Apr. 4, 2006 - Free Trial Membership to HSLDA! |
| We're thankful for the work that the HSLDA does for the homeschooling community. They are offering a free trial membership!
Here's the special link:
Get your special HSLDA Trial Membership here:
https://app.hslda.org/default.asp?TC=12L33n
Enjoy!
The Yen Family
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Jan. 26, 2006 - Have you discovered Squidoo yet? |
Here's another great FREE place to post your links and get your name out!
These are my two "lenses" (not sure why they call them that) and you can create one too very quickly.
Enjoy!
http://www.squidoo.com/directsalestools
http://www.squidoo.com/financiallyfree
Let me know what you think!
Annette |
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Dec. 8, 2005 - Wonk, Wonk, Wonk- How to Train Your Kids to Ignore You |
Wonk, Wonk, Wonk- How to Train Your Kids to Ignore You by Carrie Lauth
It started with a trip to the grocery store. While I waited for the cashier
to ring up my items, a mother behind me was delivering a soliloquy (only she
didn't recognize it as such!).
"Suzy, you're not going to take that home."
"Suzy, you can carry that around but I'm not buying that."
"Suzy, you've been naughty. Why should I buy that for you?"
"Suzy, put that away. I'm not paying for it."
"suzy, everyone is looking at how much trouble you're causing."
And on and on and on...
I was so thankful when the cashier gave me my total. I was tired of this
woman blathering on and I don't have to live with her! Poor Suzy. She
is being trained to ignore her Mother. The more Mom talks, the less she
hears.
Mom needs to learn rule number one:
Less Talk, More Action
Remember the Peanuts cartoons? When one of the adults spoke, all the
kids heard was "wonkwonkwonkwonk". The more you lecture, threaten,
warn, count to 3, etc... the less your child listens. Stop diluting
your effectiveness as a parent with these non-actions. Use natural
consequences as often as possible, and deliver the consequence calmly
and swiftly. For example:
If your two year old won't stop running into the street, clearly
explain to her that if she does it, she will be taken inside for
the day. Then, when she does it (and she will, of course, cute little
Scientist that she is!), calmly and without fanfare, escort her inside.
Don't give her warnings or "another chance".
Toddlers and young kids don't understand an abstract concept like
getting hit by a car... something they've never seen, felt or tasted.
So talking about it until you're blue in the face is unlikely to do any
good.
But what they DO understand is cause and effect. "If I do "X", then
Mommy does "X"....EVERY TIME. Even young babies learn this. Ever
noticed how excited your baby gets right before you feed him? He's
learned that when you hold him a certain way, food is forthcoming. Our
kids are smarter than we think sometimes.
Another example: Two siblings are fighting about a toy. Don't waste
your time trying to figure out who is in the wrong, it's virtually
impossible and just encourages tattling. The children will learn how to
work out their own negotiations if involving the parent means
unpleasantness. The toy is put up for a period of time. End of story.
Toy squabbles will dramatically decrease almost magically!
Let Your Yes Mean Yes & Your No, No
Do what you say you will do. If you tell your child that acting up in
the grocery store means no cookie from the bakery at the end of the
trip, MEAN it. I'll never forget the look on my 2 year old daughter's
face as she watched her brothers eat huge chocolate chip cookies while
she went empty handed! Few things impress a young child more than you
holding to your words, calmly and without a lot of emotion (that just
makes you look like an idiot). Children don't respect you if you are
always swinging back and forth like a pendulum. Decide what's important
to you and expect those limits to be respected.
This rule makes parenting so much easier because your kids will stop testing
you so much, which is just their way of saying "Do you really mean it?".
The flip side of this is that when you promise something positive, you
had better make good on it! If you do this, your children will learn
that you mean what you say.
Carrie Lauth is a homeschooling Mom of 4. For more positive parenting and discipline tips,
visit http://www.natural-moms.com/Parenting_positive_discipline.html
Article Source: http://www.ladypens.com
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Dec. 6, 2005 - Instead of TV |
13 Things For Your Child To Do (Instead of Watch TV) by Carrie Lauth
C'mon, admit it. You sometimes use the television set as a cheap babysitter.
That's ok...we ALL do it sometimes! Ah, but it's a double-edged sword, because kids who watch a lot of TV have trouble keeping themselves entertained, which in the long run makes your job harder!
If you're trying to limit the TV viewing in your household, you might need a little inspiration. Try these TV-free activities guaranteed to keep the kids busy... at least for a little while!
1) Make paper airplanes
Warning: This one is highly addictive! My two boys absolutely love making paper airplanes. Buy them a book on the fine arts of paper airplane making, and then put your feet up and read a book.
2) Make a tower with toothpicks and peas
Go ahead- encourage them to play with their food!
3) Make homemade ice cream
Put two parts milk and cream and one part sugar in a coffee can, with any flavorings you want. Put the lid on, then put it in a bigger can and pour ice around the little can. Put rock salt on the ice. Put a lid on the big can, and give it to your child to roll it back and forth for about 1/2 hour or until it turns into ice cream! (Do this one even if it's winter...I won't tell!)
4) Give them a magnet and instruct them to run it all over the house and see what they find. And loose couch change is fair game!
5) If you have bunk beds, put blankets around the lower one and make a
submarine. Make it a yellow blanket. Then sing the appropriate Beatles tune.
6) Play First Family Savings and Loan
Save your cancelled checks and fake credit cards that come in the mail. Supply the kids with a calculator, pencils, small table and Monopoly money. This one was my favorite as a kid!
7) Build a mini log cabin with twigs
8) Have a tic-tac-toe tournament
9) Make your own soda.
Here's an easy recipe: http://www.easyfunschool.com/article2052.html
10) Make a card for Grandma.
Get out the rubber stamps, art supplies and construction paper and make a greeting card for Grandma or another loved one.
11) Bake a cake
Buy the kids an easy cake or brownie mix and let them loose in the kitchen. Tell them they can enjoy the fruits of their labors as long as they clean up all mess.
12) Make up a treasure hunt
Buy cheap dollar store toys. Hide in your closet. Make a list of items they must find outside. (A white rock, a feather, a red leaf, a penny, etc) Tell them an exciting booty awaits when they bring all the items to you.
13) Make a cave inside the house.
Put old blankets over the backs of chairs or over a table to make a tent.
Grab a flashlight and instruct child to go read scary stories inside it.
http://www.InsteadofTV.com is a resource for parents trying to turn off the TV and turn on life. Sign up for our free newsletter and get "101 Things To Do Instead of Watch TV".
Article Source: www.ladypens.com
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Nov. 23, 2005 - In Direct Sales - Here's a great idea for an autoresponder |
Are you in a direct sales business and
trying to figure out, like me, how to streamline your systems so that
you can spend more of your precious business time working on income
generating activities?
Well, I'm here to tell you
that there are some simple steps you can take NOW to help your business
for the long term and an Autoresponder is one of those ways! An
autoresponder is an online program that takes a prewritten email
message or series of messages that you've created and sends it out
automatically when someone signs up either via email or a web form.
That sounds a whole lot more complicated than it really is. So let me
give you examples that might work in various aspects of your direct
sales business to help you see how easy this really is:
Lead follow up and tracking.
Do you advertise either online or offline? With an autoresponder you
can put an email address into your advertisement and when one of your
potential customers/recruits emails you to find out more about your
company, they are automatically sent your initial packet of information
instantly. Take it one step further and you can even put a different
email address into each ad, making it easy to track which ads are
producing results.
Lead Generation.
Do you have a coupon or e-book that you can give away to potential new
customers or recruits? Set it up in your autoresponder and create a web
form (all free with most systems) that you can place in your blog or on
your website. Then just add a quick statement of "Request more
information on my business today and receive a free gift" sending
interested prospects to your autoresponder where the gift and the
information are sent to them automatically!
Downline newsletters.
If you've built a team of distributors under you, you'll want to stay
in contact with them regularly. An autoresponder can do that easily,
first with a "welcome to my team" email and then later as you broadcast
your team newsletter through the list.
Help your
new consultants get off to a great start in their new business with a
series of email training messages geared toward those days when they
are waiting for their starter kit. It's a great way to keep the
enthusiasm high during those first days!
Is there
a specific area in your direct sales business that seems to generate
the same questions from all the distributors in your group? Set up
another series of emails specific to that business topic and set up
your team members there as the questions come in.
Leadership communication.
As your direct sales business grows you'll promote leaders from your
team. Set up a series of emails congratulating them on their promotion
and encouraging them in their new role as leader. Many people in direct
sales have no idea what it means to lead a team of their own and you
can set up a system to get them trained and equipped as well. and have
it work for
you continually.
Customer newsletters.
Stay in contact with your customers by using an autoresponder series
just like you do with your downline. Have a welcome series for new
customers to keep your name and information in front of them.
Customer classes.
Set up a series of emails that highlight a product of the month from
your product line, or an email class on how to use some of your
products.
Contests
Set up
a series of contest emails for either your customer base or your
downline. For instance, have a "scavenger hunt" through your catalog
and use the autoresponder system to create the excitement over a series
of
days.
I'm guessing that
most of you, unless you're brand new to direct sales, have much of the
information for many of the above ideas already in your computer
somewhere. With an autoresponder it's just a matter of transferring
that information into the system where it can work for you, even when
you're off doing other things. Give it a try. Many autoresponders have
a free trial offer so you can check out how they work before you take
the plunge. but after just 6 months of using it with my own direct
sales business, I can tell you it's well worth every penny!
Annette Yen is a home schooling work at home mom who has worked in
Direct Sales for over 20 years. Click here to try your own autoresponder for free. And visit Annette on her Direct Sales weblog when you Click here for Sailing To Success.
And you can learn more about using autoresponders in your direct sales
business and see how one works by emailing Annette for her free guide:
"Creating a Series of Email Trainings for your New Recruits" by
clicking here: New Recruit Guide .
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Nov. 23, 2005 - Financial Freedom Society |
I just learned of a Christian owned
internet company that helps families achieve financial freedom through
debt reduction and ultimately elimination, budgeting and bonus savings
at tons of locations nationwide. I was skeptical at first, but
after spending some time looking it over, I'm impressed.
I'd love to hear what the rest of you think about it...there's a 10 day
risk free trial too, so you can use the debt eliminator program to set
up a plan and if you don't think you'll use the rest, just cancel at
the 10 day mark.
Visit my website for them today at The Financial Freedom Society.
Enjoy!
Annette
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Sep. 22, 2005 - Club Mom - coupons and other great ideas for moms |
Although this is not a Christian organization, Club Mom is fun and a great place for ideas, coupons and more. And it's free to join!
Get great parenting tips, coupons, as well as fun ideas for moms. You'll love it! Hosted by Meredith Viera, this is a great site, chock full of great ideas for moms!
Enjoy-
Annette |
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Aug. 9, 2005 - Remember the Sabbath Day |
Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy...
This is a post that I put on my other blog (we have a home business and I blog there as well, mostly geared toward moms in direct sales) and I thought you all might enjoy it here as well... I think much of it can apply to those of us in the "thick" of homeschool planning and all. Let me know what you think:
About a year ago our family decided, rather radically, to take the truth of a Sabbath rest seriously, mostly because we believe the 10 commandments are still that – commandments and the fourth commandment of “remember the Sabbath Day to keep it Holy” falls between the third and fifth commandments so it’s just as valid as “Thou shalt not commit adultery”.
This wasn’t as easy as it sounds… but it was one of the most freeing things I’ve ever done personally and business-wise. Saturday night, when it’s time to hit the pillow, I make a deliberate effort to make sure all “work” is done and shut down the computer until Monday. Since many of my advertisements have my Instant Message addresses on there, I put in a quick auto response that says something like, “Sorry I missed you. I’ll be back at the computer on Monday.” My voice mail message is the same.
Imagine, a whole day, spent in rest and enjoyment. No thinking about work. No “to do” lists. No endless emails, checking inventory, filing paperwork, making up hostess packets…. Nothing at all having to do with work.
Even if you’re not one who believes in the bible, that just makes a whole bunch of sense. Your family needs to you take a rest from the work… your customers need you to refresh for 24 hours so you can serve them with gusto starting again on Monday morning. YOU need the break to renew your mind…however that looks for you.. and to take time to watch the horses or smell the flowers… or even plant them if that’s relaxing for you.
The focus of the biblical command is that of holiness…focusing your mind for that whole period on God and His glory. I have to admit, that is still a struggle for me. My mind is still working on the rest part… I still spend much of my Sunday thinking about what I’m going to do on Monday. But I can’t even describe how wonderful it is to not even have the option to act on it. Instead of running up to my computer “just one more time”, I can take a nap. Instead of mulling over a design for a flyer or even an entry to a blog, I can read the bible or another great book… one that has NOTHING to do with Direct Sales, stuffed animals or RSS feeds and Blogs!
And you know what else? On Monday morning I get up READY to hit it hard. Yes, my inbox is full of emails, but it’s a delight to look through them, actually read them instead of skimming, and answer with a refreshed mind. My family is happy, my customers are happy, I am happy… and I like to think that God is pleased at my efforts as well.
I’d love your thoughts…
Annette
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Aug. 6, 2005 - How easily it slips |
Once again I see how easily it slips... the little things creep back in and I don't even notice it.
Twice today I noticed myself getting irritated with my daughters... each of them separately. I made a request of them, or rather a directive and rather than immediately doing what I asked, they came back with some kind of retort. Rather than doing what I should have, I returned with a retort and so it went....
We really tried to raise our girls to obey us immediately... no questions asked. When we said go, the only response would be "Yes mom". Slowly, as they matured, the response could be "Yes, mom... but do you think it would be possible..." as they were on their way to doing what we asked...
But, as always, over time... when we're not conscious of it... the "Yes, mom" is no longer there, and the plea is no longer happening while they're on their way to obedience, it becomes disobedience with a "But, mom..." instead of a "Yes, Mom."
The sad thing is, it's my own fault. I let the world into my day so much that I don't even see the subtle slip and I find myself engaged in a debate. And then it reaches the point, today, where it just hits me at the right moment and I realize how far it's come... and I'm irritated and I don't like it.
That's where I was today. Thankfully I had a few minutes to realize why I was irritated and a moment to think it through, pray it through and address it with at least one of my daughters. Her sweet tender heart, however, immediately was broken too as she realized her part in it. My heart was breaking even more now as I saw her tears... realizing how my sinfulness caused her to sin. I admitted my fault, asked for forgiveness from her and all is well, of course. I still need to discuss it with the other daughter.
Oh how I wish I could be more observant about these things... to see them at the first hint of slipping ... and I know, again, that it's my own fault. I let myself get too busy. I don't stop for those quick seconds to make sure that it's happening as it should. It really doesn't take more time to do this... I'm just lazy and focused on the unimportant that seems urgent. So much to learn....
Annette
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Aug. 6, 2005 - Oh so true |
| I was reading Anissa's blog entry at http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/adegrasse/13563/ and couldn't help but saying "yep, me too" to almost all her categories... (well, in the gardening category it was more like I have big plans in that area but now all that's growing in our whole yard is BIG weeds!)
Even as Christian moms I think we forget that it's God's standard that we're trying to uphold, not the world's, particularly in the area of homeschooling our kids. We tend to think we need to do "school" at home, instead of doing as God commands...training them, teaching them as we sit, eat, walk "by the way", etc.
Still so much to learn in this Christian life... thanks for the reminder Anissa!
Warmly-
Annette
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Aug. 5, 2005 - How embarassing! |
I started this blog back in June and then, if I remember right, they went through some changes, so I kind of put the whole thing on hold until the "dust" settled.... then promptly slipped it into the "I'll work on that sometime" file.
Today it came to the top of the mental file and I go to look and there are these wonderful welcome comments that I completely ignored all this time! How terrible!
My apologies to pianogal, happyapple, Dianna, Jess, Nancy, Anissa, and Kim! Thank you for commenting and for your warm welcomes! So much to say...so little time! I'm now starting to look around this little (big!) community and I see there is much to learn here. Can't wait to grab a cup of coffee and read.... Warmly Annette |
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