General Info | I'm not Suffering from Insanity...I'm Enjoying it!

Another Spa Day Experience!

As promised, I am writing to all my friends to let them know how my spa experience went this time. If you missed my post on an affordable way to enjoy a monthly spa service locally, you can check it out HERE.

I saved up my August service so that I could do two services in one day in September, which is my birthday month! This time I chose Reflexology and Cranial Sacral Unwinding. Now I had had reflexology before but my therapist was much better than I had ever experienced before. I must tell you that just before my appointment I was feeling quite anxious and stressed out. I was hoping that I would be able to relax and enjoy the benefits of both services.

There was no need to worry about relaxing as I was asleep probably 30 minutes into it. Seeing as I do not normally sleep very well, this was a great thing for me. Reflexology, for those who have never experienced it, is where the therapist massages and works on the muscles in your feet as well as hands and they are able to address some types of physical symptoms simply massaging certain areas of the feet and hands.

Cranial Sacral Unwinding was a new one for me. I didn’t know what I was in for except that I knew it had something to do with the head. The therapist explained that it is a gentle moving of the head. She said that if a pitcher always throws his arm in a pitching motion, then with cranial sacral, it unwinds the body to move it the other way. Basically it gives balance as I understood it. I will probably try this again as it was very relaxing and she was so gentle.

I left feeling VERY relaxed and was not anxious or worried a bit. It has definitely been worth joining the True Harmony Wellness Club to make time for me each month. What do you think should be next on my agenda for my next spa service?

School’s In and Time for Mommy Time!

So this year, 1st grade is going much better for me than Kindergarten did for me last year. If you missed my post you can see it HERE. I was able to not worry so much (so much being the operative words) and just allow my son to navigate through the pitfalls of school on his own.

This summer was a tough one! It was SO hot. It usually is here in the Valley of the Sun but what do you do with a child EVERY day when they can’t go outside and play? Well, I spent all of my time and energy making sure my son had a great summer. Me, not so much.

Ahhhhhh

Now it is time for ME again. At the end of the school year last year I had gotten a schedule that included my work, time for me and time for my son. Everything seemed balanced. I felt great! Then summer came and left me feeling so drained and in much need for me time again.

I have made an informal agreement with myself to make sure I make time for me these days. It is a bit easier with my son in school. I have been to a local wellness spa in Mesa called The Center for True Harmony Wellness and Medicine. I heard they had a Wellness Membership. You pay $39 a month and you can receive one treatment of massage, reiki, facials, reflexology, personal training and a host of other services! This is exactly what I needed to ensure I made time for myself. It fit into my budget and I can try a new treatment each time I go! You sign up for 6 months at a time. I liked no long term commitment. Plus, I decided I would pay it all upfront as it was a tiny bit cheaper.

Zen Moments

I will post all the treatments I get as I think most people probably don’t know what reiki or cranial sacral treatments are. I have had reiki and it has been different from each practitioner but overall I have always left feeling better and the last session I had completely cleared up a pain in my side that no one else could get rid of!

I went in late July and received a facial. OH, that was so nice. My skin has never looked so good! I saved up August’s visit to use in September as my birthday is in September and I thought I would treat myself to TWO treatments this month! I am going for reflexology and cranial sacral treatments. I will let you know how those go.

I am also making time each day to read a book or just have quiet time. My husband and son can make SO much noise even when they are doing nothing! I enjoy the peace when they are gone. I am interested to know what ways you relax and make time for yourself. I am still looking for more ways to make time for me!

Must Know Info for Moms About Air Conditioning

I recently had the opportunity to talk with some people from a local area air conditioning company about information that could really be useful to those of us in the Valley of the Sun as we begin our triple digits temperature days ahead. As moms, we are expected to know everything anyway, so I thought I would help out my fellow Mom peeps by including the information I received.

With the spring weather treating us so well this year, most of us have not had to rely on our A/C systems yet. What most do not realize is that 60% of utility bills usually consist of the cost of your A/C running and that if your bill jumps up over 25% in cost, there is a good chance that something isn’t working correctly.

Here is what to look for at the beginning of this summer season to see if you may need a repair on your A/C unit to prevent you and your family from being out of cool air during the hot months.

1. If the lights in your home dim or change when you turn the A/C on.

2. If there are whistling noises (common with A/C units that are outside).

3. If you haven’t had a tune up in over a year.

4. If it’s humid or feels different inside your home.

5. If it takes a while for the A/C to kick in.

Here are some tips on saving money when the A/C bills begin to rise due to the summer heat:

• If the A/C is making noises, the air filter may need to be changed due to air restriction.

• Make sure not to turn your A/C on and off when leaving your home. This requires the system to use more energy to try to cool down not only the air, but all of your items that have also heated up while the A/C was off. Items can reach over 100 degrees when sitting in a home with the AC turned off. Ideally, you should keep you’re A/C at 74 degrees while you are home and 84 when you leave.

• An A/C filter should be changed every 30 days (standard) or 90 days (pleated).

• Having proper insulation and ventilation in your attic is also a great way to save on energy.

o Heat flows naturally from a warm place to a cooler space. In the winter, heated air will try to flow to an unheated garage, basement or attic. Conversely, in warm months, heat will try to flow from the outdoors into the cool interior of the home. The majority of this heat transfer in homes takes place in the attic.

o It’s the role of insulation to prevent this unwanted circulation throughout your home. Combined with proper ventilation and a radiant barrier, proper insulation helps your home maintain a comfortable, uniform temperature throughout the year with significantly less use of heating and cooling systems. As a bonus, insulation can also act as a sound absorber, to help make your home quieter.

“It’s important that people regularly have a professional come and check their A/C units to make sure that everything is working properly,” said David Dami, Goettl general sales manager. “A problem that could be easy to fix initially but is put off for too long can become a very expensive and time consuming problem.”

My conversation was with a representative from Goettl Air Conditioning. If you want to learn more about Goettl Air Conditioning please check out their website at http://www.goettl.com.

I hope you find this information helpful and if you have any tips you can offer our moms and families on keeping cool this summer – please leave a comment!

All I want is Wisdom on My Son’s Front Teeth

I have many thoughts these days I would like to share but none more pressing like that of my son’s two loose front teeth. My son is proudly 5 ½ as he will tell any stranger passing by and I had not given one thought to my boy losing any of his teeth until he recently went to his pediatric dentist appointment. The hygienist exclaimed how he had two loose teeth.

Not My Son - But Soon

I am not sure who was more stunned at the news of loose teeth, me or my son. So of course, that is ALL he can think about. I checked the teeth she said were loose and by my definition they were not loose. I mean, when I think loose I think you can wiggle with it your tongue loose. At any rate, I then ended up having a conversation my mom about his tooth at which point she says, “So, have you or (my husband) decided who will be pulling the teeth?” Horror struck me as I had never thought of that either.

Then my in-laws asked, “Well, have you decided how MUCH the Tooth Fairy will leave for his teeth yet?” (sigh) NO, I had not thought of that either. It seems to me that we just had a nice period of time where I was no longer worried about getting those suckers IN. My baby’s first 3 years it seems all he did was teeth. Now I have to go through a whole new process of getting them out. I really don’t know if I can handle it if it goes ANYTHING like when the teeth came in.

I think when children have it as rough as my child did getting teeth in, it should be mandatory for the child AND the mom to get drugs to help with the pain; the child’s pain from the teething and the mom’s pain from hearing about how bad it is. I truly think terrorists could not hold any secrets if only exposed to a child who is constantly teething and angry, sad, weeping, irritable,wants to be held but then seems to be too touchy to be held, hungry yet can’t eat and the loose poops.

I say all this with much love for my child and I know a lot of women who don’t know what I am talking about. I am sure a lot of people reading will say, “Why didn’t she give her child Tylenol or Ibuprofen for the pain.” Well, you see it seemed almost daily for close to three years my child had a varying degree of discomfort from teething. I went to doctors, asked friends, asked seasoned moms, read books and when all else failed even asked my therapist. I tried it all and it all helps, if only for brief heavenly moments at a time. I would feel badly for giving my child so much medicine and I would try natural and holistic remedies only to try something different when that stopped working for whatever reason.

So my point to all of this is – I have to lose these precious teeth now!! I REALLY hope losing teeth is a much better adventure than getting them to come in is. There were no films dedicated to teething when I was experiencing that fun. There is a new movie coming out called the Tooth Fairy with (as I will continue to call him) The Rock. I am not sure yet if it is appropriate for my son to see it but it sure has come at a good time if he does. Now I find a video online where someone has a new take on the whole pulling the tooth idea. I am not sure that we will be trying it but it sure is a good idea. (NOTE: I watched it with the sound off) The little girl in the video seems ok with the result so at least if I am desperate I know what I can try.

If any of you have any advice for this time in mine and my son’s life I will gladly receive it. If you have a list of things I should NOT do, I will gladly listen. If you can send good thoughts and prayers my way – I will appreciate it. I am now going to go see if the teeth will wiggle any more and ask my husband when he plans to pull the tooth. ;)

The Comedy in Parenthood

It isn’t cheap entertainment but raising a child is definitely entertaining. My son is about to celebrate his fifth birthday and it seems he is more fun every day. The things he says and the interpretive dance moves he creates leave me in stitches most days.

Truly Entertaining

Don’t get me wrong. He can still be handful and we still have our difficult days but there seems to be a real fun atmosphere at times that I have to admit, prior to about 9 months ago I didn’t think I would see. It seemed I was forever disciplining and correcting and trying to remember to say, “Let’s try this instead”, when what I wanted to say was, “Cut that mess out!”. All the times I had to stay strong and not give in when I really just wanted to give in has now shown me that it was worth it.

Sometimes the comedy is in what our children bring right to our face. There has never been a truer mirror than a child. Have an annoying habit? Your child will exhibit it ten times worse than how annoying you are. Think you’re funny? Your child will tell you exactly what they think of your humor.

My son has begun karate class. A class of about 9 children aged between 4 and 6 is true entertainment. I am so impressed with the teacher and how she is able to get them to focus and follow direction. Still, we are talking about 4, 5 and 6 years olds. In the middle of stretch time children just begin telling the class what seems important to them. “Sensei, yeah, um..(long pause)..I uh, tooted in class today.” “Yeah, I almost fro’d up.”

The relay races are fun too as each child has their own interpretation of the rules. My own son who takes directions very literally did not see the problem with running WITH the other team mate while performing the baton race.

I had an appointment one day that left me with a bit of time before I needed to pick up my son. I thought I would sneek a peek in his class to see how he was doing. I didn’t realize they would be having snack and he would be right by window. Busted! So I went with it. That was the best time I have ever spent. A group of preschoolers sitting around the table eating their snack discussing what is better, peanut butter and crackers, cheese and crackers or just plain crackers. It was a really good discussion. Good points made by all sides. No Jerry Springer heated arguments over whose favorite snack was not the best. I was not only impressed but taken away at how cute it is to listen to how they view what makes a great snack.

Everything about parenthood is not funny. Most days aren’t fun. The days that are treat them as preciously as the fleeting time we have with our children because one day they will leave and the fun will be over.

Welcome to My World!

Hello Mom’s Zone readers! I am very happy to begin my blogging journey with you. My name is Tara and I will be bringing you a mix of observations of my life as a mom here in Phoenix as well as reviews of area events, products and services that will be of interest to other moms and families in the great state of Arizona.

You may be interested to know a bit about me. I was born and raised in Georgia where my very noticeable accent was honed. My husband and I moved to Phoenix several years before starting a family. I currently work for www.MomsZone.org and am proud to be a part of this company’s ties to the community. I now have a sweet 4 year old little boy who, although he has never had a Red Bull, most days acts as though he had. I have a cat and a dog and 2 fish. I have a very messy house and most days a happy household despite that fact.

I love Arizona and would not trade my life with anyone even if I do crab at times about the heat, my husband becoming slower than my grandfather on a daily basis and my son quickly getting smarter than me. I have no words of wisdom and I am not eloquent like our great blogger Sara ( http://momszone.org/blog_talk/). I am not an expert in any area like our bloggers Blythe ( http://momszone.org/baby_expert/), Michelle and Maria ( http://momszone.org/blog_mothers_moods/) or Laura ( http://momszone.org/blog_power/). What I do have is a keen sense of observation and what I have been told is a good sense of humor. Most everyone I know, at one time or another, has said I make them laugh. I would love to make you laugh as well.

I hope you will join me on my journey of the day to day.

I'm not Suffering from Insanity…I'm Enjoying it!

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