Taking Care of the Me in Mommy
Moms are known for doing everything - the laundry, the checkbook, the dishes, taking kids to dance and soccer, attending PTA meetings, buying the groceries, buying the clothes, kissing boo-boos, giving medicine . . . and you know I could probably go on for an hour.
The problem is that most moms put their family’s needs in front of their own. We get so busy giving and doing that we never seem to have time to rest or receive. We think we can do it all and have it all. Then perhaps we believe that if we don’t do it, then it won’t get done. (I know I’m guilty of that one.) No wonder we are running on empty!
While there is nothing wrong with taking care of others, it is important to remember that we must also take care of ourselves, or other areas of our life will suffer. Author, speaker, actress, mom, and wife Lisa Welchel has written a book with advice to show moms how to find time in their day to nourish body, soul, and spirit.
Check out Lisa’s book, Taking Care of the Me in Mommy: Becoming a 
Better Mom - Spirit, Body, and Soul.
(This is the same Lisa Welchel from Facts of Life. Yes, I grew up in the 80’s.)
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POSTED IN: celebrities, odds and ends, self-help
15 opinions for Taking Care of the Me in Mommy
Michelle
Oct 18, 2006 at 6:14 pm
So that’s what’s happened to her. She looks good. I’ll have to check it out.
kellys
Oct 18, 2006 at 7:55 pm
I love her on the speaking circuit! She has come to my area several times and she has done a fabulous job!
Karen
Oct 18, 2006 at 8:01 pm
I’d like to see her speak. “Facts of Life” was one of my favorite shows when I was growing up.
Kate
Oct 18, 2006 at 11:11 pm
Ah, so Blair wrote another book.
I don’t know about her. She wrote a book on discipline a few years ago where she advocated putting a drop of Tobasco sauce on a kid’s tongue for swearing. I didn’t read the book, but reading the reviews made me think the title should have been “Creative Child Abuse Solutions the Social Worker will Never Find.”
I hope that this book doesn’t encourage women to find the time to take care of themselves by locking the kids in their room.
Robyn Tippins
Oct 19, 2006 at 10:44 am
I’m uncomfortable with disciplining for cursing. Out of the mouth the heart speaks, so I’d rather try to help the child who is hurting rather than discipline the symptom.
It’s almost like disciplining a child for their opinion… But then, I didn’t read her book. I feel uncomfortable passing judgement on it until I do (which with my time management skills probably won’t ever happen).
Gerald
Oct 19, 2006 at 5:25 pm
I must admit that a few years ago I said or wrote something down that wasn’t the best idea in the world. I hope that everyone doesn’t completely write off everything I say from here on because of that one lapse in judgment. I am gonna have to agree with Robin that we need to look for the problem and find a fix there, rather than treating the symptons. That is certainly NOT the easiest thing to do, and will definatly take more of our time to begin with, but the end result is much moreeffective. I hope that everyone who reads this is not dumber after doing so.
Karen
Oct 19, 2006 at 5:35 pm
LOL at Gerald. I don’t think I’m any dumber for reading your comment.
Yes, we need to treat the symptoms. I don’t think Dr. Phil would disagree with the Tobasco sauce punishment though. He even suggests letting a kid walk around in pee clothes all day, with a trash bag around themselves, if they’re peeing on themselves to get out of time-out or to be hateful to their parents.
I’m sure Lisa Welchel never dreamed her Tobasco sauce comment would draw so much attention. It’s not much different than parents washing their kid’s mouths out with soap. Thankfully, that one never happened to me, but I certainly would have learned my lesson.
Tom
Oct 19, 2006 at 7:14 pm
I don’t agree with the Tabasco consequence, however I would not discount everything else written by the author either. As my Grandmother used to say, “Opinions are like armpits, everyone has one, some smell wose than others!”
For me, natural consequences are the way to go. Yes Dr. Phil may like the clothes saturated in pee to remain on the child, however that is a natural consequence..And for the record, Dr. Phil’s advice should be taken like everyone else’s. Parents should act with authority, judgement, wisdom, discernment and love guided by the Holy Spirit and pay less attention to what the world, or even some believers, have to say (Dr. Phil, Oprah, Whelchel)as they are not accountable for raising your children, you are!
Tabasco and soap in the mouth are not natural consequences that really teach a moral and scriptural truth.
Logical consequences are great as well. For example if a child leaves an ice cream cone on the counter and it melts and makes a mess, the child does not have an ice cream (nor should they receive a replacment!) AND they are responsible for cleaning up the mess!
“Consequences work best when they are made and agreed upon in advance. Family meetings provide a good opportunity, for example, to agree upon the future consequences of failing to do chores, swearing, missing curfews, fighting, or breaking important family rules.” (Dr. Ken West, 2003).
Anyway, those are my two cents that I was asked to provide!
Karen
Oct 19, 2006 at 9:13 pm
Welcome, Tom!!! I’ve not seen you on here before. Thanks for your “two cents”. :)
I don’t agree with everything that Dr. Phil, The Supernanny, Oprah, etc. have to say either. They are just giving suggestions on how to deal with issues that parents face. We as parents are accountable for how we raise our kids.
I believe in natural and unnatural consequences.
EaglesWings
Oct 20, 2006 at 5:57 am
I have to agree with Tom’s first comment “I don’t agree with the Tabasco consequence, however I would not discount everything else written by the author either. As my Grandmother used to say, “Opinions are like armpits, everyone has one, some smell wose than others!”
Because it is a great book in challenging us as women to get organized so that we have a little time for ourselves. It was an awessome read!
Karen
Oct 20, 2006 at 6:41 am
Thanks for the comment. I checked out your site. Looks like you have some good recipes for us.
kellys
Oct 20, 2006 at 8:06 am
The way I see it, and I am not an expert by any means, kids these days don’t have too many consequences to deal with. That is the main issue most of the time.
It cracks me up in my local town that the teenagers are so upset that they are actually getting more than a slap on the wrist for drinking and driving.
1) They are under age
2) They are driving while under the influence
They think that since the consequences used to be next to nothing that it isn’t FAIR that they now have to take DIP classes and loose thier license for a while.
Hello! It is called breaking the law. Maybe if we allowed them to experience consequences earlier in life, then they wouldn’t be so indignant at teenagers.
I am not for any form of chld abuse. But sometimes, a child will not get the brevity of the situation if you keep counting to 3 and never get to 3. I always knew that when my mom started counting, I was in trouble if she got past 1. 3 was not a place I wanted to go. But then again, she was consistant. 3 = punishment not “shame on you”.
Gerald
Oct 20, 2006 at 8:32 am
kellys, If something happens to me and my wife, I would be honored to have you raise our kids.
Karen
Oct 20, 2006 at 8:48 am
Great comments, Kelly. I agree that there are not enough consequences these days. Look at how kids in school act these days!!!! That certainly is something to ponder upon. Too many consequences have been taken away b/c of lawsuits and such.
I don’t believe in everything Dr. Phil says. In fact, I get annoyed by a lot of it. But, he did make one really good statement.
He said, “You are raising ADULTS, not children”.
So true. We are raising our children to be adults. If we teach them little to no responsibility and no real consequences then they will be dead beat dads, or people that are just constantly late for work, adults who are disrespectful to their employers, lazy, and they’ll have a hard time keeping a job. I just couldn’t live with myself knowing that I had failed my child that way.
kellys
Oct 20, 2006 at 9:47 am
Oh, Gerald. You are going to make me cry :sniff: :sniff: Can I let Greg help ;)
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