Dabbling Divas

Archive for the ‘Children’ Category

I know, I know, it’s not quite Fall yet and I’m talking about the holidays. But do you remember last year? How about the year before? Picture it: Christmas is a week
away and you’re still gift shopping. Or how about the DAY BEFORE and you still haven’t found the new toy that Suzie or Tom just has to have. Then there are the relatives. You bounce from one house to the next in constant chaos. Someone isn’t getting their present because you were in such a rush you left it at home and you don’t have time to go back because you were suppose to bring the dessert and you forgot so you have to swing by the grocery store to pick up a bakery pie or cake or cookies. Christmas morning comes and your dreams of smiles and happy faces and a restful day turn into exhaustion from staying up all night trying to FIND all of the presents you purchased. The kids tear open the presents and then proceed to whine because it wasn’t exactly what they wanted. Your neat tears because once again Christmas has flown by and you haven’t spent any quality time with your kids and your husband because you’re always behind. And the traditions that you wanted to start with your family have once again fallen by the wayside because you were just ‘too busy’. It makes me want to cry just thinking about it, because I have been that mom year after year.

Well, no more. The best way to create peaceful, loving holidays is in the planning. The best way to do that is with a Holiday Planner.

You’ll need: a three ring binder, dividers, looseleaf notebook paper,pen,envelope,and a calender.Feel free to decorate your notebook however you want!

Devise a plan. Write down what makes the holiday special to you. Ask your husband and kids the same and write it down.

Start planning your kids Halloween costume now. That gives you plenty of time to look for what they want and not just whats left over the week before Halloween.

Make a list of all those that you need gifts for. Don’t forget teachers! If you want to make gifts for anyone write it down beside their name.

Now whip out the calender and write down all of the obligations that you know you have. Sports practice, dance practice, school functions, family parties, etc. When that is done I want you to pencil in gift shopping time, if you’re making gifts determine how long each will take and write in ‘appointments’ with yourself to work on them. Also look at what type of traditions you want to do and write them in.

Other sections in your planner should include: meal planning, recipes, budget, decorating, entertaining, and holiday cards. Others could be: cookie/baking recipes, craft instructions, websites, cleaning for company, music, stories, movies. You can have sections for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, or any other holidays you celebrate.
The holidays should be a time to celebrate and spend time with our families. If we plan ahead then things can go a lot smoother.

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Doesn’t it drive you mad when your kids get gum in their hair!?  Yesterday I was watching a show where they took several “tips” on how to remove gum from hair.  We had the old school ice cubes, nah didn’t work and people werent too peachy about using it.  Then came the peanut butter, which worked wonderfully and I have used that many of times and will use it again if needed.  However, the thing that worked the best and is preferred, was cooking oil!  Of course you have to let it sit for about 20 minutes or so, but that gum just slid right off.  So whatever your preference is, at least you know, you don’t have to freeze your fingers anymore with ice!

So it’s 4:00 and you’re standing in the middle of your kitchen turning round and round. You have no idea what’s for dinner. The kids are running around screaming because their hungry. You’re hungry, so you scream at the kids. AND you know that your husband will be through the doors within the next hour or two.

Or how about the fact that school has started back along with football and/or cheerleading practice, or dance class or karate class or maybe all of the above. Now you don’t have anything made so you run through the drive through at least 4 nights a week and the other days you’re almost too tired to cook.

Do these things sound familiar? I am a mom of four and both of these scenarios have happened often to me. So I’ve discovered that with a little planning on my part I have less stress and more home cooked meals and my budget doesn’t have to be stretched quite so far.

Step 1: This is actually two fold. If your kids are involved in a lot of activities then write down your schedule for the week. What nights will you be home? What nights will you be out the entire time? Now make a list of dinners that your family likes. You don’t need more than 5 or 6. Plan on having one night for leftovers. (Keep in mind you may just have a little left over from each meal. Put it all out buffet style. Everyone can choose a little of this and that)
Make sure that you have some simple meals for the nights you’ll be gone. Maybe make your own sub sandwiches. Or even regular sandwiches with chips, or chopped veggies and dip or chopped fruit. You can also use your crockpot for these nights. Then use leftovers from the crockpot to create another meal later in the week. Example: make a roast in the crockpot, save the leftover meat and shred it as thin as possible. Later in the week reheat the meat in some enchilada sauce and serve up enchiladas and rice and beans.

Step 2: Check your pantry to determine what ingredients you will need to purchase to make the meals you’ve chosen. If you notice you have all the ingredients for a meal you didn’t list then perhaps substitute that meal for the other instead of buying more food.

Step 3: Make sure to take your list with you to the grocery store and only buy what’s on the list.

Step 4: Put your list of meals on the refrigerator or another place where you will see it. The night before, check your schedule for the next day and choose a meal. Do any prep work needed. If meat needs to be thawed out then put it in the fridge to thaw. If you’re going to put the crockpot on first thing then you could even put everything in the crockpot and put the ceramic part in the fridge, then the next morning you just put it on to cook and go.

Step 5: Spend a few minutes creating a menu for next week. Maybe this time you could check your pantry and your schedule and then you could save on your budget even more.

Try this for one week and you’ll find a peace you didn’t realize existed and perhaps some extra money at the end of the week. No more “Mom, I’m starving. What’s for dinner?” and you without a clue. And no more spending up to $80+ a week in takeout because it’s just easier when you’re on the road.

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