Monday’s Mama – BabyCostsMoney

Monday’s Mama is Legit My Hero.

Published on March 26, 2018March 25, 2018 by Darlene DeeLeave a comment

This Monday, I am excited to introduce you to Leah Martin. Leah is a Colorado blogger (like me!) and she has all the secrets of living clutter-free with kids (not like me!). She and her husband have three kids under five. She writes about living a full life with less at Less in the Nest.

Read her blog. Follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. It might change your life. I have definitely changed my buying habits so I can have less stuff. Less stuff means less cleaning. Less cleaning means more time.

Now I just have to figure out where to put all the crap we already have.

Leah even explains WHY kids create so much clutter. She writes about other things, too. She shares great DIY instructions and interesting recipes and writes awesome articles about parenting. But I am OBSESSED with her ‘less in the nest’ philosophies.

Enough about me, though. Leah was kind enough to answer some questions about Colorado and clutter.

1. What is the coolest thing about Colorado? What is the most annoying thing about Colorado? What is the Colorado-est thing about Colorado?

Getting to go to the mountains whenever we have a day or two free is definitely the coolest thing about Colorado. The culture and the economy revolve around the outdoors. The most annoying thing about Colorado is that it’s hard to breathe! These high altitudes make for less oxygen, and as a bad side effect, the air quality is not good a lot of days. The most Colorado-est thing about Colorado is that the first snow is a big, exciting event. People literally mope around all fall until that soft powder falls. I’m talking, standing on street corners with signs to protest the lack of snow kinds of things. And when that first snow comes, it’ll probably melt the next day.

2. Your blog is awesome! I love the idea of having LESS in my nest. I cannot even believe how many boxes we moved from Virginia to Colorado. What can I do? Donate all of it? Please help.

Aw, thank you! And congrats on the move! I remember when we moved a few years ago, I was shocked by how much stuff we had. There are lots of outside-the-box ways to donate it in Colorado. You can print off a label and ship it to the Goodwill in Amazon boxes. You can even call Arc and they’ll come pick it up for you! But if it’s junk, just toss it (as bad as that sounds!) Once, we put my husband’s beloved recliner in the driveway for pickup. Arc showed up, took one look at it, and turned around. When my husband got home that day, he couldn’t believe his chair was still sitting in the driveway!

3. Everyone outside Colorado wants to know: are people here walking around high all the time? What are your thoughts on the legal weed?

In my little pocket of suburbia, I don’t notice legalized marijuana at all. But really, people already do dumb enough stuff without it.

4. It’s the PTA Bakesale: homemade, store bought, or NOPE?

I’m a “homemade” in my mind, but since baby #3 was born, it’s more realistically a “nope.” And also, we’re going to homeschool, so I’m the parent, the teacher, and the association.

I want to be like Leah when I grow up.

Monday’s Mama is Right on Time.

Published on March 19, 2018March 11, 2018 by Darlene DeeLeave a comment

Remember when I used to post about cool mamas every Monday?

Remember when I used to offer my toddler vegetables and have a generally clean house and have friends and playdates and take Babystar to the park all the time?

Remember when I used to change my clothes at least once a day?

Yeah, me too. If any of this sounds like you, first of all, let’s start a Club. We will never meet because we are all overwhelmed af.

BUT ALSO, you need to check out Bethany’s wisdom over at Mama Finds Her Way. She is finding THE WAY for all of us. Bethany has three kids and still finds time for herself so she’s basically a superhero.

Bethany has tons of great tips for taking care of your house or your finances or your kids but I love her blog the most because she focuses so many posts on taking care of YOU.

She even has a self-care workbook that you can have for free if you subscribe to her blog. Do it. You will not be disappointed.

Bethany answered some questions for me way back in 2017 and she is not even mad that I’m just now sharing her answers with all of you in March. She gets it. She’s overwhelmed too. But she’s figuring it out for all of us and trying hard to help us all be happy and calm mamas that remember to take care of ourselves. Thank you, Bethany.

1. Your blog is all about helping overwhelmed mamas practice self-care. That is AMAZING! Can you give us mortals an easy tip or two to help live our lives with Calm and Serenity? Or even just Clean Hair and No Yelling?

My best advice is to find some time for you to do something that fills you up. It doesn’t have to be anything productive, either. In fact, on particularly stressful days, during nap time, I will just sit on my couch and stare into space. (I may or may not be eating chocolate during this time). Everyone needs time to breathe. I also strongly encourage all overwhelmed mom’s to start slowly implementing self care. Implement one new habit at a time until it becomes ingrained and then focus on something else. Eventually you will notice that you have more energy and patience. You can actually enjoy your day and your kids more, instead of wishing it were bed time already.

2. What do YOU do when you get overwhelmed? (Do you ever get overwhelmed?)

I get overwhelmed quite a bit. More often than I would like to admit. It’s something that I am continuing to work on and, although I have come a long way, there is always room for improvement. In fact, I created my blog as a way to help myself process through my own overwhelm and help other moms in the process. For me there are different kinds of overwhelm. Sometimes, I am emotionally overwhelmed and when I feel that way, writing it out is very cathartic for me. When I am overwhelmed by my to do list or the state of my home, I do a complete brain dump of everything I need to do and then I will prioritize that list and start chipping away at the list one task at a time.

3. What’s the last movie you saw in the theater?

It has been awhile since I have been to the theater. I think the last movie I saw was Captain America: Civil War.

4. It’s the PTA Bakesale: homemade, store bought, or NOPE?

I intentionally try not to get involved with things like this. I am trying to create more space in my life for the things that fill me up by saying no to things that drain me. And for me, this would be something that is draining.

Bethany is an inspiration. Everyone should go read her blog and follow her on all of the things: Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram.

I am now going to practice self-care by making another cup of coffee instead of waking Babystar to take her to a 10am concert. Because fuck Daylight Savings Time. What will YOU do today for yourself?

Monday’s Mama is the Birthday Girl.

Published on March 12, 2018March 12, 2018 by Darlene Dee1 Comment

Juliana Hatfield (yes, I am Old) has a song called My Sister that contains all of the following lines: I love my sister, I hate my sister, and I miss my sister.

It is legit the most accurate song about sisters ever written. (Feel free to disagree in the comment section as I am open to hearing about other songs but I will not change my mind.)

Today is my sister’s birthday!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KELLY!!

(This is your present. An internet shout out. I hope you like it.)

I love my sister and I miss my sister so very much. I haven’t hated her in a long time. We shared a room in the eighties so I definitely had mixed feelings sometimes. And I’m sure it was mutual.

Right, boo?

My sister is an awesome mama and a great friend and an amazing dancer. Like, REALLY GREAT DANCER. I have legit seen people at a regular club form a circle around her to watch her dance and it wasn’t even a movie or anything.

I didn’t ask her permission to post this so I don’t want to put my nephew all over the internet. But here is a fun picture of her wonderful child. Since this is called Monday’s Mama and all.

BUT IT’S NOT HIS BIRTHDAY TODAY.

My sister is finishing up at the Aveda Institute in Jacksonville, Florida, so if you are in North Florida, hit her up. She can do you hair or your makeup or whatever because she’s awesome. Also, if you are in North Florida, you probably already know Kelly Kelz because my sister’s super power is never forgetting a name or a face. She knows everyone. And everyone knows her. And loves her. It’s frankly annoying.

Go tell her to have a happy birthday over here on Instagram. Just make sure you also tell her how lucky she is to have SUCH A WONDERFUL SISTER.

hahaahahahlolxoxoxoxo

Monday’s Mama is Inspiring AF.

Published on February 5, 2018 by Darlene Dee3 Comments

**This month I’m dedicating all of the Mondays to Mamas in Colorado. Hey, y’all, hey. Let me infiltrate, please and thank you.**

Please meet Shabana Waheed of Fierce Living. Shabana lives in Denver, Colorado, and she is pretty freaking cool. Shabana is married to her very first match on eHarmony, and they have one daughter and she’s currently knocked up with another sex tbd. (Congratulations, Shabana!!) Also, check out that title picture. This chick can wing her eyeliner like WHOA.

Shabana really does live her life fiercely. She has Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and Celiac disease, both autoimmune diseases, but they do not stop her from pursuing her fitness goals and staying active. She has lost seventy pounds so far which is AMAZING. She’s currently growing a person using only her body, but still hopes to stay active and healthy during her pregnancy.

And because everyone likes a before and after pic, check this out.

Also check out that super fly unicorn hat. WANT.

Shabana is all about fitness (obvs), health (double duh), product reviews (she is also a HUGE contributor to Guidance Guide), electronic dance music, dancing, and staying as fierce as possible. Fierce Living encompasses most of this, though I haven’t seen any videos of her dancing at a rave yet. Maybe next week.

Shabana was nice enough to answer some questions from this Colorado newbie. Thanks, girlie!

1. What is the coolest thing about Colorado? What is the most annoying thing about Colorado? What is the Colorado-est thing about Colorado?

The coolest thing about Colorado is that we have the mountains not that far from Denver. There are so many Winter and Summer activities to do. Our weather changes a lot but most of the time it is sunny, which is great. But again the most annoying thing about Colorado can also be the weather as well. It can be 75 degrees one day and snowing blizzard the next. It’s crazy but cool. The most Colorado-est thing about Colorado is people who are from Colorado are proud to be from Colorado. We love our state flag, displaying it, stickers on the car, shirts, hats… we love it all, we are proud!

(Darlene here. Note to self — gotta get a flag.)

2. I love the name of your blog. I love the idea of living fiercely. What is something we mamas can do everyday to live fiercely?

One thing that moms can do to live fiercely is to remember to take care of themselves. So often we treat ourselves last or forget about ourselves altogether and we are left feeling empty. I believe in taking time for yourself. Whether that’s going to Target alone and leaving the kids with your husband or partner or tag teaming with another Mom friend. I like to get my hair dyed, go out with friends or just relax in bed alone. Making sure you get “me” time to recharge is a way to stay the fiercest version of yourself! You are important! Take care of YOU!

3. Everyone outside Colorado wants to know: are people here walking around high all the time? What are your thoughts on the legal weed?

Are people walking around high all the time? Well, I’m not. I mean, there are definitely people who are but I haven’t really seen a huge difference in my interaction with the public. I am not opposed to legal weed use. I do hope people are being responsible but you know there are always those few who make everyone else look bad. That comes with the territory, I think. I did vote yes for the legalization. I have seen it help people in their day to day lives and I believe more research needs to be done on the benefits of cannabis. There are huge possibilities, I believe.

4. It’s the PTA Bakesale: homemade, store bought, or NOPE?

I’m usually a nope mom but I LOVE TO BAKE so I’d probably bake some gluten free cupcakes that are decorated. I particularly love decorating cakes and cupcakes, so that’s my jam.

Darlene again. OMFG I love the phrase ‘nope mom.’ We should all strive to be ‘nope moms.’

Read her blog or follow her on Instagram. Get some Fierceness in your life.

Monday’s Mama is Flossy Flossy.

Published on January 29, 2018 by Darlene DeeLeave a comment

Please meet Flossie, the awesome flossy flossy mama blogger behind Super Mom Hacks.

Omg she just might virtually murder me for that title but I CAN’T HELP IT. I tried to think of another title but all I can hear is Fergie. (Flossy = super amazing.)

And Flossie IS super amazing. She was a teacher before becoming mama to Kimmie (age 8) and Essie (almost 6). Flossie is a country girl who married a city boy, and she and her family now live in Suburbia, U.S.A. She enjoys bicycling, cooking, crocheting, volunteering, and chauffeuring her darlings to Scouts or swim lessons or church choir. Flossie shares all her parenting tips, tricks, and hacks to save busy parents time, money, and sanity at supermomhacks.com. Her blog is full of really useful information. You will find simple recipes, easy home DIY that a regular person can actually pull off, and lists of vacation tips, cleaning tips, and organizing tips. She even has a post about getting melted crayon out of laundry.

And just in case you wonder ‘what if’ or maybe you are super into schadenfreude, Flossie also tells you all of the ways she tried that DID NOT work. It is refreshing to know that even Super Moms sometimes take two or three or fifteen tries to get something right.

Flossie is so good at work-arounds that she has figured out a way to show us a picture of her and her kids without actually showing a picture of her kids. Behold her genius.

Flossie rocks so hard, and she was nice enough to answer a few of my questions.

1. Your blog is SO FULL of helpful information. How do you know everything? Are you a genius? Why aren’t you President?

Sure, I’m a genius lol. No, seriously, I’m actually pretty dense sometimes – but I like to problem-solve, so I find myself thinking “There’s GOT to be a better way!” Whenever I stumble across something that makes my parenting existence easier – whether it’s a recipe hack, a super-useful product, or a better way to do something – then it’s going to be posted on the blog, sooner or later. I actually started my blog when a friend of mine who was always running her parenting questions by me, told me, “you should start a parenting blog with this stuff.” So I did. I was a teacher until Kimmie was born, so it’s fun to get up on my soapbox and tell everyone how NOT to make the same mistakes I’ve made. (And unlike teaching, there’s no essays to grade – yay!)

And hey, what the heck, any native-born citizen can be President, right? I briefly considered being President when I was little; one day I learned at school that the president’s salary was $200K, and that sounded close to millionaire-dom to my seven-year-old-self. But then I decided it would be too much work.

2. Do you have any Super Mom Hacks about unpacking? Asking for a friend.

Haha, unpacking after a move. Yeah, I last moved almost a decade ago, and I *still* have a few boxes that I haven’t touched since packing them up! My favorite hack is to pile them all up together until you either A) need something in them or B) get sick of the pile sitting there. Once you get through all the A boxes, someday you’ll get to the Bs and when you open each B box, you’ll be like, “no wonder I lived without all this stuff for so long!” It’s remarkably easy to let go of the contents at that point. (The ideal hack, of course, is to get rid of as much of your $#!+ as you can BEFORE you move, so there’s less to unpack. Or so I’m told – can’t say I’ve ever truly pulled that one off.)

3. What is your most top secret, nobody else knows, super awesome mom hack? We won’t tell anyone. 🙂

I’m afraid you’re too late, because I’m not very good at keeping ANY hack secret (hence my blog). Probably my all-time FAVORITE parenting hack, for which my dear husband gets credit, is the Mommy Potty. It was the only way to get out of the house with my children for the 3 or so years I had a kiddo working on toilet training.

(Darlene here interrupting: OMG go read the Mommy Potty Hack. Brilliant! I would have never thought of that!!!!)

4. It’s the PTA Bakesale: homemade, store bought, or NOPE?

Definitely homemade – seriously, when do I have time to go to the store? BUT you have to give me at least a month’s notice. Three to six months is better. That way I can bake it ahead (preferably with the girls’ help – something to occupy them on a Sunday afternoon, double-win) and stick it in the freezer. I probably have some double-chocolate zucchini bread hiding in my freezer that’s almost as old as Essie.

You need Flossie’s wisdom in your life. Really. Definitely check out Super Mom Hacks. And follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Help HER help YOU. Really, dude. Trust me.