Walk this way

What do you do when you are at your wits-end with a child that would rather be in front of the television or computer instead of playing sports?

Go for a walk...

I hear you saying "What SoccerMom, are you serious?" You are a guest here and you are using Mom's space and telling us to go for a walk?" Yep, I sure I am. Go walk ~ turn off the electronics after you finish this post and reading my blog and enjoy! :o)

Now I don't want you to go for a boring walk where the kids will be asking are we there yet or can we go home, you are going to need a special friend for your fun walk. By special friend I am meaning someone fun, furry and has four legs.

You don't need to have a dog of your own you can borrow a dog from a neighbor, a friend or even head on over to your local SPCA. They always need someone to help walk the dogs. This way you can not only have your child out and exercising you will be teaching your children about responsibility and the importance of giving back to the community. I can guarantee you will definitely be making a furry friend happy.

If you have a dog and you think this is not going to thrill my child, turn your walk into a game. Your furry friend will be sniffing everything so play a game along the way like your furry friend; Can you smell the grass, the flowers, the sky? Or can you see a red house, a blue car, a bunny etc...?? Maybe collect items to make a craft with or take some sidewalk chalk and trace things along the way.

Here are some other things to do ~

1. Throw a ball back and forth

2. Go to a park where there is circuit or station training

3. Bring a voice recorder for the noises

4. See how long you can walk while balancing an object on your hand or head

5. Bring a Frisbee to toss

6. Reflect on your/their day

7. Dance, skip or march

8. Count different birds or animals that you see

9. Find shapes in clouds

10. Play follow the leader

Once you start to think of things to do on your walk your kids will love it.

If you have more then one child who is not so sports inclined and you want to get them out, you can use the time as their quality time with you. Make it special, make it fun and you will find in a few years they will reflect back and let you know how much fun they had.

Okay go get your shoes

See you back here or at my blog later.

Have fun

I'm a guest here

Hi Mom fans, it's very nice to meet you :o)

I scared Mom off her own blog and into the woods... This is where you hear that evil wahahahahahahaha!! There was one thing I did promised Mom and that was I would not use any bad words like ~ #$%#$ or &%^% (teasing) I did say I would share some of my parenting advice with you so here we go.

I present to you Computer Safety done SoccerMom style

Q ~ How safe are your kids on the computer?

A ~ Not as safe as you think, trust me.

Kids are super smart these days and even if you have parent locks and protection programs on the computer they know how to get around these safety programs. And if they don’t know how they can get in they will use a friend's computer and just Google how to break the code. There are tons of helpful to them horrific to you pages out there.

My daughter who is now 15 and I the talk about being safe and the dangers that lurk out there. But I know the reality and until something horrible actually happens to one of our kids or their close friends, our kids really do feel a false sense of security. That’s why in my house we have “The Hands Up Rule”

The rules are pretty basic;

1 ~ No accounts must ever be set-up on any site without my knowledge and when an account is set-up she has made-up information she can use. You can make up any info for you tween/teen and they can use it to set-up things that way they will be less tempted to use their own information or that which would make it easy for a predator to figure out.

2 ~ She must never delete the history or selectively delete the history (you can find out everything they have been into if you check the Cache)

3 ~ She is not to be in the room alone with the computer, and every so often I will take a peek at what she is doing

4 ~ I have every single password and it must not be changed unless I am aware of the change

5 ~ I have access to her MSN chat and I will go through the list and block and delete people she does not know in person

6 ~ And the reason why it is called the hands up rule; At any time I can say “hands-up” she must immediately stop what she is doing and hand me over the lap top so I can see what she is doing

I know my girl is smart, I know she knows how to be safe but, you never know! When kids feel comfortable that will be the time when danger will rear its ugly head!

Do you think I am being too tough on her?

What do you do to protect your kids while they are on the computer?

Invisible Mom

I got this through an email today. I figured I would give a little fluff before I head out of town and turn the reigns over to Ms. Toni.

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It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'
Obviously, not.

No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? & Can you open this?

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England .

Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.'

It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe .

I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription:

'To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'
In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:

No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names.

These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.

They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.

The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte . I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.'

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life.

It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on.

The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my daughter to tell the friend she's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table..' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want her to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to her friend, to add, 'you're gonna love it there.'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot see if we're doing it right.

And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

Great Job, MOM!

Back To School

It's time to head back to school for most of America. If you're sending your kids off to college, be aware that text books are an outrageous expense. I learned over halfway through my college career that there was a way to get my books for considerably less.

You can buy text books through Amazon or Half.com which is a division of Ebay. There are plenty of other online purchasing sites that allow you to get your college texts for a fraction of the cost.

Be sure to order as early as possible, though, to ensure that you receive those books before classes begin.

Guest Writer...

Over the next few days I will be out in the woods - camping without luxuries (like my computer... and Internet...).

So much has happened over the past few days that I haven't managed to plan ahead as I usually would.

In lieu of prescheduled posts, I decided to ask my dear friend Toni over at Mind of a Mom to do a bit of writing for me. I gave her free reign over my world....

Enjoy her visit while I'm away.

Special Day

Comments by ZingerBug.com

Today is our wedding anniversary. :-) Six wonderful years of marriage.

Moms Get to Play, Too...

I spent the afternoon playing with my Soccermom friend, Toni. She flew into Atlanta for a couple of days. We took the opportunity to get together and do a bit of goofing off. Oh - and there was definitely some goofing off going on. She even had me rolling on the floor at the Aquarium....

We teased the parking attendant mercilessly. We had a fabulous dinner at Olive Garden where we captivated the waiter with tales of foreign travels. Eventually I had to head home for some much needed sleep, though.

Luckily, she's hear for another day. I'll be seeing her tomorrow night for a fun trip to the mall. She really wants to meet my little girls, so they get to come along, too. She showed me the little treat she bought them - little stuffed squirrels from Canada. I know the girls will just adore their squirrels when she gives them their presents. It was very sweet and thoughtful of Toni to bring that.

It's pretty neat meeting blog friends. Now --- for that much needed sleep...