You may have noticed your kids communicating in new ways these days. Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, ect. Social networking is the hottest way to keep in touch with-well just about everyone.

Social networking can benefit your high school pals, yes. But if used coorectly can also boost your business, keep you in touch with your kids, and create support for your personal interests.

As with all arena’s online you need to keep your cards close to your chest & fallow the basic common sense safety precautions.

• Use antivirus software & get regular system updates
• Never give out personal Information Online
• Make sure you lock certain information from the general population
• Use caution and only meet people you meet online in a public place

With so many to choose from it can be hard to decide which to join & to regularly update. My personal pic is www.shesconnected.comif you are a busy mom this is #1 in my opinion! You can have a personal & professional profile so that your boss wont see a million pics of your kids, and your sister can chat with you & not have to sift through work stuff.  This site really caters to the all around women. They have done an amazing job of meeting the social networking needs of this busy mom. So check them out today to get your social media life connected!

It is no secret I am in what I affectionately call the trenches of motherhood. I am busy, involved, & on the go all the time. My work, my husband, my kids, & my passions keep me tied up pretty much all the time. I write all the time about how much I need some time to myself & how I can’t wait to get some breathing room for me.

So why is it that all I can think about these days in another baby?? Seriously…what’s up with that. I don’t think I have anymore time to give to anything & I am consumed with the idea of a third child. I am not sure if I have lost my mind, or it is just some last ditch tick from the biological clock.

On paper a third baby would be nothing short of a bad idea, but I cannot help thinking about one. Every time I see a pregnant mom I yearn for that sensation of being with child. Every time I see a newborn in the store I imagine what our third baby would look like in my arms.

I am totally miffed as to what to do. My husband does not want a third so there’s that & I am thinking maybe if I just ignore it the erg will go away. However my fear is that I am not sure where my heart lies. Do I peruse it or try & drop it. Will it ease or will I end up in my forties with grown boys & a baby. I also wonder do all women feel this way when their youngest turns from baby to big kid? Will I have a third & find myself in this same position again & become the 18 kids & counting kind of mom?

I guess the long & short of it is that I am totally confused & I am hoping to find some solice in knowing that I am not the only one on this planet that has experianced this feeling. So I am looking to you my fellow busy moms for some trusted advise!

What did you do? How did it all work? What regrets or acknowledgements do you have about your decision? Heart or paper wins?  How big of factor is the money?

Please help I really need some been there done that kind of advise.  

-Busy Mom Wanting More

Halloween is here and I tend to find my self in a panic to get just the right costume for my boys & not break the bank. So in search of this years candy getting get up I came across some super cute, super easy, DIY, recessionista type costumes for kids at Parents.com ! These are not your basic sheet ghost’s and there is an even amount of boys & girls ideas to outsit your entire family. I also liked that they were family friendly & not too gross or scarey.

So in the name of the no time & less money check the link to get inspired:)

-Busy Mom Jenna

We all need help in the kitchen some times, and I am no exception. So the other night when I found myself at the computer at 5:00pm with nothing thawing for dinner & no inspiration. I was more than relieved to come across this site. http://www.busymomsrecipes.com/ offers simple creative meal solutions for today’s busy family.

I found just the right thing to match what was in my cupboard &  plenty more delicious things to help me with my meal planning for weeks to come.

I had to share this one with all my fellow busy moms.

Enjoy

Fall soccer is one of our favorite Autumn activities. We bundle up & grab the chairs each September & can be found at a grass chalk lined field some where in middle America. Our boys love the game & I am a true soccer mom!

 However this year we have a coach that is just about as old as our kids, which translates into no direction and it’s starting to aggravate me.

I am not saying that the kids shouldn’t have fun, but if you put 10 boys together on a field with no plan-you know what is going to happen! All the moms are expressing the same concern  as we are all busy & want our kids to have fun and get the most out of the money we spend on the game. After you have rushed, raced, purchased the garb, bought the pics, & suffered through the cold the last thing you want to do is get just a goof off session.

 Our boys are young so this is really setting the bar for how they are going to view coaches, practice, & the game. I am not sure I want to  say anything, or if I should? Some of the other moms went as far as to step in tonight to offer the young coach some help when our young brood tackled him in a dog pile mid way through.

We are all up for fun but our kids are not learning anything….anything! I am not sure how to handle this one, part of me just wants to call the boys mother to see if that straightens him out & part of me just says chill!

What do you think?

Say something? Or ride it out?

Dunno?

-Busy Mom

I have several calendars in several locations around my house, office, purse, car, & phone. The problem is that the entire family needs this info & cannot be with me at all times to let them know what is what.

So today I got a dry erase large calendar for my fridge. I was so happy with myself! I had color coded it & it was large enough to fit all my troops activities. It was right there in the kitchen just before the snacks, so everyone knows whats coming. I even added our weekly menu to the bottom in the note section. This one step has eliminated at least 6 of those annoying calls for mom coming form my kids!

I have a pda, a day timer, a desk calendar, & outlook & the most effective easy to use thing I have found to keep my family in line is a $1.76 calendar & a dry erase marker! Gotta love the simplicity of it.

I tend to study the other moms at school drop off each morning. I size them up for one reason or the other in every way. I guess that I do this becasue there are mornings at our house that are well sub par, you could say!

So I sit & watch other moms that are totally put together & think “what time did she get up?”  I think things like, “I wonder what their kitchens look like after the morning breakfast?” In my mind they are all on  a perfect schedule & their houses are clean, organized, & well run.

For some reason I always think that I am the least put together mom in the car pool. - I know this is crazy but I’m pretty sure that I am not the only mom out there that has done this.

A few months back I came across an article at www.jugglingmama.comregarding the little girl that was killed by her Sunday School teacher & put into a suit case.  Juggling mama’s view was simply her hearts cry to other moms to step it up a bit & not ignore our inner voice. That mothers intuition that says, hey go check on your girls & you find them knee deep in your nail polish & good china trying to paint their own pottery!

She got some interesting comments on her post from people that thought she was accusative of this girls care takers.  But it got me thinking, did anyone get that little nudge for this little girl, saying “hey go check this out”  Maybe maybe not we will never know. But if they did ,did they give it the time or were they too busy?

I can recall & I am sure so can you, several occasions when my mommy sense lead me to head of a dangerous situation with my children or even other peoples kids.

Recently a mom police officer was credited for doing what 18 years  of the system couldn’t.

The red flags went up for Lisa Campbell as soon as Phillip Garrido walked into the UC Berkeley police station Monday with two pale, “robot”-like blond girls .

Carrying what looked like a homemade book with a title about schizophrenia and God, he told Campbell, of the UC Berkeley police special events department, that he wanted to discuss a permit for an event on campus called “God’s Desire.”

Campbell, feeling something was not quite right, asked him to come back the next day.

“He said this is going to be really big, it’s going to involve the government and change the world and I’ll see you tomorrow at 2:30,” said Campbell, a former Los Angeles police investigator.

With information willingly supplied by Garrido, UC Berkeley police Officer Allyson Jacobs looked up his criminal history. She found he was on federal parole for kidnapping and rape.

“At this point, I thought this could be something way more than we bargained for,” said Jacobs, who has two sons ages 4 and 6. She called his parole officer.

The two women spoke at a news conference Friday about how they used their training, motherly intuition and experience with children to set in motion events that led to the arrest of Garrido and his wife, Nancy.

Garrido and his wife were charged Friday with 29 criminal counts in the 1991 South Lake Tahoe kidnapping of now-29-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard.

So maybe there is something to this intuition thing after all! I truly believe that we all have it, we all posses the ability to observe situations & know in our spirit when something is wrong. This is truly a gift given to moms to protect our babies. It took an observant mother who listened to her inner voice to catch this crazed sicko.

I am wiling to bet that these officers had reports to fill out, ongoing cases to solve, & their own personal things to take care of that day. Just like we do every day as busy moms, but they chose to listen to their mothers intuition & not ignore it. What would have happened if they had? What could happen the next time you get a nudge in your spirit & you ignore it? 

I am not giving you a step by step here on how to carry forward with your mothers intution.  I do not intend to claim to help you locate it. But if one mom reads this & vows to pay a little more attention & not allow the day to day busy to get in the way of her inner voice than I will be  a happy, very busy, but a little more aware Mom:)  

We are all busy but our babies are only in our care for a littel while. If you’re mommy sense are tingling answere the call. Even if it turns out to be nothing, the one time it it soemthing you will be glad you took notice.

Now that all the kiddos are back in school, we are all now on school time! Early bed times, bright mornings, & after school activities keep me on my toes! It always amazes me that their schedules effect all of us so much.

I forget every year how much of an effort is put forth by us moms once our kids return to school. Some how it sneaks up on me & I find myself rushing out to get a new calendar, organizer, & hot mocha to deal with it all!

This season will pass & soon we will be in the swing of things until the holidays that is :)  So hang in there moms we are all in the same crazy boat!

If  you are looking for a great book to help you get on track & on time check out this great selection from Kathy Peel! It’s great…besides her using my name she is right on! But don’t take my word for it check out Reviews like the one listed below at www.amazon.com to find out more!

If you’ve read Kathy’s books, you know they are based on her Family Manager “system” she created over 10 years ago. If you’ve hesitated to purchase her recent books thinking they’re all the same info., don’t hesitate anymore! This is the book I’ve been waiting for by Kathy. It is organized by the 7 departments she teaches about, and is an excellent reference. It has a great index for quick finds, and is full of great information.