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I am embarrassed to admit that I recently realized that after 5 years of living in the same house, I still don't know the names of the family living across the street.  A firetruck pulled up in front of their house while they were at work and, even though I wanted to be, I was no help.  New neighbors just moved in to our neighborhood, and even though they came over to help my husband move some things in the yard, I don't know their names either!

In our busy world, no one has time for anything. And yet, as moms we’re required to keep our homes clean, prepare lunches for our children every day, help them with their homework and be the best employees. We also need to look beautiful no matter what. There’s just too much pressure on us, don’t you think?

Actually, we can do it all. All we need to do is manage our time. How can we manage our time better? A good idea is to establish daily cleaning routines. Those can really come in handy as they promise to save us up to 6 hours we’d otherwise spend on cleaning. Try these tricks and you’ll see how easy it can be to manage your time.

It's the time of year where, before stuffing ourselves full of turkey and potatoes, people often go around the table and say something they're thankful for.  I talked with one mother, though, who has decided to make being thankful a year-round thing for her family.

She puts out a "Blessing Jar" and slips of paper.  Each day her children are encouraged to write down something they are thankful for and drop it in the jar.  At the end of the year, they sit down as a family and read through all the blessings that they have received.  The mom said she was amazed at how thoughtful her kids' responses were.  She assumed that they would be thankful for "things", but in reality, they were thankful for the people and experiences in their lives.

We are a society of busy people.  Here I am on maternity leave and I feel just as busy as ever!  Today alone I dropped my oldest off at daycare, stopped by the church office to answer some questions, picked up some things we needed from the store, dropped off a package at the post office and old clothes to the thrift store, opened up a savings account for my son, and went to a doctor's appointment.  Please, tell me again about how I should sleep when the baby sleeps.  When do I have time?  I'm just too busy!

But, with the addition of our newest child I've come to the realization that I'm not really helping anyone by being so busy all the time.  Now that my family has started back with our fall activities, there are three days a week that I will only see my oldest child at breakfast and dinner.  And I'm ashamed to admit that a friend of mine confided in me how lonely she feels, but I've been too busy spend any time with her.  While I'm keeping busy, the people who need me the most are getting the least of me.

Every mom experiences a life full of highs and lows.  There are days when were at the top of our game.  We're our daughter's hero after finding a lost toy, we gave a stellar performance of "Chicka-Chicka Boom Boom" before bedtime, or just gently rocked our little darling till she fell soundly asleep.

But there are days when we're just in survival mode.  Little things can ruffle your feathers, like lost keys, toddler tantrums, grumpy husbands, potty training, and your child's war against pants (the struggle is real)!  But many moms deal with depression, broken families, debt, and medical problems (just to name a few).  This playlist is for those days when you're just trying to keep you head above water (or want to celebrate the days you did)!