moms Archives - Emily Roach Health Coach

Is “Busy” the new “Fine?”

Beware the barrenness of a busy life. -Socrates

While on vacation, it becomes easy to see some of the habits we have when it comes to our schedules and connectivity. The daily influx of notifications on our phones. Texts. What’s up on social media now? The email inbox continues to fill as so many things compete for our attention. Quiet is so hard to find these days and I wonder if you feel the same. March Break starts at the end of the school day today here in Canada and it’s a great time to push the reset button before the spring season begins.

We have to make a conscious effort to avoid the glorification of busy. I fear that if we don’t, our kids will only know a world of to-do lists, dings and a lack of quiet. The immediacy of filling their needs is hard to live up, unless you are an iPad. Making them wait is a life lesson and it is taking great effort sometimes to slow them down and be present. If they are so busy, where is the time to create and imagine? Boredom in the week ahead may be a good thing.

If you don’t feel busy, you may wonder if you are doing enough. I read about bloggers with much bigger platforms than mine who homeschool four plus kids and still manage to be in so many places at once. Some days I think, why can’t I do that too? Other days I am wise enough to step back and wonder if they are doing it all themselves, or do they have help? The same goes for stay at home moms, working moms and everyone in-between. Busy is a part of life, but is doesn’t need to define us.

When people ask me how I do it all, I’m always a little hesitant to answer. For me, I like having lots of things going on. It gives me energy and fills my need to learn new things. However, I also check out for two months of the year at the beach to recover from the pace of this lifestyle. It works for our family, but may not for others. Everyone has to decide what level of busy works for them.

Everyone is busy. Parents singletons, grandparents. They are all busy in their own life stage. It’s not a competition. When someone asks, “how are you,” talk and share about what is filling you up, instead of what is filling your calendar. If you can’t think of what is filling you with joy, then it may be time to give that calendar a little edit.

Next up on my reading list is Breaking Busy: How to Find Peace and Purpose in a World of Crazy by Alli Worthington. As I plan to rebrand this website in the coming weeks, I’m excited to read through the book and see what direction this little space should go. Blogging has never been a way to keep me busy, but more as a creative outlet. Sometimes we all need to write down what’s in our head to make room for more.

If you want to listen in the car instead as you play the role of chauffeur (me lately), take a listen to this podcast episode. As host Jess Lively said: This episode is perfect for anyone who is over-scheduled, overwhelmed, or wants to drop the word “busy” from their vocabulary. I listened to this over a year ago and the comment about “e-brain” has stuck with me. Take a listen and see if you can climb out of the trap of answering busy, instead of really sharing what’s bringing you joy.

For those of you in Canada, enjoy your vacation week. I’m looking forward to ours and seeing where our open schedule takes us each day.

Follow Me

March 11, 2016/5 Comments/by eroachwellness

Family, Kids

How We Teach Gratitude to Our Children

My Grammy once told me how much she appreciated receiving my thank you notes after the holidays and every birthday. When I was young, all I remember was how long it took to write out those cards. Sending a note is such a simple gesture, but it turns out it can be quite meaningful.

Our kids have been blessed with very generous grandparents and extended family. Now it’s our job as parents to work with them to instill the value of gratitude. Explaining the concept of gratitude via thank you notes is helpful to take that first step. Having cute thank you notes to help the cause is even better.

Kids can write a note on their own paper, create their own card, or try these custom thank-you notes we used this year. Although I’m embarrassed to admit, we are still catching up on holiday/birthday thank you notes. Our kids get a double dose of presents over a month and we are trying to finish up those thank you notes this week. Part of the delay is the challenge of getting a seven year old to spend quality time writing out the notes. I don’t want thank you notes to feel like a chore, but more like an opportunity to discuss the gratitude we feel in our lives. To the children, it may be for presents, but it’s a good time to talk about other blessings. A warm home, healthy food, favorite friends and strong bodies. The less we focus on the “stuff” we are thankful for, maybe the kids will be more protective of the other blessings in their lives.

Try this with your kids. Next time they need to thank someone for a gift, use this as a chance to get them involved. Talk about gratitude and what it means. Then turn the tables and talk about how we can be more generous. Can we donate some toys to a family in need? Drop off a meal to someone who is ill? Call those grandparents more often because we know it makes their day. (Even grown ups need a reminder here sometimes, me included.)

Need some adorable Thank You notes for your kids? Tiny Prints wants to spread the message of gratitude and I’m happy to help. One winner will get 30 Color-In Thank You Notes ($56 value.) Pop over to my Instagram and enter into the contest there. Thank you to Tiny Prints for sharing this product with me and with you too! Contest is open until 3/9.

Follow Me

March 2, 2016/by eroachwellness

back to school, crafts, Kids, moms, organizing

Back to School Organizing with Sharpies {courtesy of Staples}

This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Sharpie, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #StaplesBTS http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV

It’s nearly back to school season! Don’t you just love the rush of getting the kids all ready for school and buying beautiful new notebooks, markers and lunch boxes? I’m a sucker for pretty notebooks and colorful markers. I still remember how excited I was to go back to school shopping for all the items on our supply list when I was younger, back in my Trapper Keeper days. While my excitement for back to school now focuses on my kids, it’s also about getting our family back into a routine.

As I started looking at the back to school deals at Staples, the fashion assortment of Sharpies caught my eye. All those colors…all that color coding I can do. Yes, even I who loves all things digital, has paper calendars and check lists. I read an article last year that said we remember more of what we write down on paper than we do after keying it into a computer (or phone.) The brain registers these two actions differently, and it’s handwriting that has the staying power. After reading this, I felt better about sticking with paper and pen for my weekly agenda. It has made a difference keeping track of my schedule as I write out the week ahead, along with my menu plan, every Sunday.

September has always felt like a fresh start to me, even if it’s not really a “new year.” Today I wanted to share with you a fun, FREE, printable calendar that you can use each week to stay organized. There are three ways you could use this to help keep everyone on the same page in your home.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE WEEKLY CALENDAR PRINTABLE

(this is a file in Google Drive, open the link then go to File–>Print)

1. Print out the calendar each week and write out your family’s schedule and color code with Sharpie markers. The Fine and Ultra Fine Sharpie packs are currently on sale at Staples through August 24th, while supplies last. I love all the colors in the fashion pack I bought. (I dug up my Nana’s old cranberry mold glass jar to hold them all for easy access. You can get the same effect with a wide mouth pint jar.)

2. Print out the calendar once, color code your “master” schedule and then laminate it. You can then add in the weekly appointments that change using a dry erase marker. (Hint- I use the wet erase markers, which you can also find at Staples.)

3. Print out the calendar for each child and write out their weekly schedule with them. I know the young ones ask a hundred times a day when they are doing something and which day it is. Having their own calendar schedule is a great way to teach them the days of the week, and explain to them when their activities will be. Use the Sharpie colors to color code their schedule for non-readers. Red = school, blue = swimming and so on.

What other ways can you use this calendar? Are you a back to school organizing junkie like me? Want to shopping at Staples together and see what deals we can find?

Follow Me

August 19, 2014/9 Comments/by eroachwellness