, I didn’t get a ton of ideas from the world-wide web. So, it was up to me and the hub to figure it out. If you know anything about my family, you know that by “me and the hub” I really mean “me” because the hub got back in town only a few hours before we had to get up to catch the first flight. So …

Our Top 10 Tips for Traveling with Kids

1. Early AM flights are actually a good thing – tired kids sleep on airplanes
2. Wheel Easy Car Seat Travel Bag is perfect for toting along the car seat to check with baggage (there are a number of other options out there, but I found this was the most reasonably priced option for our travel needs)
3. Pack a small bag for the oldest to carry-on filled with all-age activities (a pad of paper, Crayola Twistable crayons, Play-doh, Rubik’s cube, and finger puppets filled our bag)
4. Have a change of clothes for each person in a carry-on. Fold each item in 1/2 and roll to avoid wrinkles.
5. Bring along a diaper bag for the little one, but have your diapers delivered to your destination ahead of time using a service like diapers.com.
6. Dress everyone in layers: We left Atlanta at 6am and it was about 75 degrees and humid. The plane was comfortable. We landed in Denver to 59 degrees and breezy. Then we got on a hot little airplane to get to South Dakota, where it was 89 degrees but windy. On the way home, it was FREEZING on the airplane, then warm in Denver, comfortable on airplane #2 and then HOT in Atlanta. Layers, people.
7. Nurse that baby on the plane. I cannot emphasize it enough – their little ears have the hardest time with the pressure changes. There were 2 babies other than ours on the plane at one point – I nursed, they didn’t. Guess who’s baby was screaming? (Hint: it wasn’t mine.)
8. Have to take more than 1 flight? Schedule yours so that your layover is about 2-3 hours. This gives the kids time to wander the airport, stretch their legs, get a snack, go to the bathroom, and play for a bit. And then take a nap on the next flight.
9. Different time zone? Try to keep everyone on the time zone in which you’re accustomed – this is only reasonable if you’re only an hour or two off.
10. Relax. Being uptight about every. little. thing. makes the trip stressful and difficult to enjoy. Every moment doesn’t need to be planned. There are bound to be hiccups that will throw things off a little. It is ok. Enjoy it.

Do you have other tips that I should have mentioned?

P.S. – Here are a few of my favorite farm-country pics from our trip:

Hurried Homemaker was in no way compensated for this post. We are actual customers of all products/companies mentioned above.

Getting organized is important to every mom I know. Staying organized is a challenge for every mom I know. GiGi at Vision Organizing has been helping me get my house in order so that I can finally feel like things aren’t so chaotic.

I had no idea when I quit working that keeping a home, a family, a life organized would be such a challenge for me. I had always worked. The house seemed to just run itself. Only it wasn’t … we were just burying it all. I’m paying for it now. Clutter, chaos, and craziness have ruled my house long enough. I’m taking control, thanks to GiGi.

GiGi is full of great ideas for everyone -no budget to tiny budget, she is quick to provide a solution or set of solutions tailored just for your needs.

If you want to take back control, or just need a little refresher course on getting it all together, this giveaway is for you.

Win a 1-hour phone/email organization consultation with Vision Organizing!

how to enter

giveaway is from june 28, 2010 to july 29, 2010 (10pm) – winner will be chosen randomly

MANDATORY ENTRY:

Leave a comment telling what you need help managing and why.

ADDITIONAL ENTRIES (leave a comment for each):

• Show us a picture of your space that needs help (leave a link in the comment)
• Follow me on Google FriendConnect
• Subscribe to the Hurried Homemaker blog via email or reader
• Click on the “Top Mommy Blog” icon on the sidebar to vote for HH
• “Like” Hurried Homemaker on Facebook
• “Like” Vision Organizing on Facebook
• Refer a friend – have them include your name in parentheses with their 1st entry
• Follow @hurriedhomemakr and @organizer on Twitter and tweet I entered to win an organizing consultation with @organizer on @hurriedhomemakr – http://wp.me/pzsyA-se

Hurried Homemaker was not compensated for this post. We were provided with an organizing session to provide a review, but this in no way affects our opinion of this service.

* entry deadline extended to 5/29/2010 * contest closed

Out of towners – we will have another giveaway for you soon, but this one is for the Atlanta area readers only. Feel free to share this with your Atlanta-area friends /relatives.

If there’s a room in your house looks anything like my kitchen used to, then you are definitely going to want to enter this giveaway!

As you know, I’ve been working with GiGi Miller of Vision Organizing to get my house in order. She has been kind enough to offer a giveaway for all you Atlanta-area moms that are needed a little help getting it together. So, if you want something in your house to go from this …

to this …

Are you excited? Awesome! Nervous? Don’t be! GiGi is so sweet and non-judgmental (read about my first visit here).

Here we go!

The winner will receive a 90 minute organizing on-site session with GiGi and you can choose from one of the following:

Paper Management
Examples: children’s artwork, incoming mail, filing system, school work.

Time Management
Examples:  creating a family information hub, scheduling, task management, meal management.

Space Management
Examples:  toy storage, closet, play room, home office, kitchen.

how to enter

[must be within 30 miles of Atlanta to enter]

giveaway is from may 12, 2010 (9pm) to may 21, 2010 may 29, 2010(10pm) – winner will be chosen randomly

MANDATORY ENTRY:

Leave a comment telling what you need help managing and why.

ADDITIONAL ENTRIES (leave a comment for each):

• Show us a picture of your space that needs help (leave a link in the comment)
• Follow me on Google FriendConnect
• Subscribe to the Hurried Homemaker blog via email or reader
• Click on the “Top Mommy Blog” icon on the left sidebar to vote for HH – 1 extra entry
• “Like” Hurried Homemaker on Facebook
• “Like” Vision Organizing on Facebook
• Refer a friend – have them include your name in parentheses with their 1st entry
• Follow @hurriedhomemakr and @organizer on Twitter and tweet I entered to win an organizing session with @organizer on @hurriedhomemakr – you can too (put my name in your entry)! http://wp.me/pzsyA-pn

Hurried Homemaker was not compensated for this post. We were provided with an organizing session to provide a review, but this in no way affects our opinion of this service.