I am so tired.  Not just a little sleepy, but a full-blown tired that envelopes me like a heavy blanket from my head to my toes.  The reason?  I’m a mom.  Whether a mom stays home with her kids or works outside of the home, she has a role that is all-encompassing and requires unbelievable amounts of energy and time.  I adore being a mother and wouldn’t change it for the world, but sometimes it can be exhausting and stressful.  

Moms devote so much time to meeting the needs of their families, they often forget to take time to de-stress and decompress.  Stress management is absolutely key to healthy living.  As the mother of small children, I find myself utilizing one of the four ways to manage stress.   

Four Ways Moms Can Manage Stress

Get Sleep
One of the simplest ways to recharge and unwind is to rest.  As a mom, it’s often hard to carve out adequate time for anything, let alone a nap.  If your child still naps, consider taking a nap when they nap.  If you work during the week, this can be done on the weekends.  Find a comfortable place and position and get some shut-eye.  It’s amazing how satisfying even a small amount of sleep can be.

Get Creative
A fun way to unwind and reconnect with oneself is to indulge in something creative. It can be painting, sewing, rearranging a room in your house or cooking something completely new and different.  Go ahead and tap into the right side of your brain for a little while.  You don’t have to be Martha Stewart to find an enjoyable and fun project that will take your mind off of the daily grind.

Get Moving
Walking, running, swimming, dancing - it’s all exercise, and it’s all good.  Get your blood pumping and your body moving. Working up a sweat helps the body to release toxins and cleanses your system.  Not only that, exercise releases endorphins - the hormones in your body that make you feel happy.  Simply find something you enjoy doing and commit at least 30 minutes to that activity each day.

Get Pampered
As a mom, especially a single mom, it is difficult to find time to yourself.  Whether it’s while the kids are in school or perhaps you leave them in the capable hands of a trusted friend or relative, consider taking some time to pamper yourself.   Indulge in a manicure or pedicure.  Schedule a massage at a local spa.  If you belong to a fitness center that has a sauna or hot tub, spend a few extra minutes relishing the quiet heat.  Allow yourself to be the focus, for a change, and enjoy it!

Moms, please don’t fall prey to stress beast.   Make time for yourself and find a way to unwind.  It will not just benefit you, but your children, too.  

Bio: Lisa Shoreland is currently a resident blogger at Go College, where recently she’s been researching parent plus loans as well as scholarship lottery programs. In her spare time, she enjoys creative writing and taking weekend trips with the kids.

(Thank you so much Lisa for your post)

Thank you so much to Leslie for stepping in and writing an awesome guest post!  With EVILBOY's birthday just one day away, I have so much to plan.  This year is extra hard because it is the first time we are not going to a "pre-packaged party" place.  So think of me tomorrow afternoon when I will be hosting 20 (!!!!! yikes) kids and probably playing some of these really cool party games!



As you prepare yourbirthday party invitationsfor your child’s next party, consider this perspective before hammering out all the details. It seems the bar has been raised so high for kids’ parties. Parents feel like they have to rent expensive things to entertain the kids for a few short hours. What happened to cake, ice cream and pin the tail on the donkey? I was reminded how easy it is to get back to basics with just a little creativity. This compilation of classic kids’ games will have you re-evaluating your need to rent out bouncy houses, magicians, clowns and any other form of expensive entertainment!

Smell It, Hear It
Wrap mason jars in paper and punch small holes in their lids, then fill them with cinnamon sticks, paper clips, pennies, etc. Pass them around for kids to shake or smell. Let each one guess what's inside, then reveal the contents.

Sock 'Em
Pile up at least six times as many socks as you have guests. Have the kids sit in a circle around them. As music plays, have them put on as many socks as possible, one over the other. When it stops, the child with the most socks on wins.

Pin the tail on the….
You can turn anything into a pin the tail on the ______ game. Whether it’s pin the fin on the shark or pin the trunk on the elephant it’s a fun game to play for a variety of ages. You could do pin the headlight on the car! Get creative!

Sardines
This is the amped version of hide and seek! It starts the same way with one hider but with several seekers. Everyone begins there hunt for the hider. Once the hider is found, the seeker joins him or her in the hiding place. This goes on and everyone packs in to the hiding spot (like sardines in a tin) until the last seeker finds the whole group. The last one to find the group of “sardines” becomes the hider for the next round.

Treasure Hunt
Who doesn’t love a treasure or scavenger hunt? Place clues around the house leading up to a treasure or prizes at the end. You can tie your clues into whatever theme you are having for your party. The kids will love trying to figure out where to look next. You can also let your prizes at the end serve as party favors.

Musical Chairs
Kids will love the anticipation of this game. Set up one fewer chair than the number of guests at your party. Start the music and have the children walk in a circle around the chairs, the music stops. You control the music starting and stopping on irregular intervals. When the music stops everyone tries to sit on a vacant chair. The person who doesn't find a chair is out. One chair is taken away and the game continues until only one person is left, becoming the winner. You can also play with pillows or large picture cute outs for the kids to sit on instead of chairs. Use music that fits your theme to make it more festive!

Enjoy this throwback to simpler times! Happy celebrating!

Leslie Blumenstein is a contributing writer for PurpleTrail.com, an innovative invitations and party planning site. She has helped put together many party planning tips for a variety of occasions as one of PurpleTrail’s party experts. You can find more of her party ideas and suggestions at www.PurpleTrail.com/partytrail

Today is the 20sb.net blog swap day!  I was lucky to be matched up with the lovely and talented Kris of Because or Why Not. If you miss me too much, I will be blogging over at Kris' blog today!

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I lead a secret double life.  In my real one I'm Kris, regular small town girl.  I work in a hardware store, shop for groceries, read books from the library and get chinese with my friends.  It's a good life, as far as they go.  Although occasionally drawn restlessly around the planet, I return to what I know in all its B.C. mountain splendor. 

But let's dig a little deeper shall we?  There's always something else, isn't there?  See, I am actually a much more intricate person then the last paragraph portrays.  Yup, I know you are too.  In my case I'm a traveler, searcher and fighter.  Passionate and deep I dwell in this beauty that is life in an involved struggle to draw from it all that I can. 

What you see of regular Kris is blue jeans and plaid shirt, paying bills in the bank.  What you probably don't notice is everything left to discover.  I'm not meaning to sound exceptional in any way.  I know I'm not.  We each have our own expression.  I just want to tell you what it is about blogging that I like best.  Let me try explain.

This other Kris is the one you'll meet as she stays up late typing handwritten words into her blog.  They're my art form, these words.  I play with them, stringing them together, striving to create something beautiful, or make you laugh.  My main creative outlet, words sort through what I really am.  My expression of choice for this deeper voice.

It could be called escapism, I suppose.  I prefer to call it exploration.  So I blog.  Answering only to my readers I toss feelings into the internet obsolete.  Knowing someone may stumble across my words gives me cause to take pride in these scribbles.  You may identify, wonder, disagree or be amused, but I want you to feel something.  I'm drawing from you as well.  I would write regardless, but when I blog I'll find an audience who will reciprocate.  It's justification, in a sense.  Knowing someone else has reason to bother with my words, and trying to give that to them.  I get a little high every time someone comments or follows.

Yes, they're closely linked, these two lives.  Intertwined, you'll glimpse both sides.  But on my blog exists, apologetically, my struggles, battles, triumphs, thoughts and feelings.  Whether I write them in blatant words, or not, you'll find them.  You'll also see my pulling my brown curls into a ponytail, or dancing in the backyard, because that's me as well.  My blog, well, it's my domain.  Within it I have the freedom to share as I work through this all.
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Kris has been blogging for seven years, although it's occasionally been hit and miss.  More recently returning to the game she's found joy through getting involved in the blogging community.  She maintains a lust for adventure, and tries to live her life accordingly.  You can find her at http://becauseorwhynot.blogspot.com.  Also, she would like to extend many thanks to Nikki for sharing her blog (which, you should be glad to be reading.  Because it's worthwhile).  This is her first time swap, and she looks forward to participating in others!