Stay at Home Mom.com

Here is our recommendation for the next step in boosting your energy through the holidays.

#2: Holiday Cards - Finish them the weekend before Thanksgiving or let it go.

If you haven’t already prepared your holiday cards do them this weekend. If they don’t get done this weekend then let it go. Free yourself from stress of sending out cards. Do it or take them off your list and give yourself permission to enjoy every moment of the holidays. If after the holidays you still feel like you should have done cards then do them in January and save them for the next holiday. But don’t sweat it in December.

In the last post we were talking about staying safe.  Today, and through the holidays, our theme will be staying strong. If you have a newborn or a home business or volunteer positions galore or even none of the above but you are home all day with the kids you can have times during the day when you feel totally wiped out.  Add onto that the extra demands of the holidays and you can begin to feel like zombie mom instead of awesome mom.

So, our next series of posts will be on ways to stay strong, energize yourself and your household.  You gave birth - you can handle the dynamics of the next two months.

#1: The first thing to do is to simplify your life.

Do you have stacks of projects lying around, piles of laundry that need to be sorted, folded and put away, or just knick knacks galore artistically strewn about your house?

Get rid of the piles.   Just for the holidays try stowing away knick knacks, coffee table books, and taking care of that pile of laundry.  See what life would be like with counter tops clear of clutter and tables clear of ongoing projects.  For the next several weeks you are going to focus on giving your kids a great memory of a delightful, stress-free holiday mom.

As for the laundry - if you seem to always have piles of laundry that you can’t seem to get out from under then perhaps you have too many clothes.  Simplify your life, boost your energy - throw out icky socks, donate clothes that don’t fit anymore, and leave yourself with a more manageable laundry load.

Sign in to the discussion board and let us know how it is going.

Remember: Simplify to boost your energy!

A book that we keep promoting through the Stay at Home Mom Book Club (found on our discussion board) is Gavin De Becker’s book ” Gift of Fear “. It is a must read for all women especially mothers. It was mentioned on Oprah today and could just save your life.

When it comes to keeping yourself and your kids safe you have to think of yourself as a very very smart momma bear. If you get a sense that there is something “off” or you hear that voice inside that says “Danger” you must listen to it and do not worry about being polite to whoever is around especially if that person is the one giving you the creeps.

The Gift of Fear has been so widely read you can pick up a used copy from Amazon.com for as little as 40 cents (plus shipping). Please do yourself a favor and read it. Once you have read it the actively tune your intuitive skills.

Today we received an email from a regular contributor with these recommendations:

In daylight hours,refresh yourself of these things to do in an emergency situation… This is for you, and for you to share with your wife, your children, everyone you know. After reading these 9 crucial tips, forward them to someone you care about. It never hurts to be careful in this crazy world we live in.

1. Tip from Tae Kwon Do: The elbow is the strongest point on your body. If you are close enough to use it, do!

2. Learned this from a tourist guide in New Orleans . If a robber asks for your wallet and/or purse, DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM. Toss it away from you…. chances are that he is more interested in your wallet and/or purse than you, and he will go for the wallet/purse. RUN LIKE MAD IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!

3. If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car, kick out the back tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy. The driver won’t see you, but everybody else will. This has saved lives.

4. Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping, eating, working, etc., and just sit (doing their checkbook, or making a list, etc. DON’T DO THIS!) The predator will be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side, put a gun to your head, and tell you where to go. AS SOON AS YOU GET INTO YOUR CAR, LOCK THE DOORS AND LEAVE.

a. If someone is in the car with a gun to your head DO NOT DRIVE OFF, repeat: DO NOT DRIVE OFF!

Instead gun the engine and speed into anything, wrecking the car. Your Air Bag will save you. If the person is in the back seat they will get the worst of it. As soon as the car crashes bail out and run. It is better than having them find your body in a remote location.

5 A few notes about getting into your car in a parking lot, or parking garage:

A.) Be aware: look around you, look into your car, at the passenger side floor, and in the back seat

B.) If you are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door. Most serial killers attack their victims by pulling them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars.

C.) Look at the car parked on the driver’s side of your vehicle, and the passenger side. If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back into the mall, or work, and get a guard/policeman to walk you back out. IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. (And better paranoid than dead.)

6. ALWAYS take the elevator instead of the stairs. (Stairwells are horrible places to be alone and the perfect crime spot. This is especially true at NIGHT!)

7. If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control, ALWAYS RUN! The predator will only hit you (a running target) 4 in 100 times; And even then, it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ. RUN, Preferably ! in a zig -zag pattern!

8. As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic: STOP It may get you raped or killed. Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking, well educated man, who ALWAYS played on the sympathies of unsuspecting women. He walked with a cane, or a limp, and often asked “for help” into his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next victim.

************* Here it is *******

9. Another Safety Point: Someone just told me that her friend heard a crying baby on her porch the night before last, and she called the police because it was late and she thought it was weird. The police told her “Whatever you do, DO NOT open the door.” The lady then said that it sounded like the baby had crawled near a window, and she was worried that it would crawl to the street and get run over. The policeman said, “We already have a unit on the way, whatever you do, DO NOT open the door.” He told her that they think a serial killer has a baby’s cry recorded and uses it to coax women out of their homes thinking that someone dropped off a baby. He said they have not verified it, but have had several calls by women saying that they hear baby’s cries outside their doors when they’re home alone at night. Please pass this on and DO NOT open the door for a crying baby —- This message should probably be taken seriously because the Crying Baby theory was mentioned on America ’s Most Wanted this past Saturday when they profiled the serial killer in Louisiana .

So, stay safe, and take your safety and the safety of your children very seriously.

Be sure and vote on Tuesday.