Riding the Momentum for 2013!

WOW! So much going on already in the short few weeks since we've entered the new year! Our Facebook wall is updated daily with deals, steals, and cool articles for you to enjoy!

You can also find NNM on Twitter, and Pinterest and Instagram @mymackey

Our next Family Appreciation Night is scheduled for next Friday, and I am introducing our next family challenge: The Orange Rhino

from The Orange Rhino on Facebook

Those of you that are regulars here at NNM know that my biggest weakness is yelling. I am forever striving to improve, and knock this bad habit. The Orange Rhino challenge sounds PERFECT! Plus, my 5 year old will have a grand old time holding me accountable!

I'm going to print out little orange rhinos and glue them to Popsicle sticks for the kids to hold up when I'm about to fall off the wagon ;)

Of course, our challenge will also apply to the kids! ;) (We have to be fair, after all!) and we will, in turn, continue our use of the angry box .

Also, Positive Parenting Solutions is offering a FREE Webinar on Getting Kids to Listen without Nagging or Yelling. Ummmm, count me IN! :) You can register with me HERE

HUBBY and I are making OUR relationship a priority too! 

I know, HOW with 4 kids and one income? Not expensive dates, that's for sure! :) We joined the #bibleinayear challenge with Rachel Wojo.

A few nights a week, we can sit together on the couch, dueling computers as usual ;) but at least read together, take turns sharing a book and reciting our favorite passages, and then every few weeks I ll blog about our experience!

We hope this will be the start of re centering as a couple and not just as parents, which is extremely important to us.

What are YOU working on so far for 2013? Or what would help you make the push to reach your goals?

Friendship & Family .... Why do our relationships differ as soon as we become a mom?

I have a confession: I am not always a great friend. In fact, there have been many times where I have been a sh*tty friend. 

me & our friend Ali!

I have attempted to comfort myself in some way by telling myself, "well, you were just too busy being such an amazing mom that you didn't have time to be a great friend". Ha! That didn't work too well on the days I also felt like a sh*tty mom! I have had days where I feel overwhelmed... like I can barely make it to the store, let alone to lunch or a playdate! 

Then there's the added financial piece. To make a friend-date now involves a sitter, the cost of the actual outing/meal, and the gas to get there! Many times I felt I had everything else worked out and then the day would come and I just didn't have the money to get there! 

www.dreamstime.com

Subsequently, I felt like my friends (some who have kids, and some who don't) just didn't understand. I let them down... again. Recently though, I have a different "respect" for those times in my life. In hindsight, my almost disabling feelings of being overwhelmed was at least in part due to my postpartum depression.     As a family, we have had a busy (for lack of a more dramatic word) 4 years. We got engaged, moved in together, married, moved again, settled in to mixed family life with Sissy and Spiderman, then had two more children (babies A and B), and moved again into our current, beautiful, huge condo! 

Hubby has his business off the ground, he is working so incredibly hard so that I can be home with our kids. I have officially transitioned from working FT to being a SAHM and feel like I finally (and I mean, FINALLY) have time to devote to volunteering, reading, and putting effort (like true, real, honest EFFORT) into our family, our marriage, and my friends. We have instituted Family Appreciation Night , my hubby and I are participating in the Rachel Wojo Read Your Bible in a Year Challenge together, and I am making a conscious effort to pay attention and be "present" for my friends and extended family. 

These years have also taught me how to say "no". Sometimes, as a mom especially (but you don't have to be a mom to relate to this statement) you just can't do everything. That's right: You. Can't. Do. Everything. And honestly, you let less people down if you're honest. The timing doesn't work with nap time, you don't have the money, you just know you won't get to it, or you just don't want to! 

Believe me: There will come a time when you DO HAVE TIME. or you ARE ABLE. THEN you can help, check in, meet for lunch, etc. Until then, just relax. Enjoy your kids. If you feel too overwhelmed to enjoy them (because I was there too) then take the time to figure them out. Stay in your jammies all day and study them. Look them in the eye, pay attention to their every move, play with them, find out what brings them joy. In doing this, you will find joy. It will take effort. Relationships; whether it be with your children, your husband, your mother, your in laws, or your friends take effort. And I will repeat for emphasis: true, honest, whole-hearted effort. 

http://www.diapersdaisies.com/2012/10/dear-mama-babies-dont-keep.html

You need to be accountable, forgiving, loving, patient, and focused. You will not always get it right. But the glory is, we are all a work in progress. "Life is journey, not a destination" -Ralph Waldo Emerson.

What are your "tips" for maintaining healthy relationships? Friendship or otherwise...