I blame it on the sun and a good cup of coffee. 

That defining moment on the balcony led to a series of events that we thought would go relatively smoothly. Some have, and some definitely haven’t.

1.  We put our house on the market in one of the worst financial times ever. The result? No one bought our house after many months of keeping it clean, spending money to prettify it, and living like guests in our own home.
2. We are renting a house here in CA rather than buying, since our house hasn’t yet sold. The result? We’ll be moving again in a year or two, once we buy. Ugh.
3. Rentals are competitive here in the Bay Area of California, not to mention expensive. The result? We lucked out and got a house in a great neighborhood, on a corner lot, that takes dogs, has air conditioning, and is near anything we could want. Score one for us! That said, it wasn’t in the town I wanted to be in.
4. While driving from WA to CA our car broke down and we were stuck on the side of the road in 90 degree weather with two kids, two dogs, a cat and some of our belongings (that’s us in the picture). People drove by and waved to us like we were on vacation. Really!  The result? We paid almost $200 for a taxi ride back to civilization (yep–the dogs and the cat rode in the taxi, too. Hubby rode in the tow truck) and more money to spend another night in a hotel.
5. As the taxi dropped us off at our pet friendly hotel (LOVE La Quinta Inns), a very large dog barked at my dogs, causing our alpha dog to become anxious and bite our other dog’s tail. The result? Blood all over the lobby floor and a “helpful” stranger admonishing my dogs with, “Your mommy should take better care of you!” (Their mommy had to hold herself back from biting HER!). I cleaned up dog blood off the gorgeous tile floor with my tail between my legs!
6. The next day, as I was taking one of the dogs outside for a potty break, we went up a little hill to the designated pet area. My black lab/german shepherd is 11 years old and her arithritic hips are in bad shape. She slipped down the hill and took me down with her. The result? I slid on my back three feet, scraping six inches off my arm and embedding it with dirt and rocks, not to mention blood everywhere.
7. Once the car was fixed and we finished our drive to CA, we soon learned on 103 degree day that the air conditioning wasn’t working. The result? Four hot, sweaty, cranky people and three overheated pets.
8. On the same day the air conditioner went out, a pipe burst in our master bathroom. The result? Water streamed out of our kitchen ceiling, through the lights and the microwave and onto the floor.

I can honestly say  that has been one stressful time. There were times when I felt sorry for myself and times when I was just so tired of life’s curve balls that all I could do was fall into bed. Sometimes I felt indignant that life wasn’t fair, not unlike a six year old who got a smaller piece of cake than her sister and was having a hissy fit about it.

I’m a big believer in learning and growing through challenges, and this has been no exception.  And I’ll share what got me through this tough time in my next blog post. For now, I just wanted you to know that, sometimes, before we can learn from stressful events, we just have to let ourselves feel sad and overwhelmed and whatever the jumble of feelings are without trying to “fix” them.

That’s where I am. It’s not where I’ll land forever, though.

Stay tuned for the positive spin, what I’ve learned, and how I’ve gotten through it.

Sometimes, the thought of a summer stretched before you with your kids home can make you wonder how on earth you’ll keep your kids busy. 

What probably made it easier for my parents is that there weren’t so many cool electronics vying for our attention back then. We couldn’t say, “Can’t I just play the Wii?” or just hang out for hours texting friends. Sure, there was television, and we watched plenty of it. But we also spent a lot of time outdoors, bulding forts, playing simple games like hopscotch and hide and go seek. Sometimes, our parents said, “Go outside and stay there until it’s dinner time. You need some fresh air.” And we did.   Of course, when your child is bored, he or she may also try to engage you in power struggles to keep things interesting. Don’t take the bait! It takes time for kids to learn to sit with their boredom and tap into self-directed activities.

So my proposition to you is to get a little old fashioned with your kids and help them take responsibility for creating their own great summer. Sure, it’s fun to have family adventures and activities planned, but those don’t happen everyday. Managing boredom teaches your child to dig deeply within, to think their own thoughts, to be resourceful.  You’d be surprised (and pleasantly, I might add) what your children do when you answer the “I’m bored” refrain with, “Mmmmmmmm…interesting…What are you going to do about that?”

Still wondering on how you can jumpstart your kids’ creativity and imagination once their bored? I found a site with ten really cool ideas on handling boredom  written expressly for kids. Here are the first three tips:

10 Your parents’ calendars fill up fast . Clue them into what you most want to do this summer. Trips, museums, zoos, and other outings may need planning and can be expensive. You stand a better chance if you tip them off ahead of time.

9 Boring or exciting? Make a prediction about your summer and be prepared with the proof. Start a scrapbook or a journal and record every nitty-gritty detail as evidence.

8 Start a Know-It-All Club with your friends. Become experts on bugs, gardening, rocks, Indians, cooking, or whatever! Check out books and videos from the library. Make T-shirts and a secret handshake. Plan a Know-It-All party and teach your parents a thing or two!

To see the rest of the tips, go to http://www.buddyproject.org/jfy/kids/articles/summer.asp. Take the pressure off yourself to entertain your kids. They’ll actually be better for it, and so will you! Happy Summer!

Recently, I double-dog dared  my newsletter subscribers to do something that is hard for many people: to name 3 of their strengths.

Now, I’m not talking about denying all of the stressful stuff that happens as a parent by sitting around the campfire and singing “Kumbaya” (marshmallows, anyone?). Keeping it real means acknowledging what you’d like to change. However, I happen to think that what you focus on you get more of.  Positive change is so much easier to make when you do it from a positive place, like navigating with your strengths. For one thing, it requires less energy to parent using your strengths, and for another, you actually get energy from using them. So why don’t more moms focus on them? I think it’s counter-intuitive to how our brain is wired to look for danger and problems, PLUS it’s opposite to how our culture operates.

I’m proud to say that many, many moms took me up on my dare to e-mail me at least 3 strengths. I am honored that they a)took the time to honor themselves and b)took the time to share them with me. Without disclosing names, here’s a smattering of the awesomeness I received from these moms:

• I am a work in progress: I care enough about them to work on myself – to be committed to my own growth, and self-expression. I work on being happier as a person so I can mother them even better.
• I’m determined (strength and weakness!) and don’t give up easily.
• With my second and last child, I have been able to pick my battles a *little* better, appreciate him for who he is
     instead of trying to make him into someone he shouldn’t be.
• I know my priorities and stick to them most of the time.I love to communicate/teach/explain to help others succeed.I think I have become more open minded, I am able to look at the bigger picture in many situations.  That helps
   in many situations and can lower stress levels.  Instead of immediately saying NO to my sons requests I can
   step back and realize that saying YES might not hurt anything and would avoid an arguement *bonus*!
• I maintain traditions in their lives, especially connecting them to their extended family
• Intelligent, creative and compassionate
• I enjoy my children everyday and make sure that they are being seen and heard and having a good time too.
• I have never been lax at apologizing to them if I had made a mistake, misunderstood something, reacted to quickly without knowing the whole story, etc.  We are all human, we all make mistakes and it is important to own up to our mistakes so they can learn to do the same!
• I have given myself permission to not feel guilty if I need a time-out from being mom.
• Give lots of hugs.
• Energetic, loving, and authentic!
• I emphasize frequently that there is absolutely nothing my daughter  could say, do or think that would make me not love her. She knows she will always have a place to call home with me. My love is unconditional.

I’m excited to have guest blogger, Connie Hammer, sharing her expertise with us on my blog! Connie is an expert on parenting children with autism, and she will be sharing her on a regular basis. Let’s face it. Mom guilt can rear it’s head in almost any parenting situation, and if you’re parenting a child who has special needs (whether strong willed or autistic or just plain challening for you), you may feel anxious, guilty and overwhelmed. So even if you don’t have a child with autism, Connie’s tips can help you refocus and tap into more energy.

When we first find out we are expecting a baby, we begin to cultivate dreams for our child that we sometimes find difficult to contain. Thanks to advances in science we are able to eliminate the fear of some designated diseases, anticipate the potential for various family traits, and predict the specific gender of our child.  With that as a backdrop for our parenting journey, we start to paint a picture of our new life by developing aspirations for our child’s future along with expectations for a particular emotional relationship with them.

Then reality hits and we all have to put some of our preconceived notions aside and make adjustments to our ways of thinking. Small disappointments about the color of your child’s eyes or the lack of interest in the toys you saved from your childhood are relatively easy to handle. But when your smiling toddler loses her capacity to cuddle or maintain eye contact, or your son’s connection to you slowly dissolves only to be replaced by a fixation with the repetitive motion of some obscure object, it becomes a much more difficult pill to swallow. As the gut feeling in your stomach grows and slowly propels you out of your state of denial, the confirmation of a diagnosis by a doctor is often accompanied by fear, confusion, doubt and guilt.

Despite the verdict of autism, all parents have their own way of coping with or digesting this unwelcome news. Some may be relieved to finally have a term to associate with their child’s distant behavior, some may see it as a life sentence and others will look for explanations as to how this could have happened. Most parents will experience a combination of these feelings but one common denominator for many is a preoccupation with finding fault, which often involves assigning blame to themselves – for something they did or did not do.

This is when parents need to stop and take a step back to that time when the dreams they had for their relationship with their child was full of potential. The question of the day becomes – Does a diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder really limit my emotional connection to my child? All children are wired differently and our child’s emotional availability will depend on where your child lies on the autism spectrum. Lamenting about being short changed or possibly having done something to cause the condition of autism will not move anyone closer together. Expending your limited energy on blame and guilt is unproductive and wasteful. So how does a parent of a child with autism put their time and energy to better use?

The pain of realizing your child may never display the level of physical affection that you had hoped for is not to be treated lightly. A situation such as this calls for a certain type of mindset and shift in perspective. As adults we tend to make the mistake of expecting our children to conform to our world but a much more productive approach, especially with autistic children, is to invade ‘their world’. The more a parent can experience the world through an autistic lens, the more one can easily understand and accept their child’s unique way of relating.  Making an effort to enter into your child’s world will help you discover the particular nuances in his or her behavior that signify a real connection to you. So if you find yourself in this situation, I challenge you to put your energy to better use.  Look upon your circumstance as a new adventure and focus on playing detective. Become alert and watchful for those slight gestures and signs that say “I care” – you may be pleasantly surprised at what you find. That blank stare focused in your direction may be saying a lot more than you think. 

Connie Hammer, MSW, consultant, parent educator and PCI certified parent coach, supports parents of young children recently diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder by uncovering abilities and changing possibilities. If you are looking for simple ways to fine-tune your parent-child connection, get your FREE ecourse and weekly parenting tips on how to create the family life you desire and deserve, visit http://www.parentcoachingforautism.com

In a previous

One of my core messages to moms is: It doesn’t have to be that way. Mom guilt does not have to be a part of your life.

 I’m a mom, and I know that the culture we live in doesn’t make it any easier for us tap into what really matters. The message of the parenting culture screams, “Look ‘out there’ to see where the answers are to how you’re doing. Read this book. Watch this show. Look at what that mom is doing and do it.” Since we’re busy, it’s easy to listen to the culture; after all, we live in it. Oh, and let’s not forget the fast pace of our culture–the culture would have us be so busy that we don’t have time to slow down.In case my semi-ranting makes you wonder,  I’m not “anti-culture.” I AM pro-truth. And the truth is…..the culture doesn’t always have your best interests at heart.

There’s a yin and a yang to everything, which means that there’s some good in the larger culture. In my mom’s generation, moms often didn’t talk as freely about what scared them, stressed them, angered them, confused them. They didn’t have books and websites to help them realize that what they were experiencing was “normal.” They were just expected to “buck up” and “deal with it.” I’m grateful that our current culture is one where moms can be real about what’s keeping them awake at night so they can support one another. And, when we’re clear on who we are, what strengths we bring to the table, and what kind of kids we want to raise, parenting resources can be quite helpful. But nowadays, there is so MUCH for moms to pay attention to in order to parent “well” it can make your head spin.

 Or your gut wrench.

 Or inspire guilt about “doing it wrong.”

So the reasons why I think mom guilt makes your butt look fat are:

• There’s a ton of parenting info out there on how to tame tantrums, how to get your child to sleep, how to do pretty much anything you want to do as a mom. But here’s the rub. Most of it conflicts. “Always practice co-sleeping so you bond with your child and she’ll grow up confident.” “Never sleep with your child! That raises a child that’s dependent on you, plus it’s dangerous.”
• We’re not clear on how we or our child are “wired,” our temperament. This is a biggie. If you’re extroverted and crave being around people, and your child is introverted and craves staying at home playing by herself, you may feel frustrated that your needs conflict with your child’s. Or, you may wonder if your child is too shy and if something is wrong with her. Do not understimate this idea of “goodness of fit” (the interplay of your and your child’s temperament) and how it can make parenting harder.
• We’re not clear on how we fill back up when our energy is depleted, OR we feel guilty about taking the time to fill back up (see “busy culture” rant at top of post!). Or, we think we “should” love going out for margaritas with our girlfriends as a way to refuel, when really, we’d rather curl up with a good book, and pet the cat.
• We compare our insides with other mom’s outsides. See that mom over there? You know, the one with the perfect hair and clothes, whose kids are impeccably dressed and her car doesn’t have old food crumbs in it? It’s easy to look at her, compare yourself and think, “Ugh. I’m not like that. I feel so guilty…” The truth is you don’t know what’s going on inside that mom. She has her own demons she’s wrestling with, trust me.
• We haven’t created our own personal “filter” for what parenting info to let in and what to let go of. If we feel guilty, chances are good that our filter’s holes are too big and not selective enough.

I’m glad that mom guilt is popular enough to be talked about in the mainstream culture because moms deserve relief. But I FIRMLY believe that it is a lie, a HUGE lie, that motherhood and guilt just have to go together because “that’s just the way it is.”

You can find your core, create your own filter, and live guilt-free.

And enjoy parenting.

And that’s the truth.

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 is it a great

 stroke to my ego, I shamelessly admit, but it is also a validation that I

 continue to add value to my clients and positively impacting their lives.

However, the same is not true when we receive a complaint, right?

Hopefully this is something that occurs very rarely!How do you respond? How

do you handle criticism?  A woman approached me after I spoke at a women’s

breakfast recently and asked me how she should respond to a negative letter

 she had received. After a brief discussion, it was clear the person writing the

 letter was not going to be pleased from the start. First, she complained about

 the fees—after the services began. She continuously grumbled at every turn. And

then, she refused to pay part of the bill for added services.

Has something similar ever happen to you? How would you respond?

I shared with her the fact that you cannot have really, really good without

having really, really bad. It is what is referred to as The Law of Polarity.

Everything has its opposite. Up has down, in has out, big has small, etc.

So, you cannot have someone saying great things about you without

someone saying something bad. It is part of growing and evolving.

Miguel don Ruiz mentioned is his book, The Four Agreements, people do

not say or do things TO you, they say or do things FOR them.

That means that when someone praises or criticizes you, don’t take it

personally. It is not about you, it is about them—what they feel or think.

The only thing you are responsible for is to always do your best with what

you have and do what you are meant to do. How others react to what you

give is not in your control.

So, as you continue to go about your business and serving with your gifts

and talents, know that receiving criticism is part of the course.

Stay focused on the value you provide, do the best you can and pay more

attention to the praises than the criticism. It is not about you, so don’t take

it personally!

© 2009-2010 The Business Of You, Inc.

 Award-Winning Entrepreneur, Coach, National Speaker and Author, Jo Della Penna publishes The

Business of You E-Zine with over 1,500+ subscribers. If you’re ready to jump-start your

business, make more money, and have more joy and excitement in your life, get your

FREE tips now at www.TheBusinessofYou.com.

1. I won’t be dieting. Let me be clear that I want to lose weight and feel healthy and energetic. BUT…I won’t be doing anything that focuses on calorie restriction or making certain foods “bad” (this is hard for me because I have strong feelings about organic, vegan foods). I’ve been down that road, and found it to be a dead-end that has no new scenery (and it doesn’t take me anywhere no matter how many times I’ve been down it–and I HAVE been down it).  So what will I do instead? Not entirely sure. But I do know that it will have something to do with intuitive eating and moving my body more.
2. I won’t be clamoring to “get organized” in ways that my born-organized friends do. I can learn from them and incorporate pieces of what they do. But seriously. I’ve got to start honoring my (piling) style. No, I don’t want to keep the piles. But the reason I pile is that I’m visual. So I want to honor that. My born organized friends can file things away and then find them. Me, not so much. So while I don’t know exactly what I’ll be doing to get organized, I DO know I won’t be doing what I think I “should” be doing. Make sense? Organized, for me, may look different than what I or others think it “should” look like. This is actually true for me about parenting, and, well, life in general. No more imitating and praying for the same results as someone else. I don’t want to divulge how many organizing books I have on my shelves!
3. I won’t be perfecting my “persona”  at the expense of being authentic. Building an online business, it’s too easy for me to hide behind my brand “The Guilt Free Mom” and speak only from the expert, professional standpoint. In the past, the tone of my newsletters and e-mails has been rather impersonal and distanced. I still believe in being relevant to my readers and clients–I just want to do so with more transparency and intimacy. In short, I want to connect, but in a more intimate way.
4. I won’t be giving up coffee. I love the stuff. My two cups of day may go down to one, but that’s it. One of the nutritional gurus I adore, Dr. Joel Fuhrman, makes a compelling case for not needing stimulants to start the day, or get through it. I so agree with him on that point (and everything else he espouses). But here’s the deal. I already have a love/hate affair with sugar and with eating while stressed. I’m willing to address those issues, but for the time being, the coffee stays. For now.
5. I won’t be aspiring to be the perfect mom. One of my strengths and downfalls is that I am an idealist. This is great when it comes to coaching moms and helping them see the best in themselves. However, it’s not so great when it comes to idealizing what I should be doing as a mother (there’s that “should” word again). Yeah, I know the merits of chore charts (I should–I’ve started and stopped several of them), of organic, whole food for my children (no Cheez-Its for dinner?!), of limiting juice drinks (empty calories), of setting them up for a healthy adulthood and setting me up for a guilt-free old age. But even though I’ve tended to get excited by the idea of being this intentional, near- perfect mom (I can so see her in my head!), I also get 1) overwhelmed and 2) stuck in guilt and perfectionism. So this year, I won’t even aspire towards being The Perfect Mom. In her place will be….me. Of course, I won’t let the kids eat nothing but junk food and do whatever they want–but I’m not going to start the year beating myself up about an ideal that I’ll never reach.

So there they are. My declarations of “I won’ts.” The coach in me is clamoring to ask myself, “Okay, now we know what you don’t want. So, what do you want?” But for now, I’m going to let myself bask in the clarity of what I don’t want and what I won’t do.

Because it feels like self-acceptance.

And that’s a good place to start for 2010, or anytime.

As a mother, do you look forward to the holiday season?

1.  1. Keep your expectations in check, and get clear on what you want. What would a stress-free, guilt-free holiday look like for YOU? Never mind what your friends, neighbors, or even relatives want. If you were to have the holiday season unfold in a way that was just the way you want it, what would that look like? For me, it means minimal parties, lots of little traditions that don’t cost much (like reading holiday stories with my kids), enjoying the music of the season, and at least 20 minutes of alone time every day (Did you just snort with laughter at the thought of daily alone time ever happening? Hey, even ten minutes makes a difference, so at least try to sneak away to your bedroom for some peace and quiet!).  For one of my friends, however, keeping stress at bay means being around lots of people; it’s how she gets energized. Even though she’s not big on traditions (they went to the beach in Mexico for the holidays one year), she loves to bake and deliver the goodies to people, volunteer at a shelter, and hold elaborate holiday dinner parties. Just thinking about her schedule makes me tired! The key is to be clear on what a stress-free holiday experience looks like to you. Once you know what you need to stay out of melt-down mode you can create holiday experiences that match who you are.  If you feel guilty for focusing on what you need to avoid stress because it somehow seems selfish, remember that your kids need a calm mama with healthy boundaries more than any other holiday experience! If mama ain’t happy….
2. As a family, talk about what each person loves about the holidays and wants to be sure to include. See? You can let go of any guilt you’re feeling because you are now proactively thinking about your family members’ needs, as well as your own! At the beginning of the holiday season, ask each person what experiences they love most about the holidays. With young kids, you may have to ask the question a few different times, in a few different ways, to get beyond the answer, “Getting presents!” It can be helpful to write down everyone’s responses on a piece of paper (or better yet, poster board) so everyone’s input is taken into consideration. Note which family members are more introverted and like their downtime; they might be easily over-stimulated with too many parties. Also note whose answers seem like they crave being with others; they’ll need this outside stimulation to be their best. You might be surprised at how you can avoid melt-downs just  by being clear on a)what holiday experiences each family member values most, and b)how much down-time each person needs to ward off stress.
3. Practice the power of gratitude and appreciation by keeping a gratitude list. There’s just nothing like taking stock of all the good that’s already present in your life to give you that much-needed energy to enjoy the holidays. For example, as I was driving to meet a client today, I started thinking about all the thank you cards and gifts I wanted to send to various people. Immediately, I felt overwhelmed. But then I had another thought: “How amazing that I have this ‘problem’ of sending out thank yous; it means I have awesome people in my life that have touched it in some way and I want to be sure to thank them.”  All of a sudden, I saw myself as blessed. I was proud that I could turn the thought around and see the good in the situation. I’ll definintely be writing about this on my gratitude list tonight! By the way, I’m not disciplined enough to keep a “gratitude journal.” However, by calling it a “list” I take the pressure off myself to write a ton. This doesn’t have to be hard in order to be effective!

Really, one of the best gifts you can give yourself and your family is to focus on what really matters to you during this holiday season. Let go of activities or traditions that stress you out, and keep the ones that bring meaning and joy to your life. In the end, all we really have are our memories, so go create some peaceful, stress-free and guilt-free ones!

I must confess. There are times that working from home  and seeing the housework that awaits  really bums me out.

For me, the positives from working from home as a mompreneur far outweigh the negatives. When I think back to being a technical writer or a teacher, I remember how stressed I was to have to work on someone else’s terms. Sick days were cause for a mommy melt-down, as finding a substitute teacher (particularly when I taught emotionally disturbed kids) was often impossible. Other stresses were that I often didn’t agree with the way the organizations were run; I wasn’t able to tap into my strengths and creativity in ways that nourished me. Running my own business feeds that creative part of me that thrives on autonomy and innovation. So, here are my top 3 reasons I think being a mompreneur rocks:

1. I’m the boss, applesauce! I’m in charge of my own destiny. Like it or not, my success or failure is, in large part, up to me. While this often scares the pants off me, it also exhilarates and delights me.
2. I am doing something I am passionate about and that feels like spiritual work.  This is big. Nowadays, motherhood can be a competitive sport, and mompreneurs are not immune to this. I get to be part of a movement to help moms use their strengths so they can be leaders in their fields and leaders with their kids. How awesome is that?
3. I’m on a roller-coaster ride of self-growth. I’ve learned more about myself in my four years of being a mompreneur than I ever could’ve imagined. There have been times I’ve wanted off this wild ride, but overall, I’m a better person for it. I’m learning to be less driven by my ego and more about service. I’m constantly learning new ideas about growing my business and how to help my clients. I’m learning patience and perseverance. Being a mompreneur has shined a light on my strengths and my weaknesses. I’ve learned to be open to new ideas and viewpoints and to let go and laugh.

So what’s the one way being a mompreneur doesn’t  rock? This would have to be that I am constantly wrestling with my passion for my business and my passion for my family. It’s common that I’m thinking about a blog post or a podcast, while in the middle of reading to my daughters. I know, I know. This isn’t being mindful. But I’m being real here. I love what I do and I love my family. And because I work from home in my own biz, I am constantly deciding where to give my attention. Sometimes I feel like I am juggling a bunch of balls while riding on a roller coaster!

But mostly I feel grateful to be doing what I’m doing. I’m modeling for my daughters how to take initiative, start something you believe in, succeed, fail, learn, learn some more, and create.

And that just rocks.

BizMom’s “Secrets Revealed” Retreat

November 7-8, 2009, Salt Lake City, Utah

As a Millionaire Mindset BizMom have you ever…
…hidden in a closet so your kids can’t find you while you made a business call?
…raced through a fast food joint to feed the family in time to meet a deadline?
….spent hours strip searching your desk for that important piece of paper?
….been drowning in email “Quick Sand”?
….had a child in “melt down” while you were on the phone?
…felt like you were running way-past “empty” just trying to get it all done?

Chances are you have attended educational conferences and hired expensive coaches to help you grow your business, but have you ever had an opportunity to invest in blending your family life with your business? That’s what the “Secrets Revealed” Retreat is all about.

In just two days you’ll see, feel and learn first-hand the secrets that will take the STRUGGLING out of the JUGGLING of running a business and a busy family simultaneously.

Here are just a few of the take-aways from organizing expert Debbye Cannon and parenting expert Karen Bierdeman:

* Your personalized, automatic meal system to save you 10+ hours a week and still have “good’ meals. (Turning this time into income = $500+ more per week!)

* Proven strategies for succeeding with that “head strong” child. (Priceless!)

* Long lasting office organizing systems that support your unique business for higher productivity. (Estimated savings of 5 hours per week to use for sleep or personal fitness-we know that’s what you give up first!)

* Communication secrets that create a peaceful environment in your home and office.

* Speed shopping SMARTcuts^TM so you have what you need, when you need it. (Save 2 hours per week. Work 1 hour and get a massage with the other!)

* Creating cooperative support teams that share the load at home and in the office so you are doing less work. (You didn’t even know that was possible did you?)

This is the first (and maybe once in a lifetime) chance to see behind the curtain and immerse yourself in a high functioning, flexibily organized home and home office AND get personalized parent coaching all in one FUN weekend. Not only that, but we’ve even set up a kids’ “Day Camp” in case you need (or want) to make it a “mom and me adventure”!

Your final question…what’s it cost? Sign up now for just $1497. We’ve even included local transportation, meals and supplies. Optional: airfare, hotel (we’ve got a sweet deal for you) and Day Camp. Three pay option available ($525 ea).

You knew it was coming…here’s your “call to action” because there are only EIGHT tiny little spots for this incredible life changing retreat. So reserve TODAY before it’s too late, we ONLY have room for 8!

Contact me now to reserve your spot!
Debbye(at)BizMomMentor.com Subject Line: Retreat