Recovering As A Parent

Addiction is one of the most dangerous things that a family can be subjected to. There’s no doubt about it that it’s hard on a family, and the people that get hurt by it most of all is the children. If you are a parent that is working on recovery from addiction, the first thing you should be doing is giving yourself a pat on the back. You are working on the issue and trying to find a fix: the iron grip of addiction isn’t the easiest one to get out of. If you are acknowledging that you have a problem, then you are able to take steps to recovery. Children of addicts are far more likely to be addicts themselves, have difficulties forming meaningful and trusting relationships and often develop issues with their mental health.

Addiction covers many different areas, from alcoholism, drug abuse and gambling, to addiction to food and cigarettes. Some addictions are harder for a child to deal with than others, but all have a huge influence in their lives. Growing up in the midst of a parent’s addiction is hard on a child. They have to deal with mood swings, a lack of routine and daily structure, added responsibility around the house that they may be too young to cope with and dealing with the emotional unavailability on the people they are supposed to depend on the most. Children who are born to addicts are influenced by that addiction; even parents who smoke will often end up with children who smoke, too. Making that decision to change your life and recover is not an easy one, but once you have a child you aren’t doing it for yourself: you’re doing it for them and their well-being.

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Learning how to be a better parent is hard enough for a sober parent, let alone someone in the throes of addiction. We include food and smoking in that list above, because even an addiction to food causes a skewed image of what is a healthy relationship with food from a child’s point of view. A parent who smokes is also being pulled by their addiction to the nicotine, and if you aren’t smoking in the house, you’re excusing yourself out of the house to do it and taking away from your child for the sake of a drag. Focusing your attention on attending the right meetings and counselling while finding your way to a new life of love for your family is important. No one said it would be easy; there’s nothing easy about ordering from ecigwizard.com when you have smoked for years or switching to apple cider when you’ve relied on vodka. The thing is, you work hard to get past the addiction so that your children will know you did your best for them. Rebuilding the relationship with your children is going to be the toughest part, especially if you have been avoiding them out of guilt and shame. Relationships CAN be repaired, though, and we’ve got some tips to get you started in your new life.

Self-Care. Addiction is a selfish thing to an outside, but for those who are in it, it’s all-consuming. To be the best parent that you can be, you need to attend to your needs. Being in recovery, you may be feeling emotions like guilt and upset at what you’ve put everyone through. You can’t keep on the right track unless you are focusing on eating right, keeping fit and keeping busy. This may seem like you are putting your kids second, and in a way, you are – you have to, if you want to preserve your sobriety and look after your children.

Admission. To be able to get through your addiction and recover properly, you have to take ownership of your addiction. It had become bigger than you, and your children need to know that it got that bad that you didn’t know you could ask for help. Children will always need an age appropriate explanation, to help them to move forward and learn to feel secure with you again. Children will always initially blame themselves when they feel like something is wrong, and you have to put them right and explain that it wasn’t them; it was the addiction. Be open and be honest. There’s no dirty little secret to be hidden anymore. Recovery is something to be proud of, so own it.

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Patience. Recovery takes time. It’s not going to happen overnight and the withdrawal and the relationship building that you have to do when you are recovering from addiction are going to take patience. You also have to bear the brunt of angry feelings that your children will have had toward you for missing pieces of their lives. The entire family will need time to adjust and get back to normal after the time you’ve spent in rehabilitation centers and away from them and their needs. You need to be patient and be happy about the fact that you get the chance to rebuild anything in the first place. You have to make your actions count during recovery, and this will take time and patience.

Ask. Ask for their love. Ask for their patience while you recover. Ask for the children to believe that you are going to try your best to be the best that you can be as a parent. Ask for help from friends, family and co-workers and doctors. Take time to ask for help when you need it and ask for forgiveness from those you have hurt. You need to reach out and expect people to be wary of your recovery and wary of your promise to be better.

Addiction is not an easy thing to deal with, and you have to be prepared for your children not to understand what to make of you. Take your time to be gentle with yourself while you are in recovery and rebuilding relationships. This is a time for love and patience and you can get there.

Why Mompreneurship Is Within Your Grasp

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As a new mom, it can be difficult to visualise heading back to work once you’ve been caring for your little one for a fair few months. While you weren’t sure how you’d cope without the thrill of your work and the camaraderie of your colleagues, you have actually blossomed in your role as a full-time mom. Now the time has come for you to consider work options, you don’t want to give this newfound home life up. You don’t have to. Take a look at how you can stay at home and work at the same time. Mompreneurship beckons!

Think About Your Talents

What is it that you are good at and what are your passions? If you can think of something that fulfils both of these requirements you are well on the way to working out what it is you can do from home to earn some extra cash. If you’ve worked in the arts sphere or you are an exceptional cook, or you have a finance background, there are plenty of roles you can take on in a freelance capacity. You could set up a blog, provide accounting services for IT contractors or sell your own culinary creations. The opportunities for your new startup are there, you just need to grasp them with both hands.

Funding

Sometimes you can set up a new business with minimal overheads and without the need for much funding. However, if you require extra financial backing you may need to head to the bank for a small loan, or you could try the very twenty-first century method of crowdfunding. Alternatively, if you have a Paypal account, you could explore the option of a paypal.com working capital loan to give your startup that extra boost it needs. If you have a sound financial set up from the start, your freelancing work or solo business venture will have a greater chance of success.

Networking

The chances are that you may decide to stick close to your roots and utilise the skills you learned when in full-time employment to see your money making idea morph from a mere dream into a reality. By using contacts from your previous job, you can really hit the ground running when it comes to sourcing suppliers, contracts, and customers. Establishing a loyal consumer base from the get-go means you can focus on the product or service you are planning to deliver rather than getting bogged down in marketing.

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Online Presence

Even if you aren’t planning to blog or you don’t fancy setting up an eBay business, you still need an online presence. This could be a mixture of social media channels and a personal blog to connect with your customers. Being visible online gives you the opportunity to market your products on a platform that exposes your startup to the world. It makes economical sense to set up social media feeds and encourage interaction with your followers.

Just because you’re a mom doesn’t mean you have to forego your career dreams. You simply have to adapt them a little bit to find the perfect balance between fulfilling your role as a mom and enjoying the challenge of entrepreneurship.

How To Make Some Extra Money On The Side

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We all wish that we had a little extra money now and again. You might want to splash out on your kids birthday presents, take the family on holiday or replace a broken appliance. Either way, having some extra money is always nice. With that in mind, here are three ways that you can make a little extra money on the side.

Sell Things

Websites like eBay and Etsy makes selling on the internet fun and easy. Ebay is great if you want to sell your own things. This can be a great way to downsize or clear through your unused items and make some money from them at the same time. All you need to do is set up an account, and you can start listing things on eBay. You can choose to either set up each item as an auction or list it with a ‘buy it now’ price. Each month you get a certain number of free eBay listings, but eBay will still take a slice of your final sale price. You don’t just have to sell your own things on eBay though, and you can even buy in bulk and resell other things if you have done the research for it. Etsy, on the other hand, is more about selling handmade items that you have made yourself. So if you are good at knitting, sewing or any other kind of craft then selling your work on Etsy can be a great outlet for your hobby and allow you to make some money on the side as well.

Freelance Work

Freelance work is tricky because it is still work. You are completing a job for someone and then being paid for it. This means that it can feel like extra work being added to your week. However, if you already have a skill in something that you enjoy doing, then freelance work can be a welcomed addition to your week. You can use websites like Fivver or Freelancer to find clients and then complete the task set out before you. While these sites are a good start for your freelance career, they do take a chunk of your earnings and as such the sooner you can build a client base outside of these websites the more money you will be able to earn. Freelance work is about finding something that you enjoy and then finding a way that you can get paid for it. For example, if you love writing, then targeting websites to pay you for your thoughts and opinions is a great place to start. Even a few hours a week can add up to a lot of money in the long run. However, since you will start small and you might need money quickly, then something like a small loan might cover the cost of whatever you need the money for right now. 

Start A Blog

Running a blog can be hard work, and it can take a while for you to get any kind of regular readership, but it is also immensely rewarding. Not only can you make money from your blog through things like affiliate marketing, advertising, donations and a number of things, but it can also be relaxing, cathartic and fun to spend time on each week. Your blog won’t earn you money overnight, so it needs to be something that you love to do. However, if you have been meaning to start a blog, then doing so sooner rather than later is always a good idea.

What You Should Expect When Thinking Of Adding To Your Family

There comes a time in any families life where you consider the option of having more children. It may be to give you son or daughter a sibling, or perhaps to add more to change the dynamic of your family. Parents vary from how many children they would like, and often it is some of the things you have to consider that really affect your decision in the long run. I thought I would share with you what you should expect to think about if the thought of adding to your family has become a focus point. 

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Money Mindfulness: Helping You To Provide For Your Family

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The whole concept of learning to save money is very useful to all. The big problem is that most of us don't have the tools to save money now. We either have excessive bills, or we got poor spending habits. So this, coupled with a desire to provide for our family, can mean that we are getting into a lot of debt over a very short space of time. The debt can stay with us for much longer though! So, while we do want to provide for children, especially during times like their birthdays and Christmas, we also need to think about our abilities to save in the meantime so we can provide the things they really want. So, how can we sensibly do this?

Searching For Ways To Recoup Your Spending

Of course, coupons work wonders in this respect, but you could also take advantage of cash back credit cards, where are you use a credit card to pay for an item, but get a certain percentage back of that cost back onto your card. It will help you pay off the card that little bit better. It's always worth having a look for the best cash back credit card to see if you are able to get one, based on your credit score. There is always a credit card suitable for every person, but the important thing is to not have an over-reliance on credit cards to pay your everyday expenses.