Mommy Has to Work

Fun and Cool Back to School Collectibles for Kids

August 23, 2018 By Marijean

A new school year is here. Time for waking up early, rushing around in the mornings, homework…etc. These items are sure to get your kids excited to get back in the school year groove. They will be excited to show all of their friends on the first day!

Jurassic World Trading Cards

Jurassic World is a popular movie right now that I’m sure your kids have seen or been asking to see. They will love collecting these awesome trading cards with their friends!

Collect all your favorite Dino characters and scenes from the new movie with these Jurassic World Trading Cards! Collection includes movie scene cards with scene descriptions on the back, glow-in-the-dark cards, heat ’n reveal cards, 3D action cards and authentic costume cards. Collect the entire set!

MSRP: $1.99

JoJo Siwa Mini Bows Series 3

What little girl doesn’t love JoJo bows? Check out series 3 of the Mini bows! Your little girl will love showing up to the first day of school in these stylish bows!

Calling all Siwanatorz: Jojo Mini Bows are back with all new bows for series 3! You will 100% love them!!

MSRP: $4.99

L.O.L Surprise! Fashion Tags

My daughter LOVES anything L.O.L. related. She collects the dolls and was super excited to find out about these new Fashion Tags! They are blind bags and you don’t know which one you’ll get until you open it! She loves wearing them to school.

Summer is Selfie season! Now you’ll be ready for your close up with these L.O.L Surprise! Fashion Tags! The collection includes 20 base tags, 4 glitter tags and 12 puffy stickers. Collect them all before you Glitterally can’t!

MSRP: $3.99

Squish’Ums Skulls Series 1

“Squishy” type toys are the hottest right now to kids! All kids love collecting and squishing these adorable toys. My kids LOVE these blind bag Skulls. All different colors and patterns. 16 fun ones to collect!

We know that you can’t get enough Squish’Ums! Bulls i Toy has you covered! An all new series of brightly colored Squish’Ums Skulls have been added to the slow-rise foam lineup. These intricately painted, vibrant skulls make it hard to resist collecting all 16! FEEL THE SQUISH!

MSRP: $4.99

Radz Trolls

Who doesn’t love Trolls? Check out these cute Trolls candy dispensers by Radz! I love how you can switch out their hair and hats, and enjoy the yummy candy! Hook it right to their backpack for a sweet treat.

Bring the Trolls to you with these funky Radz dispensers! Their hair and hats are interchangeable so you can mix up and customize your favorite characters from the hit movie!

MSRP: $3.99- $4.99

Retail Locations: Target, Hobby Lobby, Walmart, Five Below, Burlington, Shopper’s World, Jungle Jim’s

Jurassic World Radz

Check out these Jurassic World candy dispensers by Radz! Your kids will love having candy right out of the dinosaur’s mouth. Collect them all and clip them to the backpacks!

Jurassic World Radz are just as yummy as they are ferocious! Add these to your pack, and pop out Jurassic World candies right from the dino’s mouth!

MSRP: $3.99- $4.99

Retail Locations: Target, Hobby Lobby, Walmart, Five Below, Burlington, AAFES, DeCA/Commissary, Shopper’s World, Jungle Jim’s

Animal Jam Plusheez

These are so cute and will look great on your child’s backpack! Adorable variety of animal faces, with yummy candy and a mini poster inside!

Make some noise when you go back to school with some Animal Jam Plusheez! With so many adorable animals to choose from, you’ll want to collect them all!

MSRP: $4.99- $5.99

Retail Locations: Target, Shopper’s World, Target, Jungle Jim’s

Check out these websites for more information and where to purchase! http://www.bullsitoy.com and https://www.facebook.com/Radzworld/

Marijean

My name is MJ. I have two wonderful children and work part time as well as volunteer at my children's school.

4 Things You Should Know When Helping a Loved One Through an Addiction

August 20, 2018 By Anne

Loving someone with an addiction isn’t easy. You want to help them heal, but the road to recovery is long and full of obstacles. You don’t love them any less, but caring for them can cause you great pain.

If someone in your life, whether it’s your spouse, a friend, a son or daughter, is struggling with addiction, here are four things you should know when helping them.

1. You Can’t Do Everything

You can play an important role in someone’s recovery, but you can’t do everything.

At the end of the day, you can’t make someone quit an addiction.

Accepting this lack of control is difficult. When you love someone, all you want is to be able to make their suffering go away. But recovery is hard work, and ultimately it’s up to your addicted loved one to put in that work, not you.

Even well-equipped addiction treatment programs don’t claim to be guaranteed cures. For example, SOBA College Recovery has a team of great staff in New Jersey that includes addiction specialists, psychologists, nutritionists, personal trainers, and more. But even with all of this support, it’s still up to the addict to make the effort to heal.

2. Education is Powerful

Addiction is a disease and has been studied and researched just like any other illness. That means that there are many educational resources available that can help you better understand your loved one’s problem.

Learn about the specific substance being abused so that you can know what kind of behavior you can expect. This type of research can be scary, but arming yourself with information is one of the best things you can do to help your loved one and yourself.

Without understanding how addiction affects the brain, you’re more likely to act on emotion alone. And it’s ok to feel frustrated when an addict relapses or pity them when they ask for money, but knowing the reason behind their actions will help you react to situations more calmly and rationally.

3. Relapse Does Not Mean Failure

A wrong turn doesn’t end the journey. Success is difficult to measure in the world of addiction, but relapse does not mean failure. Instead of feeling defeated, help your loved one resume their treatment, modify it, or try something new entirely.

It’s estimated that between 40% and 60% of people who are treated for substance abuse disorders will relapse, so you have to be prepared for that possibility. There are ways you can help prevent relapse – just reaching out to a person to talk or go for a run every now and then can have a huge impact.

It can be easy to feel like you’re responsible for a loved one’s relapse – you may think that if you had just done something differently, maybe they wouldn’t have started using again. But the truth is, relapse is a normal part of the recovery process and not something you should ever blame yourself for.

4. It’s Ok to Take Care of Yourself

If you only remember one thing from this list, remember to take care of yourself. Your mental health is important too.

Addiction is a heartbreaking disease that can leave you feeling frustrated, stressed, and alone. You’re constantly on edge, worried not only for their safety but for your own as well. But you shouldn’t have to lose yourself in someone else’s addiction – you can love them while still loving yourself.

Seek professional counseling, join support groups, and set aside time for yourself. Set boundaries, and remember the three C’s of addiction – cause, control, and cure. You did not cause their addiction, you cannot control it, and you cannot cure it. You are not selfish. You are strong, you are brave.

By taking care of your own mental health, you’ll be better equipped to care for those you love. Addiction is a monstrous disease, but you and your loved one can get through it together.

Anne

I'm a mother of 2 who likes to get involved in too much! Besides writing here I started a non-profit, I'm on the PTO board, very active in my community and volunteer in the school. I enjoy music, reading, cooking, traveling and spending time with my family. We just adopted our 3rd cat and love them all!

How To Be An Awesome Adult

August 20, 2018 By Anne

Image

Adulthood is not as easy as it looks. We spend most of our childhood and teenage years wishing we could leave school and be an adult with the freedom to do what we want, but once it happens we find out that the story is very different indeed. Being an adult involves a lot of different responsibilities and we have to be able to juggle these as if they were nothing. It can be a huge challenge for us and we can often fall behind if we try to juggle too much at once. If you want to know how to be a fully functioning adult, here are some tips.

Learn how to manage money

When you first get a Paycheck in your teens you will likely immediately blow it all on clothes and treats, but when you get older you need to be more careful with your income and save it for things like a car, a house, a wedding and other life events. You need to learn how to budget your week to make sure that you stay afloat with your finances and manage to sustain your lifestyle. Take the time to read up online about money and try your hand and managing it more carefully.

Try new things and experience more

Before you settle down completely as an adult it is so important that you take the time to experience as much of the world as you can. You can of course still travel when you are married and have kids, but you will have more freedom during those early years of adulthood. The world is a staggering place and there are endless experiences to be had, you can surf in the sea, swim with dolphins, climb mountains and save wild animals from extinction. Take your time to enjoy your adulthood and grow and develop as a person by having these amazing experiences.

Keep on learning

Never put down your books and stop learning in life. Life will always bring new opportunities for us and it is important that we take that time to take in as much information as we can. Learning is good for the brain, it allows us to develop and it can help us get ahead in the career world. If you want to be a success as as adult, make sure you take a course or two during your career to get those essential skills that employers will want. For example taking one of these triple accredited online mba programs can put you in good stead in the business world and even put you in a position to start your own venture.

Relax

Life isn’t always going to go your way, and we often stress ourselves into the ground trying to be the perfect example of an adult. There is no such thing as a perfect adult, and no one has it all figured out. Remember that you are one of thousands of people who have no idea what they are doing in life, we all stumble around trying our best to achieve something and we sometimes fall short. Just relax and be yourself. Do what feels right for you, enjoy your life and live it to the fullest.

Anne

Juggling School, Home, Work and Family

August 16, 2018 By Anne

As a mom, whether you work, stay at home, work at home, or some other combination, life is tough. You’re always on the go. Thinking about your kids and making plans even when you’re not together. You’re cooking, cleaning, organizing, making appointments, getting to them, preparing pack lunches, running around on school runs and sometimes, trying to fit in a little bit of adult time with your partner or doing something for yourself. It’s hard work. But, many of us are deciding to add even more.

Now more moms than ever before are choosing to go back to work, parents returning to school is also becoming more popular. Taking a course can help you to find a career in a more flexible sector or give you the knowledge that you need to start up on your own. Some moms, looking to return to work, after what might have been a long break, find that education gives them the knowledge and confidence that they need to thrust themselves back into things.

While education is excellent, and returning to school certainly has many advantages for moms, how do you juggle it all? You might find yourself working, studying and being your children’s primary carer, all at the same time. Even without a job, it would at times feel almost impossible. Here are some tips to help you.

Photo Credit

Involve the Kids

Kids often behave better, and give you some time to focus, if they feel part of what is going on. So, involve them. Tell them about your course. If it’s something like an education ma, they might even be able to help you. Or, you could study while they are doing their homework so that you are all working together.

Stick to a Routine

Getting into a routine will help you to keep on top of everything, give your kids more security and help you to focus on work. Try to work at the same times every day, keep your job hours the same, and have set times where you can just be with the kids.

Get Organized

If you want to do it all and do it well, you need to get organized. Make yourself daily to-do lists and write absolutely everything in a diary or an online calendar. Make lunches the night before, get everyone’s clothes out ready for the next day before bed, and do as much as you can in the evenings to make your mornings run more smoothly, this will help start your day right.

Give Yourself Time Off

When you’ve got so much to do, taking time off might seem impossible. But, you need to. Take the odd evening off, and full days when you can. You should even take a week to go away. Doing this will help you to relax and recharge, meaning you’ll be much better at getting everything done when you go back to work.

Ask for Help

Remember, there’s always someone that can help, you usually just have to ask. Ask if a relative can pick the kids up from school one day or get your partner to do bedtimes and help out at home more. If you can afford it, you could even find childcare or a cleaner for a few hours a week.

Anne

Pros and Cons of Turning Your Room into a Photo Studio

August 16, 2018 By Anne

Capturing those essential moments of life through photography isn’t just a fun hobby, it’s a meaningful way of documenting your family history. Photography is all about timing, lighting, and scenery. Timing has to do with you and the situations you find yourself in. Lighting and scenery tend to be linked concepts, and are much easier to control once you move your photo shoot indoors. That said, take a moment to set the ISO camera setting, as well as your shutter speed. Snap a few sample photos to get the composition right, and shoot in RAW if your memory card allows for the extra space. Having a larger file to work with helps a great deal when you’re editing the photo.

Even an outdoor shoot in the backyard, a more controlled environment, can act as your photo studio. All you need are some tips for creating the ideal set on a budget, using these DIY tricks.

Background and Sets for Kids

To find success with kids photography, take lots of shots. A good one is nestled in there somewhere. Clear your memory cards, and try one of these backgrounds:

Paper Crafting

Use paper to make a draping backdrop, or to “wallpaper” space. Affix the sheets with painter’s tape to avoid damaging the wall, then drape the paper from the middle of the wall (about waist high) to the floor. Fun and a little artsy, book pages from old novels lying around the house also make for a good backdrop. Make a collage ahead of time on two pieces of poster board taped or glued together.

Painted Boards

Painting different sized boards give you multiple options to work with as the child ages. Similarly, you can do some paper crafting or apply wallpaper to your board for a customized design.

Background and Sets for Adults

Adults tend to sit still, so you can do a lot more in terms of placement and lighting than with infants. Some of the same tips above for paper crafting work for adults too, but you can try these other tips for a different look:

Curtains and Fabrics

Hung from hooks, or replaced as curtains, cheaper and thinner fabrics with intricate designs are perfect as photography backdrops. Pair them with proper light-blocking curtains as needed to prevent an unwanted silhouette effect.

Old Furniture

Older furniture in an empty room, with either a white or colored wall, creates some drama in your photo. It adds a bit of character and artfulness. Hit a local garage sale or swap meet and find a chair you can refurbish.

Background and Sets for Pets

Shooting pets and children is very similar in terms of patience, and the volume of shots you will accumulate. Backgrounds can’t be too distracting, so try to add character to your shoot with these tips:

Solid Color Fabric

Thinner fabrics of a solid color that you can afford to lose makes for great pet scenery. Scrap fabrics from old projects or even towels can work. The natural folds of fabric look great on camera too.

Nature

Pets love being outside. It’s basically their natural state, so let them play and get some candid shots. Remember to adjust your shutter speed to capture high-speed movement. Faster shutter speeds don’t let as much light in, though, so you may need to adjust other settings to capture detail.

Final Thoughts

Scenery can make the attitude of a photograph and give it life. The best kind of scenery is a more interesting locale, but you can turn any space into a studio with some clever thinking.

Maintaining awareness of your own camera settings will result in the best kinds of photos. Remember the trinity of exposure, shutter speed, and aperture. Keeping those three elements within certain ratios is the key to mastering the art of photography.