The Mom Crowd

I’ve just got to start by saying how proud I am of McKenna and Amanda (and her talented hubby!) for producing the most excellent first episode of The Mom Crowd Show. In case you missed it, the grand debut was yesterday, and you can catch it by clicking here. I don’t know about the rest of y’all but I can’t wait to see more! And I am honored to be a part of this blogging crew.

Now, onto another reason I feel proud.

After two pregnancies, a stressful move from one part of the country to another, and hundreds of boxes of Cheez-Its, I was bigger than I had ever been. For many months, I was just too tired and stressed out to worry about it. Come last December, though, two things happened that inspired me to action: the annual Rocket City Marathon came running through my city – heck, my neighborhood! – and a friend of mine in Texas had just completed her first half-marathon. As I watched the runners push themselves and as I read my friend’s awesome account of her marathon experience, I found myself saying aloud, “I’d like to do something like that sometime.”

And I realized that there was no time like the present. I was new in town. I didn’t have a lot of money for entertainment. My phone wasn’t exactly ringing off the hook with social opportunities. I needed to lose some weight. And I needed a self-confidence builder. Enter my new, free hobby: running. I’d never really done it before. But I knew I had to give it a try. We have a treadmill at home, so there really was no excuse!

I started off slowly, with my friend Jan’s coaching. She made me a running calendar to follow, which I did, faithfully, for about ten weeks. I was feeling great, and the pounds were coming off. The psychological benefits were the most rewarding: I felt as though I was the most beautiful mom in the world. And frankly, it’d been a very long time since I’d come anywhere close to thinking something like that.

In mid-February, I realized that our family could not handle the sacrifice of scheduling that’s required of marathon runners. The runs were at least an hour long at that point. I knew I could keep up with it physically, but time-wise, we couldn’t fit it in, unless I got up before the kids (and yeah, that’s not gonna happen.) I knew I was going to have to suspend my marathon running goal, and I was okay with that.

I decided to focus on 5 and 10Ks (3.1 and 6.2 miles, respectively) from that point on. Right around that time, McKenna posted about running her own 5K race, and it was so fun and encouraging to read about her and other moms go for it. I kept at it, and McKenna was a great encouragement to me!

Ultimately, I chose to make my race debut a 5K, and I’m glad I did. I set a goal for myself and made it happen. It was an important accomplishment for me. (You can catch my take on the race at my personal blog.) My husband and the kids have been cheering me on from day one, and Lucy has watched me train day in and day out for the past several months. As soon as the sneakers come on, she asks, “Mommy exercising?” It makes me proud that she sees me do this on a regular basis. (The Cheez-It consumption, on the other hand, I manage to keep hidden from her! )

Why is this relevant to a mommy blog? Many of you may in the same boat that I was: lonely, bored, physically latent. I’d just like to say, if you have a desire to do something like this, go for it. As my friend Jan told me, “If I can do it, anyone can.” If it is possible, ask your husband, friend, or family member to watch the kids while you run for 30 minutes. It ultimately benefits everyone, because as we all know, if Mommy’s happy, the whole family is happy. And exercise is a great booster!

Most of all, when we get bogged down in the day-to-day mom grind, it can be easy to overlook doing things for ourselves. (I should know. I don’t even brush my hair now when I get out of the shower. Ha ha! Up, up, up it goes when it’s still wet.) Finding something that makes you happy and challenges you physically and mentally is great for your self-esteem. And the pride and confidence from your accomplishments is visible to the kids; they recognize it and appreciate it!

Have a great weekend, and do something that’s good for you!

The Mom Crowd is proud to announce the very first episode of our video podcast, ‘The Mom Crowd Show’. On ‘The Mom Crowd Show’ McKenna and I (Amanda) discuss articles from this blog, share enlightening interviews and how-to’s from our friends, and highlight our favorite websites.

We had a lot fun filming and we still have A LOT to learn. I realized that I pronounce things weird sometimes. For example, instead of pronouncing Graco like “Gray-Co” I say “Grek-ko.” Please let us know what you think in the comments section. Also, be sure to check out the credits!

SHOW NOTES

The Mom Crowd Show Ep. 1! Labor Tips, First Birthday Parties, and the Baby Expo

Are you going to deliver soon? Throwing a first birthday party? We discuss Amelia’s “Top 5 labor tips” and Amanda’s “20 Tips for a First Birthday Party.” Plus, we visit the San Antonio Baby Expo where Fisher-Price and Graco show off their new products. Finally, we share about our favorite websites: ds-health.com and retailmenot.com.

Posts:

Amelia’s ‘Top 5 Labor Tips’

Amanda’s ’20 Tips for a Successful First Birthday Party’

Friends:

Kara at karaspranger.com

Heidi Parker from Graco

Scott Schoenfeld from Fisher Price

Web Picks:

DS-Health.com

RetailMeNot.com

Darah and Connor are into everything! They’re incredibly nosy and love snooping in trashcans, couch cushions, and cabinets. When we went on vacation, I knew I was going to have to be a few steps ahead of them if I didn’t want to constantly be saying, “don’t touch that,” “put that down,” “out of your mouth,” “leave that door shut,” “honey, can you please keep that away from him?” Taking a few extra moments to plan for the very un-baby proofed hotel room we were going to be staying at worked to everyone’s advantage.

Baby Level

• Get down at your baby’s level and crawl around your entire hotel room looking for choking hazards, sharp edges, or anything that may be dangerous for your child. You’d be surprised at the odd things left behind from the previous guests in your room under the beds, in the chair cushion, and in the drawers. If you have a child who can open doors, bring along a couple of doorknob covers.

Duct tape

• Duct tape will seriously be your best ali in baby proofing your hotel room. Cover outlets, tape up cables and cords, keep those closet doors that don’t have latches shut, and latch those drawers shut all with duct tape!

Balconies and Windows

• Make sure that your child cannot open the door to your balcony and that the window coverings do not pose a danger to your curious child. Cords hanging from the blinds can be extremely dangerous, so make sure they are not in your child’s reach

Restraint

• Make sure you call ahead and request a crib for your child to sleep in, or pack your pack-and-play. My three year old is in a big-girl bed, however we made sure she had a pack-and-play crib to sleep in at night. Not only did this keep my children safe at night, it also served as a great time-out for my three year old when she was acting naughty.

Bath-time

• I brought my own comet and sponge to clean the bathtub out for my kids. You don’t have to be that crazy like me, however you do need to make sure you keep an eye on the bathwater temperature! Hotels sometimes do not set their water heaters to the same level yours is at home, and so the water can get extremely hot very fast!

Common Sense

• Never leave your child alone. You can take all the precautions you want, but you will never have a completely baby proofed room. Don’t forget the lock the deadbolt on your door as well to keep anyone with access to your room OUT!

What baby proofing tricks do you use when you’re on vacation?

This is one of Lucy’s newest questions to ask when she does something well. Two weeks ago, we started using a sticker chart as a reward system for accomplishing small but important tasks. I decided it was worth a try, because our main problem was (and sometimes still is) getting her to keep her diaper on during naptime. For a few weeks, she would get into the crib and within minutes remove the diaper. If you’ve experienced this you know it’s enough to make you crazy!

Off the top of my head, I made up the chart pictured and listed the things that her dad and I would like to see her do without a fight, such as help clean up the toys, brush her teeth, and wash her hands. She has not taken to potty training yet, so we added several things relating to that area as well, recently adding “sitting on the potty without a diaper”. For each success, she gets a small sticker to put in the box. If she completes an entire row of stickers, she’ll get a prize. For now, it’s not hard to please her, so her prize is simply a larger sticker, which she wears on her shirt proudly. When she’s older, we’ll probably put together a little reward box and fill it with trinkets from the dollar store, and she can choose from that what she’d like to have as a reward.

We have seen this process work for us in numerous ways. A few evenings ago, I asked Lucy to brush her teeth, and she said no. I reminded her that she’d get a sticker on her chart if she did, and she promptly scooted herself into the bathroom and got to work. It was great to witness. We’ve also seen a general willingness to ask about the potty and to follow through with sitting on it – prior to the chart, it was as if the potty didn’t exist. So we’re hopeful that this trend will continue, and make the task of potty training a little easier in the future.

Here are links to more tips, charts, and ideas:

Free Printable Potty Training Charts and Certificates

Printable Certificates & Rewards

Spotlighting Good Behavior on iVillage

Changing a Toddler’s Behavior

Have you used sticker charts or reward systems with your children? What worked for you? What didn’t work?

Our new video podcast will be debuting a little later today! Be sure to check back and watch McKenna and I talk, visit a Baby Expo, and drink Mountain Dew!