Steady Mom

Sponsor Giveaway :: The Vintage Pearl

The Vintage Pearl is a family-owned jewelry company, started by Erin Edwards.

Erin and her husband Ryan create unique handstamped necklaces, bracelets, and keepsakes using sterling silver, freshwater pearls, and birthstone crystals.

Beautiful!

From The Vintage Pearl website:

"The Vintage Pearl began in 2007 as a creative outlet while staying home and raising our kids. It quickly blossomed into a business and continues to grow! I feel extremely blessed to be able to work while home with my kids!"

Erin is mama to four little people and regularly blogs about their family's adventures. The Vintage Pearl was featured just this week on Glamour.com.

In today's giveaway Erin is sharing a $50 gift certificate with one Steady Mom reader! (Open to readers worldwide--hooray!)

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To enter, just leave a comment below and answer this question: Besides your wedding ring, what item of jewelry do you wear most often?

You can also earn extra entries by spreading the word in your online social networks about this giveaway. **Please note that in order for an additional entry to count, you must leave a separate comment telling me what you did.**

I'll close the comments on Sunday, March 14th at 8pm EST. The winner (chosen at random) will be announced shortly afterward.

Thanks for entering, and thanks to The Vintage Pearl for this giveaway!

Jamie is founder of this little spot called Steady Mom, editor of the blog Simple Homeschool, mama to three cute kids born on three different continents, and author of Steady Days: A Journey Toward Intentional, Professional Motherhood.

Steady Thought for the Day

Photo by D. Sharon Pruitt

"I love these little people, and it is not a slight thing when they who are fresh from God love us."

- Charles Dickens

Jamie is founder of this little spot called Steady Mom, editor of the blog Simple Homeschool, mama to three cute kids born on three different continents, and author of Steady Days: A Journey Toward Intentional, Professional Motherhood.

Learning Flexibility Together

The following post is written by Steady Mom's monthly contributor, Hillary.

Think about it.  Your very stubborn (and cute) two-year-old (five-year-old, eight-year-old) has put their foot down. 

They absolutely, without a doubt will not wear that shirt (go to the post office, brush their teeth, kiss Grandma hello).

You stand head to head.  Both of you with your strong wills, desires and good reasons of wanting what you want. 

You know that shirt has smuck on it (this bill needs to be mailed today, we don't want cavities, and we need to respect and love Grandma). 

They feel like a super-hero in their favorite shirt and the smuck doesn't bother them (they're sick of doing errands and don't want to interrupt their play,  who the heck even knows what a cavity is, and they resent being forced to show affection when they don't feel like it).

Now imagine that your child stops, reassess the situation and adjusts their stance. 

"Sure mom-- I'll change my shirt for dinner with the neighbors."

("I'll come to the post office and bring my great attitude.  I'll brush my teeth and take your word that it's important and sure I'll kiss Grandma--I know it means a lot to her.")

Ahhhhhh....wouldn't life be wonderful? 

Wouldn't our heart just swell with relief as we melted into the joy that comes from a cooperative relationship?  

Let's turn it around.  What if we as parents stopped every now and again, reassessed and adjusted our stance? 

Where in our world can we bend to make our child's life flow a little easier?  Where are the places we can gift them with cooperation even if we've already taken a stand? 

Humility and flexibility are much greater lessons to pass along than a rigid, "I can't go back on my word.....I already said no."

How can we as parents model flexibility and cooperation as valuable and important life skills?

Hillary is a thoughtful mother, loving wife, and a conscientious cook and consumer. She credits her two boys (& a baby on the way!) to her ever expansive knowledge base and blogs about mindful family living at infinitelearners.com.

The Good Day Cheer (Moms' 30-Minute Blog Challenge)

Photo by Ed.

As soon as my eyes open in the morning, I try to begin nurturing the positive spirit I need to have a good day.

In looking for a way to pass these good vibes to the kids, I stumbled upon the good day cheer.

It goes like this:

Before breakfast we stand together and hold hands in a circle. Then walking around we chant:

We're gonna have a good day
We're gonna have a good day
We're gonna have a good day
Hooray!

(Envision silly jumps and clapping at the end.)

It is IMPOSSIBLE to do the good day cheer without smiling.

Try it, I dare you.

I thought the excitement of the cheer would wear off after a while--but my kids love it, will not let me forget it, and beg to do it every morning.

So if you're looking for a way to blanket your household in a good day mindset, feel free to steal this idea.

It's made our days even happier ones.

Jamie is founder of this little spot called Steady Mom, editor of the blog Simple Homeschool, mama to three cute kids born on three different continents, and author of Steady Days: A Journey Toward Intentional, Professional Motherhood.

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Thanks for participating in the Moms' 30-Minute Blog Challenge, held here each Tuesday. Please join us! You can read more about it here.

In the spirit of the challenge, take a little time to visit the links of fellow bloggers - but not too much time! Say it with me - "Only 30 Minutes!"

Do you have a 30-minute post you'd like to share? Link up below! Make sure your post links back to this post on Steady Mom, and that your link on MckLinky goes directly to your 30-minute post - no general home pages, please! Otherwise your link will be deleted, and I'll be sad.

Please note that the links will close at 11pm EST on Tuesday, in order to avoid any spammers.

Why You Shouldn't Adopt

Photo by Desirea Rodgers

(Next week I'll begin the adoption series many of you have requested. So it seemed like a good time to replay this post as well. It was first published on March 17, 2009.)

I love adoption. It radically changed my world. I've had the unique experience of "birthing" in two vastly different ways - for that I'm so grateful.

Adoption is far from "Plan B." I hope many will consider it.

How amazing would it be to see a cultural shift where people wanting a family would ask, "Should we have biological children or should we adopt? Should we do both?"

But adoption isn't for everyone. All of us have different gifts that can be used to help others.

Adoption was a natural expression of our family's desire to help. And it has led me on a journey I never envisioned.

One of extreme highs and lows - dark, lonely pain and overwhelming, shout-out-loud joy.

I wouldn't change a thing.

People sometimes mention how wonderful we are for choosing adoption when we can also have biological children. But we didn't adopt because we're amazing or wonderful people - we adopted because we wanted to.

And it's easy to do what you want to do, isn't it?

We believed there were two children in the world who needed us. And we needed them.

Adoption was the right thing at the right season, and it brought our children home.

So if you've never done so, please consider adoption. Staggering numbers of children in the US and world need families.

But don't adopt because there's a need or because it's a nice idea.

Adopt because you really, really want to. Adopt because you must.

And if you don't want to, then don't. Revel in the freedom of translating your talents into help for others your own way.

Giving back isn't optional when we're aiming to raise globally-minded children. But the expressions will be as beautiful and varied as our diverse personalities.

Each expression is valid.

Following our passions to make a difference fuels our lives and our mothering with enthusiasm.

By giving back we find ourselves - and wow, it's a worthwhile discovery.

Jamie is founder of this little spot called Steady Mom, editor of the blog Simple Homeschool, mama to three cute kids born on three different continents, and author of Steady Days: A Journey Toward Intentional, Professional Motherhood.

Inspiration for Your Weekend

A couple of weekends ago we whisked the kids away for a mini-vacation...

- Shame Off You @ chatting at the sky

- Creating a Healthy Blog/Life Balance @ Organizing Your Way

- A Few Words About Fear @ Finslippy (Oh, how I get this now!)

- Fighting the Tyranny of the Urgent at Home @ Simple Mom

- Homemade Scented Gel Paints @ New Nostalgia

- A Mom, A Laptop, A Journey: Blogging from Kenya @ We Are THAT Family

And a few more photos of our winter getaway:

Our first family overnight in a hotel...


Indoor pool to keep the troops busy (although 2 out of 3 preferred the hot tub!)...


Treats to keep big and little people happy...

Enjoy your weekend!

Jamie is founder of this little spot called Steady Mom, editor of the blog Simple Homeschool, mama to three cute kids born on three different continents, and author of Steady Days: A Journey Toward Intentional, Professional Motherhood.