My son is now two-going-on-three, and woke up this morning with a runny nose. Joy!  A cold! He’s in pretty good spirits and dancing along to “Barney”, but he’s got a nose like a leaky faucet. Worse, he keeps trying to use Mommy’s arm for a tissue. And my shirt… and my hair… Eww!

Of course, I immediately looked on the internet to see what I could do to try and modify this unhygienic behavior.

Baby Center.com had this advice:

It might help your child to learn to breath in (sniff) first, so he gets the hang of purposeful nose breathing. Holding one nostril shut may help him better identify this action. You might also try a visual aid — like a mirror or a little piece of tissue under his nose — so he can see when he’s blowing air out of his nose.

Keep in mind that you want to teach your child to blow gently. Forceful nose blowing can cause the mucus in his nose to back up into his middle ear or sinuses, raising the risk of infection.

Your child might be inspired by his own little package of tissues (you can find them with colorful designs and even superheroes on the package). Make sure you also teach him to put his used tissues in the garbage can and to wash his hands after he blows his nose.

Children’s book author Melissa Wiley has a genius idea to teach toddlers to blow their nose. She shares it on her blog. I don’t want to give it away here, so you’ll have to go to her blog to get the tip. However, it seems like this technique works best if you teach it BEFORE your child actually has a cold.

Hmm… looks like this won’t be an over-night fix. Better go grab a new box of tissues!

As a mom, we have what I like to refer to as the never-ending-gotta-do-list. It’s that ongoing list of things that no one can accomplish besides Mom nor as well as Mom.There’s a constant juggling show going on with all of the things we need to get done in a day, it’s amazing we ever get any sleep especially while the kids are young.

Do you have a real to-do list? I mean and real live, hold in your hand, show someone else, making you accountable for your wishes and wants and actions… kind of list. If not, let’s start there, you need one. It’s not painful nor time consuming. Grab a pen and a piece of paper and at the top write “make a to-do list”. Voila, you now have a to-do list to work with.

The best time management is built on the foundation of a good, consistent task list. Every single day something comes up or happens or interrupts the day so the intended to-do list becomes altered. That’s ok. You’re allowed, and should include, the wiggle room for your scheduling. The key is to have a plan, be flexible to adjust the plan and have an end goal so there is a point to the plan.

Here are 5 tips to help you work more effectively with your tight schedule

1. Have a real, written down to-do list. Either on the computer or on a pad of paper, keep an ongoing list of all your to-dos. There is no right nor wrong way to organize or categorize, the most important thing is to have a list you can refer to.

2. Schedule tasks that don’t have due dates. It’s easy to get the deadline oriented tasks completed because they have real due dates. However, open ended tasks tend to be pushed down and moved around or just outright forgotten if you don’t include a hypothetical “must get done” date.

3. Label yourself as a priority. Often times our own needs and tasks get set aside for others’ tasks. Most of us will schedule in phone calls and emails because we know we need to keep in touch, yet other self focused tasks like organizing our own personal stuff or getting involved in groups or activities that ony benefit Mom get completely pushed aside. We need to remember, if we don’t take care of ourselves, how can we effectively take care of our family.

4. Allow for breaks. Even the best time management gurus and their industrial strength work stamina have to stop and breath now and again. Make sure you include in your task list things that require you to stop and rest, look around and enjoy the moment. If you need to make sure you allow yourself these moments, write them down on your list as well.

5. Consolidate tasks. Before jumping head first into your to-do-list, take a look and combine tasks that are related, could be done at the same time or might compliment eachother. Taking someone to football practice and making a couple phone calls while you wait is one example. Answer emails while lunch is in the microwave, the laundry dries and a file downloads is another.

Don’t let the time get away from you. Make your time work for you.

Today’s Best Award on Zazzle for Wine T-Shirt

My two year old son is going through an extreme Mommy Separation Anxiety phase and as a result, I haven’t gotten much sleep in the last couple of weeks. He keeps waking up every couple hours crying “mommy rockie” and wanting to be rocked to sleep. I’ve tried instituting the “crying it out” policy again, but he’s older and a lot more stubborn about screaming —  at the top of his lungs — for an hour before giving up and passing out. All the screaming is giving me an ulcer, or at least, very bad indegestion and headaches and… you get the picture.

Last night he had me up until 5 a.m. All day I’ve been dragging around the house, looking at my ridiculously long to-do list, feeling exhausted, overwhelmed and discouraged.

But I got a much needed burst of good news in my inbox this afternoon. I uploaded a Wine Connoisseur t-shirt to my Koncepts by Karyn store today, and I was thrilled to find out that the design received a “Today’s Best Award” from Zazzle. What a much-needed boost of encouragement! You can see the ‘winning’ design below:

Wine Connoisseur Ladies Long Sleeve T-Shirt by koncepts
Browse more Wine T-Shirts at Zazzle.com

This design can be customized, and is available on several different shirt styles and gift ideas including wine aprons, mousepads, mugs & hats.

Get your Wine Connoisseur t-shirt now…