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How to Cope with BTS Mom Blues

While most parents rejoice during back-to-school season, some of us suffer from the BTS Mom Blues. Probably not a clinical term, but a real condition. Try practicing these five ways to cope with BTS Mom Blues to combat your loneliness, anxiety, and depression.

What are the BTS Mom Blues?

While many of you are cheering back-to-school season and cherishing your quiet time alone, there are others, like myself, feeling empty and blue. While you may feel that you are getting SO MUCH DONE in these first few days, weeks, months, some of us can’t concentrate or get motivated enough to get anything done.

These issues and many more, my happy-go-lucky-loving-your-empty-day-nest friends, are called the BTS Mom Blues. And it’s rough! I’m prone to tears at any given moment, I have the television on mindless shows for “white noise”, every time I get out of a meeting, I look up expecting one of them, any of them, to immediately need something from me.

But they don’t. They aren’t even here. I’m all alone in my house. Just me, no noise other than the constant pecking of these keys.

Coping with the BTS Mom Blues!

If you miss frolicking with your kids during the care-free summer days, and if you’re a sufferer like me, I have some tips for coping you should try. You might not want/need to listen, but believe me, at this point I’m an expert with six kids and a total of 29 years full-time parenting under my belt (with a 9 and 11 year old still at home!).

Tip 1: Let them know you’re OK!

When they go to school on the first day, and all the subsequent days, let them know you’re OK with it. Sounds silly, but telling them helps you convince yourself. Added bonus for giving them that added boost of courage and confidence. Mom “wins” help you cope with your BST Blues.

Tip 2: Let them be unicorns!

I know this one might sound a little trite, cliché even, but really it’s not at all. For those of us who suffer the BTS Mom Blues, we need to remember that our children need to be unique and forge their own paths in life. If we keep them with us all the time (which is truly what I want to do other than the occasional date night, etc.), we don’t give them the space they need to make friends, become stronger, learn more, and just grow up to be amazing humans…all on their own!

Tip 3: Make the most of together time!

No brainer here. When they get off of school, finish up your work, help them with homework, then let them help make dinner for the night or lunches for the next day. You’ll begin to realize that the time you spent alone wasn’t so bad after all and it just makes you appreciate your time together that much more!

Tip 4: Use the TV for mindless white noise!

During the day, if you feel it’s too quiet to function, like I do, since you’ve grown so accustomed to the chaos, turn on the TV for some white noise. Keep the volume low so as not to distract you from your work, but the background noise will actually help raise your productivity. Trust me, I know from experience. Don’t turn on something that will suck you in, of course, because that’s counter productive. I suggest Jerry Springer (yes, I’m serious) or something similar. Lots of fighting, no resolution. Just like when the kids are at home!

Tip 5: Remember that you deserve alone time!

As moms, I think this one is the hardest. I almost think guilt plays a HUGE part in the BTS Mom Blues. We need to be needed in all aspects of our lives. Home, work, husband, kids, you name it; we need to be needed so we feel a sense of emptiness if any of those aspects aren’t with us at all times. Break the cycle. They need you, whether they are with you in the moment or not, they need you. Remember that every time you start to feel blue.

That’s about it. I guess I’m not much on advice since I still suffer this horrible ailment (at least for the first half of the school year) every year, but that’s my advice in a nutshell. Seems simple, straight forward, and somewhat elementary (see what I did right there?), but it’s how I get through these days and I’m hoping it will help y’all out too. Hang in there, mommas, we got this. What advice do you have for beating the BTS Mom Blues? I’d love to hear them in the comments below!

Budget-Friendly DIY Gallery Wall

By Christy 1 Comment

Spruce up your living space with a Budget-Friendly DIY Gallery Wall. We took our living room from ho-hum to hey-hon with some cheap canvas prints and budget plaques in no time at all. So can you! You should know, I did receive product from Canvas on the Cheap in exchange for this post, but all opinions are my own!

We bought our house 2.5 years ago. I haven’t decorated much. You see, since the minute we moved in, we’ve had different house guests “living” with us for different lengths of time. It seemed pointless to decorate. I mean, there was crap in every corner, always, and it was all I could do to stay up on the vacuuming, toilet scrubbing, cooking, kitchen cleaning, laundry, etc. But about a month ago, the last of our guests moved out and my house is mine again. I’ve (we’ve) resolved to not have any long-term house guests “visit” anymore, so it was time to make this place my own!

Are your walls in need of a makeover on the cheap?

Prior to now, my walls were PIT-I-FUL! Although I think my family is beautiful, I realize that a spattering of three family photos on a large wall (quite serious photos at that) didn’t do much to say who we are. This wall was boring, we looked staged (we were), and it just doesn’t show our fun side. This is the wall people see when I meet for work. This wall had to be reworked. Bah-bye, boring wall! I had so many (FUN!) family photos, I knew exactly what to do. I turned to Canvas on the Cheap for a budget-friendly DIY Gallery Wall. We needed to show our fun side, and show our fun side we did!

I placed my order and I was shocked at the prices! I just knew this was going to be crap when the package arrived. I chose two photos from a family shoot gone wrong (thank goodness it did) for my gallery wall. When the packages arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to see the personalization involved. Thank you, Kaylee, for caring enough about my family memories to package these memories with care!

Packaged nice and tidy and clear as a bell, my canvases arrived in about a week and I was ready to make my wall magic happen!

The babies each chose their favorites and they were excited to see our gallery wall come to life as well!

I am very impressed with the quality of the prints. The edges look almost hand folded although I doubt they are – unless Kaylee did that too! They are very similar in quality to the smaller prints you see on my wall that I had purchased from a different online vendor a year or so ago.

The one true difference is affordability! The 8×8 prints I got from the other vendor cost about $22 each (tax and shipping included, so the order for four 8×8 prints was $85). The price of the 16×20 prints from Canvas on the Cheap is $17.60 right now with their summer special, so they were a total of $35 each (with tax and shipping for full disclosure for those of you on a budget). I did order the two 16×20 prints separately so the shipping cost is a little higher – be smarter than me and think ahead and place your entire order at once to keep shipping down.

Once you add in some totally cheap signs from Ross or Marshall’s, you’ve got yourself a gallery wall. Easy, peasy, cheap, and impressive on a budget.

Need canvas prints of your family photos?

If you are in need of a budget-friendly wall makeover, turn to Canvas on the Cheap for help! They’re constantly running amazing sales and they offer a variety of sizes and different finishing options. I, for one, couldn’t be more thrilled with my gallery wall and I was so proud to show it off in a meeting yesterday. Finally, a little touch of my personality in my living room. Now to go look around the house to see what else I can spruce up!

Family Fun at iT’Z Pizza Pasadena TX

By Christy Leave a Comment

Looking for family fun in the Houston area? iT’Z Pizza Pasadena TX is where it’s at. Endless pizza, pasta, salad, desserts, and more, plus video games, laser tag, bowling, bumper cars, and even a bar. iT’z the affordable place to be in Houston!

Endless Food at iT’Z Family Food & Fun

The minute you walk in the door, you’re greeted by a friendly staff where you can check in or buy your tickets for the day. Once the business-like stuff is over, it’s time to dive in…to endless food! Literally, endless pizza, salad, pasta, chicken, mashed potatoes, desserts, and more. It’s all buffet style, it’s replenished regularly, and even with my picky bunch (I’m probably the worst!), there’s plenty for everyone to eat.

Just so you know, I’m a pizza snob. A snob, I say. Growing up in upstate New York will do that to a person. That said, I like the pizza at iT’Z. It’s fresh, cheesy, plenty of toppings, and if they don’t have what you like, they’ll make you whatever you want (as long as they have the ingredients – don’t go all psycho on the topping choices!). I was super hungry so I got excited to see that they had a veggie pizza (my fave) with marinara. I have no clue why most pizza buffets use Alfredo for veggie pizzas. Duh, we’re vegetarians, we absolutely do like tomatoes! But I digress…

Of course, they have the meat lovers covered too. There were literally about 20 varieties of pizzas out at any given moment and all were fresh. You don’t get that over at the place with the mouse!

The salad is FRESH and there are so many options, from the lettuce to the toppings to the dressing. Soooo good! You can’t eat pizza without salad. It’s a scientific fact. I’m glad the folks at iT’Z gets that.

Can we just talk about this hummus for a sec? Creamy, rich, roasted red pepper hummus and pita chips. If you have an addictive personality, stay away from this hummus.

Just in case I haven’t talked about food enough (you’d think a 95-pound grown up woman could think of something else to talk about), there’s dessert. All the dessert. So many desserts. And did I mention it’s endless? That’s right. If you buy the Biggest Deal Package for just $28.99 each, you get unlimited video games, mini bowling, laser tag, and more, plus you get one free game of regular bowling with shoe rental AND unlimited food and fountain drinks….for the whole day. The whole day, people!

The fun starts here!

OK, sorry about all of the food talk, this girl was hangry when we got there, but the real fun starts here!

Why iT’Z Pasadena TX for us?

Well, here’s the thing. We live on an island, a tourist town, and although there is a lot to do in Galveston, we’ve pretty much done it all and sometimes we need a change of scenery. We don’t want to break the bank and we need to find something that two adults, a brassy tween cheerleader, and an elementary school straight A student can all enjoy. That’s a hefty task, but iT’Z offers us that. We can all have fun; together, alone, and in pairs. It’s a beautiful thing!

Eyes on the prize!

The straight A student is a serious gamer. Like, we all believe we’ll be living in wings of his mansion when he grows up. When he’s playing for tickets, it’s eyes on the prize, baby…EYES ON THE PRIZE! Note: If you buy the Biggest Deal Package, you get a $5 fun card which equals 20 points to play the ticket games.

The fun goes on forever. Air hockey, anyone?

Bubby would literally spend ALL DAY at laser tag. Well, he kinda did, but that’s OK because he had fun!

Bumper cars? You betcha!

Kylee loves hitting things, so the bumper cars are therapeutic for her.

Regular bowling is very colorful at iT’Z Pasadena TX.

But if handling 10-lb balls isn’t your thing (yes, I really said that), they have mini bowling too!

What’s in it for the adults?

For us, lots of shoot-em-up video games (don’t judge) are great. Stress relievers are fun and I oddly find shooting dinosaurs amazing! Also, at the end of the day, if you have a DD, there’s an adults-only bar outside of the bowling alley that you might want to stop by. Looks like a lot of fun!

Grab the deal and have some fun!

Not in the Pasadena TX area so you’re a little bummed about missing this deals and fun? They have locations in Euless TX and Willowbrook (Houston) TX too and you can take advantage of the fun and BOGO Biggest Deal savings right now at any of their locations. Buy one Biggest Deal at regular price ($28.99 plus tax) and get one Biggest Deal Free! All day food, fun, and family together time. It doesn’t get much better than that, so what are you waiting for?

Disclosure: I received a family 4-pack to iT’Z Family Food & Fun through a partnership with US Family Guide, however, all opinions are my own.