Article Time

Today’s incarnation of the baby shower started shortly after WW2 and has become quite the celebration of life. We’ve transitioned from small family oriented celebrations to larger parties that, in some cases include entire towns and last several days. In America, traditions have stopped with pre-birth celebrations that usually see party sizes ranging from close personal family to large circles of friends.

If you are the mommy to be, a baby shower can be one of the most exciting times of your life. After all, that day is strictly to celebrate new life and a bond between mother and child. It should be a blessed day filled with joy. For a party participant it can be a day filled with emotions that stir up memories of a first child or for future plans for children. It can also stir up emotions of competitiveness. After all we are all human and pulling out the “best gift of the day” award is quite the accomplishment!

If your goal is to share in the glowing light of mommy-hood as well as being the top gift giver in the crowd it is very important to select a thoughtful, useful and exciting gift that will not only serve as a functional item but as a keepsake for years to come. One such item is the tiered diaper birthday cake that not only gives a great cake for future diaper storage it comes with 200 very practical disposable diapers. If you are going for the sentimental “hand me down” heirloom, the Rockabye Baby Rocking Horse would be an excellent time honored and traditional choice!

Often the grand slam of baby shower gifts will be the baby’s first plush teddy bear. A unique gift in that same realm would be the Jo-Jo Giraffe stuffed animal or Bailey the bunny cashmere bunny. If you decide to go this route, be cautious and check out the color scheme and layout of the baby’s new room. A bunny in a room of teddy bear prints would stand out like a sore thumb.

Ultimately the perfect baby shower gift doesn’t come down to how much money is spent but the thoughtfulness of the gift. Listen to the mommy, take notice of what the baby’s room looks like and find the perfect gift that will not only fit the needs of the mommy but will serve as a great keepsake for the baby.

–
K. Green sharing her insight to finding the perfect unique baby shower gifts. She knows that thoughtful baby shower gifts are definitely among the most cherished.

The Scene:

Your baby won`t go to sleep and won`t let you sit down; you stand, bouncing your child in your arms from 11 PM until morning (or somewhere in between). You think (do you dare?): if this demon baby doesn`t stop crying (go to sleep, calm down, leave me alone, etc). I will throw him/her out of the window? I can`t take it any more!

Any nods of recognition?

If there are, don`t worry; it only means that you — like so many other mothers — are experiencing the challenging reality of being a new mom.

Ambivalence in Motherhood

Mothers often ask: How, after wanting a baby so much and loving my child so dearly, can I feel such intense exasperation and . . . dare I say it . . . hate?

My answer to them: Easy!

Why wouldn`t you resent someone who takes away so many things that you cherish?

- Your time.
- Your energy.
- Your body.
- Your rested self.
- Your peaceful state of mind.

Yet mothers everywhere are scared of their feelings, thoughts and desires:

- Scared of feeling their resentment.
- Scared of thinking less than loving thoughts towards their child.
- Scared of wanting to be by themselves – to be ‘baby free’.

Acknowledging All Aspects of Yourself:

Let me state for the record that I know that you love your child more than anything (I love mine in the very same way), yet until you are able to allow yourself to feel your ambivalent feelings you will be doing yourself, and your baby, a disservice. Your baby will flourish under the care of a mother who acknowledges who she is and how she feels. A mother who acknowledges her `negative` emotions refrains from communicating them in covert and unintended ways.

The Band-Aid Approach: Ways to Get Through the Here and Now

When your baby is driving you mad, try to remember some of these `get through the moment` helpful hints.

- Don’t beat yourself up for feeling what you are feeling.
- Leave the room and take a break if you feel like you are losing your cool.
- Try to avoid the refrigerator.
- Call a friend and vent.
- Enlist your partner for help.
- Bounce your baby to music you love.
- Remind yourself that your baby will soon be out of this phase.

A Deeper Approach: Holding on to Your Self

It is tomorrow and your baby (hopefully!) is asleep or drinking quietly from a bottle or your breast. You`ve gotten through the night, but you know that a repeat occurrence is inevitable: there will be frustrating and sleepless nights during your baby`s first months of life.

Secrets for lasting change:

Sit down in a comfortable chair and go through — bit by bit — the scenario that took place last night. Focus on your experience of what happened rather than on what your baby was going through (i.e., don`t think about why s/he was crying, couldn`t sleep, had colic, etc.).

- What were you feeling?
- Overwhelmed and upset?
- Like you were failing as a mother?
- Angry and hateful?
- Resentful and guilty?
- Like something you were doing might have caused the situation?

Acknowledge the truth of your emotions – whatever they may be – and let yourself experience what you feel. Last night things may have been too out of hand for you to deal with what you were going through. Don`t give yourself a hard time for feeling tired, grumpy, angry, frustrated, or presently (but not always!) miserable with mommy life.

Instead, Let Yourself:

- Be human.
- Accept your feelings.
- Be who you are to be the best mother you can be.

What I ask you to do is, of course, easier said than done; but in order to be the best mother that you can be, it is essential for you to be the person that you are. Acknowledging and accepting how you feel will make your baby`s sleepless nights easier, for when you accept yourself in whatever state you happen to be, your ability to cope and endure grows.

What a gift for your child to have a mother who is the REAL and ACTUAL you!

Copyright ©2005, Significant Self, Claudia Heilbrunn

Claudia Heilbrunn, a life coach for first time moms and the owner of Significant Self Coaching, helps moms who feel overwhelmed, frazzled and confused become calm, confident and satisfied mothers who make the right choices for themselves and their children. Claudia’s insights, tips, and consistent support enable moms to hold on to themselves without shortchanging their kids. Claudia writes My Significant Self, a free, bi-monthly newsletter for first time moms. Visit her website at http://www.significantself.com or contact Claudia at Claudia@significantself.com.

When my daughter was 3 years old, we moved from Minnesota to Illinois. It wasn’t so far. We were still in the Midwest. We relocated into a brand new house, quite a bit larger than the one we had left. I expected that the move for a 3 year old would be easy – simple actually. She wasn’t even in school yet, so no trauma there about leaving friends, or about being the “new kid” in class. Her whole world was her family and we were all still the same. Her wonderful mother would be just as wonderful in Illinois as she had been in Minnesota!

So I was surprised when I walked past her lovely new bedroom and saw her sitting on the floor, sobbing. It had been several weeks since we’d arrived in our new home, and most of the boxes were unpacked. The house was starting to look like a home, and from my perspective things were improving. But there was my little girl, heart-broken, as she looked up at me and said, “Mommy, I miss my old carpeting!”

What is it about old carpeting that comforts a toddler? At this age, children are soaking up information about the world through all their senses. Think about toddlers putting everything in their mouths. They have to taste the world to find out all about it. A keen sense of touch is another way for children to learn about all the things around them. Can you picture one of your young children snuggled up with a silky “blankey” or soft teddy bear, gently smoothing it? Why is it that crib mobiles play soothing music and lullabies? Babies’ hearing is acute, more sensitive than ours, again assisting them in acquiring information about this new world.

The old carpet had a distinctive texture, and I’m afraid it probably also had a distinctive smell! I was happy to be rid of the old, and delighted to have a new house with brand new carpet, but my daughter’s world had been ripped apart as the ground upon which she spent much of her day was now strange and unfamiliar. When toddlers and preschoolers move, parents can be sensitive to the many sensory aspects of life that have changed. This sensitivity can help make a child’s transition a little easier.

Take a moment and try an exercise with me. Close your eyes and recall your childhood home. What smells can you remember? Imagine touching something that was dear to you, perhaps your sofa or bedspread. What did it feel like? What sounds did you hear in that house? How did the phone ring sound? Do you see how important your senses were to you as a child?

If you are planning to relocate to a new home, think about what you might do to bring some familiar sensations along with you. Bake the same kind of favorite cookies in your new kitchen. Perhaps this isn’t the time to purchase a new comforter for your child’s room, but instead live awhile with the old one in the new house. Be intentional about playing the same music in your new home that you enjoyed in your old house. Make a new house your home by savoring pleasant memories.

I hope some of this thinking will ease your family’s transition. Families experience change of one kind or another all the time. When that happens it can be an opportunity to examine our lives and make a plan for what we want to see in the days ahead. Life Coaching is an exciting, empowering strategy for making new decisions and plans. If, right now, you are living any sort of family change or challenge, please take a look at my website www.BeginAgainLifeCoaching.com. Or, e-mail Diane@BeginAgainLifeCoaching.com to schedule a free ½ hour just to get acquainted. You can Begin Again!

Want to use this article on your website, ezine, or blog? Great! Just be sure to include the following bio with link back to www.BeginAgainLifeCoaching.com :

“Diane Overgard, CFLE, is a Family Life Specialist and Coach whose main goal is to help people who are experiencing family change find clear direction for their future. Find out if Life Coaching might be right for you by visiting www.BeginAgainLifeCoaching.com.

By Dr. Linda Miles

Using simple techniques Moms can learn how easily they can whisper relaxing phrases to their babies during pregnancy, delivery, and post-partum.

Dr. Linda Miles, inspires and instructs Moms, using a practical, proven effective method, which calms both the child and Mom, while building a stronger emotional and physical bond between the two. And Dads can join in, too.

When Moms are anxious, babies feel that anxiety. Research has shown that a stressed Mom creates a stressed baby, causing the fetus’ heart to beat faster. When levels of stress hormones are too high for extended periods of time, both Mom and the baby’s mental and physical health suffer.

In 1973 Dr. Miles used natural childbirth with her son, Christopher Brett. She found Lamaze helpful, but after that pregnancy she wanted an even more stress free birth. She wanted less stress for both her and her child.

Quickly, she realized the tremendous benefit listening with headphones to individually recorded, soothing music with a familiar voice would have. Here was a simple way to remind her to relax.

When she was a bundle of nerves, there was an easy comfort with just the flip of a switch. Then, she could share, gently whispering, what she heard with her baby. To her surprise the relaxation practice brought deep calm not only to her, but to baby Brett, too.

With her initial personal success as a Mommy Whisperer, Dr. Miles studied and has used these relaxation techniques successfully for over 30 years with her clients and friends. After the stress of the pregnancy with her first child, a client of Dr. Miles used the Mommy Whisperer technique for her second child with entirely different results. She was calm throughout the experience, with less stress on her.

Therefore, there was less stress on her child. She had a peaceful pregnancy and delivery. Because Mommy Whisperer`s reduce stress on themselves and their child, they can enhance the mother-child bond after the baby is born.

Using simple relaxation strategies, parents actually affect the physical structure of the baby`s developing brain. The patterns we learn, affect how we cope with stress and with life.

While soothing her baby, Mom is actually teaching her child to self-soothe. When you soothe your baby with whispers, they may develop a pattern of self-soothing that works under stress.

And the opposite happens too. If Mom or anyone is loud and reactive under stress, the child develops that pattern and responds that way to stress. The brain loves the familiar, so how we train our children, becomes their coping strategy.

So, whisper to your child, “I am so happy you are here.” “I love you so much.” “You are so beautiful.” “Everything is okay.” This gives them safety to learn and explore.

Copyright 2005 Linda Miles Ph.D

Author, Dr. Linda Miles, is deeply committed to helping individuals and couples achieve rewarding relationships. She is an expert witha Doctorate in Counseling Psychology, and has worked in the mental health field for over thirty years. She has been interviewed extensively on radio, TV, and in newspapers and magazines. Find more relationship ideas and relaxation techniques on her web site and in the award-winning book she co-authored, The New Marriage: Transcending the Happily-Ever-After Myth, and on CD, Train Your Brain: For a Peaceful Pregnancy & Delivery. http://DrLindaMiles.com

Mommy & Me: Playgroup Favorites
By Mary Panzer and Gregg Field
2 CDs
Label: Concord Records, Inc.
100 N. Crescent Drive
Suite 275
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
310-385-4455
http://concordrecords.com

Mommy & Me Company
http://mommyandme.com
ASIN: CCD-224-2 and CCD-2225-2

I worked as a licensed in-home daycare provider, a preschool teacher, and an assistant childcare director. I`m also a mother and an auntie so I can speak from experience when I say this music CD is a MUST for parents, playgroups, and teachers of young toddlers. In fact, I believe this CD would make the perfect baby shower gift!

The music is easy to sing along to, the beats are uplifting, and many of the songs are time-honored traditions. In fact, the time you spend bonding with your young children will become more enjoyable because you`ll no longer be concentrating on “what to do next,” but you`ll be enjoying the process of playing and interacting with your little ones.

My daughter thought she was “too old” for most of these songs since she`s now 9, you know. But I`ll let you in on a little secret. They brought back great toddler memories and she couldn`t help but stomp her feet and dance to the music. I even caught her singing the songs and later, whistling their tunes.

My husband thought this was (no is) the perfect CD for infants and toddlers because many of these songs were sung to him as a child and have been sung to our children. After listening to the songs and watching his daughter dance and sing, he said, “It would`ve been a lot easier to sing to music, instead of torturing my children with my poorly-tuned singing voice.”

About The Author:
Alyice Edrich is the editor of the award winning online magazine, The Dabbling Mum®. Visit her website, http://thedabblingmum.com, where you can gain a wealth of wisdom from parents just like you!

Are you feeling tired and unappreciated? Have you loss sight of what a full nights sleep really is? Do you have a long “To Do List” that seems to grow longer as your baby grows older? Have you accepted the fact that your baby decides what you are going to wear—not you? Do you look in the mirror and see someone else? Have you constantly uttered the statement “There has to be an easier way”? If you can answer “yes” to most, if not all, of these questions then you are in the company of many other mommies who are going through the same thing. You are an official full-time mom.

Generally, people who work full time are only on the clock for 8 to 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, 50 weeks out of the year or less. Full-time employees are also graced with periodic vacation days, company benefits, and corporate gifts.

Mothers, on the other hand, are on the clock for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks out of the year. For most moms, “full-time job” is an understatement. From waking up every 2 hours throughout the night with the newborn to driving Junior to soccer practice—being a mother is full-time, but it doesn`t come with vacation days or company benefits. However, it does come with corporate gifts which we will discuss later.

Parenting is no easy task every mother at some point will get the “baby blues”. If motherhood has you crying the blues here are some helpful suggestions:

• If someone offers to help with some of your chores—gladly accept their offer.
• Try to take a 15-30 minute power-nap while the baby is sleeping.
• Accept the fact that some chores won`t get done until tomorrow.
• Eat healthy and drink plenty of water.
• Don`t try to be a “super-mom”, just be the best mom that you can be.
• Interact with other mothers.
• Take someone to the grocery store with you to help with the bags.
• Stagger your chores. Don`t try to do every chore in one day.
• Cook enough for leftovers.

Being a mom has its challenges, but it reaps many benefits. Every gift or card that your child gives you is special. From the beautiful artwork on the refrigerator to the warm hugs and gentle kisses, being a mother is so rewarding. Think of each gift as your own corporate award. After all, being a mother is a full-time job, you just happen to be working for your children.

Maria Romain, founder of Academic Success Management, Inc. is a writer for Corporate Snobs, a web-based company that offers the most unique corporate gifts. Find more articles on wonderful business gift ideas by visiting today.

In March 2006, I took my then 13-month-old son Jackson to North Carolina to visit my parents. Although I had been a frequent-flyer in my business days, this was the first time I had traveled with a baby in tow.

As a business traveler I used to dread seeing small children on a plane. To me, small children equaled screaming and seat kicking. Although traveling with little ones can be a more than a little bit challenging, Jackson was a complete angel–the problem was with me. I packed too few diapers for the return trip.

Late Sunday afternoon we were set to fly from Raleigh to DC and then from DC to Seattle. I had been trying to get Jackson to drink a lot of water to keep him from getting dehydrated during the flights—but I didn`t think to pack additional diapers to deal with the extra “output”. I had remembered to pack toys and snacks. But failing to pack enough diapers represented my inexperience as a traveling mother.

I didn`t realize my mistake until we were past security and well down the concourse. There was no time to leave the airport and none of the stores in the concourse sold diapers. Having worked as a marketing manager for 15 years before the birth of my son, I thought that the lack of baby products in the airport was a missed opportunity for the airport retailers.

Since there had been so many moms and babies on our flight to North Carolina I assumed that there would be at least a few on the flight back to Seattle. I decided that I would bum a diaper if I really needed one. Just before our flight left DC I put the last diaper on Jackson.

About 30 minutes into our 5� hour flight Jackson had a “complete blow-out”. Any mom with a baby knows what I am talking about. This one was horrific. Poop coming out from EVERYWHERE. Luckily his long pants contained it—for the moment.

The fasten seatbelt sign was still lit and I couldn`t get up. I rang for the flight attendant and asked her to locate another mommy to borrow a diaper. A few minutes later she informed me that Jackson was the only child on the entire aircraft. My heart sank. What was I going to do with a poopy baby for 5 hours?

I would have to MacGyver the situation.

I had never been a big fan of the TV show MacGyver, but I loved the idea that, using whatever tools were on hand, any problem or situation could be overcome. During my days working at high-tech start-up companies that were big on ideas but short on funding, I used to refer to “MacGuver Marketing” as figuring out how to “get the word out” about our products using only a copy machine, some paperclips, and a highlight marker.

I asked the flight attendant gave me two first class, linen napkins. As soon as the captain turned off the seatbelt sign I took Jackson to the lavatory. No changing table. No counter top. Oh, no!

I stepped out and grabbed two airline blankets. I lowered the lid on the toilet, and covered the area with the blankets. I laid Jackson down. He began to kick and scream bloody murder. I quickly stripped him down and used all of the baby wipes in my diaper bag to clean him up. It was the worst poopy diaper I had ever seen. His pants were too far gone but luckily his t-shirt (with snaps in the crotch) was relatively unscathed–I am not sure how that happened.

Now to turn table linens into a diaper…without diaper pins. I experimented with several ways to fold the napkins. Their odd shape and the fact that they were heavily starched made them difficult to work with. Jackson`s kicking and screaming didn`t help. I had no diaper pins (a thing of the past) and the napkins were so thin!!! There was no way this rigged diaper was going to keep him dry for 5 hours. There, squatting on the floor of the tiny lavatory with my baby creating all kinds of turbulence of his own, I started to panic. I put my head down and said, “Think, think” out loud to myself. Then I happened to glance to the right and notice the little compartment that holds “barf bags” and sanitary napkins. Ah ha!!!!

I stuffed Jackson`s filthly pants into a “barf bag” and neatly sealed it. This made me feel like I had accomplished something.

There were only three sanitary napkins in the little compartment. I placed two of them in the crotch of the homemade diaper. I closed the diaper around him and then used the third pad like a giant, thick piece of duct tape across the front. I pulled his t-shirt down and snapped the crotch closed. “Hey, this just might work.” I then used the only baby blanket I had with me to cover his legs.

I got lots of funny looks as we made our way back to our seat. “What was she doing to that poor child?” people must have thought.

Exhausted by the whole ordeal, in just a few moments Jackson feel into a deep, heavy sleep. I laid him in the empty seat next to me and he didn`t wake up until just before we landed. Forgetting about the homemade diaper, I picked him up and placed him in my lap. Just as we were taxiing to the jet way his MacGyver diaper gave out and he pee-peed all over me.

The Frenchman in the seat across the isle from me snickered. I had to laugh too. Well, at least we had made it to Seattle.

We met my husband in the baggage claim area. That marvelous, wonderful husband of mine surprised me—not with flowers but with something far more romantic. He took one look at my soaking wet jeans, smiled, and pulled a diaper out of his coat pocket. This was just another piece of evidence to prove that I had married the right guy.

——

Mischelle (Schelly) Weedman-Davis is a Kentucky native living with her husband and son in Seattle, WA. Her husband is respected attorney Christopher M. Davis. Recently she left her 15-year high-tech career to use her talents to support her husband`s law firm, the Davis Law Group. Learn more at: http://www.InjuryTrialLawyer.com and http://wwwwashingtonaccidentbook.com.

It`s such a challenge, single parenting. You`re all alone out there and doing the work of you and your ex. It`s just not easy. Your ex, meanwhile, looks like she`s enjoying the real life: she`s only got the kids for a while on the weekends; doesn`t have to help with homework; no laundry to wash; and now, she`s got a new boyfriend! Swell. Don`t you wish you knew some juicy stuff about him so you could fuel your emotional flames?

Who might you think would be the very best person to discover this information for you? Your kids. NOT NOT NOT!!! Could you tell I`m really against the idea of using your children to ferret out information that you want about their other parents?

It is a terrible thing to do to your children when you ask them to spy for you on their other parent. You hide your own lack of courage behind asking your kids to find out when you do this. You might couch your questions innocently enough, but they can feel in their hearts that you are prying. If they go to mommy and ask your questions, then she gets mad at them. When they come home and you question them, if they haven`t found out the answers you want, you get mad at them.

Stop a minute here and let`s assume an attitude of maturity. Who wants to know? You do. So who should do the asking? You should. It`s just not a good idea to put your kids into this horrible position of carrying information back for you. It hurts them emotionally and you don`t want to do that, do you?

If you place your child emotionally between the two of you, it makes him uncomfortable, and it begins to grow a sense about you inside him that is not loving. This unloving sense makes them think that by being in the middle that they had something to do with your divorce, and they didn`t. It`s a burden to them – solving your problems. Children weren`t born to be cultivated as detectives or as intermediaries. And carrying information back and forth makes them feel disloyal to one or both parents. It`s an ugly, emotional stew you`re cooking up for your children.

As a single parent, you might consider that you really don`t need to know so much about your ex`s new life. If the information only serves to keep the flames burning inside you, why feed that fire? Discipline yourself to quit thinking you need to know all these details.” See if you can live with that. Also, if you really want to be honest within yourself, summon up the courage that is in there just waiting to be exercised. Ask your ex yourself.

——

Len Stauffenger`s parents taught him life`s simple wisdom. As a divorced dad, he wanted to share that simple wisdom with his girls. “Getting Over It: Wisdom for Divorced Parents,” his book, is the solution. Len is an author, a Success Coach and an Attorney. You can purchase Len`s book and it`s accompanying workbook at http://www.wisdomfordivorcedparents.com

You’ve got a great idea… you know it will sell, you’ve done your research, and you think a website is the way to go. So what’s next? How does a modern mommy go about creating her own little (or big!) online empire?

Now, don’t be daunted! Whilst developing an online presence can be a challenge there are numerous resources available to you, in the form of private companies and contractors, and plenty of websites!
First things first – a name. And that isn’t as simple as it might sound. Your best bet is to compile a generous list with options you like, then hit the web. You’ll be looking for several different things:

- is the business name already registered?
- will you be infringing on any trademarks, here or overseas?
- is there a suitable domain name available to match?

Before you choose your domain name, decide if you are after a global name (like the ones that end in .net and .com) or one with a country extension – that is, for example, .com.au for Australia. We went for a country extension on www.bumpbabyandbeyond.com.au.au as our discounted baby, kids and maternity wear is aimed at a local market. We still get international customers, but they are most often looking to purchase a newborn baby gift for delivery to friends and relatives in Australia.

Next step is to arrange for your domain name to be hosted. Many web-hosting services allow you to register the domain and have it hosted all in the one place. Do some research, check out the prices, speak to whoever is going to help you with your design – they may have some suggestions. Another option is your existing ISP – Internet Service Provider, contact them for details or check out their web site. Make sure that the serving environment is a professional one, providing dedicated servers, backup servers and 24 hour management of any problems that may arise.

Now comes the fun part – creating your dream! You can do this yourself, with the help of various programs and sites that have free templates for you to download. You then use their “wizards” to create your site, often with relatively simple cut and paste methods.

If you are hesitant to take such a big step, or if your site will be particularly detailed, you can hire someone to do the work for you. Prices for this vary on the size and structure of the site, but a good way to get started is to visit sites you really like the feel of, a forum site, your favourite online store, and check out who they used. Ring around some local companies and get a feel for the person you will be working with – you really need to feel heard and understood. We did both, and ended up going with a local company whose own website we liked, and who we felt really “got” what we were trying to do.

Whomever you choose, make sure you have seen a range of sites that the have developed, and clarify all items to be included in the service before you start. Are they creating a checkout for you? How will payments be processed? Do you need to set up any merchant accounts? Will Search Engine Optimization be part of the package? Will they arrange submission of your newly created site to search engines and directories? Do you get decent coffee during your meetings?

The most important thing is that your site is able to be found – there is no point creating a site and just expecting the money to roll in! Advertising both online and offline can take many forms and should be taken into account when budgeting for your businesses start up costs. Make sure that your web and email address appear on all correspondence, advertising, business cards – heck, put it on your car! Discover industry sites, forums, directories or other related sites that may be interested in listing your site on theirs – for free, for a fee, or as part of a link swap arrangement.

Whatever you do, keep working at it – a good website requires ongoing maintenance and improvement. Best wishes in your endeavours – we would love to hear how you go!

Are you a mom with your own business idea? Yippee! You’re on the way to becoming a ‘mompreneur’.

Times have changed and as a woman of the 21st century, you have additional roles to play. Home based businesses for moms offer an ideal opportunity to balance work and family together on the same level. You have ample time to make money as well as the time to play baseball in the backyard. Isn’t that perfect?

There are millions of business options, and not surprisingly, this can confuse you to a great extent. To make matters worse, most of these jobs are not designed for women, especially moms. So we have put together a list of the best home based businesses for moms. Remember to thank us during the awards ceremony when you’re voted Mompreneur of the Year!

1. Proof reading: If you were at the top of your grammar class in high school, proof reading is the best way to cash in. This involves reading, editing and correcting anything and everything for typing errors, spelling or grammatical mistakes.

2. Virtual secretary: Offer secretarial services to professionals who do not have the budget to keep a full time secretary. You can work from home and perform a wide range of tasks such as scheduling meetings, typing manuscripts, entering data or billing; just to name a few.

3. Scrap booking: If you want to add a dash of creativity to your work, then this is one of the best options of home based businesses for moms. Everyone loves to preserve memories and there lies your opportunity. You can create scrapbook kits and accessories for sale or consider making customized scrapbooks for other people for a fee.

4. Auction on e-bay: Your love for garage sales, resell shops, flea markets or estate sales can fetch a small extra income through online auctions. Start by looking around for things that you don’t need anymore, and add to that collection by identifying unique items to buy. Clean them up, take pictures and put them up online for an auction. A catchy description to an item will sell it faster. Ebay is the boss in this business and the first place you must go.

5. Gardening/landscaping: You could mow a lawn to stay in shape and get paid for it. Just kidding! But seriously, you can offer your creative ideas for designing and creating natural landscapes both at offices and homes. So, what else do you need? Let your imagination work at its best.

6. Cake decoration: If you’re handy with an oven, why not make a quick buck from it? However, if you don’t want to turn your kitchen upside down baking twenty four hours a day, use your know-how to advise others on innovative cake designs. Initially, offer this service to your neighbors and friends. If they don’t die of food poisoning, word of mouth (pun intended) will get more people to your doorstep.

7. Accounting: If you’re good with numbers, then this is what you deserve! You can work as an accountant for businesses as well as individuals. Your job may require you to prepare accounts and financial reports, generate payroll or assist in tax planning. Remember to ensure that you have the necessary qualification or certification for the job. This could be a high paying option, depending on your level of education and expertise. Mom, do we see you smiling already?

We’re sure the above list of home based businesses for moms has got you thinking. Further help is available at

Way to go, mommy!

Hi, I`m Akhil Shahani, a serial entrepreneur who wants to help you succeed. If you like to work smart, check out http://www.SmartEntrepreneur.net . It`s full of articles and resources to help you start and grow your business successfully. Please visit us & download our special “Freebie of The Month” at
http://www.smartentrepreneur.net/freebie-of-the-month.html