Our Mommyhood

As an adult, you probably dislike doing chores as much as your kids do. The trick to convincing your kids to do household chores is to think of ways to turn them into a game or contest. You can also personalize the chores so that your children take a special joy in getting them done. With a bit of creativity, chore-time can turn into fun-time for your entire family (including you!).

Personalized Chores

Putting clothing in the washers or folding clean laundry becomes a lot more fun for kids when they have their own personalized hamper or laundry basket. Take your kids to the store and let them choose a basket that they like. You can also decorate the baskets at home with stickers, poster paints or markers.

Awards for Chores

Who doesn’t love an award for a job well done or even for a job that’s simply done? At the start of each week, make up a list of chores for each child to complete by the end of the week. Write the name of each child on a big piece of poster board and list chores beside each name. As she/he completes the chores, put a sticker next to the chore.

At the end of the week, have an awards ceremony for the chores. The child who made her bed the most days out of the week can receive the “Best Bed-Maker” award. The child who went above and beyond his chore list can receive the “Greatest Achiever” award. Depending on the age of your children, the awards can be something simple such as a ribbon, pin or sticker. You could also use snacks, extended time on the phone, or whatever incentive fits your family!

Treasure Hunt

Turn dusting, sweeping, and vacuuming chores into a treasure hunt to make them more enjoyable and to make sure your kids dust or sweep under the hard to reach places. Tuck a few coins under vases or bowls on a table or bookcase. If your child is doing a thorough job of dusting, she/he will find the coins. Also hide a few coins or other small trinkets under the dining table or under chair legs. Don’t let your child know about the treasures beforehand. Once the chores are finished, compare the amount found with what you hid. This can tell you how thorough of a job they did.

Add Music

Chore time goes by a lot more quickly when music is involved. Let your child pick the music you play, or work together to create your own silly songs as you work. Keep in mind that older children may be embarrassed by their parents singing during chore time. If your child picks a song, use that song as a timer and see how many chores you get speed through before the end.

Let Them Pick

Give the child who sets the table and cleans up the dishes after dinner the option of choosing the next night’s dinner (or dessert). Your kids will be eager to help out in the kitchen, as it will mean they get to have a meal of their choice the next day. You will probably have to set limits on this one, though. For example, let your kids know that they can’t pick pizza for dinner more than once a week. It may be best to give them a few acceptable options to choose from. If you have more than one child, keep things fair by not letting the same child set and clear up two nights in a row.

 

Holly Watson is a stay at home mom who spends her extra time blogging on behalf of Sears and other deserving brands she enjoys. She loves the peace that fills the house once everyone leaves for the day just as much as she loves the energy that fills the house when everyone gets home. Holly hasn’t met a glass of wine she didn’t like.

 

 

This post is brought to you by Outright.com, the easiest way to manage your business finances online!

Moms have it tough as it is. And business-owning moms are stretched even more thin – between picking up the kids and balancing the business budget, you squeeze in a few hours of sleep before going right back to work. Clearly, you have enough on your plate already.

So why would the IRS try to sabotage your life by giving you more stuff to do this tax season?

It’s true. If you haven’t heard, there’s a new tax form that should be in your mailbox very soon (if not already). It’s the 1099-K, also known as the PayPal 1099 or Amazon 1099. Whatever the name, the 1099-K is yet another thing to worry about before that fateful mid-April tax deadline.

So what’s the story behind this mysterious document? And just how much work is it going to add to your workload this year?

1099-K Origins 

Though it seems that – like the mystery smell in the backseat of the car – it came out of nowhere, the origins of the 1099-K go back a few years. The United States has always suffered from what’s known as the “tax gap.” This term just means the difference between income actually earned in this country and income actually reported to the IRS. This is why, for instance, businesses are required to send out W-2’s to employees and 1099’s to contractors. By 2008, congress suspected that the rise of ecommerce selling was causing quite a sizeable tax gap, as people made money through sources like eBay and Amazon but – perhaps – didn’t report that income. Thus, with the passing of the 2008 Housing Assistance Tax Act, Congress also required that payment processors like PayPal issue form 1099-K to people who receive income through those sources. This form is also sent to the IRS so they can know what to expect when ecommerce sellers file their tax returns.

So if you’ve ever filed as an ecommerce pro before, prepare for things to be a little different from now on. That is, unless…

Stipulations

The new 1099-K tax form does come with some catches. For one, not everybody who made a few bucks from PayPal here and there gets it! Only select online sellers will receive the form in the mail soon.

There are two big criterias you must meet if you are to get the 1099-K:

• Must have made over $20,000 through Amazon, PayPal, etc.
• That $20K must have been made through 200 or more transactions

If you don’t meet either one of those criteria, then you won’t get the form in the mail. If you do get it, though, it’s no reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater! The only thing the 1099-K reports to you is how much money you made through your ecommerce ventures. That’s it! So it should be the same amount as your own personal records.

Remember, this new tax form came about simply because congress wanted to catch ecommerce pros who weren’t paying their way. Reporting should be the same – just remember to take out all the deductions and exemptions you need, as the 1099-K doesn’t report those.

So although you’re super swamped already and may feel like you can’t take on anymore, this new tax form shouldn’t send you over the edge. And if this news does send you running around the room like a 2-year-old with a lollipop, then please visit our Tax Resource Center for more information on 1099-K in particular and self-employment taxes in general!

No mom wants to see their kids get sick. Maybe more importantly, no mom wants to experience the downtime of being sick themselves. This is where preventative health strategies come into play. By working towards keeping your children and yourself healthy, you can save costs on medical care, save the stress that comes with worry and stay on your feet and chasing after the kids.

Here are five ways that you can prevent your family from developing high-risk conditions:

1. Nutrition
By eating a healthy diet, you can stave off many diseases in your family. A proper diet can lower your child’s risk of developing heart disease and diabetes later in life. A healthy diet also has an immediate effect on the risk of childhood obesity that brings with it a host of other medical problems: asthma, high blood pressure and lack of mobility.

How do you ensure that your child has healthy eating habits? Your children will eat healthy if mom and dad do. Our kids depend on us to choose, prepare and provide their meals. By making wise choices from the beginning, you will give your children a great foundation when it comes to making the right food choices.

2. Exercise
Studies have shown that at least 20 to 30 minutes of aerobic exercise is necessary for proper heart and bone health. While your children may be exercising enough on their own through play, it is still important that you instill proper exercise habits early-on. You don’t want your children to stop exercising when they get too old to romp in the yard!

Exercise doesn’t have to be complicated. Put your baby in the stroller, lace up your toddler’s tennis shoes and take a walk around the neighborhood. Sign your child up for swimming or ice-skating lessons. Play pickle-in-the-middle! There are all sorts of creative ways to make sure your children are getting adequate exercise.

3. Vitamins
You and your children can all benefit by taking a multi-vitamin every day. Remember how excited we were to take our Flinstone vitamins as kids? They were like a little treat with our breakfast. They still make those little cartoon character shaped vitamins and they’re as good for kids to today as they were then.

As adults, we tend to take vitamins for a week or two, starting off with the best of intentions, and then slowly begin “forgetting” to take them. It’s important to remember that no vitamin, no matter what the advertisements say, provides an instant effect. Vitamins need to be taken long term. Taken properly, vitamin supplements can help stave off arthritis, cancer, heart disease and even osteoporosis.

4. Testing
One of the best ways adults can both prevent and receive early diagnosis of any problems is by taking part in screening fairs. Many companies, clinics and even drug store chains provide these fairs. You can have your blood pressure, cholesterol levels, sugar and even thyroid levels checked. By taking part in a screening every year, you can make yourself aware of any changes taking place in your body.

5. Tobacco and Alcohol
As adults, we all know the dangerous health effects of alcohol and tobacco. It’s never too early to start teaching your children about these dangers! Many parents find the topics uncomfortable and either put off the conversation or never talk about it at all. Talk to your children about the effects of tobacco and alcohol and, if you use one or both, quit as soon as possible.

Preventative health care is just that: preventative. By paying attention to your body, and the bodies of your children, you can stave off many illnesses altogether and give yourselves a fighting chance from developing chronic illnesses later in life.

Cynthia Johnson is a lab assistant and online contributor for one of the most notable health testing centers, offering a prescribed or self-ordered Lipid Profile and many other types of blood tests for everything from liver functions to a thyroid test.

 

As a mom to toddlers, I questioned when I should begin to teach my children financial responsibility. Should I start now? Should I wait until they were teenagers? Would my toddlers even understand the concept of money? After doing a bit of research, I decided that now was as good a time as any to start teaching my kids the value of a dollar.

If you have been wondering the same thing, here is a bit of what I learned through books and websites; hopefully it will help you as much as it did me!

 

 

Start Young
Children as young as four can be taught lessons about money; the key is to start simply. Begin by setting up a piggy bank in your child’s room and teaching them the value of coins and paper money. The lessons, again, should be simple. Teach them to identify a penny, nickel, dime, quarter and dollar bill. They don’t necessarily need to know that a quarter is $0.25 but that the specific coin is called a “quarter”.

Here’s an easy lesson: empty your pocket at the end of the day and help your child identify five coins. Once they’ve identified the coins, let them put them in their piggy bank. Allowing your children to keep the five coins makes them eager to practice their identification and doesn’t cost you much.

Allowance
When your child is old enough to understand “allowance”, give them one. The age will vary depending on the mental maturity of the child. Because my children are doing well with their identification, I plan to start allowance once they’ve entered kindergarten.

The key to an allowance is in teaching your children that they earn money for going above and beyond. Making their bed, for instance, does not earn an allowance as it is a necessary task. Helping empty the dishwasher or volunteering to take out the garbage, or collect the recyclables, on the other hand, does earn an allowance. Children need to learn that there are some things in life that are expected and won’t earn them a reward; monetary or otherwise.

Saving
When you begin to give your children an allowance, it’s a great time to teach them about saving their money. Teach your children the rule of three: one third is saved, one third is shared and one third is spent. Obviously, if you’re only giving your child $1 or two a week, you aren’t going to send $0.33 or $0.63 to a charity but you can put this money in a separate bank and send it along when your child has saved $10.

Teaching your child that not all money earned is money to spend will pave the way to financial responsibility in adulthood. Many parents make the critical mistake of letting their children spend all of their allowance. Doing so doesn’t teach them a thing about responsibility which is your ultimate goal.

Teaching your children how to be responsible with their money is one of the most important lessons that you can offer. Children who learn how to manage money properly grow into adults who are fiscally responsible. It’s never too early to begin teaching your child the value of saving; just make sure your lessons are age-appropriate.

Author Jessica Stevens is a financial consultant and content contributor for wisebread.com, a site offering reviews on some of the best balance transfer credit cards and great money tips for living large on a small budget.

From newborns to teenagers, keeping mom’s car in tip-top running order can prove to be quite difficult at times. However, there are a few tools that can be used to make life flow a bit more smoothly. All of the major must-haves for the car can be divided into two categories: keeping the car clean and keeping the kids (and mom) happy.

When putting infant and toddler car seats in the car, some precautions should be taken to ensure that no damage is done to the seats. Use a car seat protection mat to save leather and upholstery from heavy seats digging into the material. This helps maintain the vehicle’s value and when the seats are removed there is no unsightly dents or holes left behind.

Another way to keep the car clean and organized is by attaching a mesh bag to the back of the front seats. All of the toys, books, snacks, drinks, etc. will have a home that is easy to reach for both mom and child. It also helps to make cleaning up a breeze. There are times that things will fall on the floor or the children will have excessive amounts of dirt trapped under their shoes and will attempt to make the floors of the car filthy. To avoid the headaches of unnecessary stains and odors from the accidents, simply put a rubber floor mat down to catch all the grime. They are extremely easy to clean and most come with treading on the bottom to ensure that the mat stays in place at all times.
Now on to keeping the vehicle’s driver and passenger pleasant. Sure, traveling can get frustrating and seem to be endless at some points, but over the years moms have learned how to keep it together.

Perhaps one of the greatest inventions for keeping the kids occupied is the portable DVD player. They are available in multiple kinds of ways and are an absolute key part of keeping everyone happy. For example, one can purchase an in-dash DVD player actually installed in the vehicle, or just attach them to the headrest in the vehicle.

Lastly, play games in the car. There are games for just the child and there are games that mom and child can play together to keep both occupied. Simple games like finding a specific state license plate and rewarding with a quarter seem to be quite helpful and create fun quality bonding time.

Though it sometimes may seem like a daunting chore, driving around with kids in the car has become much easier to manage using the proper tools available. Finding other things to fit specific lifestyles will come naturally to aide in these basic mommy must-haves.

Bio: David spends the majority of his time riding in cars, and speaks from experience. He currently works at a company that offers individuals cash for autos, making it easy to sell your vehicle.