About Home And Family

Planning a baby shower for the expectant mother in your life is incredibly exciting and lots of fun. However, planning a baby shower can also be time consuming, and it can be hard to get everything done in the time allotted.

One of the most important things that must be attended to is choosing the best invites to let everyone know of the upcoming celebration of life.

==The Baby Shower Invitations Are The Key ==

After all, in a way the invitations to the party are the key to everything else involved in the shower. After all, if no one knows about the party, no one will be able to attend.

Luckily, there are so many kinds of invitations for baby showers that it should be fairly easy to find one that is right for you.

==Picking Appropriate Baby Shower Invitations ==

Invitations to a baby shower can be as simple or as fancy as you want to make them. It is important to choose a invites that is appropriate to the style of the mother to be.

==The Internet ==

One place to start the search for the best invitations to any baby shower is on the internet. The internet is a great way to search for hundreds of different invitations in a very short period of time.

There are a number of web sites that are dedicated to planning, and they often have some excellent resources for invitations to your baby shower. In addition, there are a number of online printers with their own web sites, and they often have a number of excellent sample invites for you to choose from.

== Your Local Print Shop And Office Supply Store ==

If you would rather choose the local flavor for your invites, chances are your local print shop or office supply store has a good selection of invitations that would be perfect for any baby shower.

== Print Your Own Invitations ==

Another great option is to print your own invitations to the party. There are a number of kits, available at both local office supply and software stores and on the internet, which allow you to create beautiful invitations using only your home computer and your deskjet printer.

Just be sure to buy plenty of ink for your printer. Printing your own invitations gives you a great amount of freedom and allows you to be extremely creative when creating and printing those invitations.

Baby shower kits are a practical way to find everything you will need to host a party. Today you can find them in various fun themes to fit your style. They are also a smart idea if you are feeling overwhelmed with hosting a shower or have limited time to do the shopping required.

Most shower kits provide the following:

Invitations
Table Cloths
Table Centerpieces
Plates & Utensils
Balloons & Streamers
Party Games & Activities
Prizes
Party Favors
Name Tags
Thank You Cards
Planning Guides and Party Tips.

Adding a theme to your gathering can be a lot of fun for your mom-to-be and guests. It can also simplify your decision-making regarding your decorations, invitations and menu selections! A baby shower kit takes this simplicity one step further. When selecting a theme take in consideration the personal taste of your expectant mom, your guest list and the style of your shower.

If you are unaware of the sex of the baby look at gender-neutral themes such as rubber ducky or nursery rhyme. Other popular themes are Little Prince or Little Princess Baby Shower, Old MacDonald Farm Animals and Noah's Ark Baby Shower. Your options are endless!

Baby Shower Kits maybe your answer to taking away some of the stress of planning and hosting a baby shower. If you are still unsure a shower kit is the best option for the party you will be hosting, take a moment and go surfing online. There are many reputable online website stores that all-in-one kits a long with other party necessities. You will find a large selection of themes to choose from, as well as a variety of options all at reasonable rates.

Taking the time to look online will allow you to know what is available and give you some tips and ideas for your party. Happy Planning!

When you first saw the pink plus sign on your pregnancy stick, what were your expectations of motherhood?

Did you expect that being a mom would instantly be a natural, bonding experience?

Did you expect to be constantly overjoyed and completely fulfilled being a full-time stay- at-home-mom?

Did you expect you'd be able to figure out how to balance your work life and home life without any struggles?

Did you expect that you'd actually know what you were doing?

In most cases, if a mom is unhappy somewhere in motherhood, her expectations are way too high. Think about all the roles you play; mom, wife, daughter, friend, cook, caregiver, chauffeur, housekeeper, employee, just to name a few.

Moms today are expected to do it all and they think they should love every minute of it. If it doesn't always turn out that way, they feel let down, guilty or unhappy. Cut yourself some slack, moms! It's hard to make the transition to motherhood. Most modern moms had a career before they became a mom. They spent money on education, time on building a career and then either put it on hold or gave it up completely when the kids were born. While you love being a mom, for some, it's hard to let all of that go. You had an identity back then and a strong sense of who you were.

There's also a tremendous amount of pressure moms put on themselves. They try to be perfect while living up to the expectations that have been put on them. This almost always leads to disappointment because you can't reach the unattainable. Perfect doesn't exist. Especially when it comes to motherhood.

The key to surviving motherhood is to get realistic. Here are 6 ways you can start.

1) Embrace your imperfections and allow yourself to be human. Give yourself a break! Learn from your mistakes and find ways to improve the things that don't come naturally to you. Focus on what you're really good at and rediscover your sense of humor. Remember, if things don't work out the way you planned, it's usually a funny story.

2) Redefine motherhood. Create your own realistic definition of what motherhood means to you. Take out the stuff that doesn't fit in your world and introduce new ways of doing things that jive with your personality and values.

3) Nurture all the roles you play. Be a mom, a wife, a career woman and whoever else you want to be. But don't define yourself in one role or give all your energy to just one area. You'll burn out and neglect the other wonderful parts of who you are and all you have to offer.

4) Stop trying to be Supermom. She doesn't exist! The sooner moms stop comparing, judging and envying each other, the sooner we'll all embrace who we are as individuals. No one is perfect even when it looks like it on the outside. If you still feel inferior to that mom who always looks so put together, I guarantee she hates having to get her roots done every 3 weeks.

5) Be who you are regardless of what others may think. Be strong, courageous and dare to be different. Be honest and do what feels right for you and your family. If others have a problem with it, realize it's their problem and they are just jealous that they don't have the strength to go against the grain.

6) Accept that you won't please everyone. If you're working and you can't be at every field trip your child has, be OK with that. It will mean more when you can attend. Make a commitment to let go of guilt and learn to say no.

Action Challenge:

It's time to alter your expectations and get real. Make a list of every expectation you have of yourself.

Now take a look at your list and ask yourself:

· If I could get rid of one stressful thing in my day what would it be?
· If I had one more hour in my day, what would I do with that time?
· Which of my expectations are optional and which ones have to stay?

Prioritize your list and mark off the expectations that have the lowest value to you. For example, making a healthy meal may be a high priority, but cleaning the kitchen right away can wait so you can spend time with your kids.

Revisit the things on your list that you think you can't change. For example, is it really impossible to hire help a few days a week? You may not think you have the money for it but the extra time it allows you will be invaluable.

Ease into this new life of realistic expectations. Try it for one week and see how you feel. It's time to motherhood the incredible experience you always expected it to be.

Carly Cooper is a life coach, speaker and author of Balance the Mother Load: R.E.I.N.V.E.N.T. Your Life in Just 8 Weeks! She served as the National Mom Ambassador for Living Well, a Johnson and Johnson initiative, is a workshop and seminar facilitator for Shepell fgi and has been interviewed in various magazine publications and TV and radio shows

"A mother is she who can take the place of all others, but whose place no one else can take."

- Cardinal Mermillod

The crux of feminist theory is the concept of the family. The family is the building block of the society and social scientists over the ages have designated the role of holding this unit together on women. This has not gone down well with the fighters of women's rights. They have objected strongly to this as derogatory to the independence of the woman. They have also stressed on the necessary of economic independence for the woman to raise her voice against male oppression. In the modern age, women have been able to throw off the shackles to a large extent. However, if a woman herself chooses to stay at home and raise a family?

Female students have a general tendency to work after they complete their education. If someone chooses a family life within the confines of a home, her peers may take it to be a rather timid and obsolete choice. I feel it's the choice of the individual that matters. If she chooses to be a wife and mother at home, we cannot jeer at her decision. Nor must we feel that she lacks in ability to go out there and rub shoulders with the competitive, inconsiderate world.

A mother staying at home has to take stock of a lot of things. She makes sure that the family wheel stays well lubricated. She helps her husband and children go out for work or education. She keeps them well fed. She takes care of their things and makes sure they are there at hand when needed. She takes care of the bills and other expenditures. She takes care of the finances and plans her savings according to the income of the household. So she does everything that an office manager would be doing. The difference is tat she is doing it on a microcosmic scale, but that does not talk lowly of her efficiency.

There lies another difference too. She does it out of love. The problem arises if her family does not appreciate that love and caring. That is where feminists who are against women staying at home have a problem. The lack of economic independence does compromise her position. Mothers have it particularly difficult if the father is not responsible to the children. Many mothers stay put at home in a loveless marriage for the sake of their children just because they do not have the means to step out of the threshold of stability and security. She has to bear the consequences of not earning a living.

It is very difficult to conclude which path is the best for a mother. It depends on individual calling. Homemakers need not be totally devoid of earnings today. They can do a lot of free lancing work from home which will take care of their expenditures, even if their first priority is the family. What we can do is to empathize with our mothers who are homemakers as they deserve all the appreciation that you can possibly assimilate. What we can also do is respect the sacrifice of love that they have undergone to make us have a better life.

As a new mom there are many challenges we have to go through that we didn't expect while we were pregnant. There is so much information our there designed to tell us how to take care of ourselves while we're pregnant, but as soon as junior arrives all the guidance and support is for them and our own needs falls on the back-burner.

Giving birth changes our lives in millions of little ways. Good sleep is often a distant memory, our bodies are turned upside down, and our emotions are taken for a joy-ride on a rollercoaster....just to mention a few things. And it is not as if we have a lot of time on our hands to deal with the big changes. Now we have this beautiful little person to take care of, so we are hardly going to have much spare energy or time to take care of ourselves.

These are just 5 of the common challenges new moms face and some ideas for getting around them:

Taking Care of Your Own Needs

When we hit mommy mode everything we do is for our baby who is dependent on us for everything. We often wrap ourselves up in taking care of baby and forget to take care of ourselves. This causes many new moms to start to lose their sense of who they are and they can feel resentful about being at home, or even towards their baby for being so helpless. It crucial to schedule regular time each day to do something for yourself (even if it's only for 10 minutes). This could be taking time to shower and do your hair, meditate, do some walking or other exercise, or simply sit and write in your journal. Putting in the effort to take the time to do something for yourself that makes you feel good will keep you from getting burnt out or overwhelmed.

Feeling Sexy

After you've had a baby the changes that your body has gone through within the last 40 weeks takes its toll. Stretch marks, extra fat deposits, sore breasts that have changed in size, all of these things can make it difficult for you to feel sexy. Many women worry that their husband is going to look at them differently and that he won't feel the same way about them. It is important to discuss these feelings with your husband and at the same time not put too much pressure on yourself. You need to remember that you can't expect your relationship between you and your husband to be exactly the same after you gave birth as it was before hand. Both of you have changed through this process and you have a new life that you're responsible for. It can take time to get to know each other once again. One simple way of rekindling the flames of your relationship is to start regular dating again - time alone for just the two of you. Don't forget, your body will heal itself over time and you will have the power to be as sexy and feminine as you want.

Getting Back Into Shape

It can be rather disturbing when you give birth to your baby and your weight doesn't immediately drop off. For some new moms this is really upsetting. One of the biggest mistakes that women make is to try crash diets, intensive exercise, or anything else they can think of to lose their pregnancy weight within the first two months after the birth of their child. This isn't realistic, it took 40 weeks to get into this shape, and it is going to take time to get back to your pre-pregnancy weight. You need to keep in mind that nature created the process of childbirth to ensure you have the energy to take care of your baby and yourself throughout the next year - in this regard the additional fat deposits and bigger breasts are crucial. It will take time for your body to get back into shape. You need to exercise cautiously and avoid any intensive exercise which might cause injury during the first few months.

Lack of Sleep

All new moms experience a lack of sleep during the first few months. Some babies will follow a schedule at a young age and start sleeping at night. Other babies will wake you up every hour for the first six months. Feeling completely worn out due to lack of sleep can cause a lot of problems for new moms. It's important to put things into perspective. You know that you're going to have a few months of added responsibility and reduced sleep. If you remind yourself that this time will pass quickly and understand that this experience will help you grow as a person, it is less likely to overwhelm you. Focus on the gift of having a baby and try to get support from family and friends to help you get snatches of sleep through the day when they can baby-sit. Simply changing your focus will help you to get through this period of time with much less stress.

Inability to Take a Timeout

The last big issue that moms run into is an inability to take time out. Once you become a mom you're always a mom, 24 hours a day seven days a week. It's a full-time job, night and day, and sometimes it's hard to be able to take time away from your baby to do something fun for yourself. You need to trust your husband, parents, or baby sitter with your baby for short periods of time, so that you can take time out. When you become a mom, it is crucial that you don't forget what your passions are. Too many moms put their hobbies and interests completely on the back-burner. So whether it is hanging out with girl friends, going to a movie, reading a book, or going shopping, don't let your own need for interesting and fun activities fall to the way-side.

Favors should be at every baby shower for its guests. Cute little items, items that are easily available, are perfect for your shower. You have a great variety of party favors, such as gift certificates to choose from for your shower. Your party favors need not be expensive to be appreciated.

You will have fun giving out favors, and your party guests will enjoy getting those favors. Favors will also be a reminder of being at the shower. Plus, they will serve as a small thank you letting them know you appreciate their attendance at the shower. After all, the shower guests had a helping hand in celebrating the coming arrival of the new baby to be.

You also might want to have some extra Favors on hand. You never know if someone you didn't expect might drop in. Plus, there is always the possibility that you might misplace a couple of Favors. It will be good to be prepared with extra favors, just in case.

You can give out the favors as the guests arrive. Another way to give out the shower favors would be to have them placed around the table/s where the guests will be eating. If you are not serving a meal, hand the party favors out when you serve the appetizers. Or you could hand out the party favors as the shower guests are leaving. This is the time to thank each guest for coming to the shower. And to thank them for giving the guest of honor a gift.

You could also choose to have favors you can make yourself. One suggestion would be to personalize your favors. Check out favors crafts at any crafts store and let your imagination run wild. Your guests will love the idea of having favors homemade by the hostess. Talk about being unique!

Many different kinds of local stores carry items you can use to make party favors. There also are numerous online merchants that carry the items you need for party favors.

If you choose to make your own party favors, favors are not hard to make. Most of the items needed for making party favors are available locally. They are all easy items to find, so you shouldn't have any problems getting the items to make your favors.

Your shower will be appreciated by the party guests by this gesture. Even though favors are usually token items, the favors show that you have put a lot of effort into the planning. Making for a very enjoyable experience for yourself, your guests, and your guest of honor.

Choosing themes is the first step in planning a baby shower. Or, you may choose not to have a theme at all. However, having a theme for your shower should make the party entertaining, fun, and a memorable experience.

Before picking one, decide on what your guests would find enjoyable. Put yourself in their shoes and think about what you would want to do if you were the guests. Themes for your shower are time savers by providing a focus on the party.

The theme you decide on will determine everything else about the baby shower. The location, whom to invite, what kind of decorations, games, food and beverages.

You also need to determine if the shower will be before the baby arrives or after.

One of the themes that the Ladies would like would be a tea party. There are tea gift baskets that would work well with a tea party. Not only can Gift Baskets provide the theme for the shower, they can double as a centerpiece for your table decorations. With so many gift baskets available, you will be able to use a gift basket for almost any theme.

More Examples of Themes:

Baby Diaper Cake
Teddy Bear
Gift Basket
Stork
Harvest Moon
Nursery Rhyme
Baby invitation
Baby safari
Winnie the pooh
Christmas
Baby Shower cake
Baby girl
baby duck
Baby boy
Baby game
Baby buttery
Noah's ark
Decoration
Frog shower
Book shower
Rubber ducky
Sports
Care bear
Ducky
Teddy bear
Snoopy
Tigger
Jungle
Princess
Angel
Cowboy
Precious moments
Sports
Jungle