I watched you as you carried the metal chair to the end if the pool. I saw you very carefully arrange a towel on the seat and place a stuffed fish on the towel, so it was looking over the pool. This was after you had already spent several precious minutes of the 40 minute swimming lesson speaking encouragement to your child. I wondered of the presence of so many other kids had overwhelmed her. I did not hear what you said to her but I imagine you were telling her that she was okay and everything was going to be okay that you would help her.

I watched you finally get her to the edge of the pool. You had laminated picture cards for the coach and your daughter,  presumably to help ensure her of what is going to happen and that she has done this before and she can do it again.

I held my breath as you stood next to her at the edge of the pool. She needed to jump in. The swim coach was waiting for her and half the lesson time was already gone.

You never once expressed frustration at her hesitation.  You just waited and encouraged, recognizing she needed to do this on her own time.

When she finally jumped in, I very nearly stood up and applauded her with you. What joy there was in that moment.  She made me feel successful and I did not do a thing but watch!

I saw you do this whole routine the last swimming lesson and the lesson before that. And I suspect n the lesson before that one.

This is the reality of your life.

I could not help but think of my own kids, about how I could tell them to get in the water and they would. I don't have to convince or comfort them. They don't need a set if specific circumstances to be okay. They handle change well.  A skill that I take for granted. But I bet you don't.

One in 68 children are diagnosed with autism in this country.

That means 1 in less than 100 families are affected by autism, some with multiple children on the spectrum.
These are moms, dads, sisters and brothers.

Today, and now twice every week, I am reminded to pray for these families. I am reminded to take nothing for granted.

Hug all your kids today - if they will let you. Not every parent has this luxury.

A Place for Everything Part 3: My Discbound Planner

In my ten years of homeschooling I have used all sorts of planners. I used home made planners in the early years. Then I moved on to the Well Planned Day and then the Ultimate Homeschool Planner and then back to WPD with the On the Go planner. I found good and bad in each of the systems I've used. As you probably know, if you've read the previous two posts, I love to plan. I love getting my thoughts down on a planning page, especially if colorful pens and papers are included in the process.

I recently saw a post online about the Discbound system. I'd never heard of this before and I started looking online at this system and how others used it, very curious if it would work for my homeschooling. I was pleased to find a mom on youtube that had used this system for her homeschool planner! It was like she'd spent a little time in my brain and developed a planner around my hopes for a homeschool planning system!

I have a love/hate thing with binders. They are big and bulky and the only advantage they have is that you can move pages around as you need. I like spiral bound books because you can fold it in half and write on the left and right sides of the notebook easily. But they are so... permanent! You can't add pages, you can't move them around. And my Type A, perfectionist side dislikes this! Very much! I want to be able to move things and add things as I need. This is the reason I've not yet made a Tapestry of Grace student notebook! But this year, I get to have my flexibility and the spiral feel to my planner and the student books by using this system! (More on my next blog post about the Student Notebook.)

I went to the Staples site to find this beautiful Martha Stewart planner cover! I did order the larger discs because I knew the small ones that came with the planner just wouldn't last once I added all the pages I had in mind! I also ordered extra pocket pages to use as dividers, and a zip lock page to carry pens and papers. I took the huge plunge to order the hole punch, as well. I figured, if I'm going to make my own planning pages, PLUS use this system to make planners for my son's Tapestry of Grace books (I will post about this in the future as well), I better have the hole punch. I have not regretted that purchase!!

So let me introduce you to my work in progress. I hope you can see from the photo how the discs work. They have a ridge that the page wraps around, which keeps the pages in place. However, they can be pulled out and put back in to another part of the notebook.

I put the zip page in front so that I could put all my colorful pens, Post-Its and other items handy. Normally, I keep my pens and markers in a carry-all (pictured in the previous blog post). But if I'm leaving home with the planner, I like to slide them in the zip page. The planner has an elastic band to keep it closed, it has little slots in the front to hold papers and other items, and it has a pen holder on the right side (back) of the planner. And I just love the color! However, if the color isn't 'you', no problem! Staples has other colors, just look in their search engine for the ARC system.

The pretty, colorful dividers were no longer available on Staples.com. So I made my own with scrapbook paper. You could use anything to divide your sections.

The first few pages came with my planner. They have personal reference information. One thing I like about this is the holidays at a glance pages. I also like the years at a glance that offer years from 2013 to 2016. And it has a Special Dates section where you can jot down anniversaries, birthdays, and appointments for each month. Of course, I had to add a little washi tape to the pages for a splash of fun.

I took my Homeschool Mission page out of my old binder, used the special hole punch, and put it in my new planner to help keep my focus. Right behind this page I have placed my family routine (in a perfect world...)

My first pocket page is the divider for the Month at a Glance pages. I put a sticker tab at the top that I found at a local scrapbook shop. I can use the folder to put any sort of papers in, but if I don't need to use it this way, it still makes a great divider. I placed a page behind this with a Bible verse to help keep me inspired.

I made my own monthly pages and tabbed the top with the first letter of each month. I like to see my month at a glance, jot down events, etc. I start with June since it's my homeschool planner.

At the end of the monthly pages you'll find my 2nd pocket page divider. This begins the week at a glance pages that I created on my computer. Inside this pocket I am currently planning to hold my week of pages from the main Tapestry of Grace binder. These pages are held together with a small brad.

The weekly pages I created have the subjects down the left side of the page, and days of the week across the top. I also have room to plan my meals and write my to do lists for the day. And for fun, I put little glasses of water on each day so I can mark them off as I drink water. Somehow I forget to drink enough water through my day. I have Saturday and Sunday on the far right as well as a small area to jot down my thoughts for the week. What worked? What didn't? What do I need to remember next week? One last thing that isn't in the photo is the small gray paper the size of a book mark. I bought these also from Staples and it sits high enough to act like a divider so I can open directly to the week we are in currently. But it also will be where I write the books and pages my boys need to read for their Tapestry assignments that week. Then I can pull it out and let them use it as a book mark, and they can also place it inside their TOG disc bound student notebook.

My next section is my scope and sequence for the year. I can glance at the page and see what exactly we are covering, and it becomes a part of my record when our year is over. We take every 7th week of from our school work, so by now you've probably come to expect washi tape... I've put washi tape down those weeks to help them stand out. I haven't filled in the chart completely just yet, but I've printed what I had done to show you. I'll pencil in the rest of the chapters we'll do each week when I have time to sit and plan.

This is our family routine. I only wish each day went so smoothly. Remember my post (Part One) that explained my split personality? I am so easily sidetracked that I have to at least have a routine set up, and then if we hit 50% of what I hoped, we're doing great! The older my kids get, the easier it is to be on a routine because they are more self directed. Just remember, no routine/schedule/planner is your task master, it is just a tool!

I have other planning pages like the schedule for Biology, the list of books I already own (comes in handy when shopping at used sales so I don't buy duplicates), and the teacher copies of the maps for Tapestry. I will probably be moving things around as my year goes by, but that's ok! I can easily pull out a page and place it in its new home! Binder meets spiral!

I am eager to give this system a try this school year! I think it just may be the answer I've been looking for all these years. Feel free to ask questions or even add comments below on great ideas you've had with planners! Happy 2014-15 school year!

~Christa

See also
A Place for Everything Part One
Part Two
Part Four
Part Five

A Place for Everything Part 2: The Bullet Journal

I love lists.

I make lists all the time.

Throughout the day I will even add things that I've already done to lists JUST so I can mark it off!

My problem? Remember in Part One I mentioned that I have a little of a split personality? Well, my unorganized side takes over and I lose lists. I jot them on slips of paper that get misplaced or in spiral books that I've lost somewhere in a pile. (Perhaps I'll discuss piles in another post...) So what's a list maker to do? I also tend to allow thoughts to roll around 24/7 in my brain. A friend told me to "dump the bucket" so I can actually rest once in a while. It's true, it is hard to rest with all these things running through my mind day and night! I needed a Brain Dump!

Enter the Bullet Journal. I was told to Google the idea and not only did I Google, I searched Pinterest as well!! I immediately fell in love with the bullet list idea, so much that I had to get started right away! It has given me a great way to track so many things in my world, that it trumps any planner I've used in the past. I had several people ask me to send them photos or bring it to show them 'face to face.' So I've decided to continue my "A Place for Everything" blog series with my Bullet Journal!

Here it is! I purchased the 3 pack of Moleskine soft back graph paper notebooks and dusted off my scrap booking skills and supplies! I decorated the front very simply. And I love an elastic band to keep the book closed, but these do not come with such a band. So, I stopped at a local grocery store and they had hair bands that were EXACTLY the size I needed. I hot glued the band to the back of the book and used washi tape to cover the band. I put another one on the spine to be a book marker.

Opening the book, I glued an envelope inside the cover to hold small goodies, like stickers or other small items. I also wanted some inspiring quotes. So I just covered the first page with a great verse on scrap book paper. We all need a little 'rah rah' some days. This isn't necessary by any means, but I liked the idea of something pretty to greet me and I loved this red scrapbook paper as a background!

Turn the page and you'll see a calendar that I printed from Donna Young's site. I like looking ahead at dates, so this was necessary for me. The opposite page is the Index. You'll add page numbers as you fill in your journal, so you'll add this to your index as you go.

On the following page I found some cute Post-Its. I love owls. So these were perfect for my "Year at a Glance" page. I glued them down, wrote the months on them, and jotted down important dates for each months. This could be important appointments, birthdays, anniversaries, etc.

On the next page we jump in to the nitty gritty of this type of planner. You'll see on the left page I have the month with the dates and days of the week down the left column. Then I have important events written down, I can look at my month at a glance and see what's coming and what days I have open. On the right side of the planner I have my "Get To Do" list for the month. Every time I think of something I need to do, I can jot it down here. Then as my month goes on, I can place them in my daily planner lists and then mark them off the main list for the month. I also decided to put a Post-It with a calendar for the month in the bottom corner. I am very visual and I liked having an actual calendar page to see. Each month will begin with these two pages.

Turning the page we get to start our daily check lists. Unlike most planners, you aren't writing out your daily to do lists in advance. Instead, you write your lists as you go. So on Monday night, I use this for my brain dump to make my bullet list of to-do's for Tuesday. I never have to worry about finding my list, it's right here in my Bullet Journal! And since I'm visual, you'll see that I use all sorts of colors. You can make this as plain or complex as you like. I love adding stickers and washi tape to give it more color and joy when I look at the page. Some days are very short, others are several lines long. You'll also see that each item has a check box in front to mark off. Did I mention that I love marking off boxes?

You may notice that in front of several of the boxes I have drawn other symbols. My memory isn't always spot on, so in the back of the book I've pasted a pretty piece of scrapbook paper that folds out with the 'key' written on it. This way I can see that '0' is an event, '!' is priority, '.' is for notes, '$' is something to purchase, a heart is something inspirational or something I LOVE, an arrow is something I migrated from the previous day, a line through the task means it is irrelevant, and '/' means I've started the task, but 'X' means I completed it. This is how the back cover looks when my 'Key' is folded in. (You can also see all my Post-It's with each month of the year pasted on them, all prepared for when I need them!)

You can see here how I've pasted the scrapbook paper so that when it is unfolded it is visible while I am writing in the journal.

I decided I needed space for other lists, like helping my friend plan her daughter's birthday party. Or yard sale prep. Or things needing to be done around the house, spring cleaning and other spruce ups. So I jumped to the last third of the book and made a "My Lists" section. Again, no more lists getting lost, they are all in this one section of my journal.

I also started a section near the end of the book for accountability. So I wrote the days of the month across the top of the page, and the daily tasks down the left side. For example, exercise, water, Bible study, etc. I can fill in the squares if I've done the task. This is a new thing and I am still teaching myself to remember to get the slots filled in... but I like the idea of this.

Finally on the last couple pages I decided to track 100 days of Joy/Gratefulness. So I wrote the days of the month down the page and then write one small thing that brings me joy, small things I am grateful for each day.

One final important player in this process is my tote!! I love this product. It is designed to hold make up and make up brushes. But I love it for washi tape, rubber stamps, and more. In the back I have my large roll of tape, some glue, clips in pretty colors, and a pretty jar that holds my pens and markers. In the front I have the washi tapes, rubber stampers, scissors, and Post-Its. This keeps everything handy and easy to carry from one area to another.

This Bullet Journal can look any way you like, get as creative or as simple as you prefer. But for me, it allows me a place to empty my brain. I don't worry about forgetting important dates or things I need to do. It's small enough to go with me and large enough to see what I am writing WITHOUT my reading glasses! I hope it gets your creative juices flowing for planning your days!!

~Christa

Watch for A Place for Everything Part One
Part 3
Part 4 and
Part 5

A Place for Everything Part 1: Embracing My Inner Type A

I have a bit of a split personality. I find great value in being lazy, and at the same time I love order and neatness. I live most of my life walking in one of two extremes it seems. But in this case, if I have chaos around me in the form of clutter, it is like noise in my head. That said, there are moments when the couch is too lovely to bother myself with the messies. Perhaps you should also know that I have hypothyroid and adrenal fatigue and even when I want to deal with the messies, sometimes my body just won't let me. But that's another blog post for another day. Today, I'm sharing with you how I locked up and threw the key away on my Type A side and how I've since come to embrace my inner "A"...

I was living in the "color coded" side of my personality quite contentedly for some time. I had a house keeping routine (which I usually kept up, but not always), my kids had 'chore packs' (which they only kept up when I reminded them), I had a 28 day rotating menu plan (quite handy for my grocery shopping budget, not a luxury but a necessity), and I had my homeschool lesson planner all set up (which kept my brain from exploding in my head). I was in my element for a season.

But then it happened.

The comments started coming in from people who lived on the outside. They would say I was 'so organized.' Well, they didn't see the daily grind and that it is because I am so unorganized that I have to uber-plan! Or that my best laid plans often didn't go according to schedule (which is ok, by the way.) I also heard, "Oh I could never do what YOU do. I'm just not that organized." One day over tea a fellow homeschooling mama said to a mutual friend, "DON'T feel like you have to do school like HER, MOST people are not even close to this organized! She's over the top!" That fear of man was creeping in... you know, more worried about what others think than what I need to do in my own life for my own family under the guidance of my own God. I was beginning to feel very self-conscious. I felt very judged by people. I don't believe for a minute that they intended to come across this way. But nevertheless, it is how it was received. So, I would try to reassure people that I'm not always good at follow through, but I love to plan. I found myself trying to convince people that I was really a mess, and that if they only knew me better they'd see that very clearly. I love color coding and sticky notes and colorful markers. I'm an office supply store addict. But just because I like to plan and organize doesn't mean my days always follow said plans. However, my Type A was becoming an issue. I grew tired of hearing how people just could never do what I do. As if they were required to by someone. We moms are so good at comparing ourselves to others! But I was worn out from the comments people made.

I started letting my Type A side go a bit at a time. And then my adrenals started really giving me fits. I couldn't keep up with things no matter how I tried, and I was already letting so many things slide. The 'noise' was getting to me. Some time went by, I got some help with my adrenals and was up on my feet again. But it still took a while to feel like digging out my washi tape and colorful markers.

The Lord had been tugging at my heart for quite a while, I was sure I needed to 'get my house in order.' I learned something about how my brain works. I have to have order around me, and a place to jot ideas so that they stop swirling in my head. My husband pointed out to me once that I never really "rest." I didn't understand. He pointed out that my brain never rests, I'm always thinking and reading and doing something. He was right.
So how do I find rest? (Second only to the rest I get in the Lord...)
I create order.
I make things look pretty.
I plan.
I use colorful markers.

And so I slowly started reading organizing books and books on living simply. I started to do a small purge in my home in 2013. But recently we had our hopes up to move to a slightly larger home. And that didn't happen. Twice. In the process, I realized just how annoying the clutter is to me. And part of my problem was that I had too much stuff in too small a home. If we were going to stay in our small home on our small lot, there needed to be a change. I wanted our home to look like those staged homes, ready to sell, all clean, open, airy, and peaceful!

It occurred to me that in addition to too much stuff, there wasn't a place for everything. I actually enjoy putting things where they belong, but when I don't have a place for things, they just pile up. And then I have clutter. And then... noise. And this was really beginning to bother me emotionally and make me feel physically drained. It was past time to get things in order. Less stuff equals less maintenance, which equals more time! More time to be with my family and enjoy hobbies! More time for spontaneity! More rest! Less "stuff" equals more joy! So, time to get to work!!

I will talk in more detail on the "how" and "what" of my 2014 purge and organizing in another post in this blog series. But I will say that we've been working on a large 2014 purge in our home. And I've discovered Bullet Journals and Disc Bound planners, and more! These will also be covered in depth in this series. I'm happy to say, we've made great progress in these areas. And I have dusted off and embraced my Type A side again. Because guess what... I like her! I like washi tape and office supplies and colorful markers and labels and bins and poly envelopes! I really enjoy these things and I like a neat, organized, smoothly running home. It doesn't mean it's always smooth or that it always goes according to plan. But I'm ok with that. I'm not ok with not having the plan. It turns out, God gives us unique gifts. And I've decided to embrace my gift for planning and organizing. I also have realized that with my health issues, I have to have things running as smoothly as possible because, for me, it takes too much energy to live without a plan. And when this mama is not feeling well, my kids know what is expected, and they can pick up where I leave off.

Oh and please don't think for a second that I live in a spotless paradise. As I type this I am looking at the piles of homeschool books to be sorted, the dishes on my counter, and the various projects just waiting for me to finish! People do live in this home, after all... This is all a process and we are nothing if not flexible. And with my thyroid and adrenal issues, there are just seasons where all good plans go out the window and a nap takes precedence. And that's ok!

I know this isn't everyone's gift or talent. And that's ok. I never expected it to be. It it isn't your thing, HOORAY! You save a lot of money on colorful markers and fancy planner systems! But now I am going to stop worrying about making everyone else feel comfortable. It is not my responsibility. And I no longer need to apologize for my quirkiness. Instead, let's try to enjoy the talents each person has rather than feeling less-than if we don't share that talent. And maybe we can even glean something from people who have different strengths than us. So, here's to the Type A's and the Messies... and everyone in between!

~Christa

Watch for Part 2: The Bullet Journal
Part 3: My Discbound Planner
Part 4: Discbound Student Planners
Part 5: Home Sweet Home

Young Living Oils Promotion and Sweepstakes!

 I know I have been dreadfully absent from my blog recently. My daughter's gymnastics schedule was kicking my hiney! But, a few weeks ago she decided she was ready to try new things and now I actually have time for a life again!

To celebrate my return to the real world, and to share more of the amazing results we have had with Young Living Essential Oils with my readers, I decided it was time to host a blog promotion and giveaway! If you have been sitting on the fence, now is a great month to take control of your family's health by using essential oils!

We are in our 6th month of using essential oils and I cannot describe the changes that have happened in our house as a result. We have just about completely ditched all of the OTC medications, we went an entire flu season with NO ILLNESS, we have treated sore muscles, my migraines, sleeplessness, scratches, bug bites and stings, upset stomach, anxiety and many other common ailments with our Young Living Oils. Since we have been using essential oils we have had to make zero trips to the doctor and zero trips to the pharmacy saving our family so much money and time.

I know what you are thinking. Why can't I just go grab me a $7 bottle of oil down at the health food store? The essential oils I’m referring to here are not the oils you can purchase at the grocery store. I’m only referring to therapeutic-grade oils. These are essential oils that are of a much higher quality and can actually be used medicinally!

All the different essential oil companies overwhelmed me at first, but after a lot of research I found Young Living Essential Oils to be the best choice for our family.

Young Living Essential Oils are 100% pure, therapeutic-grade oils produced from carefully identified plants with natural chemical profiles that match or exceed recognized world standards. Young Living Essential Oils is the only company dedicated to the medicinal use and application of essential oils that is able to guarantee essential oil quality from seed to seal.

Through 6/30only, I’m offering a special promotion for anyone who joins Young Living with a Premium Starter Kit! When you purchase a Premium Starter Kit (the $150 option OR the newest $160 option), I’ll send you a FREE Quick Reference Guide for Using Essential Oils (invaluable! I use mine daily!), a package of Bottle Label Stickers (to help keep your oils organized), AND I’ll send you a $20 Amazon OR PayPal credit! That is around $40 in FREEBIES!!

The Premium Starter Kit includes:

• (10) 5 mL bottles of essential oils including: Lemon, Lavender, Peppermint, Frankincense, Thieves, Valor, PanAway, Purification, Joy, and Peace & Calming.
• A Diffuser (a retail value of $98!)
• A bonus 5 mL bottle of Stress Away essential oil
• Aroma Glide roller fitment (to turn any oil into a roll-on)
• Sample packets of Lavender, Peppermint, Peace & Calming, Lemon, and Thieves (great for sharing with friends and family)
• Two NingXia Red 2-oz. samples (a delicious supplement drink)
• Lifetime Young Living wholesale membership – includes a 24% discount on all products!

The Premium Starter Kit is valued at over $300, but when you sign up as a wholesale member you’ll save 50% on the kit!

*Note – none of the other kits include the set of essential oils. Every single person that orders a different kit has told me they have regretted not waiting until they could purchase the premium kit. If you cannot afford the premium kit, I highly recommend you wait and save up until you can.
As a wholesale member, Young Living offers a generous 24% discount off the retail price. You’ll also have the option of earning commissions and participating in promotions for free oils when you share the oils with your family and friends! There is NO monthly purchase requirement and NO obligation to sell anything, ever. Think of it like a membership to your discount warehouse store, except instead of paying for a little plastic card, you actually get the awesome kit and health benefits for your fee!

How to Sign Up As A Young Living Wholesale Member

1. CLICK HERE to go to the sign-up page.
2. Select “Sign Up As: Young Living Wholesale Member”
3. The “Enroller ID” and “Sponsor ID” boxes should already be filled in for you (if not, enter 1557144 in both boxes – you must do this so I can send you your freebies!).
4. Fill out your name, address, and contact info. If you do not feel comfortable putting in your social security number (this is only for tax purposes if you decide to turn this into a business) then you can get an EIN from the IRS in just a few seconds here and use that number instead (the IRS just needs to be able to connect some number with you for tax purposes). Make sure to include your email address so I can add you to our Facebook support group!
5. Create your username, password, and pin - make sure to save this info somewhere, you’ll need it to log in and order your oils.
6. Pick your starter kit. You must sign up with one of these kits to become a wholesale member. I HIGHLY recommend the $150 Premium Starter Kit (the very first kit listed on the page), as you’ll get the most bang for your buck that way. *NOTE – my freebie offer is only valid with the purchase of the $150 or $160 Premium Starter Kits.
7. Set up your *optional* Essential Rewards Program. I recommend skipping this step by selecting “No, thank you. I plan on enrolling in the Essential Rewards Program later”.
8. Click “next” at the bottom and agree to the Terms & Conditions.

OPTIONAL STEP: Earn 2 FREE oils this month!
Your premium starter kit purchase will give you 100 PV (points) and if you add just 90 PV more to your order, you’ll get a FREE bottle of Purification, Lemon and Citrus Fresh essential oil! My recommendation:
Add to your order:
(1) DiGize Essential Oil – 32.75 PV
(1) RC Essential Oil – 21.75 PV
(1) Melaleuca Alternifolia Essential Oil (Tea Tree Oil!) – 26 PV
(1) Lemongrass Essential Oil – 11.25 PV
That will put you at 191.25 PV for your order so you’ll get the 3 additional oils for FREE! These are just suggestions, you can add whichever oils you would like and this step is completely optional!

9. CONFIRM YOUR ORDER. I have had friends miss this very important step and end up not fully checking out – we don’t want that to happen because then you would not get your oils! You should receive a welcome letter from YL AND an order confirmation in your email. If you do not, let me know, and I can check to make sure your order processed properly. You should also be able to log in to your account via youngliving.org and sign in with the username and password you created. In the menu to the left, you can click, “Recent Orders,” and your order should be there. Again, if it is not, let me know so I can help you get it processing.
10. BONUS! After you set up your account and place your initial order, send an email to me. I will send you some reading materials and a user guide, plus get you added to our private Facebook group. Your oils should arrive on your doorstep in one week!
That’s it! Welcome to the wonderful world of essential oils!
Now for the hard part……waiting for your kit to arrive!
Please contact me at molder.anna@gmail.com if you have any questions!

On top of this great offer, I am also going to run a giveaway! Follow the instructions below to be entered for a chance to win a 15ml bottle of Oregano. Oregano has many applications including treating congestion, skin tags, and even warts! It is also part of Young Living Oils Flu bomb! Oregano is definitely a fantastic addition to your oily collection.

a Rafflecopter giveaway




Disclaimer: The information on this site is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please confirm any information obtained from or through this web site with other sources, and review all information regarding any medical condition or treatment with your physician. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking medical treatment because of something you have read on this website. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any disease.

"Mommy, Don't Say That!"

I was at Kroger the other day when I witnessed a young girl, probably 9 or so, playing with the underside of her mom's upper arm.  The mom was not a big lady, I am guessing an average size 12, but I could tell she felt embarrassed. She immediately stopped her daughter and said, " Don't," and then added "I am so fat and my arms are ugly." Her daughter looked sorrowful, then concerned and said, "Mommy, don't say that, you're beautiful."

The child's words repeated over and over in my head all day, "Mommy, don't say that."

It made me think about this age's standard of beauty. It also occurred to me that this child felt as if she were somehow responsible for her mother's self esteem and wanted to make her feel better.

To be sure, you want to be healthy. I am overweight and I know that, while I am healthy for the moment, being overweight, obese even, puts me at a greater risk for some unsavory things that could compromise my health. But, negative talk in front of our children, even to ourselves in front of a mirror, is detrimental to our relationships.  It also puts our daughters and sons at risk of falling for the world's idea of beauty and most people will never attain that.

Our kids love us. We are their mommies. My youngest daughter recently told me I was the most beautiful person she ever met.  She really does think that. Instead of saying what was in my head - "You haven't met a lot of people then!" - I only said, "Thank you, Baby!" and gave her a big hug. I told her she was the most beautiful 6 year old ever. She said, "I know!" HA!  :) :) :)

If the children who really believe that we are stunningly gorgeous and the smartest people ever,  hear us criticize ourselves and put ourselves down, they tend to think they will never be smart or beautiful, after all, if the person who currently rocks their world can't be, then neither can they.

I felt sad for the child in the store, who so wanted her mother to be happy with herself.  She felt the burden of her mother's own lack of confidence. When we put ourselves down in front of our kids, they will take that cross upon themselves.  It is not fair to them.

So, Mommy, don't say that. Don't put yourself down, or others who look less than your idea of beauty. Allow yourself to live freely in confidence and know - you are beautiful. You have children who sincerely believe that. Don't let them believe otherwise.  Don't allow them to bear the burden of making you feel better - because they will bear the burden.

Allow them to believe you are beautiful. Allow them to believe they are beautiful.

Why Does Young Living Oils Use Multi-Level Marketing and Do I Have to Sell?

When I share how Young Living Essential Oils have worked for my family, I usually don’t mention the marketing aspect of it, unless I am asked. Let’s face it, the phrase multi-level marketing sends people scurrying! Most people aren’t interested and are even turned off by the idea of direct sales. I wanted to address part of the reason behind Young Living Oils doing things the way they do and to share some good news with you!

Young Living Oils does, in fact, use a direct sales, MLM system for selling their products, but why? While I have met many great people through Young Living and know some women and men who are very high up in the company, and I know they genuinely care about the product that they are giving to you, and I know they care about helping your family becoming healthy, I also know that unless Young Living is selling their products they aren’t going to be around for long! Young Living has some choices: They can pay for typical marketing,  get into some big box stores and sell their products through them, dealing with all of the issues that come from selling to a company that may or may not even care about the product, but are willing to sell because it helps their bottom line, or they could employ actual users of the oils to help “advertise” through word of mouth. They decided that rather than paying advertisers they would rather pay families who are actually using the oils! It makes perfect sense! Families who are using the oils and are seeing real benefits are more likely to spread the word and as payment for taking time to share, distributors are offered the chance to make a cut of the sales! As distributors spread the news about Young Living Oils health benefits, they can choose to make a living from it and let me tell you, the potential is awesome! I casually shared what my family was doing with Young Living Oils and before I knew it I was bringing in a reasonable and steadily increasing check each month plus getting my own oils free!


                                      

What if you wanted to use Young Living Oils but don’t wish to sell? This is what sets Young Living Oils out from many other MLM set ups. Think of Young Living as a club discount. You pay the fee ($150 for the premium kit) in return you get the 11 oils, a diffuser, samples, a roller filament, educational information, the distributor discount and the health benefits of the oils! I don’t know about you, but so far all my other “club” memberships haven’t given me anything but the right to walk through their warehouse! On top of the great things you get with the membership, YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO SELL! That’s right! If all you want to do is order oils for yourself and friends and family, you can do that! And guess what else? You don’t have to make a monthly purchase! You need only to make $50 in purchases over the entire year to stay active, and it gets even better. If you do happen to go inactive, you simply call, place an order and BAM!, you are reactivated. It really is that easy.

If the thought of having to deal with a multi-level marketing "scheme" has kept you from reaping the benefits of using Young Living Essential Oils, I truly hope that this post has helped quell those fears. These essential oils really work. The quality is outstanding and the company is fantastic. If you find out you love the oils enough to want to share and possibly get your oils free and maybe even make a little extra income, that is fantastic. If you just want them for yourself, that is great too! Either way, I am happy to answer questions and to help you get started!

YLO Distributor #1557144