This is second part of a two-part post by guest blogger Beth Shepard. To read Part 1, go here.
7.    Get out with your girlfriends. Regularly- and when you’re ready. When my kids were babies and toddlers, I worked full-time outside of the home, and had a hard time leaving them for any amount of time during my off-time. So, I didn’t. People kept pestering me to get out more, and I got tired of hearing it. As my kids got older, I felt better about leaving them for short periods …

It wasn’t pretty.
In fact, it was downright ugly.
I’m talking about my tantrum. I had a mommy melt-down. I was tired, cranky, overwhelmed. Did I mention stressed? My reasons were many, and overall, I was just on overload. I had too many things I needed AND wanted to do, and not enough time to do them. And I wanted to do them without any interruptions. Without my kids arguing. Without the dogs needing to be let out every 5 minutes. Without anyone needing anything from me. Was this realistic? Of course not. I’m just venting here, …

I wish I had a $100 for every person that’s ever asked me how to get their child to go to (and stay in!) bed.
I’d be a rich woman.
 Sleep issues are at the top of that list called, “Things That Stress Me Out And Make Me Pull My Hair Out.”  And if you are a mom who runs her own biz or works from home (or any mom, really), you ESPECIALLY may be saying to yourself, “When night time comes, I NEED some time to myself! I NEED those kids …

I don’t know about you, but I grew up with a big list o’ things I would NEVER say to MY kids. Of course, these were things my mom said to me when I was a kid, things I didn’t like. It’s not that my mom wasn’t amazing in many areas. Nobody had a more playful, humorous outlook on life than my mom. Plus, I’d give anything to have her alive, here with me again. That said, there were definitely some parts of her parenting I didn’t want to replicate.
When I …

Handling Criticism – It’s not about you!
 
(Note: I’m jazzed that my colleague, Jo Della Penna, is guest blogging here at the GFM. I’m also
jazzed that her advice applies just as much to people criticizing your parenting  as it does to your
business. Okay–one more thing I’m jazzed about—she references one of my all-time favorite
books!
-Karen
 
Handling Criticisim: It’s Not About You!
by Jo Della Penna
Receiving testimonials are wonderful, aren’t they? Someone
 takes the time to praise you in writing so others will know how great
 it is to work with you. I love getting testimonials! Not only …

Someone recentlyadmitted to me that “mommy guilt” is “getting old” and that moms are wearing it like a badge of honor. Like it’s the ailment du jour and it’s hip to feel guilty (luckily, I don’t count Britney Spears as “hip” since I doubt she suffers from mommy guilt).
 I can see her point. While I’m quite sure guilt about mothering has been around a long time (although let’s face it—our ancestors didn’t compare themselves on blogs, Twitter and Facebook–we have it SO MUCH harder!), it’s really been only recently that …