Interview with Joyce from Mommy Talk Show

*Update Below*

Today I want to introduce you again to a wonderful woman and mom. My friend, Joyce, has a website over at Mommy Talk Show where she brings Atlanta businesses and moms together. She is an Emmy award winning TV anchor. After the birth of her son, she decided to stay at home with her sweet little boy, A.J. Using her television, parenting, and business skills, she decided to start her website, Mommy Talk Show, so she can bring her passions together.

Joyce and I have decided to have a cross conversational blog talk so our readers can get to know each other. Here are some questions I thought others moms would want to know.

Joyce, how do you manage your stay at home work schedule and parenting? How do you juggle being a mom, wife, and business owner?

Many moms, like myself, have reported feeling guilty for staying at home. Have you had to handle criticism or guilt for staying at home and not returning to your former position? If not, have you had any conflicted feelings about staying at home and building your business?

Where do you want to take Mommy Talk Show? Can you elaborate on what you have in store for Mommy Talk Show and your goals?

I can’t wait to hear the answers! I will post when Joyce has answered the questions.

*Update* Joyce has answered my questions. You can view her response on her website Mommy Talk Show.

House Cleaning Schedule Template

House Cleaning Schedule

Here is a basic house cleaning schedule template I created for general cleaning in all rooms.

Here is a bathroom cleaning schedule printable.

Here is the kitchen cleaning schedule printable.

***ATTENTION: If you like these schedules, you might be interested in my Blissful Homemaking website. Please check it out at BlissfulHomemaking.com or like the Blissful Homemaking Facebook page. I realized that “cleaning schedules” probably don’t fit Counselor Mom that much, so I made a website about the home.

Stay at Home? Start Blogging

A lot of people ask about making money online. I have found many friends out there in the blogging community that have listed posts on their website about how to make money blogging. I will compile the list here.

I would like to say that all bloggers say something similar: find an area of blogging you enjoy and tackle it. Also, when you choose your domain name “brand name”, get your own name, which is stated on all “how to blog” sites I’ve been on. For example, you can read this article from Penny Pinchin Mom. Oh here is ANOTHER website that states how to pick your own domain name.

I plan to start a series for everyone, so right now your goal is to choose your area of interest and domain name. Check back soon.

Clutter Drives Me Bonkers

Today I was having one of those days. My house is always cluttered it seems. I know with kids it is almost impossible to have a clean house. Those LITTLE toys drive me bonkers. I have been on a declutter rampage for a few weeks now. I will pick an area and thoroughly clean it out. Too bad nobody can tell that I do clean. Why weeks to declutter? Well, maybe it is the perfectionism inside of me.

If I am going to “winter clean”, I want it done right. As you may have read previously, I reviewed Money Saving Mom’s new book. Her book suggests tackling an the entire house in one weekend and get it done with. I wish it could only take me one weekend.

I am a bit overwhelmed with the three things in our house…okay 4 things….okay 5 things…nope, 6 things that drives me crazy in my cluttered house:

• Baby clothes- We may have a 3rd child one day. So, we want to keep certain clothes so we don’t have to purchase a bunch of clothes again in the future. The problem is I am overwhelmed with the organizing of the amount of clothing we have. My sister-in-law has given me all of my niece’s clothes for my daughter. She has tons of clothes. I am sorting through some clothes that I don’t want because I honestly do not have the room for it all. I still need to sort through my son’s old clothes. However, it takes time, something that I can’t seem to find.
• Mail: I have tried to go paperless, but I still get a bunch of paper. I try to sort it right then, but some of the mail needs to be looked at it later. I have 3 different areas to keep mail, not including the shred pile. Don’t get me started on all the ads and junk mail I get.
• Scrapbook stuff- I have kept momentos and drawings from both of my children over the years. I am behind on scrapbooking so I can organize what momentos I really want to keep. I unfortunately have stayed behind on keeping their baby books up to date.
• Email Overload- I have been unsubscribing from things left and right. By law, all companies are suppose to give you the option to unsubscribe from emails. I have several different email addresses for my different websites. However, my personal accounts have been overloaded with retail stores and affiliate email newsletters.
• Laundry- Because we have yet to organize my children’s clothing, we have had a problem folding and hanging up their laundry. Ok, this problem is really in my daughter’s room. My son has a huge closet. However, my daughter’s closet is cluttered with clothes that need to go to the attic.
• Floors- We have nice hardwood floors that my husband installed. However, with hardwood or tile, you can always see pine needles or any dirt that gets on the floor. I am constantly sweeping and vacuuming the floors. However, after 12 hours, it is dirty again.

Stay at Home Mom: A Day In The Life

Dear Parents,

Today on Facebook I saw this posted. I thought this was so funny. *Disclaimer- I don’t recommend leaving your children unsupervised outside.*

A man came home from work and found his 3 children outside, still in their pyjamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn around garden. The door of his wife’s car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog. Walking in the door, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over and the throw rug wa…s wadded against one wall. In the front room the TV was on loudly with the cartoon channel and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door. He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened.

He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls. As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pyjamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked, “What happened here today?” She again smiled and answered, “You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world do I do all day?” ”Yes,” was his incredulous reply. She answered, “Well, today I didn’t do it…”

-Author Unknown

Mommy Talk Show Giveaway!

Are you a mom who wants to work from home or own your own business? Now is the time for you to learn some new ideas! My friend over at Mommy Talk Show, Joyce Brewer, has just released her first e-book, Use What You Know: A Business Idea Guide for Moms, that she is willing to give to one of my readers for FREE! Joyce is an Emmy Award-winning TV journalist. She recently moved to Atlanta and has started her own business, the Mommy Talk Show.

Please watch her video below and then find out the details on how you can WIN her hot off the shelves e-book!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmhWqNRza7U&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

To win this e-book, you must do the following:

1. Subscribe to Mommy Talk Show’s RSS feed or Get posts Via E-Mail.

2. Subscribe to the Mommy Talk Show Monthly Newsletter.

3. Confirm BOTH of these subscriptions via e-mail.

4. Make a comment on THIS post and say that you entered.

This giveaway will end on October 31, 2011. A winner will be randomly drawn from the list of people who completed all of the steps.

Best Stay at Home Jobs

After staying at home for a couple of years, I have an idea of what the best stay at home jobs are. It’s not necessarily easy to find a job staying at home, but it is definitely a possibility.

Become a Virtual Assistant (VA)- I am currently a virtual assistant for a popular coupon blog. My job is to write blog posts for her as a ghostwriter. The task of a virtual assistant is totally up to the blog owner, so you might be hired to do something else and not write blog posts. It is helpful if you know a little bit about WordPress, plugins, or at least blogging. How did I find this job? My friend hooked me up. In a world where I am not the biggest fan of how networking seems to be the only way to get a job, this time it worked in my favor. If you do not know any bloggers, I suggest you ask on legitimate forums or email bloggers to see if they are hiring

Start Your Own Business- This is the hard route. I have several websites that I’m attempting to profit off of. You can make money via affiliate marketing and advertisements. I plan to start a series on this topic, so check back. In the mean time, if you Google blogging for money or visit ProBlogger.net, I’m sure you will learn quite a bit. You can also work for a company like Mary Kay, Thirty One Gifts, etc and sell real products by hosting “parties” to sell these goods.

Medical Transcriptionist- There are tons of scams out there advertising this job. However, there are also REAL medical transcriptionist jobs. I suggest you start researching about the medical transcriptionist field here  to see what educational requirements you need. A company that offers this position without requiring certain educational requirements might not be legitimate. So do your research!

Web Designer: Even if you know how to create a blot button or header, you can sell your services even if you don’t know how to create a full web design. Market yourself online and trying to establish a business selling your web creations!

Selling Goods: Don’t want to sell for Mary Kay? You could sell goods or virtual goods online. Sell items on eBay, Craigslist, etc for cash. You can accept payment through PayPal. If you don’t have anything to sell, this is where affiliate/internet marketing comes into play and you can sell items online. Being an Amazon Affiliate is a good place to start.

Write: There are several routes to go with this. You can write for Suite101, Examiner, and other similar companies. However, there is no quick cash and it takes time to get money. You could also become a writer for someone online and get paid per post. WarriorForum.com and there is a forum on ProBlogger.net where people are looking to hire writers by the post.

Call Center Representative: I highly recommend you start looking at WAHM.com forums to see where many women (and men) are working. (Again, check back, I will be posting a series about this also).

Please consider bookmarking this page or subscribing to my feed to get the latest updates!

Photo Credit

Depression of the Stay at Home Mom Revisted

In the past I’ve discussed stay at home moms who feel depressed. I’m not talking about post partum depression, I’m referring to the depression a mom feels when she feels like she is stuck in a rut. I’ve been experiencing a little bit of that this week. I can honestly say it is because again, I feel uneasy about the future. After the last article I criticized that said stated stay at home moms are basically ruining their job chances if they stay at home, it made be ponder my own future.

I think the problem with staying at home for me personally are these things:

• I don’t get out of the house enough, although I preach it to others!
• I graduated and immediately stayed home instead of working and then staying at home.

Meal Planning for August 29-September 2

I’ve been behind on my meal planning, so I thought if I wrote it down for all of you to see. Above is an older picture of my daughter enjoying lunch.

Breakfasts

Cereal and Fruit

Eggs and Toast, Fruit

Pop Tarts- (We haven’t bought these in forever! I know, not healthy!), Fruit

French Toast, Fruit

Yogurt

Lunches

PB&J Sandwiches on a Muffin, Chips, Fruit

Cheese Quesadillas, Nachos

Salad with a lot of vegetables

Roast Beef Sandwiches, Fruit

Another round of one of the above

Dinners

Pizza Night

Chicken Burritos X 2 (recipe to come!)

Baked Lemon Chicken with Veggies

Taco Casserole

**I know, doesn’t seem very healthy this week. We are bad about making “Southwest” style dinners!

Snacks

Popcorn

Fruit

Pretzels

Icecream- Once this week

Birthday Ideas for Mom

Need some birthday ideas for your mom or a mom? Well, I have a few ideas on my mind. My birthday is right around the corner. I’m not looking forward to it, but that is a different story. I have come up with a list of ideas that I think are appealing to many moms. I don’t know if you are 18 or 40 reading this post so I’m sure some of these ideas might not be for you. Here are some things on my birthday list:

E-Book Reader- As you can see from the picture above, I really would like a Kindle or some other E-Book reader.

Another pricey idea, but a spa weekend. I would love a night somewhere at a hotel that provides spa services.

I dinner at a restaurant that is not McDonalds.  There are nights when I don’t want to cook…like tonight…

Perfume. Go to Macy’s and find some good quality perfume that smells good.

If you are the crafty type, I would love a scrapbook or photo album of pictures. In case you happen to be a teenager at home looking for a birthday idea for your mom, this one is good. Upload some photos to Snapfish and make a photobook. It truly is a time saver, because moms don’t seem to have enough time for anything.

A mom planner. I would love a planner that is not my iPhone. Sometimes, I just like to write things down.

If you are not the child of a mom, this one is a great idea. Take her kids for the night and let mom have a relaxing evening to herself. I personally would love one night of pure sleep with no interruptions and no obligations.

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