Author: JustAMom

tips and tricks

Help Them Help You

JustAMom

Children are so fascinating, right? I’m currently raising 4 of them! Spanning from 5 months to 12 years old.

One thing I’ve learned over the years with mine, if you help them do a chore at a young age, they do it much easier and better. You’re not only helping them, but you’re teaching them.

Children can’t read your mind so they don’t know that you want that toy in that box or this toy in that corner. Their little minds usually don’t pay attention either at first. But after a while and after getting a routine they do catch on.

Yelling at them doesn’t help either of you!! It stresses you out more than you probably already are and it stresses them out. It also makes them feel insecure and misunderstood. It also teaches them that yelling is ok. Has your child ever yelled at you when they’re angry or frustrated? They got that from you home girl!

Instead, walk into the bedroom with them. Sit on the floor where there is a mess. Pick one or two toys up at a time, hand it to your little one and tell them where you want the toy to go and point to the location. Don’t yell it or tell them in a bossy type way. Be sweet about it with a smile. Trust me, you’ll get a much better reaction.

If the living room or toy room is a mess and covered in toys, ask your little one “hey can you come help me with the living room/toy room?”. Help them do it. Let them take over while you go grab the vacuum or broom. Tell them “clean while I go grab the vacuum or broom”. Tell them that if they finish picking up they can help you sweep or vacuum when you return.

I hope this little trick helps you as much as it’s helped me over the years!

As always! Thanks for stopping by and come back tomorrow for more tips and stories!

tips and tricks

We saved $20k in a year

JustAMom

How we saved $20,000 in one year!

We’re a family of 6. We have bills to pay just like you. We don’t have a house note so that helps a tons! And that leads me to my first tip!

If you really want to save money over the years, try not to have a big house note or vehicle payment when you’re still in your 20’s.

Buying used and cheap is not a bad thing. America is accustomed to believe new is better! And by all means, it probably is. But only if you can afford it.

If you can pay in full now, even if it’s $3000, imagine what you’ll be able to do in a few years when you’ve saved all that money by not paying $700 a month on a car payment.

Don’t rent your home! Sometimes that’s your only option, and that’s ok! But while your renting, keep an eye out for a great deal and SAVE your money! If you’re just trying to make ends meet this month, look around your house and see if there’s something you never use anymore. Sell it! There’s your savings for that month.

Great deals pop up every day. It may not be your ideal property or home, but look at it as an investment. A starter home. You’re beginning your new journey from home renters to home owners!

While you live there just make essential repairs and improvements and save save save! Don’t put to much into your “starter” home tho. Unless you plan on being there 3+ years.

No matter what, live below your means! That’s a big one!!

My last point! We have 3 vehicles and 1 car note. We just recently added on the car note. But we have a side job that pays it! It’s still not brand new and still within our means. But we went years with vehicles that had to have ALOT of attention and because of that we were able to get our “new” vehicle. On a side note, it does help that the hubby is a good mechanic and so is his dad. But anyone can learn to do normal maintenance, if they’ll take the time!

So yeah! That’s how we saved $20k in one year! To sum it up!

  • Live below your means
  • Don’t rent
  • Don’t add a vehicle payment unless you do have the option to pay for it in full but choose to finance
  • Save every chance you get, even if it’s $20. If you can’t save from your pay check, MAKE it happen. Sell something or get a side job.

I hope this helps someone! I just wish I would’ve learned all of this when I was 18 and not piece by piece over a few years at 30.

As always! Thanks for stopping by and be sure to come back tomorrow!

tips and tricks

Ssshhh.. we don’t talk about that

JustAMom

A lot of woman don’t talk about what happens after giving birth. Or at least not a lot of things.

Here are a few things I did with my last pregnancy.

First! You’re going to bleed ALOT! Like a massive period that lasts for a good 4-6 weeks. There’s not much you can do about this. But one thing I did to make things a tiny bit easier. I used Depends instead of the giant pads they give you at the hospital. I only used them for the first week or two. But they were a life/bed sheets/clothes saver!

I bought two sizes. One was my normal pregnancy size. The second was a size up. I wound up using both sizes.

Second! I only breast fed my second baby. She was so tiny and still is. But, a bonus to breast feeding is that you loose your baby weight super quick. Or that’s how it was for me.

When you nurse, you contract. You need contractions to help your body go back to its normal size and to get all of the left over baby junk out and also to get everything back in its place. I’m sure there’s more medical reasons to this. But that’s my view on it.

Third! Tylenol and Motrin work just as good as prescription pain medicine.

Fourth! Don’t buy tons and tons of newborn clothes. Chances are your baby will only be in newborn for a very VERY short period. We didn’t buy very many outfits and he still didn’t wear a few of them. Buy a mixture. Newborn, 3-month, and 3-6 month.

And make sure you stock up on burp clothes. I did not and wish I had! We usually run out before the next washing and we have to use rags.

Fifth! Don’t buy a lot of one type of bottle. Just because they like said bottle right now, does not mean they’ll like it in a week or two. It took me about 4 months to figure out which bottles Ricket likes.

These are just a few things I wish I would’ve known/done before. I’m sure I’ll be back with another list soon!

If you have any tips or advice for new mamas, leave them in the comments of this post!

As always, thanks for stopping by and be sure to come back tomorrow for more interesting blogs!

tips and tricks

Todays world is expensive!

JustAMom

In todays world, EVERYTHING is expensive! The gas is crazy and the groceries are ridiculous. People are struggling to pay rent and bills. People are paying more for groceries, gas, and bills than they make. Most people are living pay check to pay check.

I’m an assistant teacher, so my pay is definitely not great. Even teachers with a masters degree don’t make what they honestly should be making.

Here’s a few things I’ve done just to make ends meet.

1. Mercari. It’s a free app where you can sell stuff. You can sell just about anything from babies clothes and items to home decor. We’ve even sold guitar hook ups and fishing gear.

We’re currently in the process of remodeling a home and financing is not an option for us. We want to pay everything in full and we’ve been successful so far. But, I had to go on maternity leave for just over 6 weeks, and that’s put a damper on our finances. So I currently have a pile of stuff on my couch that is posted on the app or is ready to be posted.

2. Cleaning services. My husband and I clean an office building once a week. We use this check strictly for our vehicle payment. It’s just enough to cover it and we probably couldn’t live comfortably nor do the things we do without this small income.

3. Fill in baby sitter. I have 4 children and 1 of them has a very busy schedule. I also work August-May. So babysitting full time is not really an option for me. But I will fill in when a baby sitter calls in sick. No one ever thinks about doing this either. Just advertise with social media and word of mouth.

I hope these small 3 tips help you out of your bind. It’s not a get rich quick scheme, by no means. But it may just help you get to your next pay check.

As always. If you have any great tips and tricks that you want to share with me, leave them in the comments of this post.

heat wave

Water park during a heat wave?

JustAMom
Geyser Falls Water Theme Park in Philadelphia MS. From left to right: me, my husband Jamie, a family friend Ashley, my niece Chloe, my daughter Mags, my son Eli, my daughter Morgan and my Step Dad Clark.

I know what you’re thinking! A water park is the perfect place to be during a heat wave. Or.. maybe you’re thinking “who goes to a hot water park during a heat wave?” Either way! DON’T DO IT!! When I say heat wave, I mean record breaking heat in Mississippi!

If you do, a little motherly advice! Don’t let your pre teen wear anything BUT cheap 50 cent flip flops from Walmart! And we didn’t just have one preteen, no sir!! We had 3! And NONE of them wore 50 cent flip flops. In fact, they didn’t even wear flip flops! Insert palm to face here!

Number 1. The concrete was so flipping hot that about mid day you couldn’t even walk on it. I mean it was painful to even step foot in front of foot! Even running didn’t help. And not to mention by the time it was so hot that we had to run, our feet were already blistered and tender. So running honestly felt like we were ripping skin from the bottom of our feet. But hey, I got my cardio in for the day in multiple ways!

Number 1.5 (because we’re still on the hot concrete topic) I’ve never been to a decent water park that didn’t have a 20 plus minute wait to get on an attraction. But waiting on hot concrete is a no go! Y’all we ran! I felt like I was back in high school running stadiums! Running up concrete stairs to the tippy top of this free fall slide was definitely one way to lock in your ticket on this slide. No way you’re changing your mind once you got up there and realization sets in that you’re 32 years old and about to basically jump off of a cliff. A cliff that you haven’t jumped off of since you were a pre teen and hadn’t had 4 kids and brittle bones and aches that pop up out of no man’s land! Or maybe that’s the way to do it. To set your fate with the massive free fall slide! You decide! Also, maybe I should’ve already mentioned this. You couldn’t take your shoes. You had to leave them at the bottom of the slide.

That brings us to number 2. There are three slides to choose from at the top. You have a “three fall” where you hit three humps on your way down. You have “free fall” where you jump off the cliff. THEN you have “night fall”!! It’s a fully inclosed tube that twist and turns and free falls at every turn! It’s not bad UNTIL you’re in a heat wave. It’s pitch black and it’s HOT. You honestly feel like your breathing in bodily fluids, chlorine, carbon dioxide, and maybe a touch of oxygen. There’s literally steam coming out of each end of the tube! Just don’t do it! Unless you’re good with not breathing oxygen. Then go for it!

Number 3. People stink! Including yourself! Sure you have water cooling you down and washing the sweat from your body, but the smell of your clothes! Have you ever been sweating, cooled off, started sweating again and then cooled off again? That’s the smell of every person at the water park! It’s just stink mixed with sunscreen. And it’s EVERYBODY! Don’t think you’re excluded! Because you’re not unless you just don’t swim or cool off. Then you have to stand a foot apart in long miserable lines and breath in everybody else’s stank and disposed air.

Number 4. The pre teens were hot, tired and bored after about 2 hours. Their feet were cooked. The lines were long. They were hungry and the food was expensive. They were just DONE!

Number 5. The sunscreen doesn’t work unless you reapply every 30 minutes! Don’t ask me why because I’m not a doctor by no means. But we applied and reapplied every hour. We still burned!! And we used 50 spf… and no it was not expired! If you have advice on this, please give it to me!! TIA!

Lastly, number 6. DRINK WATER!!!

tips and tricks

Just Breathe

JustAMom

This morning… hmmm.. well Ricket did sleep in, so I got that going for me! (If you’re lost on a name, refer back to my first post). But boy! He is fighting his sleep at nap time something fierce now a days. He has had a pretty decent sleep schedule since summer started. Wakes up the same time every morning, naps the same time every day, and bed same time every night.

But, the last few weeks have been rough. When he’s tired he wants to be held. But not just held and rocked. He wants to be held and walked around on your hip. IF you can pop the bottle in his mouth for more than 20 seconds while he’s squirming and fighting, you’re good to go. He will gradually fall asleep.

These tips and tricks I’ve learned over the last few days have helped tremendously!!

He’s just starting to hold his bottle. So, if I lay him down on my bed and let him hold his bottle, he does SO MUCH better! He can squirm and get comfy how he wants and he’s not stopped by my arms or stuck in one position. He usually even falls asleep like this.

If I can keep him still long enough, I can rub his little face and eyes. He usually will either fall asleep or he’ll relax enough to drink his bottle. I just gently run my thumb and index finger in circles up his nose, over his eye brows, then under his eyes back to his nose.

Sometimes, if it’s day time and a little bright, I can give him his favorite blanket or a rag. He’ll pull it just over his eyes and he’ll relax and usually fall asleep. This is usually with him holding his own bottle. But then sometimes he’ll finish his bottle and try to eat the rag. Face palm now.

These are just a few tricks I’ve figured out that works for him. You may not have the same outcome. But, if you’re at your wits end like I’ve been lately, it’s worth a shot.

Good luck mama!! If you have any other tips or tricks you think I should try, just leave them in the comments section of this post!

Introduction, Uncategorized

I am Just A Mom

JustAMom

Hello. My name is Heather Martin. I am a mom of 4, a wife, a baby sister, a daughter and step daughter, an aunt, and a very busy woman!!

I have a 12 year old (Maggie aka Mags) going into Jr High and we are just beginning a new adventure with volley ball, band, and beta.

I have a 7 year old (Morgan) that is going into 2nd grade and is starting a new adventure in a talented and gifted program.

I have a 4 year old (Eli) that would’ve started k4, but we didn’t survive k3, so we’re going to revisit our journey in k5. More on this subject on a later date.

And last but not least, I have a 5 month old (Steven Tate aka Ricket). We are on an adventure with a weak eye muscle (more on this later), scooting, formula shortages, trying out new baby foods, and discovering and learning all kinds of new things!

My story is COMPLICATED!! It’s crazy!! So buckle up butter cup, the ride will be bumpy!! Like Mississippi roads bumpy! But I hope you enjoy the ride and be sure to return regularly! Also, thank you for stopping by!!