It’s 7:30 am and I’ve been awake for about an hour. Checked email, posted to a few forums, almost made it through my first cup of coffee. Oh I love the peace and quiet and wish I had more of it! LOL Today is a busy day for me and I’m hoping that by being up early and having time to myself proves a good thing!

Today we have a doctor’s appointment for the baby (9 month checkup), I have to make a quick trip to the store, and tonight is Family Game Night! Wonder what game it will be tonight: Life, Monopoly, Nickelodeon Trivia, hmmmm. Doesn’t matter to me cause I love any game we play because that means we have time together!

I also need to squeeze in a few hours worth of work because yesterday I got interrupted by a thunderstorm and had to shut ‘er down early. I have a few articles that I need to write and need to work with my buddy Jenn of ResumeASAP on one of my websites.

I also need to review the interview questions that Nell sent to me yesterday for the Telecommuting Moms Month interview that I have been asked to do! I’m so excited about this: you just have no idea. I am doing the interview in July and TMoms Month is in September so I have to get one more site besides my VA site up and going by then. I’m going to be discussing taxes as a telecommuter. I’ve been dubbed the tax queen over at Telecommuting Moms! LOL That’s pretty comical to me that I’m considered a queen of anything! I’ll have to post a picture of what I look like every day while working and let you decide if I’m queen material. I think Elizabeth would think otherwise!

I also have a review of an information product that I’m doing for one of my Mom Mastermind buddies that I need to get finished before the weekend. I love helping other Moms in business any way I can! Mila, it will be done this weekend!

Ok, well so much for my peace and quiet…can’t last forever though! The baby is awake and my day has officially begun. Have a wonderful Friday everyone!

Today has been a pretty good day so far. I feel like I’ve gotten some things accomplished around here, which doesn’t happen very often! LOL

Today we did the “Mom is helping to clean my bedroom” with Zach. You know, mom goes in and it REALLY gets cleaned. Things get put where they actually belong, junk and broken toys get thrown out or put in the donate pile if in good shape and not played with in awhile.

It never fails that no matter how often this happens, I ALWAYS come out of there with a trash bag full. I can do this every 6 months or every 2 weeks with the same outcome. Things that make you go hmmmmm! I don’t get it: if I am going through the room every 6 months I can understand a bigger bag of trash, but what about the times I go through it more often? How the heck can you accumulate a bag of trash in 2 weeks? That tells me that in 2 weeks time AFTER the room is clean, is when the junk makes it to the room! So, from now on I’m (correction: Zachary) is cleaning it every week…maybe then it won’t be so bad! LOL Wish me luck. After all he is 8 years old and he is a male!

I also managed to get 2 loads of laundry washed, dried, AND put away today so far. There’s another load in the washer and dryer, so hopefully those will make it to the end of the line and in the closets/drawers before the day is out too! I have the awful habit of making my laundry baskets my dressers and am trying my hardest to break that habit.

I’ve managed to get the dishes washed before NOON today as well. I’m actually starting to scare myself! LOL I never get things done like this all in one day. Makes me wonder what’s going to fall apart tomorrow.

That’s just the household side of things that got accomplished today. I’ll post about the business/work side of things later! Yes, I did manage to get something done today with that as well. I’m hoping that tonight the men in the house cooperate and I can work my little bootie (ok, so little was not the correct term) off tonight!

Even at 8 years old, Zach will stop everything for a rainbow. Here’s one he got on the camera not too long ago!

I don’t know about other moms but the fact that my child loves nature so much warms my heart!

Inside is a different story! The Hunter wind is blowing full force! LOL

Hunter has always loved windchimes, but now he has a set of his own. Grandaddy bought him his own set of windchimes and now they reside in Mom’s office! He loves them. Headaches not allowed Mom…learn to block it out and we’ll get along great.

I know a lot of you reading this would like to work at home. A few of you I have talked to personally about this on many occasions. So today I wanted to give you a couple things to help you get a better idea of what all it entails and how to get started.

The first one is a website (Telecommuting Moms) that has tons (I mean tons too) of resources available to help you get started, a forum that posts leads to work at home jobs, a weekly newsletter with tips and exclusive leads, and lots more information. I am a moderator at the forum and have written a few columns for the website. I will also be doing some things for the Telecommuting Moms Month in September.

The owner of the website, Nell Taliercio, is a personal friend of mine and is very successful as a WAHM (work at home mom). I searched for years for something to do from home and it wasn’t until a little over a year ago I came across her site, Mommysplace.net, that I found that there really was a way to make a living while staying home with my family. That’s where I learned about becoming a Virtual Assistant and thanks to that site and all the wonderful people there that I got my start. (More about what I actually do coming in a later post.)

Head on over to www.TelecommutingMoms.com and check out all the awesome information that Nell has put together. Hope to see you at the forum as well. You could be working at home before you know it.

The second resource I have for you is a free (you only pay $4.95 for shipping costs) book, called I LOVE MY LIFE: A Mom’s Guide to Working from Home.

The book was written by a fellow Mom Masterminds member, Kristie T. This is an actual book (not an ebook) that Kristie has written and had published. She is on a mission to get 10,000 copies of this book into the hands of those who want to work at home and she’s well on her way.

I received my copy of the book in the mail 2 days ago and I am just amazed already and I haven’t read but 2 chapters so far. Once I get it finished I plan to do a review of it, but I know already that it’s a wonderful book and will rank high on my list of must have resources for those who are looking to work from home.

Check it by clicking on this link: http://www.kristiet.com/lovelife/10000books-partners.htm

As always, I love helping others who want to work at home and if I come across any other great resources I will be sure to post them here! Good Luck to you!

WAHMs, Don’t Compare Yourself With Others!
By: Carrie Lauth

Wahms, do you constantly compare yourself with other wahms and come up short?You know how it is…you feel like this wahm’s website looks better than yours, that wahm’s direct sales business is more successful than yours, and then there’s that one wahm who is everywhere spitting out infoproducts, seemingly in her sleep. Do you torture yourself like this?

This is something I’ve been giving a lot of thought to lately. Maybe it’s because I had to take a long hiatus from my own business to start a baby growing, or maybe it’s because as women we just tend to compare ourselves with other women and focus on our perceived inadequacies. As wahms, we even tend to justify our negative thinking!

Whatever the case, I hope I can help you avoid this problem with some things that help me when my thoughts turn negative. First I’ll talk about why comparing yourself with others is a fruitless exercise, then give you some positive steps to take to help you stop it!

1) Comparing yourself to others is an incredible waste of energy.

Here’s why: We’re all unique individuals with different talents, skills and abilities.

One wahm may excel at technical aspects of web design while you can write great articles. One wahm may be a great networker who is always finding JV opportunities while you can optimize web pages with one hand, nursing a baby at the keyboard. One wahm may be a real people person while you’re great at testing and tracking your marketing efforts.

Use your unique talents and personality to your benefit in your business. Keep honing your skills and beefing up your weak points with learning, but don’t expect your basic personality to change! Celebrate your strong points.

If you need to, treat yourself like a child. When you do something you’re proud of in your business day, say out loud: “Great job! I’m so proud of you!” Or put a cute little sticker in your organizer, paint your toenails, drink something hot and yummy, whatever…just give yourself some positive reinforcement.

Let’s face it…wahms need more energy to do all they must do, don’t suck it up with negative thinking!

2) Comparing yourself with other wahms is unfair.

Everyone also has different challenges. Are you pregnant? Have little babies or toddlers? Several children? Chronic health problems? A special needs child? Single wahm? A husband that works too much? Caring for an elderly relative? Limited budget? See what I’m getting at here?

Stop beating yourself up and acknowledge your challenges. We all deserve a pat on the back for doing something to improve our financial standing whilst caring for house and home!

Now, let’s talk about some of the things you can do to stop comparing yourself with others.

1) Decide whether this negative self talk is just moodiness/fatigue/morning sickness or whatever, or if you really DO need a kick in the pants. Proceed accordingly.

2) Acknowledge the challenges that you work around, mentioned above. Give yourself about one minute to do this.

3) Now get busy.

Get your notebook (the one you keep within reach at all times when those great ideas come to your mind) and make sure you’ve completed your “Daily Activity Standard” (those activities that pay you that must be done daily). If so, spend 15 minutes working on that project you’ve put into bite sized pieces.

Finally, remember that appreciation attracts prosperity, and thoughts of lack and “woe is me” only repel it. And don’t waste any more time comparing yourself with other wahms!

Article by:
Carrie Lauth is a work at home Mom of 4 who enjoys helping other Moms learn how to build their businesses online. Her Natural Moms Business Guide is a must-have for any Mom wanting to build a profitable online business.