☰

Working Mommy Madness: Accepting the Mess!

Posted on by Angie

By Harmony Hobbs

Neat-freak (neet-freek).
•    A person compulsively obsessed with cleanliness.

There are only a few things in this world that I really believe in. They include (but are not limited to) love, laughter, wine, Spanx, and Paula Deen. The last two items go hand in hand, obviously.

Something I really hold dear to my heart is having a clean and comfortable home. I’ve lived in many spaces of different sizes and comfort levels and no matter how small, dank, or stank it was … if it was clean and had throw pillows in it, it felt like home. My current home contains throw pillows. My husband does not understand them. Note that I did not say that my house is clean, because it’s not. Having a child changed things. Before the baby, I only had my husband to clean up after, and while I sometimes found it annoying, it was certainly manageable. Then my son arrived. And he enjoys making messes, just like his father. Boys and men are funny that way. How do they get handprints everywhere? I see them wash their hands, yet … the handprints continue.

I spent the first 6 months as a new mother frantically cleaning. Looking back, I’m pretty sure I acted like a lunatic. I was a tornado of postpartum rage, whipping through the house barking out orders and picking up dirty bottles. I realize that I should have been napping (sleeping when the baby sleeps is a CROCK, by the way), but there was literally a trail of items marking a path around the house.  My neat freak tendencies plus my husband’s crazy messy habits, combined with a new baby and all that entails, clashed in a big way.

Many arguments, some therapy sessions, and a few rounds of Lexapro later, I have accepted the mess and now I am working on trying to embrace it. I’m still in the awkward stage of my new relationship with messes …. I’m not attracted to them at all – they make me cringe, in fact– but I would like to like them. I would also like to hire someone to clean my house on a weekly basis, but unfortunately the daycare gets most of our expendable income these days.

Since I started working on trying to be okay with messes I have developed a few coping mechanisms that help me get through my day without having to reach for a cocktail:

•    Get up before everyone else. It’s worth it to rise at the crack of dawn if it means quiet time to yourself. See #2.

•    Make time for yourself! Time where you can just BE. No one is bothering you, the phone isn’t ringing and you aren’t rushing to get somewhere. It     can even be in the car. Don’t make phone calls, just drive in silence. It’s refreshing.

•    I do laundry every day. Just one load.

•    “Shallow Clean.” This is what I call the kind of cleaning I have time for. It’s otherwise known as “Half-Assing It.” I vacuum, straighten up a little and call it a day. Just enough to give the overall appearance of cleanliness.

•    I have stopped looking at my baseboards altogether. I recommend you do the same.

•    Teach your family how to clean up after themselves … and good luck to you.

Motherhood is messy. The first step is acceptance. Step Two is to believe a power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity.

Harmony blew into Birmingham after Hurricane Katrina and is a self-proclaimed “never home maker” striving for a balance between her career and family life. Visit her blog at Working Mommy Madness


52 New Things – Week 31

Posted on by Angie

Angie –

Let me start by saying that we were at the beach last week and I put zero effort into anything that didn’t require soaking up the sun and lounging by the pool. I was going to mention the new gum that I tried while I was there but realized it was given to me by a freind and I had no idea of the details – so I have to go with some new fudge. It was called Caramel Nut Roll (I think) and it was divine, I made 2 separate trips to the candy store in Seaside to purchase these little morsels of heaven. *sigh*

Trish –

My new thing this week was letting loose a little. We were on vacation and it’s always a struggle for me to let go of routines and rules.  But, I’m proud to say that I let my kids fall asleep watching movies every night on vacation.  I was afraid when we got home they’d try to whine to get more movie time, but they didn’t.  I guess it just goes to show that if you’re going to do something like that, vacation is the time to do it!

For more New Things or if you’d like to participate in 52 new things along with BirminghamMommy and many others – please join in by posting your new thing to your blog, facebook or on twitter (use #52newthings) – Also, you can head over to www.willblogforshoes.com to link up every Thursday!

BigBham Deal – Super Suppers!

Posted on by Angie

Our next BirminghamMommy deal with BigBham is from Super Suppers! You cannot beat this bargain: $17 for a gourmet meal for four!

Need dinner tonight? Let Super Suppers do the work so you can enjoy your family time. We make dinner easy and affordable! Located in Vestavia City Center, Super Suppers offers already-prepared gourmet meals that you can purchase out of their Grab ‘n Go freezer. Pop ’em in the oven and they’re ready to serve in a matter of minutes. “Mom, what’s for dinner?” Now there is a healthful, delicious, easy and fun answer!

Purchase Here.  Don’t let this deal get away!

Weekly Events Calendar! August 9th – 15th

Posted on by Angie

So school is starting for many this week – how will you spend your days now with just the little ones in tow? Wipe those tears away and see what we have found to keep your mind off of your “baby” starting school.

It’s hot hot hot so take it easy and take advantage of anything indoors! Will this heat ever break?

We update the calendar as we learn of new events so stop back by throughout the week to see what’s new!

It’s Not Our Fault if Your Kids are Bored!

Monday August 9th

Belly Buster Monday – Birmingham Barons
VS. Mis
7:05pm

——————————————————————————————————————-

Tuesday August 10th

Barnes and Noble –  Summit – Terrific Tuesday Storytime
For over 40 years, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin and Eric Carle has delighted parents and children. The singsong story of endearing animals is unforgettable.
11:00am

——————————————————————————————————————-

Wednesday August 11th

Family Story Time with Mr Mac – North Shelby Library
Storyteller Extraordinaire – Come join Mr Mac and his musical storytime complete with puppets! All Ages, no registration required.
10:45am

——————————————————————————————————————

Thursday August 12th

Cocktails in the Gardens – Birmingham Botanical Gardens
Cocktails in The Gardens, Birmingham’s favorite garden party, returns for its fourth season. In the Hill Garden. Hundreds of young professionals, garden enthusiasts and local music fans will enjoy food and drinks from Occasions by Wynfrey, live music from local bands, giveaways from Mia Moda and more. Tickets are $15 to each event, but members get in free–join today! Proceeds benefit The Gardens’ mission to promote public knowledge and appreciation of plants, gardens, and the environment.
5:30-8:30 p.m.

——————————————————————————————————————

Friday August 13th

Wild about Books Story Time – Birmingham Zoo
Come join us for story and craft time with Books-A-Million at the Birmingham Zoo! Every Friday through summer on Grandma’s Front Porch in the Children’s Zoo area
10:00am

——————————————————————————————————————-

Saturday August 14th

Dora’s Birthday Adventure – Participating Wal Mart Stores
Free Party Favors and Cupcakes
Toy Dept at Fairfield, Homewood and Hoover
11am – 4pm

Kids Fest – Alabama Adventure
Appearances by SpongeBob Squarepants

Music and Fireworks – Morgan Creek Vineyard
Music & Fireworks in the Vineyards returns! Winery tours, tastings, live music and a spectacular fireworks show await. Music by Big Tasties. Pack your own picnic or buy some BBQ. Wine for sale by the glass and bottle. $10/person to enter.

Build and Grow Clinic – Lowe’s
Your child will love building the awesome beetle shaped bug box! Sign them up today!
10am

Helena Market Days/Farmers Market – Helena Amphitheater
8:00am – 12:00pm

Urban Cookhouse Farmers Market – Downtown Homewood
7am – Noon

Pepper Place Saturday Market
We spread out of the parking lot to include 29th Street as we accommodate local farmers, artisans, music, art and food!
7:00am – Noon

Valleydale Farmers Market –
Valleydale Farmers Market is dedicated to bringing fresh, local produce to communities around Alabama and the Southeast.
Music, cooking demos and storytimes along with fresh produce a great way to spend a day!

Saturday Storytime at Barnes and Noble Summit
Don Freeman’s classic character is even more popular today than he was when he first came on the scene over 30 years ago. Come and join us as we ready another generation of children to love Corduroy.
2:00pm

——————————————————————————————————————-

Sunday August 15th

Kids Fest – Alabama Adventure
Appearances by SpongeBob Squarepants

Scholastic Chess Club at Books-A-Million Brookwood Village
In our upstairs Kids Nook.  Beginners are welcome, lessons
available, K-12, other mind sport activities are available such as
checkers and GO.  Free to attend!
2PM – 5PM

——————————————————————————————————————-

Open Daily

McWane Science Center

Mr Potato Head Exhibit – Families won’t want to miss The Adventures of MR. POTATO HEAD, a new interactive traveling exhibit that features the much-loved MR. POTATO HEAD character will lead young visitors and parents on a number of fun and educational adventures. From trips to outer space to jungle safaris and archeological digs, each activity will provide children with engaging learning experiences. Through Sept. 26

Itty Bitty Magic City – NOTE: ITTY BITTY IS AN ITTY BIT SMALLER THIS SUMMER!
The Itty Bitty Magic City will be on display this summer in addition to The Adventures of Mr. Potato Head exhibit. The Itty Bitty City is a little bit smaller than usual, but favorite areas including the grocery store, Tot Spot area, crane, and factory are still in the city. The Itty Bitty Golf Course and a few other items were removed temporarily to make room for the new exhibit “The Adventures of Mr. Potato Head” that is also designed for an early childhood audience and they will return in the Fall.

NatureScope –  Explore the great outdoors from inside the museum. McWane Science Center and the Birmingham Audubon Society are partnering to create a new exhibit called NatureScope. Explore the science of the birds and the bugs in this new area! Get up close and personal with some resident creepy crawlies! Learn what role insects play in our ecosystem with the decomposition chamber. Meet large bugs including emperor scorpions, a tarantula, and even a giant African millipede!

Animalopolis at the IMAX – ANIMALOPOLIS will take you on a voyage into the magical world of animals. A bit fanciful, a bit “Seussian” perhaps, a place of good natured humor, beauty and just plain fun for kids and their parents.

Birmingham Zoo

Lorikeet Aviary – Our Lorikeet Aviary has more birds than ever! Zoo guests can feed these exotic birds every day. You and your family will see these birds’ behavior as they eat nectar out of your hand.
Weekends 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

PELICAN FEEDING – A great way to see our pelicans in action is to witness them eating their favorite treats near the pelican boardwalk.

RHINO ENCOUNTER – Embark on an African adventure and experience one of the world’s most extraordinary animals, the Southern White Rhino. Watch from only feet away as our zookeepers engage in hands-on interaction with the animals inside their African-themed exhibit. Don’t miss this exciting encounter with one of the largest mammals on the planet!
Weekdays: 3pm – 3:30pm
Weekends: 11:30am – Noon & 3pm – 3:30 pm

GIRAFFE FEEDING – This up close and personal animal encounter is a memory you and your family will have for a lifetime.
Weekday: 11am – Noon
Weekends: 10am – 11am  & 2pm – 3pm

Do you have or know of an event you would like to have added to our weekly calendar? Please email us at contact@birminghammommy.com, subject line “Events Calendar” – We would love to hear from you!

Apps 101: The Good, The Free, The crApp

Posted on by Angie

If you don’t have an iPhone, I know you’re tired of hearing everyone yap about how awesome they are, and tired of watching them use their finger to glide across the screen… I feel your pain. Well, I did until I got one and now I’m all about it! My iPhone’s main purposes are to call people, check email, facebook/twitter, and babysit my kids. What?!?! Yes, I said babysit. Case and point– while waiting in the sick kid room at the pediatrician’s office, you can either let Junior:
a. play with the disease infested toys
b. roll on the floor and pick up every germ possible
c. play a game or watch a show on your iPhone

(Cue the silence as everyone runs to the Apple store)

Apps for occupying kids:
Smack Talk (Mommy Britt’s pick)- a few cute little woodland creatures will repeat whatever you say to them in sqeaky chipmunk voices. Kids love this, and I especially give it kudos for getting reluctant talkers to practice talking in a fun way. Cost: $.99

DoodleBuddy- Free! Basically a magnadoodle on your phone. And free!! Did I mention that?

crApp to avoid: Music Pop, no thanks! It shows an animal using bubbles to bounce from building to building. But when the animal falls, it shows it getting electrocuted and dying. Huh?!?! This is where my 4 year old asked “Did he die? Did I kill him?”

Happy App’ing! What apps are your favorite? And remember, mommy likes FREE ones… 🙂

Finding Fables: A Guide to Storytimes for Birmingham Moms – Ms. Amanda

Posted on by Angie

Ms Amanda – Vestavia Hills Library

Vestavia Hills is waiting on their new library to finish, but in the meantime, there is a great storytime available at the original structure on Hwy 31.  Ms. Amanda starts storytime with several songs, then tells a story with props, then ends with a craft and snack or treat.  It’s a very simple storytime, there are no flashing lights.  But simple is good.  It’s not overstimulating, it’s actually very low key and enjoyable.  I recommend trying it out now, before the new library is open.  Currently, the attendance is never so bad that you’re miserable.  That may change soon.

You can catch Toddler Time at this Library on Wednesdays at 10:30am. For more information and and a schedule of all of their storytimes and family events you can visit their website.

How did you tell the big news?

Posted on by Angie

Parents everywhere are always looking for creative and unique ways to share their biggest and most exciting news… We’re pregnant!!  In our quest to find some cute ways to share, we found one idea that floored us.  It gave us goosebumps, watch and you’ll see why…

Here’s how we shared our news.  How did you do it?  Heard of anyone with a creative idea?  Share!!

Trish~ For my first pregnancy, we waited until Christmas Eve to spread the news.  My husband’s very Italian grandparents had flown in for the holidays and we wanted to do something special for them and let them be the first to know.  So we printed out the phrase “We’re pregnant” in Italian and framed it.  We wrapped it and gave it to them as their gift.   When they opened it, his grandfather was a bit confused… everyone asked him what it meant and he exclaimed “We’re ALL pregnant!!”  Apparently, we conjugated the verb to mean everyone, not just us!

Angie~ We were married for a VERY long time before deciding to take that huge leap into parenthood. I wanted to share the news in a way they would remember. I ordered custom made Fortune Cookies and had the “fortunes” say things that related to babies. We took my parents to dinner at PF Changs. I arrived early and told the Manger what we were doing and got them on board along with our server to use my custom fortune cookies as if they were the ones they would normally give out at the end of the meal. I would have to say they were confused and completely caught off guard. It was nice that they had a little “Fortune” to save for the scrapbook!

We would love to hear your story and maybe help inspire another expecting Mom!

De-Clutter Your Inbox & Be Ready to Save the World

Posted on by Angie

We’ve written here before about organizing your life, de-cluttering and many other ways to streamline your household.  There is one other spot that you may not have looked to for that “neat & organized” high – your computer.  Particularly – your inbox.

If you’re anything like me, your inbox is a list of emails that have nowhere to go.  Either you need to act on them, need to file them away, or need to delete them – they’re there, just waiting.  Looking at you, maybe winking with that “Tee hee hee – I’m clutter” stare they seem to wear oh so well.

So, let’s do this.  Let’s make a mockery of the mess you call an inbox and let’s get it organized.

  1. Delete.  Delete. Delete.  Now I know there are plenty of emails in that pile that you just don’t need.  So go on, rifle through the mess and clear out the immediate clutter now.
  2. File.  Move those needed emails into proper folders for future use.  Go on now, you can do this too.
  3. Take inventory of what’s left.  Can you delete more? Move something you might need to a miscellaneous file?

Using this strategy, I went from over 200 emails in my inbox to zero.  Not zero unread, zero.  Clutter affects you whether it’s physical junk, emotional junk or digital junk.  Do yourself a favor and clear it out, we dare you.  You’ll feel better.

Next stop, the Photo folder!

Kids Picks – August!

Posted on by Angie

This month is all about back to school – here’s what we had to talk about on Daytime Alabama – there are some really really cute things that will help your kiddo get back to school in style!

Zoo Packs from Skip Hop

We absolutely LOVE these, and they are getting GREAT reviews! Oh, kid packs are available in cute, cuter and “I die” these days.  This one (and the many other animals to choose from) don’t let you down. Available at Swaddle in Homewood.

Zoo Lunchies

Once you have your back back you’ll need your matching lunchie! We’re showing you the owl but they have the Monkey (like back pack shown above) a cute little pink mouse, a bee, a dog and a penguin. For extra cuteness, have it monogrammed! Available at Swaddle in Homewood

Built NY – Munchler Lunch Bag

Speaking of lunch boxes, check out these guys, also available in different animals. What we really like about these little critters is that they zip open to lat completely flat which makes for a great place mat and super easy to clean. Available at Amazon.com

Vintage Inspired Totes

Great for a few diapers and wipes, you will have the coolest baby in class or Moms Day Out. These little lovelies are available at The Baby Gardner

We also love this adorable Pirate Nap Mat:

You want little Junior to be comfy and stylish during naptime right? This is available at Sew Precious in Hoover and Chelsea.

So whether it’s lunchtime or naptime send your kiddos off to school this year with some of the cutest gear out there!

52 New Things – Week 30

Posted on by Angie

Angie –

I may have done this already as a new thing, but I tried another new chapstick ( I have a slight addiction to chapstick) It’s Chapstick Botanical Medley and I love it. It doesn’t have too much fake flavor and it’s very smooth. If you share my addiction to all things lip balm, pick one up!

Trish-

My new thing this week was to take the baby gates down.  I’m incredibly neurotic and paranoid, so this was a HUGE step for me.  My kids and dogs can now roam freely throughout my house.  It was very strange at first to not have to climb over or open anything, but we’ve adjusted and we like the ease.  I’m still terrified that someone will open the front door and not think about the dogs and one will escape.  All visitors to my house are being briefed on the operating procedures of front door usage.  I’m also terrified that I’ll be in the shower and a kid will open the front door.  Needless to say, there are some strict rules in place when it comes to our front door. 😛

For more New Things or if you’d like to participate in 52 new things along with BirminghamMommy and many others – please join in by posting your new thing to your blog, facebook or on twitter (use #52newthings) – Also, you can head over to www.willblogforshoes.com to link up every Thursday!

Advertisements