Tag: stress less

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Summertime Survival: 15 Hilarious Memes Every Parent Can Relate To

Ah, summer break—that glorious time of year filled with endless possibilities, when school is out, and the kids are home for a couple of months. As mums, we eagerly anticipate the arrival of this sunny season, envisioning lazy days, trips to the beach, family vacations, and plenty of quality time with our little ones.

But let’s be real for a moment: parenting during summer break isn’t always the picture-perfect experience we dream of it being.

While summer brings plenty of fun and unforgettable moments, it also presents unique *ahem* challenges for parents. From managing the kids’ boundless energy (and appetites!) to finding ways to keep them entertained and ensuring they stay safe in the water and under the burning sun, summer parenting requires a whole new level of creativity and resourcefulness.

And patience. Lots and lots of patience. 😅

We all know that laughter is the best medicine, and what better way to stay sane in the chaos of summer parenting than through laugh-out-loud memes?

Whether you’re a seasoned parent or a newbie navigating your first summer break with the kids you’ll surely get a kick out of these 15 hilarious, summertime parenting memes.

If you’re also after some practical tips for getting ready for travel with the kids or simply some fun, easy ways to keep them entertained this summer, I’ve got you covered too!

Let the laughter (and packing!) begin!

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Hilarious Mom Memes You NEED to Share with Your Friends!

Not every day feels like Mother’s Day.

Motherhood can be fun. And it can be tough. Motherhood can be filled with surprises. But it can also be overwhelming. Motherhood can be rewarding. Motherhood can be a million different things. All in one day sometimes!

But what we Mums all need and appreciate is LAUGHTER. And often. You know the saying, “if you don’t laugh you’ll cry”, don’t you?

There are days when being able to laugh out loud is the only thing that gets us through to bedtime, right?!?

Which is why I have put together a bunch of totally relatable, hilarious, laugh-out-loud memes for Mamas.

Read, smirk, laugh, nod knowingly, smile, share with your Mom friends, whatever!

I just want you to enjoy having your funny bone tickled 🤣.

Keep scrolling and enjoy giggling at the good, bad and ugly reality of being a Mom!

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37 Simple Ways for Busy Moms to Practice Self Care

Valentine’s Day. All over social media there’s love in the air and chatter about what nice things we can should do (and buy!) for the people that we love. But behind all the lovey-dovey talk, there’s a very important person we keep forgetting about.

Ourself.

The mothers of the world work so hard to care for their families 24/7 yet all too often forget to plan in anything nice for themselves. Even just to take a breather.

Quite a while back I touched on why moms should take a time out. It’s definitely time for a recap and to fill you in a little more about practicing self care.

But wait! Isn’t self care really just being selfish?!?

In case you’re a little unsure, keep reading to find out about what self care means, why it is so important- yes, YOU TOO should be practicing self care- and a list of simple, yet beneficial, ways you too can take a time out to care for yourself.

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Get Ready, Set Goals & Go into the New Year!

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Christmas is over and New Year’s Day is upon us. People the world over are reflecting on the past year, preparing celebrations for New Year’s Eve and dreaming up New Year’s resolutions and goals for the coming 12 months.

Not only will this be the start of a new year, 2020. But it is also the start of a new decade! Wowsers! Can you remember what you were doing 10 years ago? A helluva lot can happen in 10 years!!! Can you remember even 20 years ago, when it was a new year, a new decade and a new millennium all wrapped up in one fateful night? (Remember the much-feared Y2K bug that was surely going to bring the world to it’s knees… but then didn’t?!?).

New Year’s resolutions are always seen as being this big thing. Another 12 months full of endless possibilities! New year, new beginnings, new habits…

You know, like signing up for a gym membership and then going hard at it for about, um, 3 weeks. And then quitting ☹. Did you know, in December 2018, “exercising more” was the New Year’s resolution for 2019 for 59% of surveyed Americans? And how many then go out and pay for gym memberships that they don’t end up using? Over 5 million! That’s about $1.8 BILLION wasted on wonderful, dreamy, unfulfilled resolutions! **gasp** That really is a insane amount of money! SO many big dreams and cool hard cash wasted.

fitness, gym, gym membership, motivation, exercise

I find the idea of New Year’s resolutions to be a little bit wishy-washy. Sort of, “I am sure I want to go to the gym more this year” or “I really want to stress less this year”. Admirable ideas? Absolutely! But with no plan behind those vague statements to support your resolutions, it’s no shock when you can’t actually say with clarity at the end of the year that you succeeded. Perhaps making an entire year dependent on some well-meaning resolutions made whilst tipsy on the last day of the year is not the best way to go about reaching your goals in the next one…

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5 Ways to Help Cope With Grief

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A big hello to my fantastic Famtastic fans! Wherever you are in the world, I hope that you have had a good week. We are well and truly back to everyday life after our brilliant adventures in Croatia. Our holiday was certainly memorable and like I said last week, all 5 of us remained sane along the way. (Read here for my tips on packing for a long road trip with kids!!) It’s nice to just be around home again after such a long road trip.

Nevertheless, this week I have found myself in a real funk. And no, I don’t mean funk and jive and groovy ‘60s music. I mean, I’m in a lousy mood. And I am not here to bring you all down with me. But I gotta speak what’s on my mind. Saddened, flat, down and grieving.

In the last weeks, within our wider circle of family and friends there have been not 1, not 2, but 3 members pass away. Three! Old, young, sick, healthy, foreseeable, shocking. Whatever. All of the above. And each one has been so intensely sad in their own way. In the same time period there has been some major setbacks for a number of other family and friends with life-threatening health conditions. In addition, several of these people live back in Australia, so it’s impossible for me to attend funerals or speak with loved ones face-to-face. All of which makes it even harder for this grieving expat to work through her feelings.

Really, it’s all just a bit too much. ☹ How does one even begin to deal with so much grief?

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It’s Like Culture Shock, But in Reverse

As you probably already noticed, I was missing in action for a few weeks. This was because my family and I (all 5 of us!) flew from Germany back to Australia to celebrate Christmas last month! I am still here in Australia and thought “Hey! Why not keep on writing about my experiences here?!?”. And so I shall…

Pin, Pinterest, expat life, reverse culture shock, repatriation, tips, help, Australian, Germany, culture, plane, travel

I LOVE being back in Australia. There are so many awesome things about being here: my entire extended family, old friends, the weather, the hot summers, the long, sandy beaches, foods of my childhood, restaurants serving awesome, international-flavoured delights, driving on the left (yes, left!) side of the road, I can speak English all the time and be understood, the cute and furry native animals, the wide open blue skies …

But, and this is a big BUT… it is not entirely easy or without complication coming back here. And I am not talking about the humdrum yet stressful things like: How the hell can we afford to fly there? or Seriously, will we be able to fit everything in the suitcases? or Is the school going to really reject our request for the girls to miss the last couple of days of school?

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Welcome Home! But which home?

No, I mean the practical and emotional effects of

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Get Up and Move Mama

A few backs, I went for a very brisk walk. At 8am. On a Saturday. Which lasted more than 5 kilometres. A walk that took me through quiet nearby neighbourhoods and even quieter recently-harvested fields. All now covered in a slight layer of frost. See, it was only 1 degree Celsius when I left the house. Brrr! Cold, right?!?

But I went out for that walk anyway. Why? Because I needed it. Not because I had to. But because I wanted to, NEEDED to.

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Not in a “If I don’t go exercise sometime I will never lose that weight” type of need. Although weight loss would surely be a welcome and additional benefit. And, at least for today, it wasn’t a “I need time out for myself” type of need, because I have the house to myself for half the day today anyway (yay me!). No, it was a “My body really wants me to move” kind of need.

Now, some of you are probably thinking “Well, duh. Of course you should get your body moving”. And some others of you might be thinking “What the heck is this woman even talking about? Exercise? Bah humbug!”.

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Mum the Taxi

Do you ever have those days when you feel like you have spent the whole time in the car driving here and there and everywhere? Sounds like a great title for a Dr Seuss book: “I’lldrive you here, I’ll drive you there, I’ll drive you everywhere!” Right?!? But not a great way to enjoy the afternoon.

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Wednesdays are a PITA. My nemesis, if you will. You see, Wednesdays are the day when all 3 of my children need to be picked up and/or dropped off at least one place each, all with the most inconvenient spacing between appointments. It is not the only day of the week that we have plans, but it is the most heavily-booked.

Grab a cup of your favourite hot beverage (or alcoholic if you choose, LOL), get comfy and strap yourself in for the fun rollercoaster-ride of my afternoon (and some tips on how to organise days like this!)…

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