Mommy Has to Work

How to Choose the Right VW Dealer for Your Next Car

May 10, 2026 By Anne Leave a Comment

A good dealership is one that should adhere to the strict brand standards in place, offering a transparent sales process and providing expert after-sales care that doesn’t just disappear once you’ve made a purchase.

Choosing the right VW dealer is important when you’re picking out your next car because there’s a lot of reliance on cars nowadays to meet the needs and wants of modern-day drivers.

Whether you’re driving the family and doing the school run, or doing long commutes to work on the road, picking the right car is not a quick and less thought-out process. A step-by-step guide is therefore helpful so that you’re selecting the right dealership for your VW purchase.

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Research and Verify Reputation

First and foremost, you’ll want to research and do your due diligence to ensure that the right VW dealer is reputable for the right reasons and not the wrong reasons.

Check independent reviews, not just on their website alone, but on Google Reviews and Trustpilot for honest feedback.

Look for the award winners that have been recognised for high performance and high customer satisfaction. Reviewing recent feedback is also handy to gauge the current, rather than historical, quality of service provided.

Evaluate Service and Technical Expertise

It’s important to look at the certifications they have, as well as ask about parts and check for additional services.

Confirm that the dealer employs VW-trained or Master Technicians. A reputable dealer should be using genuine parts from the brand, too.

When buying an electric vehicle or a hybrid, you should ensure the facilities available are modern and in line with modern systems.

Look for perks offered in addition to the car, like courtesy cars and pick-up/drop-off services, for example.

Assess Sales Transparency and Process

When it comes to sales transparency and processes, a trustworthy dealer will provide clear information on pricing and won’t use high-pressure tactics to make a sale.

It’s good to choose a VW dealer near me that has a strong inventory of cars and allows you to compare these models on-site.

It’s worth mentioning that some dealers have moved over to an ‘agency’ model of selling, which may limit the negotiating power on new cars. It’s therefore essential to focus on dealer quality, rather than finding the cheapest option available.

Convenience and Location

Location matters, and so you want to find a dealer that’s convenient for you when it comes to maintenance and typically is near your workplace or home if possible.

You’ll also want to consider the long-term needs, as a slightly further dealer might be worth travelling to if they have better reviews and specialist skills available.

The right dealership is going to be reputable just from their site’s reviews and interactions with previous customers alone. They need a good amount of stock, plus what you’re looking for when it comes to buying your next car. Don’t settle for less, and be sure to know the car you’re looking at or being sold is exactly what you need and want. If it’s not, walk away.

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!

Top Tips on How to Handle Fussy Eating at Home

April 23, 2026 By Anne Leave a Comment

Do you struggle to feed a picky eater? Toddlers, young children and adults can all be fussy eaters. Here are some tips to avoid making multiple dishes for dinner and spending a lot of money on food that’s just going to waste.

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Hide certain foods within sauces and soups

Little ones might not realize you’re hiding the food they don’t like into foods like sauces and soups. When they’re blitzed down and mixed with other foods, they may find it hard to distinguish what’s in that sauce or soup you’ve made. Sometimes, it’s the texture or look of a food that will put them off, which is why it’s a good tip to make it into something that looks nothing like it or has a different texture. Adding certain foods like vegetables to sauces works well for dipping or for lathering over certain meats or other vegetables. You can even experiment with flavours to make things more appealing, like adding a touch of Georgia barbecue sauce to bring a bit of sweetness and depth that helps mask stronger tastes.

Branch out occasionally rather than every other day

Realize that a fussy eater isn’t going to do well with trying something new every other day. It’s important to ease them in and to build up to those occasions when you’re creating something new out of the cookbook. Find recipes you might like to get your picky eater to try new foods. The internet is packed to the brim with recipes that can work for the whole family.

Don’t force them to eat foods

While it may be frustrating as a person who doesn’t identify as a fussy eater, there’s no point in trying to force food down their throat. Demanding that they try a new food could have the opposite effect and it’s often upsetting for them, especially if it’s the texture that is unappealing. You might need to expose children to the same food many times before they will try it. Keep trying.

Start with small portions and build up

To ensure fussy eaters aren’t overwhelmed with new foods and tastes, start with smaller portions. Building up these portions will get easier. You don’t want to overwhelm them by offering a huge plate of food.

Let them have some control

Giving picky eaters a bit of control can make a bigger difference than you might expect. This could be as simple as letting them choose between two options at dinner or helping you pick meals for the week. When they feel involved, they are often more willing to try what ends up on their plate. Even getting them involved in cooking can help as they become more familiar with the ingredients and less wary of them.

Keep meals familiar

It helps to have a few go to meals that you know they will eat without any fuss. You can then make small changes over time rather than completely switching things up. This might mean adding one new ingredient alongside something they already like or changing how something is served. Keeping that sense of familiarity can make new foods feel less intimidating and more manageable.

Use these tips to help your fussy eaters in the home to eat well and to create less chaos in the kitchen as a result.

Anne

4 Essential Vacation Planning Tips That Prevent a Lot of Stress

April 11, 2026 By Anne Leave a Comment

Image Credit: Anete Lusina from Unsplash.

Everyone deserves to go on vacation every once in a while, but few people want to put the time and effort into actually planning it out. It’s easy to see why. It can be complicated, take a lot of time, and even be relatively expensive.

It doesn’t have to be as hard as you’d think. Using a few vacation planning tips should be enough to help.

Look for Deals

As nice as vacations are, they can often be relatively expensive. You could end up needing to pay thousands just to book the essentials, and that’s before you consider spending anything on food and activities while you’re away. This doesn’t always have to mean cutting out quite a few things.

Instead, it’s just a matter of looking for deals as much as you can. While that takes some time, it could end up saving you quite a bit of money. You can even set up alerts on various websites to be notified of these. It’s just a matter of using them when you can.

Research Accommodation Options

Your accommodation will be one of the first areas worth looking into, and you’ll have plenty of options for this. These span everything from luxury apartments to boutique experiences for getaways & retreats, and everything else you can think of. It’s worth doing a bit of research to find the best one for you.

Don’t just focus on the accommodation itself when you’re doing this. It’s worth looking at how close it is to everywhere you want to, the local amenities, and similar factors to help make your decision.

Keep Your Documents Handy

You’ll have more than a few documents from your vacation, ranging from your passport to tickets and payment receipts. Make sure you keep these somewhere handy for when you need them. Keeping physical copies securely in your carry-on is a great start, but it’s worth having digital backups of them on your phone, too.

These could end up being a lot more helpful than you might’ve thought. There’s always a risk you could lose the physical copy of your flight confirmation, for example. With a digital backup, you’ll avoid not being able to get on the plane.

Pick the Right Length of Time

Most people decide to go on vacation for a week or two at a time since these seem to be the standard vacation lengths. But, quite a few travelers end up feeling like the trip was either too short or too long. That’s why it’s worth considering how long you actually want to go on vacation.

There’s no reason why you should have to choose either a week or two. Weekend getaways and ten-day vacations are relatively common, too. But, you can always decide on whatever length of time you want, depending on your specific situation.

More than a few vacation planning tips could be essential because of the impact they’ll have. They’ll help you avoid more than a bit of stress while making sure you have the best vacation possible.

Anne

When Someone in Your Life Dies, Take These Important Steps

April 8, 2026 By Anne Leave a Comment

You know that deaths occur, but that knowledge generally does absolutely nothing to help comfort you when someone you love passes away. Whether it is an expected death from a long illness or an unexpected one, the details may be different, but it hurts terribly just the same. If you have recently experienced the death of someone in your life, there are steps you can take. Please continue reading to learn how to navigate this new chapter.

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Work with an Attorney

An attorney is a valuable resource when someone has passed away. This is especially true in the event of a death that was due to negligence or an accident. Contact an attorney as soon as you can to discuss the circumstances surrounding the death and to help you understand what your next steps should be. They will discuss the possibility of wrongful death claims in addition to any other action that should be taken on your and your loved one’s behalf to hold the responsible party or parties accountable.

Take a Breath

Give yourself space. Even with everything going on around you, you need a few moments to center yourself and deal with what is happening. Dealing with the aftermath of a death is heavy and overwhelming. And yet, your life continues. Do your best to be kind and gracious to yourself. Focus on healing emotionally and know that it will take time. Emotions will come in waves and at some of the most unexpected times.

Even if you have never practiced the art of meditation, it can prove beneficial for anyone experiencing stressful times. Watch and follow along with this 10-minute video designed to help you reduce your stress level.

Plan the Funeral Service

Following the death of your loved one, there are so many things you need to do, one of which is to plan the funeral service. If they had the foresight and the opportunity to plan their own funeral, all you need to do is execute their wishes. If they did not take on that task, you will have more work ahead of you.

Start by determining whether there will be a cremation or a traditional burial. If they served in the military, they may be entitled to special military honors. From there, it can be helpful to work with a funeral director and receive guidance to handle the remaining details.

Care for Your Family

Throughout this entire process, there are still more things to take care of. However, your children will need you, even if it seems like they do not. If you have little kids, the need is more evident. Teenagers can be prickly and unreadable, but make no mistake, they are experiencing a range of emotions that span loss all the way to wondering about their mortality.

Sit with your kids and talk through their emotions. It is important to express yours, as well, to normalize the experience. Use caution with phrases like “I’ll be here forever,” “I’m not going anywhere,” and “That will never happen to me.” Instead, be honest. Tell your kids that you are healthy and plan to be here for a long time.

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When someone in your life dies, the world seems to stop. Yet you need to keep going. Take some time for yourself and take action to ensure everything else keeps moving forward.

Anne

Genius Ways You Can Help Boost Your Child’s Education

December 16, 2025 By Anne

If you want your child to thrive at school, there are some effective strategies you can use. Just keep reading to find out what they are in our post below.

Select their school with care

The first way you can help your child get the most from their educational experience is to make sure you carefully select their school. Indeed, there are a range of important considerations that you will need to think about here, from the types of schooling, from public to charter, to magnet, to virtual, to religious. The quality of schooling they can expect from the institution is important as well. One way you can check this is by state rankings and school metrics. Although you are considering religious schools, accolades like this catholic school accreditation can be a good indication of quality. The reason is that they are designed to help monitor and improve the performance of religious schools, ensuring that students there get the best education possible.

Read with them at home

One of the most crucial things you can do to boost your child’s education is to read with them at home from a young age. This is because reading with your child not only helps them stay motivated to improve their reading skills, but it also helps to create positive associations with reading. It is these positive associations that will help them develop the skills they need both to enjoy the rich world of novels on the market and to understand the building blocks of learning.

Encourage their passions

Another important aspect of helping your child to excel in school is to always encourage what they are passionate about. Yes, it could seem to you that these things are not as important as traditional academic subjects, but you could be doing them a great disservice. This is because firstly, we do not always know what will be a desirable skill in the future, or what these skills lead to. For example, a passion for art could lead to a career in design, media, or fine art, and at least provide them with a life-enriching activity to master.

Picture located at Pexels – Licence CC0

Additionally, being able to explore their passions will help your child embrace the process of learning and build their confidence and resilience, which can be applied to learning other subjects too.

Teach your child how to chill

You might not think that teaching your child how to relax has anything to do with them getting a good education. However, you would be totally wrong because relaxation is are vital skill not only in making sure your child doesn’t burn out, but in providing time for the information they are taking in to integrate as well.

With that in mind, teaching your child that finding ways to switch off and stop activity, thinking about the things they are learning, is crucial. Suggestions for this include getting them to move their body in active games, watching TV and films for enjoyment, and playing video games. Remember, it’s being able to balance learning and rest that will stand them in good stead for the long term.