Three Ways to Ignite Your Child's Love for Learning

Children are little sponges, soaking up anything and everything. And while the time you spend with your child is something that nothing can compare to, they will also benefit from time away from home and interacting with others. Here are three ways you can open your child's life to that enrichment.

Choose a Program

Your choice of schooling will likely be dictated by your family's overall situation. But it's important to understand the types of early childhood education, and how they're different. There are wonderful programs that educate without it really feeling like school, such as the Montessori approach. Checking out options for preschool Redmond Wa can give you an idea of what to expect from this type of learning environment.

Head to the Library

Chances are you have a local library that does a regular weekly storytime for children. Have you made that part of your routine yet? If not, you should! It's a great way not only to interact with others, but to learn basic social skills such as sitting quietly, following directions and waiting patiently. A trip to the library also means checking out books — and lots of different books at home encourages a love for reading early on.

Let Kids be Kids

It can be helpful to schedule activities and plan out each day, especially if you have a young child. But sometimes the opposite is more beneficial. During a playdate, do you sit back and let it flow, or do you become a third wheel? Children thrive on independence and can learn a whole lot just on their own. Encouraging that is important. Know when to step back and just enjoy watching your child self direct.

Throughout your parenting journey, remember that this classic saying rings true. "It takes a village to raise a child."

4 Things Parents Should Teach Their Kids That Most Schools Won't

A simple lemonade stand can teach so many great lessons to kids!

With public and private schools providing such comprehensive curriculums, it can be easy to fall under the impression that you can send your kid to school and never have to teach them anything at home. However, taking a hands-off approach to your child's education could result in them lacking certain fundamental knowledge that they'll need when they get older. With that said, here are four subjects you should teach your kid at home to make sure they're ready to be successful and secure in life:

1. Home Improvement and Building

While many schools will teach home economic classes, there's really no set framework for teaching kids how to do simple home improvement tasks around the house. You may want to consider constructing a shed or workshop on your property to give your kids a designated space to tinker with tools and building projects. You could accomplish this easily with the steel building kits from Armstrong Steel, which simplify the process of assembling durable and versatile buildings of all sizes.

2. Financial Management and Credit

Let's face it, most schools are severely lacking in their curriculum related to financial management and credit building. This information is usually learned at the bank or at home when the student reaches an age where they're able to utilize their credit for the first time. Unfortunately, many young adults are blind-sided by an abundance of responsibility after being approved for their first credit card. Teaching your kids financial management at a young age will give them an economic head start that most other children are not equipped with at public or private schools. 

3. Emergency Survival Techniques

While you can enroll your kids in the local boy scouts or girl scouts to teach them basic wilderness skills, this information is not usually taught at a conventional school. Take your little ones on a camping trip and show them basic survival techniques like how to start a fire, astrological navigation, finding food, purifying water, and building basic shelter. You'd think that such fundamental concepts would be taught at a young age, yet there are many adults who still don't know how to do these things.

4. Entrepreneurship

While making money is clearly the most important adult duty, there's surprisingly little focus on building wealth in the conventional school system. Students are not taught about founding startups, gathering funding from investors, obtaining business loans, or any other basic concepts that are required to successfully launch a business. Teach your children these topics at home, and they'll be well-prepared to obtain financial freedom later in life.

Prepare Your Kids for the Real World at a Young Age

In today's world, most kids are severely sheltered and undereducated about topics that actually matter in everyday life. Unfortunately, a significant percentage of high schoolers and college students are awakened to a harsh reality when they have to learn a bunch of adult life management skills that should arguably be taught in schools. 


Of course, once you get into university courses and degree programs, you can learn anything in the world, but in many ways the average high school graduate is still grossly under-equipped to deal with the challenges of being a young adult. Make an effort to teach your kids some of the topics mentioned above and they'll be much better off for it.

JCCC Carlsen Center "My Father's Dragon" Play and My Love for JCCC

I am a Johnson County Community College alumni :-) Look, it took me TEN YEARS to get that 2-year Associate of Arts degree, dangit, and I am proud of myself. I can't say I enjoyed the FOUR Math classes I had to take to get that degree but I did enjoy all of the English classes and History as well. Drama and Public Speaking were decent too. I have to say graduating with ZERO student loan debt was pretty nice.

It was hard working and going to school, sometimes one full-time job plus a part-time job plus classes. Thank goodness for night classes. And these days you can even do online, which is INSANELY COOL. Kids these days don't know how good they have it, dagnabbit. I vaguely remember walking uphill both ways in the snow to get there as well.

My poor children have had to endure stories about me attending JCCC and how some semesters I would work all day, grab some Taco Bell, then park in the underground parking garage and eat while listening to talk radio while waiting to go to my class.

We have moved to Missouri now, which means we can't take advantage of CTE (formerly called Senate Bill 155) that lets you take FREE classes at JCCC (check out dual credit options if you are homeschooling or even if you are not). Looks like I need to get to some government meetings and start fighting Missouri for that! Anyway, check out that option at their website. It's a great benefit of living in Kansas and you should take advantage of it!

I tear up a little thinking of how I used to dream of being a mother and now I have these five precious beings in my care. You have to love how they always know I'm going to make them get together and pose. Poor things.

I used to go to classes in this building and had the PERFECT puzzle-piece schedule one semester. I only went two days a week from 8-12:30 and knocked out THREE classes back to back to back all within feet of each other. Quite the coup, friends! Then I was able to work the rest of the time.

This NEVER happens, but we were an hour EARLY because I messed up on the time so we trekked over to the Student Center for some grub.

On the way in, I grabbed a copy of Kansas City Parent magazine to see if I had any articles in there this month, and I did! I guess those JCCC writing and English classes paid off! It's a piece about carving out one-on-one time in a big family.

Hey, what are all those cute kids doing at COLLEGE? This is just such a classy college with such a cozy feel and it's easy to navigate indoors and outdoors.

The food court is INSANE! Look at all those fast food options, as well as a salad bar and a hot bar.

"My Father's Dragon" is based on a book and was a fantastic play. Yardley Hall is amazing!

Hey there, boys.

Hey there, girls.

The play was like nothing I'd ever seen before. The actors never actually spoke until the Q&A section at the end. The play was narrated through a speaker system and had some fun music as well. The actors mostly just had to use their bodies to convey the words that were being spoken. There was one main character, Elmer Elevator, then four people in green suits played all the other characters using stuffed animals controlled with sticks and string, and lots of props and masks. The play ran about an hour and was very engaging. The cost was normally $6 per person but we got a school/homeschool discount and paid $5 per person.

Bottom line: We would do this again! I would love to attend the Nutcracker there but it's more pricey for us so that'll go into next year's budget. I'll be hunting down more of the $5 plays for sure next year for our homeschool! The Carlsen Center is beautiful and rivals anything else in town for entertainment and arts. Check out their events here. "Guess How Much I Love You" looks pretty cool for March 1. Yes, I drag the older kids to these little kid plays :-)

Bonus: My van is too tall for JCCC underground parking (what college student drives a 12-passenger van normally?!) so the parking attendant moved some cones and let us park right out front, just steps from the front door. If you need to do this, though, beware: leave the play IMMEDIATELY before busses start to block you in. We almost got blocked in for a very long time.

The Kerrie Show Summer Reading List 2016 #SummerReadingList

I'm not gonna lie to you. Last year's summer reading list did not go well. Maybe because I chose all nonfiction and couldn't find any fiction to really dig into. Here were those. All worthy books, but I think I skimmed them and gave them all away. Dream Lovers was so depressing that I could not continue. The homeschool books didn't offer a lot of new info for me. Ask made me realize I want out of direct sales like YESTERDAY. We are thinking about moving STILL so I am trying to cut down on clutter and am using the library more for print books and free audiobooks and ebooks.

Here are the 8 I am tackling this summer and I'll check back in with a post about each one later on. Keep in mind audiobooks count as "reading" a book in my world ... you are still taking in the content into your brain. I have one of these books in print from the library and on loan as an audiobook from the library for free so I can switch back and forth when I'm going on a walk and need audio versus when I force myself to sit down and read a physical book.

1. The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate by Gary Chapman. Yes, this has been around a long time and, no, we have never read it. Aron and I saw it when we had our overnight date back in March and wondered which love language we each were. We knew we were not the Receiving Gifts one for sure but hmmm ... So I got the book and so far we have only taken the quiz at the back. We are hoping to have lazy nights on the porch checking out more of this book but, honestly, since we are both an 11 on Physical Touch, I think we are probably just fine. My second one is Quality Time, also not rocket science, but his second one is Acts of Service, so we should at the very least read THAT chapter so I know more what he would like from me other than just the basics of doing laundry, dishes, cooking, etc. **Did you also know there is a book for Singles and for Children about the five love languages?! Aron and I have pretty much figured out that each of our kids is a different one of the five!!!!!
2. Seven Desires: Looking Past What Separates Us to Learn What Connects Us by Mark & Debbie Laaser. When we saw The Five Love Languages at the bookstore, Aron brought up this book he had also heard good things about so I also bought it post-overnight-date. The seven desires are: to be heard and understood; to be affirmed; to be blessed; to be safe; to be touched; to be chosen; to be included. Hearing a few of those really resonated with me and made me think certain things not only about being in a marriage but also about being a kid. For instance, to be included can mean being included in a mom's night out with friends you are getting to know and it can also mean being asked to sit at the lunch table at school for a kid.
3. The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic: How Engaging 1% of Catholics Could Change the World by Matthew Kelly. I saw this on a table in our church entryway and normally don't go for religious books but I had to pick this one up. The four signs are: prayer, study, generosity and evangelization. Anyone who knows me knows I prefer to evangelize with my life and not by going after people to get them to convert to my religion. But I could be misunderstanding the word evangelization, which freaks me out for some reason. I picture used car salesmen.
4. A Place of Yes: 10 Rules for Getting Everything You Want Out of Life by Bethenny Frankel. This is an older book but I've always wanted to read it ever since I watched the author on The Real Housewives of New York City and there were episodes where she was talking about writing this book. I'm not sure I can get through this book since she's probably going to talk about the early days of wedded bliss and motherhood, when these days she is going through a horrid divorce. It just makes me kinda sad but I bet it's packed with fun advice.
5. After Her by Joyce Maynard. I first heard about this author in the 1990s when she was writing raw stuff about her experience being pregnant and giving birth. While on our overnight date, Aron picked out a book pretty quickly but I had a lot of trouble. I checked out the new stuff and there was a Joyce Maynard book and I knew the name, but the new book was hardback and expensive. So I figured I would give Where Love Goes a shot, since it was the only one on the regular shelf I thought I might like. Loved it (heartbreaking story of divorced couple and what comes after, starting new relationships and what that looks like for the CHILDREN, which many parents SAY they are considering but really they are pretty much thinking with their LONELINESS and their sexy parts). Anyway, I was hooked on this author and happy to see she has written a lot more! This one is "a haunting novel of sisterhood, sacrifice, and suspense." Oh, and she wrote Labor Day, which became a movie that I saw and LOVED and it was NOT what I expected at all. So you get three links here and you're welcome!
6. The Good Daughters by Joyce Maynard. See #5 and this one is about "friendship, family secrets, and the strange twists of fate that shape our lives." Good enough for me.
7. Trim Healthy Mama: the easy-does-it approach to vibrant health & a slim waistline by Pearl Barrett and Serene Allison (I also have the cookbook). I used to get a little magazine called Above Rubies that was full of inspiring stories from real women raising a bunch of kids, some homeschooling, some homesteading, and so much more. It was great to read about the struggles and triumphs of moms like me and unlike me. These are super healthy sisters and I'll have what they're having (which is stuff like collagen for your skin, hair and nails and joints and also a lot of other cool things I had not heard of).
8. Quality Lesson Plans for Secondary Physical Education by Zakrajsek, Carnes and Pettigrew. My friend at coop (and Joel's Confirmation sponsor!) gave me this one because she was the coop gym teacher this past year and I will be doing it this coming year and, boy, do I need help. I'm not sure if my parents have stopped laughing about this development, seeing as how I was not exactly the best at sports growing up (severe understatement).

If you are a writer, parent or someone who EATS and are looking for something to add to your summer reading list, consider MY books, here, both of which are available as print books and in Kindle format ... AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO OWN A KINDLE TO GET THEM! You can "follow" me as an author on Amazon if you never want to miss an update or new book! Both are permafree on Kindle Unlimited (just $10 a month and you can read all you want!)

*Disclosure: I have put links to purchase books on this post and if you do purchase I might get a few pennies. Just wanted you to know!

My #Summer Reading List 2015

Yeah, who am I kidding? With only roughly 5 weeks left of summer, I have taken on something huge here. I don't get a lot of time to read in general. I get antsy at the pool and can't read more than a page at a time, whereas my mother could read an entire book during one pool session during my childhood (okay, maybe I exaggerate). But I have a varied list of books I want to read and then pass on to someone who can use them. I used to be a Book Hoarder but not anymore. I don't need Intelligent Clutter ... I like to take the lessons from the books and pass them on or sell them! Here are the 7 I am tackling this summer and I'll check back in with a post about each one later on.

1. Gratitude and Trust (Six Affirmations That Will Change Your Life) by Paul Williams and Tracey Jackson. My Aunt Cathy read this and loved it and passed it to my mom and I took it over before she could read it. So far I like the "shopping list of bad behavior" and basic principles of those in recovery from addictions like making amends.
2. Ask. by Ryan Levesque. I got this free from some online offer. I want to skim it for business advice. If you don't ask anyone to buy your product or sign up with your company because you are scared they will shun you or think you are a jerk, then you are in the wrong business. You have to ASK. I have lost business and potential team members because I assumed someone didn't want to join my company or buy my product ... and then another consultant grabbed them!
3. The Art of Significance by Dan Clark. I started reading this last summer and liked it so much I had a zillion sticky notes in it. It applies to business and life ... the level beyond success. So you get rich and successful ... then what? What do you do with that? Do you give back, do you maintain integrity or do you turn into a narcissistic, stingy wiener?
4. Homeschooling: Take a Deep Breath -- You Can Do This! by Terrie Lynn Bittner. This is a 28-chapter wonder that seems like it's going to cover a LOT of homeschool ground. It's also full of resources.
5. Help for the Harried Homeschooler by Christine M. Field. This says it's a "practical guide to balancing your child's education with the rest of your life." Enough said.
6. The Three Big Questions for a Frantic Family by Patrick Lencioni. This is a quick read and I'm really into it so far but it's going to require a lot of homework. It applies business principles to running your family and makes a lot of sense so far!
7. Dream Lovers by Darin Dodd. This is the kind of book that I could read in a day back before I had kids running around distracting my brain. After we watched the movie Beyond the Sea about Bobby Darin's life, I had to seek out this book. I ordered it that night and checked my email hourly for shipping updates. So far I am not disappointed, but it's definitely a little bit depressing.
8. (not pictured) Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline, which came in from the library after this post. I think I'll return it since I got a free trial of Audible and that's the book I chose to listen to while I go on my walks. It'll make me walk longer, is the idea!

If you are a writer looking for something to add to your summer reading list, consider MY books, here, two of which are available as print books and all four in Kindle format ... AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO OWN A KINDLE TO GET THEM!

Good Friday Thankfulness

Ah, I have arrived. I get to be married to my best friend, homeschool my 5 precious babies and work in a corner window office to boot. Life is good!

Just noticed Tigger has a snake tied around his neck. Nice.

Today we are enjoying the lovely weather. Well, not me so much. I am proofreading a ton so I can take Easter off. Aron was going to take Callie and Sam ice skating but now they don't really care since my friend Ambre dropped off some adorable clothes and now my girls want to play Prom.

This is good news for us since now we don't have to pay for ice skating or the gas to get them there, and Aron saves some time so he can work on his Scout things and putting up the new tent to air it out. I think I'll move my corner off to the deck with some ice water and sunglasses and watch the kids play while I proofread recipe books!

Oh, and my friend Angela is coming over so I can teach her how to do her Jamberry nails (see tabs above if you want to visit that fun blog!) ... I am afraid she is a fellow Jamberry addict!

I hope you have a terrific day!

Life Gets Messy; That's How We Learn

Right about now you are probably thinking I have totally lost my mind.

Nah, been there, done that. It's long gone, friends.

Usually I am not great about letting my kids help me in the kitchen. I don't love cooking/baking and like to get it over with. Aron is AMAZING about letting the kids help, so don't feel too sorry for my kids.

On Michael's birthday I was making cupcakes and the Littles wanted to help out. Usually I find a way to distract them or tell them they can lick the entire bowl if they just wait and let me do the complicated and messy cupcake filling.

But this day I decided to let them do it. The batter was runny and dark, but they just wanted to help fill the cupcake tin! Then I kinda realized that if I'm always doing stuff for them they won't learn how to do it for themselves. Don't get me wrong ... they do plenty around the house where they get to make mistakes and learn. But in the kitchen it is time for me to grow some patience.

Callie the Fashion Designer

These are paper dresses my 7-year-old daughter Callie cut up and taped together using scrapbook paper. She also made a ball gown and danced around the house with it attached to herself.

These are her top secret sketches!

What do your kids like to do in their free time? I like to give my kids plenty of time after homeschooling and chores and all our fun running around to BE BORED. That's how I discovered I like to write! Callie is great at this fashion design thing and dresses herself so cute all the time!

Aftermath: Friday the 13th Freebie Crawl #ChikFilA #CowAppreciationDay

You will probably not believe this, but I took my crazy butt to every offer I posted yesterday. First we hit the Starbuck's for the refreshers. The kids did not like them, so more for me. These cost $2.99 after tax so we got $17.94 for free. The chick at the drive-through was like, "Um, you know these have caffeine in them, right?" Like I was giving them crack or something. I'm like, "Yeah, I know it's not juice. All my kids have ADHD so caffeine CALMS them ... just kidding." Truthfully, folks, I don't notice my kids acting any less or more nuts when they have caffeine or sugar so why change things now? My parenting style is 1960's Old School without the spankin's.

Click here to see what my friend Heather thinks of the Refreshers.

Then we hit the Krispy Kreme, where they had made a donut cake for their 75th birthday (thanks for the heads-up, Angela and Elizabeth)!

Joel wanted to go inside and since we had not been inside in forever, I surprised him with a YES. He likes to watch the PROCESS.

Michael gives his baby brother a boost.

The booty. Buy one dozen get the other for $0.75. Total saved = $6.24.

Sam digs in. This is why my mommyvan looks like crap most of the time!

Later my friend came over with her 5 kids and somehow convinced me that we could handle the Chik-fil-A promotion thing and dress like cows. I was apprehensive, but she and kids dove right in and I found myself a nice black outfit and taped white dots on it.

A quick nursing session is about to happen with my little calf. Here comes that udder ...

This is Karate Kow, Eva. We are udderly crazy.

Crap, why didn't this picture turn for me? This is surly Sam donning ballet shoes to go with the black shoe theme.

My friend with an employee of Chik-fil-A and a couple of the ELEVEN kids we took in there!

Don't freak out. Yes, we took up THREE tables. We had a ton of fun. The kids were well behaved. Just my crew saved $41.37.

Afterward I was feeling udderly brave, so we went to Burger King for their 50-cent ice cream cones and to play in the playroom and have some mommy conversation. Saved about another $7. See below for the totals ...

TOTAL SPENT (because my husband will want to know): $16.56 (because I sprung for the ice cream cones for all of us)

TOTAL SAVED for got for free: $72.55. Not bad for a day's work as a stay-at-home mom.

For Kids and People Who Hate Math: Life of Fred

Actually, this book rec is for kids who LOVE math, who HATE math, who TEACH math, and even for ADULTS who loved or hated math. This rec is also for parents who are struggling through math homework with their kids or who need a fun math supplement.*

I have found the most awesome book for teaching math to kids. I know, I know, you are saying, "Kerrie, put this crap on your homeschooling mommybot blog, girl. I don't give a flying fig about how you teach math to your little hellion children."

WAIT! Listen up! Because this series is so funny that my kids BEG their dad and I to read it to them at bedtime. My husband thinks this will never work because they aren't doing "drill and kill" math (you remember, the endless worksheets doing stuff you either hadn't a clue how to do or else knew after the first 2 problems!!!). It's now up to me to prove to Aron that the kids CAN learn math this way, and MORE! Oh, and just because you don't have worksheets, you still have "problems" (he calls is "Your Turn to Play" at the end of each short chapter and the answers are on the other side of the page), and they range from simple to logical to things to draw to funny.

This set of books is called "Life of Fred" and starts with the elementary series. The first book is called Apples, then there's Butterflies and they go in alphabetical order. The books go all the way up to teaching CALCULUS, for gosh sake! They are so great because they tell the goofy story of a "kid" named Fred, who is 5 years old and a university teacher. Sometimes there is an Intermission for adult readers only, like:

"I am going to put this in tiny type so that kids won't read it [Kerrie says, so of COURSE they are going to think it is forbidden and will read it!!!!!! Genius!]. Some kids will be dying to know how to draw a circle inside of any old triangle. Since I'm not telling them how to do it, they may ask you. I'll pass the secret on to you, so that you can appear really smart."

*They are hilarious
*They are set in Kansas
*They sneak in learning (geometry for 1st graders? who knew?). What other 6-year-old on the block knows who Archimedes is?????
*They sneak in God (sets of 10 include toes, fingers, Commandments)
*They teach logic because sometimes the stories are so messed up and silly ... how is a 5-year-old a college teacher? How come his doll can draw like an artist? Where did Fred's common sense go?
*They make me excited to learn math. I HATED math in school. My teachers blew through stuff and I was lost. ONE year I had a great teacher for Geometry in high school and the entire class got As because she waited until everybody understood.

*I'm not getting any money or books in exchange for writing this post. I just stumbled upon something great thanks to my awesome Facebook homeschool group, and wanted to share because I like to laugh and I like to see my kids learn without crying or their eyes glazing over! I bought the first book online for $16 and am borrowing the rest from friends until I can buy the whole series.

Interview: Jessica G. Fisher of LifeAsMom.com

A couple of years ago I started noticing Jessica Fisher’s name in almost every issue of Kansas City Parent magazine under “contributing authors”. Her bio said she had five kids, and I COULD NOT UNDERSTAND how she had time to write and send off a publishable article every month. I had only one under my belt and couldn’t fathom ever getting another idea.

I assumed her kids were in school or that she had a nanny. So when I noticed her bio said she now has SIX kids and listed a website address, I ran to the computer and typed in the address. Turns out she HOMESCHOOLS, just like me.

Jessica has a great writing website and also a blog (she wants you to “join me on the Road to Joyful Motherhood”), as well as a book that you can order off of her blog called “Cooking With Children.” Below is a short interview with her.

KERRIE: How do you find time to write with 6 kids and homeschooling? Do you have a schedule? Write when they sleep?

JESSICA: Usually I take Saturday mornings off. That is when I have done the bulk of my writing, pre-baby. I would head to Panera as early as I could wake and come back at lunchtime. I got a lot done during those 5-6 hours. Since the baby was born, I just fit it in here and there, often in the mornings before the entire household is awake. It just doesn't seem productive to go sit in a coffee shop to hold a fussy baby when I could do it so much more comfortably at home. Since I started writing, I've simply put other hobbies (mainly scrapbooks and shopping) on the shelf. There is only a limited amount of time to devote to these things, so the other interests gave way for this one.

KERRIE: When did you start your freelance writing business?

JESSICA: I started writing for magazines in 2006.

KERRIE: How many publications have you written for?
JESSICA: My work has been printed in about 70 regional parenting publications in the US and Canada.

KERRIE: How much time do you spend on it in an average week?
JESSICA: That really depends. I don't have set hours. And I can't really control when I'll get a good idea. I have multiple notebooks here and there for notes. I write whenever I have a good idea and the time to implement it

KERRIE: What percent of your income would you guess is based on reprints?
JESSICA: I have no idea of the percentage, but I usually sell the same piece many times since most of my clients are not in competing markets.

KERRIE: Does anything suffer because you write? (e.g., the dishes sit for a while, the laundry piles up)
JESSICA: Household chores certainly back up, but I don't think that is because I write. If I wasn't doing this, I'd have some other creative project to distract me from housework.

KERRIE: Do you older kids help with chores so you can get writing done? (I am a
big fan of this!)
JESSICA: Writing is something I've always loved, but it is by far a part-time job. I didn't go looking for another job. I love my day job. All my kids over 4 years old have regular weekly chores, but they would have that regardless. They were doing it long before I was writing.

KERRIE: How do you keep the kids occupied while you write?
JESSICA: My kids love their free time and since there are so many of them, they pretty much entertain themselves if I'm doing a task. But, I try not to sit down to write a piece if I know I will be interrupted many times. I try to wait until everyone is asleep for the night.

What I learned from this interview:
Strangely enough, I hadn’t thought of borrowing my husband’s laptop and heading to a place with WiFi and getting some writing done on Saturday mornings (he’s off every other Friday as well!). I guess with all his travel and then trying to catch up on home matters, I didn’t realize that our baby was one year old and that I could leave her for a couple of hours with Daddy and siblings.

What I love about Jessica and her family is that she MAKES the time to write, and her husband supports that by helping with the kids. I expect to see her cranking out a best-selling non-fiction book when her latest baby gets to a “leave-able age.”

I need to set my alarm so I can get some quiet time alone in the mornings, especially since I’m between babies and don’t need as much sleep. That’s much more productive and more kind than trying to write whenever I THINK the kids are occupied and then yelling at them for breaking my concentration.

Have files of article reprints that you own but have no clue where to start reselling them? Have ideas for some fantastic new pieces but no idea who might want them? Check out my 386-page PDF of tips, tricks, and insider information, as well as 384 paying parenting and family markets! Just head to this page to download How to Get Published (and Paid!) Writing About Your Kids and get started immediately!

Sign up for an email subscription to The Published Parent and get two amazing freebies: 10 Parenting Markets That Pay $100+ and 10 Markets That Pay Writers to Write About Writing! And join my Facebook group called Parenting Magazine Writers ... it's FREE and full of tips and tricks and markets and like-minded writer friends!