Fazzles Creative Living Newsletter Archive
 

Creative Living - Home, Business and Family...

Welcome to the 27th Edition of "Creative Living."

Sunday, April 25, 2004

The sun is starting to sneak a peek from behind the clouds,
birds are chirping and frogs are busy with their staccato
chorus. I LOVE THE spring!

In this issue we have:

 1.) Article:  Toddlers and Business - How to Make it Happen
 2.) Hot Craft Tip: Seeing some finished crafts :)
 3.) Recipe: Chocolate Chip Mint Bars... YUM
 4.) On Parenting: -
 5.) Home Tips:
 6.) Car Tips
 7.) Tasteful Joke
 8.) Reader's Questions:
 9.) Editor's Word Pick
10.) Last Minute Reminders
11.) Inspirational Quote
~~~~~~

Toddlers and Business - How to Make it Happen
by Rachael Hoffman

Working from home while caring for toddlers can be an extreme
challenge. Trying to find the time to work on your business,
without depriving your toddler of the love and attention they
need can be hectic.

Often times, work at home moms find that either their toddler is
spending too much time in front of the TV or that the business is neglected. So, how do you get your business thriving while still being a good mom?

The first thing moms with toddlers need to do is be realistic.
Unless you can find a way to add more hours to the day, you simply cannot work a full time 40-hour work week from home on your business with a toddler under foot.

If you need to work your business full time for financial
reasons, you may want to look into daycare or hiring a mother's
helper to come to your home.

But working part time with doesn't mean you can't work your
business and make it a success. What it means is that you need
to set a realistic goal for how much time you can spend on your
business and be creative for finding time in the day to do it.
Below are some ideas you can use.

1. Give your toddler his own office.
Most moms find that their toddlers want to be like mom as much
as possible. So, set your toddler up with a table and chair next
to yours.

Make sure you have good office supplies for them. A coloring book, a few sheets of paper, crayons and a pencil are basic essentials. If possible, an imitation computer and play phone would be ideal office equipment. Then sit at your desk and work beside your child.

Remember that a toddler requires a lot of praise, so be sure
to look over at your child's work and compliment it from
time to time. Also keep their attention span in mind.

Keep your child's office time limited to a half-hour and only
do this once a day. It keeps your child from getting bored with
the "game". Be sure to reward your child for working and
allowing you to work with some quality time afterwards.

2. Choose your activities during their wake time wisely.
When you toddler is awake, you'll often find that you can't
get long periods of time strung together to work. So, use their
"awake" time effectively.

Doing the dishes requires a lot less concentration than
optimizing your webpages. Work on the household duties while
your toddler is awake keeping them involved. Pull up a chair
and let your child watch you do the dishes while singing their
favorite songs to them. Chase your child around while
vacuuming.

Sure, you may miss a small inch of the living room
while running down the hall yelling "I'm gonna get you!"
but your kids will love it. Let your toddler "help" you fold
laundry and ask them to tell you who each piece of clothing
belongs to. This allows you to get some of the household duties
done while having fun with your child. And more importantly,
while giving your child some time and attention from you.

3. Use naptime productively.

If you can get basic household chores done with your child
while they are awake, it should free up naptime for you to
work on your business. Set aside 1-2 days a week to use naptime
for large household cleaning jobs such as bathrooms and mopping
floors. On the other 3-4 days, spend it working your
business.

Most toddlers will sleep between 1 and 2 hours a
day, giving you some solid time to work uninterrupted.
Also use this time to make any business phone calls you may
need to make. Be sure not to get distracted. It
is easy to have a friend call and eat up your work time, or to
sit down and get drawn into a TV show. Be sure to stay focused.

4. Let your toddler go on an outing.

Once every two weeks or so, try to get a day to yourself to
work. You can have a family member take your toddler for the
day if you have a family member available to do this. Grandmas
are usually the top choice. If you don't have family nearby or
family who are willing and able to do this, try swapping alone
time with another mom and offer to exchange play dates.

One week you take her toddler for the day and allow the kids
some playtime. Do not try to work on this day. Make it fun and
head for the park or fill up the baby pool in the backyard. Be

prepared to spend the day chasing kids. Then, the next week she
can take your child for the day and give the kids another special and fun day of playing. Meanwhile, you can spend the day
working without interruption at your business.

Above all, remember that your child won't be a toddler
forever. Being a mom only comes once in a lifetime. Be sure to
cherish your kids and work your business around them and not spend time with them around your business.

In ten years you won't remember your exasperation at only
being able to work your business 20 hours a week until they
entered school. But you will remember the day they wore that
strainer for a hat and sang to you on that kitchen spoon as they
run out the door and ride their bike out of sight.

~~~~
Written by:

Rachael Hoffman is a work at home mom and affiliate marketer
who owns and operates a successful telecommunications website
- Discount Long Distance Rates, among others. Rachael can be
reached through her website at
http://www.discountlongdistancerates.com or via email at
rae@discountlongdistancerates.com.

********************
Craft Tip:

In our sixth edition I sent people to the coolest site
of a lady who is not selling anything. She just is so
incredibly crafty. She has added more things to her gallery.

You go to the following website, then on the left hand
corner it says VISIT ALBUM then there is a box to type
in a member's name.  When you get to that box just type in  

connietn 

http://www.picturetrail.com/

ENJOY. I have never met this lady, but I would sure love a
visit to her home. If you have any comments on this site, do
send them in.  Just put in her user name on the left hand side
box when you click on the below link, then start viewing the
pictures.  connietn is the member's name.

http://www.picturetrail.com/

You can see them on the side, once in, and can enlarge them,
or watch the slide show. I like her "trash to treasure"
and her beach cottage makes me want to move right on in!

Also:

How to make a floral bow
http://www.save-on-crafts.com/howtomakperb.html

~~~~~~~~~~~
Recipe:
~~~~~~~~
Chocolate Chip Mint Bars

 
Main
    
1/2 c  Shortening
2/3 c  Granulated sugar
1/4 c  Cocoa
1      Egg
1 1/4 c  All-purpose flour
           
Topping:
  
1 1/2 c  Flaked coconut
1 c  Sliced almonds
3/4 c  Chocolate Mint chips
1 can Sweetened condensed milk
1/2 t Mint extract
 
1. Preheat oven to 350F (180C).
2. Cream Shortening, sugar, cocoa and egg
   until smooth. Stir in flour, mixing until well blended.
3. Press firmly with hands in 13 x 9-inch (33 x 23 cm)
   cake pan.
4. Bake at 350F (175C) for 10 minutes, or until dry.
  
Topping:
  
5. Combine coconut, almonds and chocolate chips. Sprinkle
   over base.
6. Combine sweetened condensed milk and mint extract. Pour
   evenly over top of the cooked main/bottom part of bar
7. Return to oven and bake 20 to 25 minutes longer, or
   until golden. Cool, cut into bars.

Ease of Baking: Easy.  Preparation Time: 15 minutes.
Baking Time: 30 to 35 minutes    Makes: About 36 bars. 
These bars are great for freezing (If there are any left)

 
~~~~~~~~~~~
Weight Loss Tip:
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Low carb diets are now all the rage.
It's a fast and safe way to lose some weight for
your bathing suit this summer.

Also, discover:

300 Low Carb Recipes plus a ten page report that tells
you how to do it. Only $17.00 instant download
http://www.pro-books.com/lowcarb

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Safety Tip:
~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you drive a car with airbags, make sure your kids
12 and under are in the backseat.

~~~~~~~~~~
Test the freshness of eggs in a cup of salt water;  fresh
eggs sink;  bad ones float

~~~~~~~~~~

Beware the viruses that run around. It is not a great idea
to just send out attachments and open them without verifying
with the sender that they came from them.

One thing I notice people like to do is send jokes through
email. This is fun.  The jokes start getting those pesky
>>>> in them and so people like to attach them to keep that
from happening.

To fix this at a flip of switch - Just go here
www.ebpro.com/uformat
Copy and paste your joke in - find the place to check asking
it to remove those >>>> and it'll clean them all up for you!


~~~~~~~~~~~
Parent Tip:
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Get your kids away from the television and get them involved
in fun, yet learning games.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Household Tip:
~~~~~~~~~~~~
An excellent all-purpose cleaner:  vinegar mixed with salt.
Cleans copper, bronze, brass, dishes, pots, pans, skillets,
glasses, windows.  Rinse well.

************************
Car Tip
~~~~~~~~
Don't ride your brake pedal, this wears out your brake
linings pre-maturely, and wastes fuel.

~~~~~~~~
Marriage Tip?
~~~~~~~~~
Never embarrass your spouse in front of people. If you don't
agree with your loved one, hold your tongue and take it
somewhere private later. 

~~~~~~~~~
Today's Joke

A little boy was in his bed when the thunder and lightning
scared him. He cried out, and his mother came to his room.
"Mommy, I'm scared."
"Shh, it's okay, sweetie," came the soothing reply.
"I'm still scared. Can I sleep with you?"
"No, Honey, Daddy sleeps with mommy."

A moment's pause, then the child said:

"What a big sissy daddy is!"

********************
Editor's Word Tip on Commonly Misspelled Words
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wednesday
laughter
religious

~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can support this newsletter by making your family
healthier with proper vitamins.
http://www.zvita.com/vitamins
(there's an opportunity to turn it into a fun little
business for you, too)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Quote:

"A man may fail many times, but he isn't a failure
until he begins to blame someone else."

~~~ Knox Manning

~~~~~~~~~~~~


If you have questions that you would like answered, send
them in. Your questions can be answered. If I don't
know the answer, I will find it for you.
It can be anything from recipes, to family problems or
to questions about health or how to improve your life.

Last issue I asked:

Would you be interested in a Creative Home Work Living
Forum?

I received only one person who would like a forum.
I will ask again. After that, I'll wait until the end of
summer and ask again. I will, by that time, have about
1,000 more members to this newsletter.

It's tough to start a forum. If you can't get it off the
ground, it looks empty. If it is empty, people don't stay
to post or exchange. I'd need at least 100 people who
would want that before I would try it.

Personally, I think it would be a whole lot of fun having
people helping each other with family, home living, creativity
ideas, common sense and sharing problems and advice :)

If you have any questions, about anything that you would like
answered, just hit reply and ask.

~~~~~~~~
Until next time!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you for being my reader!

Teresa King

Creative Home Living
is sponsored by
http://www.tipsfortop.com
eBooks and Marketing
and by
http://www.wrapcandy.com/candykit
Personalize Candy Bar Wrappers
for Fun or profit with Ryan Sawyer

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please do so. The best way is to write them and tell them
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