Drowning is different for moms. I'm not talking about swimming in pools without your floaties. I'm talking about dentists, school shopping, class schedules, football schedules, flat tires, cleaning your house, kids throwing up on you in a public place, gaining three pounds, and then having your computer crash. That's the kind of drowning I'm talking about. I think every mom can relate. If not? Then you have a cleaning lady, a nanny, a personal trainer, and a good computer tech.

Me? I don't have any of that. I'd settle right now for a cleaning lady, but I'll take my kids doing their chores. So, drowning. That kind of happened yesterday. Sitting in the dentist office, thinking how peaceful and wonderful life was and then my youngest child walks over and throws up all over my lap and half the office as well. Honestly, how much can a four-year-old stomach hold? Turns out - quite a bit. The day kind of went downhill from there. But I won't bore you with the details.

My question is this: when you are drowning, what do you do? My friend (who came over the other night because she was drowning) chose to escape to my house for a couple hours. Escape can be fun, but it doesn't get rid of the problems. The five loads of laundry waiting to be folded aren't going anywhere. Chocolate is always good. (Hence the three pounds.) But what's the best life-saver ever? I know you're thinking a trip to Hawaii would be great, or a cruise. That's called dreaming, and it won't help you when you're in the middle of a crisis.

What actually will help? Here's a list of my top four life preservers when you're drowning and (for some reason) don't have tickets for seven days at a resort.

1. Exercise - Walking counts, believe it or not. Free the body, free the soul kind of thing.

2. Reading a good book - The more uplifting the book, the better.

3. Helping a neighbor or friend - Or in other words, service. This actually really, really helps.

4. Know that nothing lasts forever - Just keep going with a smile on your face no matter what.

5. And, when all else fails, grab the chocolate and run to your best friend's house.

That's it. Each one is a floatie you can hang on to on days when you feel the waves of life lapping over your head. Yesterday, I just had time for #4 and #5. But sometimes, that's all you need.

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As I'm careening down the hill, thankful there are no horses in the way, I notice, for the first time, how "stinking gorgeous" the world is. The light falling over the mountain was breathtaking. I noticed the trees were already turning colors in the mountains and the clouds - the clouds were glorious. I was seeing the world as if I was witnessing it for the first time. It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. I was suddenly so grateful and amazed at how blessed I was. All of a sudden, I was in the best mood ever and the world was a delightful place to be. I returned home, took off the sunglasses and it turned blah, again. Regular world. Regular problems. Same old, same old. (That's what you say if you're Southern and depressed.) The day goes on and it's time to get my kids. I slap those glasses back on and - ta da! Life is dang beautiful again!

Okay, I'm not dumb. I figured it out. I pulled off the glasses and looked at the lenses. The lenses were rose-tinted. They made everything look wonderful. I was smiling. I was singing to the radio and I was amazed. This morning, I found my old sunglasses, put them on and wondered why the whole world looked so ugly and gray. Not as much smiling and not as much singing. I went home and officially stole my daughter's glasses. She just got a new pair for her birthday, so she won't mind.

I NEVER want to wear another pair of gray tinted glasses, again. If I can go through life seeing the good and the beautiful, I will choose to do that. Why would anyone want to choose to see life gray and depressing? At times, we do. It made me think about how I see everything in my life. Am I looking at my kids with rose-colored glasses? Am I looking at my friends and neighbors, my job and life the way I should? Sometimes it's a choice. I'm choosing to throw away the gray and keep the rose-colored life. Trust me, it's better.

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As a mom in 2012, I now have to add addictions to the top of that list. There's addiction to cell phones, Xbox, Facebook, and on and on. But the one that is the most damaging is pornography. Moms need to know about this. We have to educate ourselves about it because it's not going away. According to recent statistics, it's not just hooking our sons. Girls are getting addicted to pornography at an alarming rate. Within a few years, the numbers will be the same for both genders.

The fact is pornography is here. It's been here and it's wreaking havoc. What do we do about it? One great website, Fight the New Drug, is a great resource for mothers wanting to learn more about how they can protect their children.

This is a great website. It doesn't preach to you. It's not awkward or embarrassing. It deals with the subject in a scientific but realistic way that is easy to understand. I had my kids sit down one evening a few weeks ago, and we went over the information on the site together. One of my kids said: "I've heard this a million times Mom. Seriously? Do we have to hear this again?" But after going over the information and playing the video, he was stunned. He didn't realize that pornography reacts in your brain the same way drugs do. My daughter was surprised at how a simple thing like viewing pornography statistically ruins lives. It was a real eye-opener.

There was a recent news segment on Nightline about Nathan Haug's story. He comes from an active and faithful Christian family. He's a Scout, a great student, etc. etc., and he was addicted to pornography. If it can happen to him and his family, it can happen to anyone.

Pornography is an epidemic. It can destroy the happiness and peace of the people we love the most. We have to educate ourselves and then educate our kids. Taking precautions is the first place to start. Here are some steps you can take to protect those you care about:

1.) Protect your computers and phones. K-9 is a free and effective filtering software. It has apps for Androids and iPhones. Cell phones are becoming one of the top ways to view pornography.

If you don't have a computer filter, then someone in your home might be watching pornography. Open DNS is almost fool-proof and it's free as well.

2.) The second step should be talking to your kids. If you have an open and trusting relationship with your kids, then it's easier to tell them about this danger. Don't be embarrassed. If you're embarrassed, then they'll be embarrassed. This is a crucial conversation that needs to happen in every home.

Do your homework and then do what moms do best: protect our kids.

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For the last couple weeks, I've had to live without a computer. Torturous. This coming from someone who didn't even know what surfing the web was until I was out of college. Weird, I know. That meant no Pinterest, Facebook, emails, blogs, no - nothing. I would run to my friend's house to check for important emails, of course, but still - torturous. Yet, I survived. In the time that I usually spent on the computer, I found myself doing strange things that I have been an expert at ignoring: cleaning, dusting, and the worst of the worst - organizing. Here's a random thought: why do people always come over when the house is totally trashed, and now that my house looks like June Cleaver lives here, not a soul to see. I find that quite annoying.

Getting back to the point. We're tougher than we look. Take all the iPods and iPads and computers and Kindles away and you know what? We'd be OK. We'd be grouchy for a while, but then we'd find a way to survive. However, there are a few things I don't ever want to live without. 1) My children, 2) My friends, and 3) My health. I could not make it without them. I'd rather be at the bottom of a landfill covered with crappy computers that crash for no reason than to have to live life without the people I love the most and the ability to live and do and create. Everything else? Extras, I love the "extras," but it's knowing what's essential and what the "extras" are that make a person truly wise. Nah! Scratch that. It's a wise person who focuses his or her life on the "essentials" and not the extras.

Am I willing to give up my brand new laptop to prove this to everyone? Heck no. You'll just have to take my word for it. You'd have to pry my dead body away from this beautiful little gem. Spending more time with my kids instead of Facebook? That just might be essential. Dusting? Pinterest wins every time.

The post What can’t you live without? appeared first on FamilyToday.

Drowning is different for moms. I'm not talking about swimming in pools without your floaties. I'm talking about dentists, school shopping, class schedules, football schedules, flat tires, cleaning your house, kids throwing up on you in a public place, gaining three pounds, and then having your computer crash. That's the kind of drowning I'm talking about. I think every mom can relate. If not? Then you have a cleaning lady, a nanny, a personal trainer, and a good computer tech.

Me? I don't have any of that. I'd settle right now for a cleaning lady, but I'll take my kids doing their chores. So, drowning. That kind of happened yesterday. Sitting in the dentist office, thinking how peaceful and wonderful life was and then my youngest child walks over and throws up all over my lap and half the office as well. Honestly, how much can a four-year-old stomach hold? Turns out - quite a bit. The day kind of went downhill from there. But I won't bore you with the details.

My question is this: when you are drowning, what do you do? My friend (who came over the other night because she was drowning) chose to escape to my house for a couple hours. Escape can be fun, but it doesn't get rid of the problems. The five loads of laundry waiting to be folded aren't going anywhere. Chocolate is always good. (Hence the three pounds.) But what's the best life-saver ever? I know you're thinking a trip to Hawaii would be great, or a cruise. That's called dreaming, and it won't help you when you're in the middle of a crisis.

What actually will help? Here's a list of my top four life preservers when you're drowning and (for some reason) don't have tickets for seven days at a resort.

1. Exercise - Walking counts, believe it or not. Free the body, free the soul kind of thing.

2. Reading a good book - The more uplifting the book, the better.

3. Helping a neighbor or friend - Or in other words, service. This actually really, really helps.

4. Know that nothing lasts forever - Just keep going with a smile on your face no matter what.

5. And, when all else fails, grab the chocolate and run to your best friend's house.

That's it. Each one is a floatie you can hang on to on days when you feel the waves of life lapping over your head. Yesterday, I just had time for #4 and #5. But sometimes, that's all you need.

The post 5 ways to keep from drowning in the craziness of mommyhood appeared first on FamilyToday.