Simple Family – Page 11

The Tummy Team–The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Disclosure: I am a Tummy Team affiliate. I am also a Christian and tell the truth. It’s a good combo. In fact, even though I was participating in The Tummy Team, I didn’t become an affiliate until I knew I loved it!

**(If you’re just here for the good deal, the first ten people to use the code SIMPLE25 by November 20 save 25% on The Tummy Team. Just click here, and don’t forget your code.)**

You’ve heard me rattle on about The Tummy Team this year, and here’s my wrap-up review about the whole shebang.

The Good

I really, really like it. I’ve told you the many benefits I’ve seen and that it’s a good thing, and here’s why:

Anything that makes my abs feel like I’ve been laughing with my family for half an hour or like I powered through thirty crunches without actually crunching is a good thing, right? Of course, right.

Anything that helps me with the weaky leakies that come after bouncing seven babies on your bladder is a good thing, right? Of course, right! (Read this for a reminder of all the crazy awesome benefits!)

Anything that helps stabilize my weak areas where I tend to tweak out a rib or strain a back muscle and be out for days or weeks is a good thing, right? Of course, right!

It’s a good thing to have your core strengthened and to have the tools to repair and maintain a strong body. You can’t argue with that. Read my posts above, or visit Kelly’s site to learn all about the good things.

The Bad

Here’s the bad thing, because I’m honest:

It’s expensive.

I don’t have a spare $200 lying around, do you? You do?! Cool. But I don’t.

The good thing about the price is that it helps you take the whole thing very seriously. I should hope that if you spent 200 smackers on this, you’d actually do it, not like if you tossed, say, 19.95 at it.

Plus, you’re paying for professional assistance to improve your health. The last time I saw, say, a medical bill, it was pretty hefty. Hefty like that family-size bowl of popcorn I downed last night…alone. You’re buying the time and expertise that went into creating The Tummy Team and helping countless women and men; you’re not merely buying access to the videos. You see?

Also, when you consider how much moola many of you casually hand out for “just one more outfit for the kids” or that “gotta-have manicure” or “it’s only once a week” lunch with the girls, $200 isn’t that much. (For those of you who are truly frugal, jump on today’s 25% off deal at the bottom of the page, or follow The Tummy Team on Facebook. I don’t know how often Kelly posts deals there…but I do know mine is right now.)

Another plus: it’s cheaper than a monthly gym membership and more effective than the hours of crunches you’ve invested on your midsection so far. Can you say “waste of time”?

Here’s the other bad thing:

It’s an eight week program, and then it ends. I would prefer to have DVDs or a lifetime membership, because I’m a DVD kinda girl. That’s mainly because we travel the US full-time and don’t always have reliable (or any) internet access.

Plus again (this is turning into multiplication), the first time around, you gather information; the second time around, you say, “Oh, I missed that the first time around. I must have had cookie crumbs in my ears.” You all say that, don’t you, about the crumbs? I like repetition. (Of course, you can watch the same videos as many times as you want over the course of your membership, which I did. Thank you!)

The good thing about the membership ending is that you can’t and therefore won’t procrastinate. You know what procrastinating is. It’s what you’re doing right now by reading my blog instead of, you know, doing what you’re supposed to be doing, like your crunches, which are ineffective, which you’d learn if you signed up for The Tummy Team.

Plus Kelly is teaching you skills that you can use for the rest of your life, not just eight weeks, so even though the membership ends, you have a new lease on life and self-help skills that don’t end. Plus you know where to go with your questions! Groovy, eh?

Another good thing about the eight week program is that, hey, it’s only eight weeks! I can do eight weeks. I can!

The Ugly

I stopped following many of The Tummy Team techniques. Why? Three reasons:

I’m an idiot. That’s really the biggest factor here.
I lack consistency. In fact, I once thought about joining the military so they could teach me self-discipline. I wasn’t self-disciplined enough to follow through.
My dear like-a-dad-to-me grandfather died, and that sorrow added to the stresses of life caused me to slouch again, let my guts hang out, not care, and eat eat eat until I looked like I swallowed the Pillsbury Dough Boy…or at least his pudgy little sister.

But the good thing (there’s always a good thing) is that Kelly didn’t just hand me a fish; she taught me to fish. The principles are ingrained in my head, and I have the tools to jumpstart my progress all over again. In fact, over the past week I have been doing some of the simple beginner exercises and have already been feeling the difference–less side pain and abdominal discomfort. Yes! Let’s make cookies!

The Great Deal

Here’s the big news you’ve been waiting for:

Kelly is offering 25% off for The Simple Homemaker readers (if you’re only a TSHM skimmer, fine, fine, you may have the discount, too). The first ten buyers who use the code SIMPLE25 receive $50 off their purchase of either the eight-week core strengthening series or the six-week prenatal course. Hurry scurry–you must be one of the first ten, and you must purchase before November 20.

I’d love it if you shared this deal with family, friends, and on social media.

If you’re interested in parts one through three of this four-part review, here you go:

You know, you’ll get much more information if you check out Kelly’s site. It is super informative, and she has videos…so make popcorn. There isn’t as much cookie talk on her site, but there is far more science and tummy talk, which, in this case, is likely preferable.

60 Homeschooling Tips From 60 Years of Homeschooling

{This post contains affiliate links. They don’t bite. If you want to skip my yammer and check out the book 60 Homeschooling Tips From 60 Years: Inspiring Tips and Ideas from Two Veteran Homeschoolers, click here.}

We’ve been homeschoolers for 13 years if you count from kindergarten…or 18 years if you count from the moment every parent becomes a teacher. As our firstborn approaches her 18th birthday and highschool graduation, one thought pops into our adoring parental minds:

How on earth did we manage to not mess that poor creature up any more than we did?

The sheer unadulterated grace of God had a big part in the mere survival of our children, but beyond that, we figured it out ourselves and sought help from people who had gone before–mentors, trail blazers, people who…er…you know…already did the stuff we were trying to do. And since we knew no real-life homeschoolers, we learned some of it the hard way and gleaned more from homeschooling authors and onliners. (Onliners are people online. I think I just made that word up.)

You can do the same–glean, I mean, not learn the hard way.

Help From Experienced Homeschoolers

I was recently given a treasure of an ebook entitled 60 Homeschooling Tips from 60 Years: Inspiring Tips and Ideas From Two Veteran Homeschoolers. From hereon out I will refer to it as 60 Tips, because I’ve used all my energy homeschooling seven children and don’t have enough left to type out that impressive title. (Read: I’m lazy.)

More impressive than the title are the contents. Excuse me while I ramble for a moment.

The Homeschool Mama at 2 a.m.–It Isn’t Pretty.

Do you know how many times I’ve woken up at the homeschool mama’s bewitching hour (2 a.m.) and panicked, “I’m ruining my kids!”? I mean, I’m not even sure how to properly punctuate that last sentence, and I’m in charge of educating seven human beings?! If I had the foresight to keep track of the number of 2 a.m. meltdowns I’ve had, I’d tell you, and you would be very impressed…or depressed.

At 2 a.m. a homeschooling mama is a lonely, degenerate failure who is not only dooming her poor uneducated children to a life on the outskirts of society with their zippers open, food on their faces, fingers in their noses, and giant “geek” stickers on their foreheads (not the Bill Gates kind of geek, either), but she is also undoubtedly (at 2 a.m.) raising moral degenerates who will no better be able to keep a law of God or a mustard seed of faith than they will a job, if indeed they can ever get a job or even marry someone who has a job, because the only people who get jobs or get married or get to heaven are people who are not homeschooled by lonely degenerate failures, which is what this unfortunate mama is when she wakes up at 2 a.m.

Two in the morning in my head is pretty exciting…and a little dramatic. My husband loves that about me.

**What does this have to do with 60 Tips?**

Here’s what:

The two ladies who wrote 60 Tips have a combined 60 years of homeschooling experience. That makes my 13 years (or 18, depending on when you start counting) a flash in the pan. Sixty years! That’s a lifetime of experience!

I appreciate experience. I smile politely when the mom of a preschooler tells me how I should raise my teenagers or what reading curriculum I must have to teach my seventh child how to read, but…seriously?

These two ladies–they’ve raised or are raising 15 children between them. They know how to homeschool! They know how to raise Godly children! They have wisdom.

And they share that with the 2 a.m. mamas.

They don’t just tell the 2 a.m. mama to get off her butt and raise better kids (although there is sufficient butt-kicking in there), but they encourage the 2 a.m. mama and give her practical, doable ways to accomplish her goals–homeschooling or otherwise.

They tell the 2 a.m. mama, “Hey, what you’re doing is amazing and important and beautiful and wonderful and your kids are so stinkin’ blessed to have you putting so much of yourself into their lives! Now relax and have some fun…or stop having quite so much fun if your kids haven’t done a math problem in a month because you’re mired in 2 a.m-all-day-long depression and are drowning your imagined failures and made-up sorrows by hanging out on Pinterest and Facebook all day. In fact, why don’t you try tip 17? Or 34? Or 57? Or go smooch on your hubby. There you go. Now you’re smiling again, 2 a.m. mama.”

Another good thing about 60 Tips is that it is written far more clearly than that last paragraph. Yup. Much better writing in that book. And I don’t recall reading the words “stinkin'” or “smooch on your hubby” in any of the tips.

The tips and chapters are short, doable, practical, doable, interesting, and doable. Doable. Do-able. Able to be done…even by a mama who was up sweating and imagining since 2 a.m.

I can do this!

You Have to Meet Donna and Kathie!

Let me tell you about one of the authors, because I love her dearly, and, even though I’ve never met her face-to-face, I’ve been learning from her for the past five years…or is it four? Who’s counting! (She even inspired some posts on The Simple Homemaker, most particularly the smile post.) Her name is Donna Reish.

Donna seems to me to have the energy of five moms and accomplish the workload of ten moms. She is a published author, a talented ballroom dancer, an avid cook, and a beloved teacher. I want to be like her, not because of all the books she’s written, not because of all she has accomplished, but because of her family.

Her family radiates joy, and it comes from her (and originally from Christ).

I want her joy in parenting and her joy in wife-ing and her joy in homeschooling. And I want my children to have the same joy and family love and Christ-love that her children have.

Plus (listen up, because this is what the 2 a.m. mama wants to know), her kids are successful–in marriage, in the home, in the working world, on the mission field, in their faith.

I’ve been sitting at Donna’s virtual feet for five (or is it four?) years now learning from her, wishing to absorb all her knowledge and wisdom and, yes, her joy. With 60 Tips I can. Okay, it doesn’t contain all her knowledge and wisdom and joy, but it does contain plenty to encourage and educate and kick-me-in-the-butt a little bit…at 8 a.m., not 2 a.m. I especially love it when I read a tip and I can say, “We do that! Gold stickers for everyone!” or “That is exactly what I need to keep in mind. Thank you, Gals!” or “Holy schmoly, that is brilliant!”

Visit Donna at her site Character Ink or on Facebook. Go there. That is an order.

The other author is Kathie Morrissey, and she is also wonderful. I am just learning about her for the first time, so, for once, I’m not going to run off at the mouth. You’re welcome. You can find her on Facebook or at her blog The Character Corner, where I immediately subscribed to her posts–she’s that good. Go!

A Note For you Overwhelmed Mamas:

I always thought that, because Donna has the energy of five mamas and I have the energy of half a mama (which is technically a “ma”), I couldn’t accomplish with my kids what she has with hers, and my kids wouldn’t be “successful.”

I was wrong.

The approaches to homeschooling and parenting that Donna and Kathie lay out in 60 Tips show that even us mere mortals can do this! You can. I can! We may not be doing it the way other mamas are doing it, but isn’t that the joy of homeschooling–doing what works best for your family?

Please check it out here if you need encouraging or help getting on track.

The rest of this post is about the giveaways, which have already ended. Congratulations to the winners! Please subscribe to be alerted to future giveaways.

{I was given a free e-copy of 60 Tips, but it didn’t affect my opinion. In fact, when I realized that the price was only $5…well, I spent far more than that in my homeschool days getting a lot less help. Also, if you buy 60 Tips through one of my links, I will receive a percentage of the purchase price at no cost to you. It helps support our homeschool and site. In fact, it’s being saved to buy Donna and Ray Reish’s other book, The Well-Trained Heart.}

About Those Homeschool Giveaways…

Now then (Now then? When is that actually? Now or then…or somewhere in between?), I have a giveaway, and Donna and Kathie have a giveaway. Their giveaway is much better, but don’t let that stop you from entering mine, which, by the way, is really from them.

At their giveaway you can win over $300 of homeschooling and parenting helps. including 60 Tips. Oh my, people, they are amazing products! Check it out right here. You know what? Don’t bother entering, because I’ve already decided I’m going to win. Grin.

Before you go there and enter, though, sign up below for my giveaway. Two of you receive a free e-copy of 60 Homeschooling Tips from 60 Years: Inspiring Tips and Ideas From Two Veteran Homeschoolers. If you don’t win, this valuable resource is only $5. Put it on your Christmas list…or just buy it right here. {affiliate link}

Okay, let’s summarize.

Enter to win 60 Homeschooling Tips from 60 Years: Inspiring Tips and Ideas From Two Veteran Homeschoolers below.

Buy a copy of the ebook right here. That’s 60 years of wisdom for only $5! Totally worth it! Totally.

Enter the $300 author giveaway right here.

Click here to pin this post and share this amazing resource, because, my suspicions tell me, there are other 2 a.m. mamas out there who could use the love and wisdom Donna and Kathie share.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

DON’T MISS THE OPPORTUNITY TO WIN THIS AMAZING PACKAGE!

The Value of a Homemaker

It saddens me when I speak to women who feel they are not contributing to their families or to society if they do not bring home a paycheck. Some believe their contributions need to be measured monetarily to be of value. Others are nagged with guilt at the thought of their degrees growing dusty on a closet shelf, while they pack lunches or potty train toddlers.

Even though the thriftiness of a conscientious wife goes a long way toward enabling her husband to support the family, some women frequently see themselves as not contributing financially to the family, and society will too often second that view.

Why is this?

Why do women fall for the lie that a woman needs to succeed in the same arena as a man in order to be successful. Why should her immeasurable worth be defined and therefore limited by a paycheck?

Imagine!

Imagine, for a moment, how blessed a husband can be by a wife who tends lovingly to his needs and makes wise use of the money he brings home. Imagine how much more successful that husband will be both in his career and at home, with a caring and supportive wife beside him. Imagine, from a financial aspect, how much farther that husband’s paycheck can go if there is a frugal and conscientious wife at home, making every penny of her man’s hard-earned money really count!

Imagine the joy of having a mother who is always available to explore and play and bake cookies with her children? Imagine what a great contribution to society those confident and well-raised children will become because they had a mother who took the time to teach them that life does not revolve around pleasing themselves and their peers, but around serving each other. Just imagine!

If you stay at home and tend your brood and your husband, do not undermine your contribution to society and to the kingdom of Christ! Your value cannot be measured in dollars and cents.

Your worth is far above rubies!

I’d love to hear your polite thoughts in the comment section.

A Personal Note About Heartache and Truth

My grandpa died this past spring. Before that my godparents both died. It’s been a tough year. It’s been hard on a lot of people, but right now, for this moment, I’m going to focus on me.

I knew my Grandpa was going to die. I thought I was prepared. I thought I could handle it with grace.

I was wrong.

I don’t cry. The staunch German side of me dominates my exterior personality, but inside my passionate French side cuts deeply and bleeds hard, and the bruises linger. Still, I don’t cry.

But when Grandpa died, I cried.

I cried in front of my children. I cried in front of cousins and siblings and uncles. I cried in front of strangers. I stood in front of church and in the funeral home and in the cemetery and in the shower and I sobbed. Sometimes, months later, after social sympathy has diminished and people expect you to be “over it” and to “move on,” I have to stop singing a hymn in church, because I know that inhuman guttural sobs will rise from some deep hidden pit of human sorrow I didn’t know existed and force their way out if I don’t clamp my jaw shut with all my mortal strength. (That’s a little melodramatic, I know.)

When I see a full church parking lot and a funeral procession lined up, the empathy aroused by the communal grief of all those people nearly suffocates me. I still lie in bed in the dark when everyone else is asleep and let the pain and hurt of losing one of my very favorite people win out, and I cry. Nobody hears me then. Nobody knows…except now all of cyberspace–that irony is not lost on me.

My grandpa was always there. I know people say that all the time, but right now, remember, we’re focusing on me. My grandpa is the only man who has stood beside me my entire life, who has supported, scolded, trained, and loved me, regardless of circumstances. He was there when others gave up.

He was there to give me my first pony, to teach me to work hard, to let me be his shadow and have a hero. He was there when I showed my horse, when I added another candle to my cake, when I walked over fields and across stages and down aisles. In fact, he walked me down the aisle and handed me over to Steve and told him to take care of me…because that’s what Grandpa always did–take care of everyone. He was still there after years of marriage and children, when I wanted nothing more than to sit quietly on the couch and read the paper and not talk…he was there.

He taught me that love was an action, not just a word, a commitment, not just a feeling. He wasn’t big on emotion. When I told him I loved him, he said, “Yup,” and sometimes, “Same here, Kid.” A couple times in more recent years he opened up about how he felt about me, just a sentence or two–words that will never leave me.

But he left me.

Grandpa is gone.

When parents tell their children that someone who died isn’t really gone, because the love and the memories are still there, and that person will always be a part of them, that’s a bunch of empty malarkey. It’s hooey. It’s fluffy fluff. What comfort is there in memories? What hope is there for the future thinking all that’s left of Grandpa is a warm and fuzzy in my heart and a memory of his chocolate malts? What do fluffy bunny thoughts and meaningless trite phrases about love never dying give a child?

Zilch!

When I miss Grandpa, I’m sad, I’m hurting deeply, but I’m not despairing. I have hope. When my widowed grandmother no longer has a hand to hold and my children no longer have Big Bubba to sneak them candies, they are not despairing. They are sad, but they have hope–real hope.

My grandpa trusted Christ Jesus as his Savior. He knew he blew it over and over and over. He didn’t often say “sorry” in words, but he said it in other ways, in Grandpa’s ways. He knew he needed a bridge to close the gap between himself and God, between death and life. And he had that in Christ Jesus.

People tell me I’m doing my children a disservice by raising them as Christians instead of “letting them find their own truth.” I wonder what kind of parent I would be if I gave them fleeting fluffer-fluffs to chase instead of an ultimate truth to grasp. Warm and fuzzies didn’t pluck Grandpa from hell and place him in the arms of God in heaven. Fluffer-fluffs can’t do that. Only Christ can.

I found this on the pagan homeschoolers site: “What I hate about Christians is that they think they’re right and that everyone else is wrong. They can’t accept that we can all be right.”

Well said, Random Pagan; that’s exactly true. If I believe Scripture, and I believe God when He says there is One God, that God is I AM, and I AM is the Only Way to heaven, how can I say that your beliefs and your truth are also right? I can’t! That would make me a very bad Christian indeed. If as a pagan you tell me that my beliefs are true and your beliefs are true, then you’ve just acknowledged that Christ and salvation exist but that you choose not to believe them. That’s like acknowledging the Grand Canyon exists for me, but choosing not to believe it exists in your life, and expecting to be able to drive right over it without plunging to your doom. A good pagan should believe that Christians are wrong, not that we are all right, and that would make you just as hateful as those blasted Christians.

There is ultimate truth. Black is black. White is white. Sin is sin. Christ is the Way.

What does this have to do with Grandpa? He trusted that Truth. He closed his eyes in this world only to be born into the next. When we covered Grandpa with the dirt he worked his whole life, the dirt he taught us to love, that was not the end. That was only the beginning.

What does that have to do with me? The man I loved first and longest is there in heaven where time doesn’t exist as we know it, and I will see him again…him, my godparents, my father-in-law, and most especially Jesus.

When I cry in the middle of the night and shed tears in the shower, it’s because this world hurts. It’s not because I’m hopeless–let me rephrase that. It’s not because I’m without hope. In fact, there is joy mixed with my tears–joy for Grandpa, joy for our future, and yes, joy for the memories and love. There’s not a single fluffer-fluff. You can’t cling to fluffy feel-goods–they’re elusive. Christ is real.

I miss you Grandpa. And it hurts. It hurts a lot, Grandpa.

I will see you again.

Fight Summer Brain Drain and Illiteracy at the Same Time

Let’s cut right to the chase. Illiteracy is a huge issue throughout the world. “Summer brain drain” is also a problem–a first world problem, but a problem nonetheless.

Here’s a solution to both:

We Give Books is an organization that puts books in the hands of children who otherwise wouldn’t have access to them. Right there they’ve won me over. Throw in cookies and I’m totally sold!

You can help fight illiteracy for free!

Join the We Give Books summer reading program, read books for free online from their rather impressive library (or read print books of your own), and We Give Books will donate real books to needy children.

I don’t have all the details figured out, but they do, so check them out here.

By the way, if you school year-round like we do, this program is still a nice shift for something a little different and to get the kiddos thinking about helping others. What a great motivator to get reading, and if that doesn’t work, bribe ’em with cookies or s’mores.

Check out more summer reading programs here.

By the way, there’s nothing in this for me–it’s simply a great idea that deserves a little more chatting up.

Why Are You on The Tummy Team If You Don’t Have a Pooch!

When I announced that I was part of The Tummy Team, I heard quite a few remarks like this:

But you don’t even have a pooch!
But you look good for having seven kids! (I always wonder if that’s a veiled insult. If you looked like this after two kids, whoa and yikes, but the fact that you gave birth seven times and you’re standing mostly vertical is amazing.)
Why are you so hard on yourself? You shouldn’t be expected to look perfect.

And my favorite, which gets an extra cookie for creativity and making me laugh:

You’re not qualified to review this! That’s like putting a 20-something on a Depends commercial.

To this I say yes and no…or no and yes.

The fact is that appearance-wise, no, my abs have never been much of a problem area. I carry my imperfections a bit lower. (If there’s a Butt and Thigh Team, sign me up!) Plus I keep my clothes on, which does quite a bit for my overall look. I recommend that fashion statement—fully clothed—to people everywhere.

The other fact is that, despite my general lack of excessive pooch, yes, I am an ideal candidate for The Tummy Team.

You see, Friends, The Tummy Team is not only about how you look. That’s just a side benefit. It’s about strengthening the integral structure of the core of your body. It’s about giving your foundation an overhaul, healing the cracks and stabilizing the supporting beams. To borrow a term from Kelly, The Tummy Team Master as I like to call her, it’s strengthening your “corset,” the abdominal muscle that runs from your spine all the way around to the center of your abs, up to your ribs, and down to your pelvis.

When your corset has its rear in gear and is supporting you like it’s supposed to, everything works better. For me that means a few vital things:

1. The spine is supported.

My goal in that area is that my posture will improve, which is an enormous issue for me. I have weak “standing up” muscles and pop my hips out one way or the other like a dancing girl from the 80s. I also slump my shoulders, stick out my tummy, and rest my hands, purse, or baby on the resulting “shelf.” It ain’t pretty. (Well, the baby’s pretty…just not the shelf.) Stronger sit-and-stand muscles are useful for everything I do in a day, except, maybe, doing my Shaggy imitation. I need them to work for me, not against me.

I also have frequent pain from mild scoliosis in my upper back, an over-extended lower back, and a forward-protruding neck. I’m a vision. I used to visit the chiropractor for realigning my spine and for fixing an extremely painful rib displacement, but I didn’t have the muscle control to hold it all where it needed to be. Plus, on the road, it’s tricky to find a chiropractor…and some of them are expensive. I’m hoping my muscles can help prevent future problems, ‘cuz I don’t want pain or the depression into which it plunges a person.

2. The organs function better.

I like well-functioning organs as much as the next guy, but I’m more concerned about my daughter Hannah, whose organs have to last longer than mine do, and who was handed an extra challenge to rise above in the form of her Crohn’s Disease. The program should help her overall digestion and intestinal function as part of her gradual big-picture survive-and-thrive healing protocol.

3. The surrounding muscles operate more reliably.

I don’t want to become a 40-something on a Depends commercial. I had seven children. That’s 63 beautiful months of pregnancy…well, the puking wasn’t so pretty. Besides the extra silly putty skin seven pregnancies have left around my middle (great for entertaining the kids) those seven beauties did a number on my bladder. I mean, like a tap dance number. I had one particularly difficult pregnancy during which I got severely ill with bronchitis during the later stages, and coughing and sneezing and leaking was out of control. My pelvic floor muscle (the one that keeps people off the Depends commercials) isn’t what it used to be. Sneezing on a full bladder used to be a problem. I want to make that an un-problem, and I’m seeing baby steps in that area.

I will admit that learning proper kegals in week four is hard. It’s hard. But, hey, I’m exercising a muscle. Pull-ups are hard if you don’t do them. And, just like pull-ups, it’s getting easier. That’s exciting to me. Not like chocolate and pie exciting, but super close!

Did she just admit she leaks when she sneezes? Yes, I did! Honestly, People, you should know by now that I keep it real.

4. The back is stronger overall.

That means I can carry my baby longer. Does that need any further explanation?

5. The brain and body learn to work together properly in the real world.

Through Kelly’s training, we are learning everything from how to get out of bed to proper potty posture (yeah, there’s some potty talk). Applying what we’re learning helps prevent further damage or future re-injury, and it enables us to exercise those muscles in a practical, everyday manner, until it becomes second nature. It’s not unlike word problems in math. Some of you are saying “Oh, I get it,” and the rest of you are saying, “I hate math.” Hating math is irrelevant. The point is that if you can subtract 75 from 100, but you can’t figure out that paying a buck for a 75-cent chocolate bar gives you 25 cents in change, your math training was useless. The Tummy Team teaches you how to make change.

6. The abdominal region looks more “even” and controlled.

A side benefit to all of this is that the abdominal region doesn’t pooch out. I don’t mind a little pooching, because I don’t expect to look like a supermodel. I was given brains over beauty. (Ha, little joke there. Ha. I’m not really that full of myself. Ha. Ha. Hmmm. Okay, not funny.) I do, however, mind pooching when I know it’s putting excess strain on my back and making it harder for me to live life the way I’m supposed to. Plus, I am 40, which my husband tells me rounds up to 50. I know whatever pooch I’m dealing with now will only get bigger over the next ten years and exacerbate any current problems. I’m not cool with that. I’m not really cool at all, but that’s irrelevant.

There you go. That’s it in a nutshell…or a bowl of nuts, really. That’s why I’m part of The Tummy Team. Plus this girl, Kelly, she’s super sweet, smart, and helpful, and really has a heart for helping people. Love her!

Have I seen improvement?

Indeed I have. I have gained an awareness of my core (yeah, a month ago I would have said SO WHAT?! to that, too.) and have “engaged” it to be an active, helpful participator in my life, not just a droopy little tag-along. What does that mean? I’m stronger! My posture is better. Hannah’s middle is toning up and trimming out. The exercises from the first week that seemed to puny became hard, and then easy, and now they’re second nature. Second nature is a pretty big deal for someone who forgets to brush her teeth some nights.

I’ll be talking to you a little more about this in a couple weeks, and about 0ne particular benefit I’ve seen that I’m excited about. Plus, Hannah and I will be sharing our progress and hosting a giveaway after we have graduated. If you’re not a subscriber, jump on board to get the low-down on the giveaway. Maybe there will be cookies. (Cookies don’t contribute to a pooch. Yes, I’m in denial.)

If you have any questions I can answer in my next review, please let me know in the comments below, or check out The Tummy Team.

(As of 11/14/13, I am an affiliate for The Tummy Team, so this post now contains affiliate links.)

Free Online Chore System – An Interview With My Kids

To skip my cheesy review of My Job Chart, a free online chore system, and to go check it out for yourself, click here. Reposted in honor of all those kiddos in school and homeschool who are adjusting to new schedules.

Let’s face it. Sometimes I forget things, like making sure my son brushes his teeth in the morning, or brushing out my daughter’s golden locks before bed. I’ve heard parents complain about the battle to get kids to do their chores, and the constant search for the perfect chore chart.

First, chore charts in general are excellent tools to help you on the path to simplifying. The kids (or mom) know what’s expected of them, and the kids (or mom) know when it’s fine to run off and play (or hit Pinterest). It’s nice to know, ya know?

Second, let me tell you this–nothing this side of heaven (including a chore chart) is perfect. Did I burst your bubble? Sorry. A chore chart is a tool, not a solution. But hey, now you can stop hunting for perfect and instead make “almost perfect” work for you as you simplify! Hooray!

I recently tested out an online chore chart with my kids, called My Job Chart. After a parent sets it up, the child tracks his or her own progress, earning points for completed tasks. The points can be donated to a charity, saved up, or spent on a pre-approved reward. The intention is to teach personal accountability and the value of a dollar.

Here’s what I thought:

1 – It’s free. I like free.
2 – It’s relatively simple to set up, and the kids can easily manage it themselves.
3 – It’s highly customizable, so when my son announced that we should have PJ day on Tuesdays and bank holidays, we easily eliminated “Get dressed” from everyone’s Tuesday schedules while leaving it untouched the rest of the week.
4 – It handles one-time events well, so a parent and child can break certain activities–such as packing for a trip, spring cleaning, or working on a science fair project–into manageable chunks and schedule them over a period of time.
5 – It can handle a whole lotta kids on one account, which is great for those of us who have a whole lotta kids in a world that thinks four is a freakishly large number and rarely accommodates that many, let alone my seven. (Yes, I know “lotta” isn’t a real word, thanks.)
6 – The kids enjoy it. It’s fun to check off their work. They run about with renewed zeal to brush their teeth and finish their day’s readings. Die plaque, die!

7 – While some “time savers” and “simplifying tools” actually complicate life, this doesn’t seem to be one, apart from having to turn on the computer twice daily…which my pen and paper kids disliked, and my screen kids liked. After I set it up, I remained almost completely hands-off. (Simplicity is an important qualifier for The Simple Homemaker reviews.)
8 – Parents can set up customizable reward systems for their kids. The key word here is customizable, so, for example, if I really want to buy my son an X-box for brushing his teeth for a week, I could do that, and I’m sure his future wife and employer would thank me some day. A-hem. If I opt to reward piano practice and completed chores with weekend screen time, I can do that, too.
9 – The system alerts parents to the child’s daily progress, so I don’t have to log on and check. That may not seem like a big deal to you, but any extra logging in for me is time I would rather spend snuggling someone.
10 – My favorite aspect is that each child has a message board from which he or she can send messages to me…and only me. I love getting messages like this one from my four-year-old:

“Mommy, yu ar the bets mommy.”

Do you hear that? I’m the bets mommy.

Here’s what my kids think:

Is it any better than using a written chore chart? Let’s ask the experts:

Mama: Kids, what do you think of My Job Chart?
Twelve-year-old: I like it, because it helps me remember what I’m supposed to do.
Nine-year-old: I think it’s fine, but I don’t like having to turn on the computer.
Mama: Do you prefer it over a paper chart?
Four-year-old: I like it better than paper. May I please do it now?
Seven-year-old boy: (Nods vigorously)
Mama: Why do you like it better?
Seven-year-old boy: It’s just funner.
Fourteen-year-old girl: Funner is not a real word.
Sixteen-year-old girl: Technically the word “fun” is coming into vogue as an adjective instead of its original use as a noun and subsequently a verb, meaning “funner” would be acceptable in this situation. It is not, however, commonly used in the over-10 sector of society. (Okay, so she didn’t say that, but that’s what that heaving sigh meant.)

I used the program with five of my children, ages four through fourteen. My fourteen-year-old only used it for one day, saying it seemed like too much work to log on every day just to mark that she did her chores. Of course, that child can manage an entire household without parental guidance, so I believe she has moved past a chore chart from Mama into the planner stage, don’t you think?

What about the negative side?

One concern I have which may be unique to my family, and which has both a positive and negative slant, is that this is on the screen. Screens are addicting, and I don’t like them. Once they’re on, they are hard to shut off. My son, when engaged with a screen, has trouble re-engaging with the real world. He is still thinking “screen.” I hear that’s a boy thing.

A screen is a child-magnet here. I noticed that when one child is online checking off his or her accomplished chores, two or three other children stand around the chair watching. There is nothing particularly engrossing about a child checking off tasks, but it is on a screen. Of course, the same thing happens in my family when a child is looking at, say, a catalog of bedroom slippers, so that may just be my family. Annnnnd, admittedly, I am an anti-screen nazi currently in (and failing) rehab, so take that with a grain of salt.

The plus side to that is, hey, it’s on a screen! The kids are more excited to do their daily duties so they can get on the computer, check jobs off, and send Mommy a little note. Plus it can be accessed anywhere–library, school, Grandma’s, sitters, home, on the phone…if your kids have a phone.

Do I recommend this product?

You know what, I do for families that prefer to stay connected electronically and who want an easy reward system. I think it can really reduce ~~nagging~~ reminding from mom and help kids take an interest in personal responsibility, accountability, and money management–amen to that! I especially think this is an ideal tool to keep parents and kids on the same page if parents work inside or outside the home and if kids are in school and other outside activities. Wouldn’t it be nice to know that, even though you didn’t remind him, Junior’s soccer bag will be packed and ready to go when you get home from work and have to turn around and head to a soccer game? Sure would.

Finally, who doesn’t love the “bets mommy” messages?

I’m the bets mommy.

To learn more about My Job Chart, to watch an informational video, and to get your own “bets mommy” messages, visit MyJobChart.com.

Disclosure: I received free access to My Job Chart in exchange for this post…but since it’s free for everyone, that didn’t affect my opinion. Uh, that’s a really ~~funny~~ bad joke. Since I don’t have to remind my kids to brush their teeth, I have more time for cheesy humor. I should have probably put that under the “negative” section.