Real MOMS Chatting it up LIVE

Last Tuesday night the 24/7 MOMS Live chatting was filled with great ideas on Home...The Greatest Place On Earth and Family Fun. So, if you missed our weekly live show - team member Amy took some great notes for us to share all of the REAL mom ideas that were chatted about.

Moms Thoughts About Their Home:

Every Story begins with Family!!

Kids need to know that they have a place to go!

Home is my castle

Home is where your heart is

I need to accessorize to make my home cozier

I need to be more flexible in letting them have friends over

I always have all the kids in my neighborhood at my house... we have the trampoline, the swing sets and the biggest yard

Always cherish the family time. Just have some slow time together

I want some friends of my kids to call me their "other mother"

You can always start anew now and make a new ending.

YOU (parent!) need to raise them, not let the world do it!

Let kids know that they are more important than anything in your house including the phone!

Isn’t it important for the kids to look back and think MOM gave her ALL!

Moms seem to forget to take care of themselves as well! If we don't take care of ourselves who will?

Communication is key. We don't keep secrets.

Family time is SO important... time to focus on kids!

Keep an open mind and an open door. That's my policy.

We are molding and shaping the next generation!

Home Organization; Finding Time for All the Things We Do:

We have a three month calendar and we write everything on it. That is how my husband knows where he has to be

Google calendar lets my husband keep track on his blackberry

I LOVE big calendars on garage door so I see it when I walk out!!

I have a dry erase calendar in the kitchen that shows the current month. I keep the long-term stuff on Google Calendar.

I approach running the house and family just like I did as an office manager--finances, schedules organized, etc

My husband and I talk about what's important to us as parents and as a family and then ask if activities like sports, clubs, etc. meet those needs or not.

I take one kid a weekend and do anything they want

Suggested Books on the Theme of Home and Family:

“The Family Manager”, Kathy Peel (FamilyManager.com) She has many great home-themed books.

“Home Court Advantage”, by Kevin Leman (and his other books are excellent as well)

“Voices of The Faithful”, a devotional book by Beth Moore

"The Way of the Wild Heart", written to men/fathers but I found the first few chapters to be helpful. We have three boys.

“A Glove of Their Own”, a ‘Play it Forward book’: www.agloveoftheirown.com

“365 Easy One Dish Meals”, by Natalie H. Haughton, features lots of casseroles

“The Mom You’re Meant to Be”, by Cheri Fuller

Author John Eldredge’s books (TheRansomedHeart.com)

Tastebook.com: This place allows you to make your own recipe book with pictures.

"Power of a Positive Mom", Karol Ladd

“A gift from the Sea”, Anne Morrow Lindbergh

“The Back Door to Your Teen's Heart”,

"Little Things Long Remembered”, by Susan Newman

Moms Share About Family Meals:

It’s not the food you make, it's the time

Everyone stays at the table until everyone is finished at our house then we help clean the kitchen together. Telling your kids you are a "team" is a GOOD thing!

They don't have to eat everything, but they have to take a thank you bite and stay and talk till someone else is done.

We often do a late desert together too

We make dinner, if they don’t like it they have to wait until the next meal. They get the point REALLY quick. I always make sure there is SOMETHING they like even if it is just corn!

We have a Try It Once rule we call it a "no thank you bite"

I've taught my kids manners because I think that there are a lot of kids who don't have manners

We eat together every night--it's one of the things hubby and I decided is most important to us.

Even my 3yo's need to ask to be excused. Even though they're loud, we insist on table manners at a young age.

Our Kids Can Help Us With Family Meals:

My 15 month old helps put away the dishes

2-yr old puts cloth napkins on every night

My kids set, clear table and they load dishes!

Making Meals (and members of our family feel special)

We do have the "you rock plate" for any big moments. Just painted it up at a paint your own pottery store.

We have done cloth napkins for 13 years!!!!

The red "You are Special Today" plates (found online at Amazon, yard sales, etc)

Coordinating and Choosing our Children’s Activities:

We have only allowed one activity per year per child... money issue as much as a time issue

My kids have so many interests and ambitions; we've had to ask them to pick one at a time

My son has grown so much through Cub Scouts

Books We Share With Our Kids:

If you have a boy, you need “My truck is Stuck”, by Kevin Lewis

“The Giving Tree”, by Shel Silverstein

“I STINK”, By Kate and Jim McMullan (about a garbage truck)

“Franny K Stein, Mad Scientist” Series books by Jim Benton

Family Fun Together Activities:

We do a fondue night. Kids love it!! There’s lots of variety with fondues.

Bowling is SO fun too!

We've been watching “Little house on the Prairie”, as a family lately!

My kids love "no more naked popcorn" seasoning and we watch movies together w/ sleeping bags on the floor and everything.

I can't wait to go the local farms! My kids love the pumpkin patches

Wii bowling tournament is fun. We challenge other families to Wii Games

We do family cycling. Some trails near us that are fun and free.

We do the zoo lots... yearly membership

Geocaching is so FUN!!!! (Global GPS Treasure Hunt: geocaching.com)

We love reading a family book each night before bed - we take turns reading it!

My son has a loft bed and loves to make a camp under it

Lights out night too is fun! We pretend the lights have gone out!

We make tents out of sheets and sleep on floor!

Libraries have free story times, but so do Barnes & Noble, Borders, Pottery Barn Kids, Children’s’ Museums, etc.

We do a lot of art with recycling stuff, building critters and robots

Holiday baking

Go to a park and look at the leaves changing

Everybody rent the movie "The Soloist"....with your older kids

Don't MISS this weeks 24/7 MOMS Live web show - Tuesday 7pm PST/10pm EST or 9pm PST/ 12am EST at www.247moms.com