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New Beginnings + Package from Santa

Thank you to US Family Guide and Package from Santa for facilitating this post. All opinions are my own.

If you need to spark the magic of Christmas for a child this year, Package From Santa is the personalized gift you need! The holidays can be rough on the psyche, especially for those struggling, gift the magic of Christmas to help them believe again!

Do they know it’s Christmas time?

The holidays can be difficult for many. In some ways, I think it’s hard on all of us (even those of us who love Christmas). We hold ourselves to some sort of standard where we feel we have to buy the best gifts, hang up the most lights in the neighborhood, have the most festive wardrobe. Whatever those standards are, I believe we all (myself so totally included!) set the bar a little too high. Sure, we have good reason. Everyone should feel the magic of Christmas. Every little (and big) face should light up Christmas morning. Everything should be PERFECT!

But for some, like my oldest daughter, there are more worries and stressors than there are for others and all I want this year for Christmas is for my daughter and my grandson to truly feel the magic of Christmas. This year, as in years past, Package from Santa is helping me do just that affordably (especially with a 25% discount for entering FAM2060 at checkout).

New beginnings are magical!

Let me back up a bit to explain the importance of this year’s Package from Santa to you. A little over a year ago, my oldest daughter became a mom. The birth of baby Wyatt, her first and only child, was magical. I know because I was in the room. But life on the inside isn’t always as magical behind closed doors. My baby, who had moved to Texas from Georgia with her then boyfriend (I never liked him!), were going to get jobs and settle in before the baby was born. Life had other plans for Bryana and Wyatt and they embarked on this journey alone, much for the better! But when the baby was born, she had no job, no real home (of course she’s ALWAYS welcome in my home!), and really no direction other than to try to make it and be happy.

New beginnings mean new traditions!

Fast forward to present day. Bry and Wyatt have their own cute apartment, she works a full time (and more often than not, overtime) job, and she goes to school on the weekends. They’re making ends meet, they have a roof over their heads, they eat well, they have us when they need support, and they’re happy. But funds for extras, like holidays, are limited so we, as a collective family, do all that we can to make sure that Wyatt feels all of the magic of Christmas that a good (OK, he’s mischievous and into everything, but…) boy should. We do whatever we can for every other holiday, but Christmas – my very favorite holiday – should be the most magical of all and there’s nothing like a personalized Package from Santa to spark that magic!

What do you get when you order?

Joy! You get so much joy, wonder, laughter, and magic! For just $24.95 (if you act NOW – by 12/14/18 – you can get an additional 25% off with code FAM2060), you can order the Silver Package and get:

Letter from Santa Claus, personalized just for your child
Personalized Nice List Certificate – 8 1/2 X 11 photo of Santa Claus
Santa Flight Plan with your child’s picture and personalized based on their region
Special North Pole Shipping Label addressed to your child
Genuine North Pole Stamp
A bonus personalized Video Greeting from Santa!
Added bonus! Personalized Call from Santa
But wait…there’s more! Personalized Printable Nice List Guide

Smiles are priceless, magic is golden!

Not only is the online ordering process easy, it lets you customize your letter, your nice list certificate, your flight plan, and your video with pictures you send of your own little one.

So what are you waiting for?

Do you have someone on your nice list this year that could use a little magic in their lives? Head over to Package for Santa, customize your order, enter code FAM2060 at check out for 25% off, and your video will be delivered to your email probably on the same day. Then you’ll get your package – straight from the big guy at the North Pole himself – quicker than you can say cotton headed ninny muggins 10 times fast (OK, I exaggerate, but it’s super quick!).

Give the gift of magic, my friends, at Christmas and all throughout the year. You never know what someone else might be going through just by looking at them and just a little bit of magic can go a very long way! Merry Christmas, y’all! I hope it’s your best one ever!

How to Cope with BTS Mom Blues

By Christy Leave a Comment

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!

An Unlikely Casualty of Bullying

By Christy 5 Comments

As a mom, it’s hard to deal with your child being bullied. Constant contact with school officials, too many scares to be counted, crying (both of you) more than you should, but what do you do when your child becomes an unlikely casualty of bullying?

An Unlikely Casualty of Bullying

Our experience with bullies in today’s middle school has been life altering. Literally. There’s been an unlikely casualty here, and although I’m fortunate it’s not a tangible human casualty, my daughter is forever changed, I fear. Before you go thinking I’m being a little overly dramatic again, let’s define casualty.

cas·u·al·ty (noun):

a person killed or injured in a war or accident.

a person or thing badly affected by an event or situation.

My Bug falls heavily under that second definition. She’s different. Everything about her has changed. She’s no longer just a bad ass, she’s borderline bad, and she’s completely shut down.

From Cheers to Tears!

Although Kylee has always had an “attitude” issue, she was a very cheerful kid who sang, danced, and took over every situation whenever she could just to be the star of the show. The start of middle school was a huge win for our Bug. She was on the cheer squad, in band, getting fantastic grades, and all of the teachers just thought she was a doll. She was the quintessential student and she had a huge group of “friends”.

Then the bullying started. One incident after another. Some mild mannered that we worked through, some absolutely blood curdling. But with each instance, I watched my daughter change. With each mean word, slap, threat, lack of action (and actual bullying) by some administrators…she just kept changing. She was shutting down.

My daughter was shutting down.

The Day My Daughter Changed

I can’t say I recall the exact day, the exact moment, that Kylee became a different person, but I can say that her entire personality is an unlikely casualty of bullying. I’ve been supportive, I’ve been at the school, I’ve documented everything, I’ve encouraged my daughter regularly, but she’s different.

Whatever day it was, or series of days, I’ve watched my daughter slowly die inside and a new person has emerged. This person is not as kind or loving as the last one was; not even close. She’s no longer very talkative, she fights with everyone at home, she rolls her eyes at her teachers, she complains about changing for cheer (if she goes to practice at all), she stopped bringing her bassoon home to practice. She doesn’t sing like she used to, she doesn’t dance a whole lot.

Her new “friend” group is actually the last round of bullies. Yes, she’s with them now since she couldn’t stand strongly against them, since the administrators labeled her “one of them”. I mean, if she has to go to ISS every time she speaks up against one of them, she might as well be friends with them. Of course I understand, but I don’t condone it. She hasn’t (and will NOT) hurt anyone, but she’ll slowly roll with this group of girls until she’s in the wrong place at the wrong time. She’s afraid to find a new friend group since they all “turn on her anyway” so she’s settled here rather than being alone.

What would you do?

I, personally, would rather be alone and I’ve told her that repeatedly, but I can’t be there every minute of every day. I can only be there to pick her up every time she falls. And I will.

In the meantime, I’m here watching over her as best I can, protecting her every step of the way, and watching her slowly die inside while I stand helplessly by. No words I can say, no hug, no anything will erase what she’s gone through. I just hope one day in the near future she realizes that her whole life doesn’t have to change, she doesn’t have to change, and she’s back to the feisty little bad ass that I love so much!

Right now, unfortunately, her psyche is an unlikely casualty of bullying and I miss her.