Summer is Coming!!!

We live in New England so while the rest of the country is out of school now, we are still in school and making up snow days. Our school district has the last day of school on June 17th. With tomorrow's temperature reaching 90`f it feels like summer.

It's interesting to hear the difference between parents at the bus stop in regards to the summer break. Some can't wait until they can sleep in and slow down in the morning. Some can't wait for vacations, traveling, vacation homes, and getting things done.

Some dread the summer break. They are usually the ones that would then have to pay for daycare while they work during the day. While some are saving up for a trip to Disney these parents are saving up for camps and daycare so they can continue to work.

We no longer have a community. We no longer have one working parent and one at home. It's rare to see stay at home parents now. So think about all those kids that don't get to wake up when they want, they don't get to run the streets like our generation did. They don't get to eat every meal in the backyard and live in the pool all day.

So, my challenge for those stay at home parents out there is this. Take one of your child's friends who would otherwise go to daycare during the summer for a sleep over during the week. Let them sleep in, serve breakfast outside, spend all day doing fun summer things like running through a sprinkler or have a water gun fight. It's their vacation, help them have a long summer day not just on the weekend. It feels so much better when you know you should be in school but you're free.

We should all be working towards building back a community. Including someone else is a step forward in rebuilding a sense of "us" instead of it always being about "me".

Surviving Staying At Home the Facebook Page!

Now that I have a few posts behind me I've decided to make a Facebook page so I can share my blog posts and organize things. I've made it easy to find recipes by putting the food photos into one album and adding the link to the recipe.

It's still a work in progress! But you can like the page and easily find my previous posts under the photos.

Also, I like to share relevant links, personal updates, discuss related topics, and more.

Here is the link...Surviving Staying At Home Facebook Page

You can also easily click the Facebook button on the right hand corner as well.

Enjoy!

Adventures in Breastfeeding: Feeding an 18 pound Mexican Jumping Bean.

At least that is what it feels like. My youngest is a far more wild child then my first was.my first loved hugs and cuddles and sleeping in my arms. My youngest can't sit still for a moment. Hugs include hair pulling and kisses involve teeth. I feel like I've been attacked by a pack of wolves for 14 hours by the end of the day. Just as play time with my youngest got harder, since she rather pin me to the ground and gnaw on my face for fun then play with toys, so has nursing.

Nursing now involves her standing on my lap and flopping over from one side to the next taking my nipple in her mouth with her. She twists her head all about and tries to climb up my stomach and chest all while she has a good latch going on so if she falls over I'm going to get clamped down on by 3 tiny but razor sharp baby teeth.

I was struggling to explain this to my friend who just started her nursing journey with her newborn. I struggled to get a picture since there is so much moving, jumping, tossing, and climbing. I tried my best so here is the result...

I didn't think my boobs could face up like that but she managed to get it so she was standing and leaning on top of my chest and nursing. I can't say this wasn't painful but it certainly isn't the worst she has done. She is also a pincher and likes to pinch my boobs and under arm while nursing. She leaves little bruises all over my arms and boobs.

When I pull the baby off carefully, sometimes not carefully and then OUCH!, I get this baby that comes at me like a piranha with her toothy mouth wide open swaying her head back and forth looking for the best position to lunge at me. It would horrifying if you went trying to keep it alive with your breast milk.

I have now spent a half hour googling what to do about this. I have finally found someone with an actual solution. A nursing necklace! It keeps fidgidy nursing babies calm by giving them something to play with and its silicon covered so baby can chew it. Brilliant. I found these on Etsy Silicone Nursing Necklace Chewable Teething Breastfeeding Necklace Beads for Mom to Wear and Baby to Chew.

So if you too suffer from an attack of wild nursing baby then here is your solution. Let me know if you have any other suggestions in the comments below.

My Work

Life sometimes gets in the way of things like blogging. We seemed to have had a bunch of different colds circling around our house for the past month. Just as you are getting well, you get hit by the next cold. I didn't just have me to deal with being sick, I  had a sick 5 month old child, a sick 8 year old child, and a sick 32 year old man-child aka my husband, to deal with.  There were two of these colds that made me so dizzy there was no standing, certainly no walking, so nothing got cleaned. My living room and kitchen looked like a bomb went off. It was destroyed. Some might have looked at the mess and saw a terrible overwhelming mess. What I saw was a renewed sense of importance.

My husband's role in our family is very clear. He is the bread winner, the provider. He works sometimes two jobs. I on the other hand stay at home. I hold no job, I earn no paycheck, but I still work and I work hard to maintain our home and raise our kids. The evidence of home much I do actually contribute was no greater than after being so sick I couldn't leave my room. Nothing got down and it was disastrous. My oldest was so happy to see me up so I could find her missing leotard for dance class.

See, I'm not just child care provider, I'm the maid, the cook. I pack lunches, I do the laundry, I wash the dishes, I glue broken things, I change diapers, I scrub the shower and the toilet, I scoop the cat box, I mop the floors, I find lost things,and  I teach things. I'm the official battery changer, a lady of lactation, and a expert boo boo kisser, I play a mean game of patty cake and I wield a laser pointer like no other.

My two human babies and my furry baby count on me through the day for so many things. Not only do I have to attend to their needs, I teach them, love them, play with them, and cuddle with them. All are important to foster a good relationship but it also fills our hearts with love and joy. I give all of my love and attention to my kids even if it means vacuuming the rug. I keep a clean house not just for myself, but for my kids and my husband too. That is what holding down the home front means. That really is my work.

I'm not feeling that great, still have a sore throat, a cough, stuffy nose, and I'm tired but at least I don't feel miserable anymore. I do however feel worse when I look at the overflowing hampers. There is probably 6 loads of laundry to be done and two folded that still need to be put away. But its nearly 11 at night so that will wait until tomorrow.

Ways To Make Money While Being At Home 2

I decided to revist this topic since trying more apps. If you want to look at the apps I have already reviewed here is a link to the past post Ways To Make Money While Being At Home.

• Slidejoy

Slidejoy is an app that puts an advertisment on your phone before you get to your lock screen. Its easy, just swipe left or right depending if you want to interact with the ad or unlock the phone. Problem is it takes forever to earn money. I've had it on my phone for over a month and all I earned was $1.70. I'm not impressed.

• AppTrailers

AppTrailers is an app that will show you advertisments for apps and you have the option of installing what you like. Its a slow process but I love that it can be paid to paypal. However, it takes 500 points to get use it and its about $.50. It took two apps to get 65 points. You can do the math.

• Mobee

Mobee is a secret shopper app that will give you tasks to do when you are in a store. Tasks are few and far between.

• EasyShift

Easyshift is the same as Mobee. My problem is there were never any tasks in my area.

• Swagbucks

I'm revisting Swagbucks as I have found more to earn. Swagbucks is another points website. This one requires you to search on the internet, refer people, watch videos, fill out surveys, among other things to earn points that can be cashed in for items. I just earn for gift cards which they offer Amazon gift cards (yay, cloth diapers!) so you can really buy anything essentially.They even start you off with roughly 80 points just for filling out a profile. The points needed for rewards vary but they ask a lot of point. You can make points will little effort so its not that hard. To add what I had said before on my previous post, I have installed the Swagbucks tool button and it allows me to earn money for visiting sites. I think Swagbucks is my new #1 app!