Momivate!
  • Home
  • About Us
  • BLOG
  • DONATE
  • Services
  • S.M.I.L.E. Awards 2023

Is crying-it-out making you cry? Try this instead

1/15/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
Photo Credit: Brytny on Unsplash.com
Here's an audio clip so you can listen to the Mom Tip while you rock your newborn to sleep!
Hi, I’m Regan Barnes from Momivate, and this is your two-minute Mom Tip empowering you to elevate your mothering experience.

NEWSFLASH: Babies cry. They cry for all sorts of reasons. My job is to try to figure out why they're crying, and then do what I can to resolve the problem or at least offer a little comfort. They might still cry, even when I'm doin' my darndest to make it stop. Sometimes, I notice that I'm singing to them not because it calms them, but because it calms me! (It only just now occurred to me that possibly my singing makes them cry worse). Amidst the various and sundry cry-fests daily, I don’t see a need to purposely add more crying nightly!

Our American culture is so steeped in the cry-it-out method for bedtime that precious little info is out there for moms who want to do it differently.

I recommend a book called "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley. The author recognizes that some of us just don't want sleep-time to be cry-time. She has experience both co-sleeping (which I enjoy), and crib-sleeping. The trick she teaches is the importance of a routine, good options to include in a sleep routine, and how to successfully establish a routine so that bedtime is better all around. 

So, baby and I follow a solid routine both for naps and nighttime. I have it posted in our bedroom to help myself remember the steps *in order* -- because babies are so tuned in to structure. Repetitively doing the routine wires baby’s brain so that each element serves as a sleep-signal. As we go through each step, baby winds down and gets sleepier and sleepier eventually drifting peacefully off... to... sleeeee... honk,shoooo…

Moms, institute a bedtime routine with your little ones -- it’s never too late! -- then share if this practice elevates your mothering!

Here's our routine in detail, plus a few extra notes from the book!

Change diaper (smile calmly and tell her it's sleep time)
close door & turn off light
turn on white-noise
wrap in blankie; offer lovey-doll (keep smiling calmly so she has positive feelings about sleep)
dance together while singing until she's very drowsy
shhhh in her ear while I put her down
keep shushing as I leave the room 

If she wakes up and fusses for more than ten seconds or so, go back in and do the routine again (starting at the blankie/lovey part).

Chart how it goes over the course of ten days, and you'll see a difference as both you and baby get accustomed to the routine. Keep up the ten-day increments to keep seeing progress. Keep in mind that baby's body has to adjust to lots of changes as she grows, such as teething, learning new skills from grasping with hands to walking, and these can disrupt sleep patterns. The routine will rescue you and create a calm, bonding bedtime ritual each time.



0 Comments

Are Screens our friends or our foes?

11/21/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Here's an audio clip so you can listen to the Mom Tip while you paint rocks for fun!

Hi, I’m Regan Barnes from Momivate, and this is your two-minute Mom Tip empowering you to elevate your mothering experience.

Are you familiar with Chris Van Allsburg, the author of children’s books? He’s probably most famous for The Polar Express since a movie was made from it -- and the truth holds: the book is better!! But the one I’d like to highlight today is called The Wretched Stone. It’s written as a ship captain’s log and it details the discovery of a large shining stone which captivates his sailors and turns them into monkeys! I believe Chris Van Allsburg was making some social commentary with this story!

Our screens are like this wretched stone, stealing the childhood from our children in various ways: they don’t get as much fresh air, have fewer opportunities to build their work ethic or people skills, and regardless of the content being viewed, just the amount of time is linked to anxiety, depression, and can exacerbate autism, so there’s an unidentified force coming through the screen as well. 

In the past, "Screen Time" as our family calls it -- was a privilege the child had to earn. However, I struggled with this system because I felt like I was rewarding them with something that has little-to-no value, but by calling it a reward, I was inadvertently sending the message that it is valuable.

So now our family is trying out a different system. We have assigned the hour before dinner to be the only time they are allowed to use the various wretched stones. Oh, they still have to have their homework done and be done with their chores, so, in that sense, we're teaching them prioritization. However, we no longer consider Screen Time a privilege -- we call it Techno-Mush-Brain Hour, a carefully chosen name that includes a warning to our children, hopefully discouraging overuse.

So far, I think it's working pretty well. It helps them hurry to finish their homework and chores so they don’t drag those out all evening. It also means that the rest of the evening after dinner, they just find something else to do -- and it's a beautiful thing to see how they get creative with their free time -- like writing and performing plays, singing karaoke, doing yoga, drawing, and playing games with their siblings.

Moms, how can you teach your family the disadvantages of screen time as you make an effort to decrease it? Share if this practice elevates your mothering!
0 Comments

Did you know saving money can give you endorphins?!

10/26/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Photo Credit: Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash.com
Here's an audio clip so you can listen to the Mom Tip while you drive the kids to school!
Hi, I’m Regan Barnes from Momivate, and this is your two-minute Mom Tip empowering you to elevate your mothering experience.

Today's tip is a book report. I'm going to share with you an older book called The Complete Tightwad gazette. The author is named Amy Decision. That's how you pronounce it like the word decision, but it's spelled DACYZCYN (and we have a link to purchase it on amazon on our affiliate page!) So many of the principles are timeless that you’ll barely notice that it’s a classic from the 90s.
 
Amy has lived such a thrifty life, so she has a wealth of information to share, and she has fun sharing it -- her writing is witty and inviting. 


Sometimes the subject of saving (not spending) can come across as depressing, and requiring rigorous self discipline. In Amy's book, however, economizing is an adventure! She’s guiding us on a pursuit to find creative and ingenious ways to combat how expensive life is. We feel like celebrating every time she helps us figure out how to pinch those pennies.


Amy is also primarily a mom, so it definitely feels like everything applies to our current profession: there are birthday party ideas, insights on how to grocery shop effectively and go garage "sale-ing;" she covers, fixing up the house, from decor to repairs. There are recipes and even instructions on how to make up your own recipes. Traveling often seems out of the question for those of us on a strict budget, but she even addresses this topic in a way that opens the way. She even teaches us how to save TIME, since, after all: Time is money.


And that's why Momivate shares our tips in just two minutes, so that you have time left to practice what we preach! 

Read Amy’s book, Mama, then share if this elevates your mothering!

0 Comments

    two minute mom tips!

    Because sometimes our attention span has to match our children's. Audio and transcript included!

    Categories

    All
    Abundance
    Atmosphere
    Attitude
    Bedtime
    Book Report
    Budgeting
    Caffeine
    Cell Phones
    Cheerleading
    Children
    Chores
    Christmas
    Clarity
    Cleaning
    Clutter
    Coach
    Communication
    Debt
    Eat Food
    Eating
    Education
    Emotional Health
    Energy
    Example
    Family
    Focus
    Games
    Gifts
    Goals
    God
    Gratitude
    Guilt
    Hearing
    Help From Dad
    Home Management
    Income & Outgo
    Intellectual Goals
    Internet Safety
    Law Of Conservation
    Learning
    Love
    Media
    Menu
    Mistakes
    Money
    Mostly Plants
    Mothers Day
    Motivation
    Music
    Personal Pursuits
    Prepare
    Recipe
    Relationships
    Routines
    Saving While Spending
    Schedules
    Screen Time
    See
    Self-reliance
    Singing
    Sleep
    Structure
    Survival Mode
    Systems
    Teaching Children
    Teaching Children Finances
    Team
    Time
    Touch
    Tweak
    Work

Momivate is a BRAND NEW, official 501(c)3 Non-profit organization! Your donations of time or money are greatly appreciated!
Click HERE to donate funds!
Click HERE to donate time!
Thank you!

COMPANIES: Become a MISSION SUPPORTER

ABOUT US 

CONTACT US

​
RESOURCES

​
GLOSSARY


SUBMIT A CONCERN
NOTE: We are only legally able to offer our services in the United States. If you live outside of the U.S. and would like to start a branch in your own country, please contact us.

Click here to read our Website Terms of Use

Please see our Disclaimer.

Please see our Commitment to Privacy here.
Picture

All content on this website is intellectual property of Momivate. All rights reserved.
  • Home
  • About Us
  • BLOG
  • DONATE
  • Services
  • S.M.I.L.E. Awards 2023