I read a post at The Domestic Diva called Parents tune into your Kids, this was an interesting post to read. Take two minutes and read it than come back please.

I agree with what is said by The Domestic Diva, completely, we must give our children our best attention and provide them with quality time. I couldn’t agree more.

Now talking about my situation and most full time working mothers with no one to clean the house, to help with the meals, to go shopping, how can we give our children quality time when, even on weekends we have the house to clean, shopping to do and we are so tired that we can’t even walk because our legs hurt so much.

I try to give my kids most of my free time but there are those days that, no matter how much I want to be with them. I’m not 100% with them. There are those weekends when I take them to the park but I just want them to play alone because I’m too tired to walk and play with them. However most of the times when my attention is requested, although tired and not wanting to, I manage to drag myself and play with them. Is it quality time? Maybe for them it is, they don’t even notice that I’m not ok, but that’s for sure not quality time for me. Do they deserve the effort? Yes, of course they do. They are away from me 10 hours a day and they surely deserve a mom that spends time with them and plays with them even if that’s not what she really wants, I mean, I want to, but the tired side says: go to bed, rest and let them play alone.

Most moms (not all of course) I know from blogs are staying or working at home mothers, although I know it is not easy to handle a house and kids full time, at least they are at home and they can prepare some house stuff during the day.

When I come home at 7pm I still have laundry, cooking and some cleaning waiting for me, besides all the other activities (baths, playing) that involve the children. Am I proud of being a working mom? Of course not, my dream (which is slipping through my fingers) has always been to spend more time with my kids, pick them up at school, do the homework with them but the reality is different, I have to delegate those tasks to other people because…I’m working.

Should I have gymnastic classes or swimming classes to easy my stress? Of course I should, but when do I have time, when I should be asleep?

Of course I’m aware there are full time working moms in the US, moms with a career, with high status inside a company, but do they have time to blog? Probably not. The reality I see on blogging world is about moms that follow their kids, who have the computer on all day, who have time to socialize, to participate in forums. I tried to do that but I’m going down the drain, I’m tired because I can’t put up with that because I have little free time.

I’ve been blogging less lately because I’m so tired I can’t stay up everyday until 2-3am and get up at 7am in the morning.

Do I want to be a full time mom? Yes I would love to, but European reality is much different from US. Even if I blog for money, the reality is not good, two years ago if I earned 300US$ I would earn 300€, now 300USD$ means 192€ and it’s getting worse.

Do I want to work from home? Yes, I would love too but in Portugal there are no companies providing that type of work.

If there is a US company that wants to offer me a job I can do from home I will be pleased to accept! ?

I’m not criticizing anyone, on the contrary, I would love to hear from working moms to know how they manage time. I want to improve my parent skills, I’m always looking for ways to be a better mother, that’s why I sometimes instead of writing my own posts I read other mom’s blogs because I learn so much from them.

Are you a full time worker? Leave me your blog URL and I’ll be please to read about your daily life, I’m sure I will learn important lessons from you.

Soccer tournament is over after two full Saturdays in the local park for soccer matches. My son is a fed up of soccer right now and he doesn’t wanna go to another soccer tournament that will take place Sunday. I don’t blame him…I’m also fed up of soccer matches right now.

He’s not a real soccer fan, he just plays his game and doesn’t pay attention to other games. I guess he was there only for the medal. The season is ending and he already told me in September he doesn’t want to enroll again. I must confess, for me it’s a relief. Getting up early every Saturday to drive long distances with my daughter for a soccer match is not something I’m longing to.

Although I don’t want to interfere on his decision, I know he won’t keep up with a complete soccer season, attending two training classes a week and one game per weekend is too tiring for him. He says he likes soccer but to play when he wants not when he has to. I will support his decision no matter what he decides.

Talking about soccer, EURO 2008 started last Saturday with Portugal winning 2-0 to Turkey.

I guess spring, although still shy, is finally arriving. I’m really tired of rain and cloudy sky, I want to get out and be able to walk without worrying about carrying an umbrella or getting wet shoes. It has been a hard spring for the kids because the weather is never good for them to play outside. Most of their free time is spent in the computer, video games or TV.

My daughter likes to color and draw so it’s easy to keep her entertained inside the house, my son, well is a boy and therefore likes to play soccer and more outside related activities. With the weather change and bigger days we will be able to play more outside. Although we arrive at home at around 7pm we still have daylight and if the weather is warm than they can play in the back or front yard.

I’m not that kind of mother that worries about dirty clothes, dirty faces, dirty hands, everything can be washed so I just let them play outside freely. My daughter loves to catch bugs and worms (ugh! yes worms), one day she even arrived at daycare with one on her hair, a black one, she didn’t noticed and she must have touch her hair while having a worm in her hand and it just stayed there.

One thing I don’t like is when they come inside after playing and wet the floor or forget to rub the sand away from their legs and feet. This is something I have to start imposing once they start playing outside for good.

For those wanting to spend some time outside, in the nature, in the backyard in the woods the book i love dirt! is the right book for you to buy. It shows activities we can do outside no matter if we live in the city or in the country.
Quoting:

I Love Dirt! is a call to parents, educators, and caregivers to help children recover one of the great joys of childhood. Through fifty-two activities, readers will find a wealth of creative ways to actively engage children, ages four to nine, in nature. Each project is meant to promote exploration, stimulate imagination, and heighten a sense of wonder.

Organized by season, and appropriate for both urban and country settings, each activity is accompanied by a fun fact to help further a child’s understanding of the natural world and open up a conversation.

We must be aware that in outdoor activities we must protect the children’s body: appropriate clothes for the weather temperature and a sun protector. Be careful with sunburns.

Most young girls and boys dream about being a super model. We know that this profession is very demanding but also very well paid.

An online beauty contest is happening, it is being organized by Look Of The Year and it’s open worldwide. Everyone can enter, you just have to take a beautiful picture of yourself, enter the site http://www.lookoftheyear.com and fill in your information and category depending on your age.

You have the chance to win 10.000 USD or a invitation to work in one of the fashion cities of the world. The photos will be available online and everyone can enter the site and vote.

This is your change to get noticed and be famous, remember, modeling is a very well paid profession.

On one of my previous posts I mentioned the fact that I did not expect extra bills from May, then I posted about my teeth and the extra bills that were coming ahead. Now, my husband’s car broke yesterday and once it is veeryyyy old probably it can’t be fixed. We don’t know how we are going to manage to get another car…….

A new car is out of the question once we can’t afford one nor do we have the chance to ask for a loan, so the only option is to buy an old car in “good” conditions that can be used for a few years. I still don’t know how we are going to do this.

The pain hasn’t got away yet. I spend most of the afternoon trying to nap in the couch, the kids were always making noise and waking me up, but I manage to get some rest. The pain is still here on my neck, back and shoulders, if I get worse than this I have to go to the doctor.

To worse my pain, now my internal pain and heart pain I just received a wedding invitation from my school best friend. In the last 10 years we met 2 times but the old school time where enough to keep us connected even if we don’t talk or visit each other. We took different paths, she’s a lawyer now and after a troubled life it seems she finally found the right men.

Since it’s tradition to give money to the bride and groom I must say this is not the right occasion to “give away” a large amount of money. Each time I think I don’t have any extra bills, something comes up.

Portugal is a small country by the sea that happens to be in Europe and I live there, or better here. I’m Portuguese, writing in a foreign language in blogs that are not Portuguese.

Why you may ask.

I’m not ashamed of being Portuguese but I happen to live in a country where SEO, Page Rank, paid posts and blog advertising are unknown subjects for most people. I found all this “paid blog world” in March 2007 while reading and commenting in English blogs, it was the rainbow gold coin pot for me. Having huge financial problems at the time, the opportunity to get paid for doing something I liked (blogging), was a dream come true.

Being a full time worker, mom of two kids and a house to take care of, it was really tough to find time (still is) to write but I couldn’t let go this great opportunity to earn some extra money. I started writing for PayPerPost (now IZEA, Inc.), but my mom “job” came first so I lost a lot of opportunities for not having the time to write them in the period of time given. I reduced my sleeping time and lunch time to blog.

Over the last year, besides earning some extra money, I also met wonderful bloggers, some working mothers like me struggling to have some free time to blog.

If you are a mommy blogger you can also earn some extra money and if you haven’t started yet, now is the right time.

Have you heard about SocialSpark? SocialSpark is still is Alpha and only a very restrict number of blogger have access to it. SocialSpark gives you the opportunity to write about products and services and earn money for doing so. Join the mailing at SocialSpark and you will get a notification when it goes public. You’ll then meet other moms like you making money online without even leaving home.

Having a good RealRank on my blogs is an objective of mine, the problem is: where do I get the time to regularly update my blogs?

Being “what those that follow this blog already know” (full time worker, 2 kids, I do my own laundry, cleaning, shopping, etc) even with the help of DH, I’ve got little time left to write.

Since I started paid blogging, I have no time to watch TV or to read a book because all my “little” free time is to blog, to write posts, some paid posts, paid reviews and, guess what, I really like to blog even if I have to leave some other duties behind.

The money I receive for paid posts is not that much but it helps in the monthly bills and although I know I could make more money online, I have no time to research and optimize my blogs. I know keywords are important but when I’m writing I’m not thinking about them and therefore no special keywords are written.

I wish I could dedicate myself to blogging and have my full income from online money, but that’s not possible right now. I also know that continuing writing the way I am (not regularly) I will never get a good RealRank and therefore only a few opps are available for me. Also who wants to advertise in low traffic blogs?

My blogging future is, at this point, uncertain.

Having home loans is something common to almost all families. We all know we have that specific amount of money every month that we have to pay to the bank.

What about when we have a shortness of money due to a illness that prevent us from work, loss of job, etc. we are for sure in trouble.

Fortunately there are companies like Refinance.com that help us to make decisions regarding the best way we have to solve or try to easy our money issue. A home refinance is a great option and will prevent you from having severe money problems in the future. Refinance.com has available an instant calculator you can use to check the options you have to keep going with your life in a more comfortable way.

Imagine that your house needs remodeling, that you want to start a business but can’t do it because you are paying a high mortgage, well, mortgage refinance is an valid option.

You can request a calculation online, all information goes through a secure server so don’t be worried about your information being grabbed by wrong people.

You have available all the information regarding refinancing from all States as well as the rates of the day depending on the refinance program you chose.

I did this myself two years ago when I realized that with my second kid the mortgage I was paying was too high. I’m must more comfortable now.

As I had scheduled paid posts on my other blogs this one has been neglected. I still haven’t found a way to organize my paid posting in advance.

I haven’t been doing paid post on this blog because I don’t have time, the paid posts I have for my other blogs are enough to keep me busy for hours. Right now, I just have to find some quiet time during the weekend or even during the week to write those paid posts that are not personal, that can be written in advance. I know a lot of people do that, specially on weekends, I have to give it a try.

Personal posts, well…those have to be on the day, on the moment otherwise they aren’t real for me. For now I want to keep this blog personal, family, parenting related and those subjects for me, can’t be written in advance.

I spend a lot of time reading other bloggers posts and that also takes the time away from me, but I love to read and I can’t avoid reading my regular blogs even if it means no time to write my owns. How do you manage this?

I must confess, these last few days have been very tiring, I’ve been really busy at work and with personal matters to take care of, like ID card, medical report for Dani because of soccer training, an issue of my mother regarding electricity ( a huge account to pay), I have no time for myself, my life always spins around everybody’s life but mine. This last three nights I had to take a anti-stress pill so I could get some sleep because…I couldn’t sleep due to muscle pain, bone pain, all caused by stress and anxiety.

I’m feeling much better know and I hope I have a great weekend. A great weekend to you all !!!!

I was tagged by Lynne at The Sewing Mom for this 4×4 meme. Basically the meme is answering 4 questions on 4 topics (thus the 4×4) and then tagging 4 people. So, here it goes.

4 Jobs I’ve Had in My Life

1. General office work in a “molds for glass” company. We made the molds to produce glass bottles including Coca Cola ones
2. I was in charge of employees department in a molds for plastic company.
3. Now…besides general office work I’m in charge of import/export of plastic material and molds for plastic industries (housewares, automotive, etc). I’m on this company for almost 14 years.
4. I’m on the third job…and I’ve been working for almost 21 years.

4 Shows I DVR (TIVO)

1. Desperate Housewives
2. Dr. House
3. CSI Miami
4. Ghost Whisperer

4 Places I’ve Been

1. Gerês - north of Portugal - it’s green and fresh away from the pollution
2. Roquetas del Mar - in Spain - Quiet, beautiful beaches and white sand
3. Benidorm - in Spain - a lot of night life, huge beaches
4. Algarve - south of Portugal - warm weather, calm ocean, excellent for vacation, a little expensive for my pocket.

Unfortunately I haven’t traveled as much as I would like. I haven’t left my house, not even for a weekend off, for 5 years now. I hope I can go on vacation this summer.
4 Favorite Foods

1. Pizza - I really love Pizza
2. Carne de Porco à Alentejana - Traditional Portuguese dish made of pork meat and clams
3. Portuguese Cream Custards - Pasteis de Nata
4. Pineapple Mousse

4 People I Tag

1. Tina from Tina Silva’s Blog - She has a new job and keeps blogging
2. Karen from The Pond - She always has so much to write about
3. Mommy Speak - I’ve been following her blog since I start blogging
4. Charlotte from Army Mom New Jersey - I love her new hair.

Dani, was always a very “undefined” boy regarding his choices specially Sport ones.

He quited Judo, quited Kempo and until yesterday he was only attending swimming classes with school. I think he gets tired of sports, not because he wants to be still or quiet but he loses interest in the sport itself.

He plays a lot, runs a lots, he’s never still, so I guess that’s also a sport…Sometimes I feel I should insist more with him to join a team, but I also think he must practice what he likes not just because I want him to. Sports are good…even better if we like them.

For a few years he has been talking about joining a soccer team. Several friends and classmates attend soccer classes but I always avoided that choice. Probably I shouldn’t have.

You might ask: why doesn’t his mother want him to play soccer? Well, it’s a very demanding sport when it comes to training and games. The whole family is going to be involved. Why?

During the week he has training classes that will last until 8pm or 8.30pm which, I think, it’s too late for a nine years old boy that has school the next day. After the training class he comes home, takes a bath, eats dinner, and that’s it, he will be leaving the house at 8.30am and arriving at 8.45pm two days a week.

Then we have the games that will take place usually on Saturday morning, DH is at work so I’ll be the one taking him and supporting him on the games WITH Catherine. Games don’t have a fixed place, meaning they can be in a near place or far from the city. Some places I never heard of them.

If my life is already busy it will be much complicated.

These last couples of weeks he has been insisting in attending the classes, so…I’m a good mother right…I insisted with DH (that was a little reluctant to accept) and YESTERDAY IT WAS HIS FIRST SOCCER TRAINING CLASS.

Yesterday and tomorrow will be “test training” as the coach wants to see how he plays, but for sure he will be accepted. Saturday the team has a game, but, has he is not in the team yet, he’s not attending it.

He’s so happy to be in the team. Today while I was driving him to school, he told me the name of the other team players, some are from his school others he only met yesterday but he already knows their names. He even was excited because the couch asked him to help out delimiting the field with some plastic markers. He was released from training about half an hour before the others because they had to train for Saturday’s game but that didn’t demotivate him.

He really wanted to join soccer team, already in past years, but with Catherine so little I always refused. I guess it’s time to give it a try. Catherine will be four next month, she will go with me to the games, we’ll meet new places and I’ll take with me games or books so that she doesn’t get bored.

Most mothers and fathers complaint about the “soccer life” because it is so demanding in schedule and trips to far towns and villages, so let’s see how it works for me.

I know this will bring me two extra bills per month, I have to pay for classes and transportation from daycare to the stadium - once I’m working at that time, besides the money I will spend with trips to the games outside the city.

One thing I’m sure, if he’s happy, I’ll be happy too. Will Soccer be the right Sport for him? Time will tell…