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January 2, 2018 0 Comments

3 Ways to Secure Work From Home Jobs

Working from home is a noble goal for many moms, parents and people who are seeking more flexibility in their lives.

Between long commutes, wasted time in an office, and the lack of freedom to attend important things, it’s no wonder that more and more people are looking for a job that gives them something more.  As a work from home job site, we have some tips and advice to secure a work from home job that will work for you and your family.

Tune into the application process

You can’t get a job if you’re never applying! Just like applying for a traditional office job, you have to apply often, thoroughly, and carefully.

Businesses seeking home based employees are no longer just scammy companies who will take anyone; they’re seeking highly qualified, experienced, and professional workers.

Do your best to apply to as many jobs as possible that truly fit your skill set.  Don’t waste your time with the rest! It’s not ideal to apply for positions just to work from home.  Eventually, this will not be fulfilling.  Find the good ones and go to town with making those applications the absolute best you can.

Use the right sites

As you’ve probably noticed, there are tons of job search sites out there.  Some of these traditional sites will even feature work from home jobs once in a while, and you can find a job there!

While this is true, it’s like finding a needle in a haystack.  Even if you see work from home jobs, they’re often scams, sales-only jobs, or other questionable positions that aren’t legitimate for home based work.

Sites like HireMyMom.com are created for the sole purpose of work from home jobs.  Utilize these sites as your first points of searching, and you’ll have far more luck.  It’s as if everyone rounded up the “legitimate” jobs from those other sites and put them into one place!  Use the right resources, and the right job will likely come to you.

Watch your presence

Make sure your materials and online presence are top notch. Resumes are just as important online as offline!  Between your online resume, cover letter, and other application materials, make sure that these are in good shape online.  We often submit these materials to several application sites, which can sometimes be searched via Google.

Additionally, it’s important to watch your social media presence.  This is true for every job, but especially work from home jobs.  You employers are likely to be a bit more tech savvy, and it’s easy for them to check you out.  These days, many employers even ask for your social media URLs in the job application itself!

Do your best to keep things professional, and present yourself as if your employer is watching.

Working from home is a great way to do more in life while still earning an income.  It’s not as simple as logging into a basic job search site and pressing a few buttons, but with the right tools, sites, and attitude, you can find a job that fits you and your family’s lifestyle.

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November 13, 2017 0 Comments

5 Tips for Holiday Organization

The holidays are almost here! It’s the best time of the year, but it can also be the least organized. Between family, friends, extra events, parties, gifts, and so much more, it’s easy to get overwhelmed.

To avoid overwhelm and stay present in this holiday season, read along for some best tips for holiday organization.

Start early

Thanksgiving is almost here, but there’s still plenty of time before Christmas and the New Year! Avoid a lot of stress, panic, and lack of ideas by beginning as early as possible.

If you have a lot of gifts to buy, it can even be helpful to create a separate bookmark folder on your computer to compile gift ideas.  Simply copy down the link, take a screenshot, or store the item in your bookmarks folder with the name of the recipient.  Then, when it’s time to buy, you have some great ideas ready to go.

Create a work schedule

Work doesn’t go away during the holiday season.  If you know you’re going to have a particularly busy holiday, start working ahead as soon as possible.  Complete a few items per day that will go towards days you wish to take off or work less.

Holidays are special, and it’s important to spend time with your friends and family as everyone has more time off from work.  Put in the time, effort, and work ahead of time now so you can fully enjoy those moments later.  This way, you aren’t scrambling to finish work at the last minute, or worse yet, missing those fun, special times with those you love.

Less stuff

A lot of “stuff” can cause chaos in the home.  Make this the year of less “stuff!” No, it doesn’t mean you have to forego gifts, but can you do them differently.  Cut down on the number of things and up the value; it’s always preferable to focus on quality over quantity anyway.

For your kids, a useful practice can be to donate old items that are no longer used.  Have them select a few items to donate or throw away before the season of gifts arrives.  It’s not about prying away their favorite items that are truly used, but to make room for the new.  A home with less “stuff” is typically much less chaotic and more organized.

More experiences

On the topic of giving less “stuff,” comes experiences.  Experiences are wonderful gifts that give the gift of time, thought, and something unexpected.

Whether it’s a spa day, outdoor activity, escape room certificate, unique dinner out certificate, and so on, these are all items that can be experienced.  Experiences have the added benefit of your time!

Buy a gift card for two massages and treat your mom to a spa day.  If your kids love the water, treat them to a day at an indoor water park this winter.  The immediate gratification may not be there, but once the experience is underway, it’s typically the most memorable and most appreciated type of gift.

Other experiences come from participating in activities during the holiday season.  There’s so much cool stuff that goes on this time of year! Adventure out of your comfort zone, grab a friend or family member, and head out to enjoy some of the fun things that this time of year brings.

Organize the major days

Thanksgiving Day, Christmas, Kwanzaa, New Year’s Eve, Hanukkah – just to name a few! There are so many big days during the holiday season.  Start a list or a spreadsheet of each holiday you intend to celebrate in a big way and begin your checklist.

Whether it’s meals, cooking schedules, gift to dos, or things to pick up, include it all! Having your items in one central location like Dropbox or Google Docs can make collaborating and sharing among family and friends even easier too.

Eliminate the overwhelm this year! Start early, focus on less “stuff” and more experiences, and take the time to organize the big days.  You’ll be glad you planned ahead a bit when you’re able to enjoy more quality time with those you love!

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October 2, 2017 0 Comments

How to Establish a Work From Home Routine

When you decide to work from home, either from a traditional job or stay at home mom role, there are bound to be some adjustments.

Getting into a new schedule requires a few steps, but it’s worth it to establish a routine that works for you and your family. Read along for tips on establishing a work from home routine that invites productivity and flexibility.

Figure out the differences

It’s important to ask yourself this question: What will need to change since you’re no longer going to the office, or being a stay at home mom?  You might still be parenting from home, but if you’re also working, things will still be a bit different.

If you’re now working from home, things are bound to change in the family schedule.  Maybe you can no longer participate in carpool duties daily, or maybe you’re wanting to free your schedule from 3-4pm to pick up your kids from school.  Additionally, things like meal prep, meetings with friends, and workouts need to be considered. If this fit into your day a certain way before, it might be best to just try to keep it. You might have far more flexibility, but it still requires that you figure out where it all fits into your new workday.

Answer the questions

There are more questions to answer to establish your routine! What will remain consistent? Maybe you’ll still do dinner at the same time and take your kids to soccer in the evening, but you’ll ask your children’s friends to handle carpool.

Also look at and examine: What will be changing based on family schedules, freelance projects starting and ending, time with friends, and so on.  Once you know what will change and what will stay the same, you can begin to create a daily schedule.

Focus on the goal

Whatever your reason for a work from home job, focus on this goal as you begin your new routine.  Are you looking for more flexibility in your life?  Do you dislike commuting very much?  Do you simply want more time with your family?  Or did you just fall into a job that happened to be home based?

Either way, you should work on establishing a goal for your work from home job.  It’s easier to begin – and keep to – a routine that sticks if you’re focused on a goal.  When things are a bit tough schedule-wise in the beginning as you readjust, remember that you get more time to attend your children’s events, or meet a friend for coffee, if those are your goals.

Keep track

Log your progress! Keep track of how you’re sticking to your new routine and schedule.  When you’re able to do something on your list of goals, or you maintain your weekly schedule, take note.

This also allows you to see where you may have over or under booked yourself. Make space for changes! This is an adjustment period, and it will take some time to get into the flow of a home based career.

It’s a big change, whether you worked before or not. Many people believe that working from home is simply easy, and that’s not always the case!  You may actually be juggling more demands now, however sweet it may be to have more flexibility.

Remember why you got into this type of work, praise yourself for staying on track, and make adjustments as you and your family needs to, and you will establish a productive routine in no time!

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September 18, 2017 0 Comments

4 Top Tips to Be a Successful Work From Home Employee

We’ve talked a lot about being a successful leader and manager, but how do you go about being a successful work from home employee?

Whether you’ve recently come from a traditional office job or you’ve been a home based worker for years, it’s always a good time to reevaluate what you’re bringing to the job.

Track your time

To be a successful worker, it can be helpful to track your time.  Whether this is done at your boss’s request or to see where you’re putting your time, it can help you prioritize.

One of the best ways to be a solid employee is to know how to prioritize and not let things slip through the cracks.  Tracking your time is also incredibly helpful if you’re paid by the hour, as your employer will appreciate the details.

Communicate, communicate, communicate!

The best employees are those who communicate! If you go off the grid, especially in a work from home position, it can spell trouble.

If your employer doesn’t know what you’re doing, they may start to lose trust and begin questioning your employment.  Do your best to communicate with your employer on a consistent basis, and even do check-in calls as needed.

If you do client work for your employer, be sure that any communications are clearly noted there as well.  Since you aren’t in a traditional office environment, staying in contact via email, phone, and text becomes even more crucial!

Make a schedule

Along with tracking your time, a schedule can help you stay on task.  It can be best to make an outline of your work week schedule for the upcoming week.  Start with the items that you do on a daily basis, then add in other items based on due dates.

From here, you can add the “special” projects and unique items as they come in.  Working with a schedule or to do list also helps things to not get missed, as they simply go to the next day’s schedule if they aren’t completed.

Build relationships

Staying connected and being a successful work from home employee begins with communication.  Once that trust has been built and nurtured, you can begin to build relationships with your employers and co-workers.

Since everyone likes to work with those they know, like and trust, establishing strong, trusting relationships with your team is very important.  This will ensure that your value is communicated beyond the professional sphere.

Being a good employee involves personal accountability and responsibility, solid scheduling, and lots of communication! If you take time to do these things on a consistent basis, you will certainly find success as a home based employee.

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August 21, 2017 0 Comments

5 Ways to Get a Work From Home Job

Home based job positions are highly coveted in today’s society.  Since we can almost always work from anywhere, the concept of a traditional office is changing.  Parents and families want more flexibility and time together, and work-life balance is becoming more of a prominent concept.

Even if you want to work from home, you may be curious about how to make that happen.  Most job postings are still for traditional office environment jobs, so it can be daunting to begin the search.  Read along for some of our best tips for landing a remote job position.

Use specific sites

There are specific websites just for the purpose of filling home based job positions.  Sites like HireMyMom.com are carefully crafted to filter only remote positions, making your search much quicker and less frustrating.  All jobs on HireMyMom.com are screened and involve flexible work schedules and environments.

Using specific virtual job sites also eliminates the probability of scam listings, which are prevalent in the work from home field.  Specific sites don’t typically feature multi-level marketing jobs, and they cater more to the educated professional seeking a similar job to those in the traditional workforce.

Avoid scams

As we mentioned above, scams are everywhere when seeking a virtual career.  Many listings feature jobs that you have to buy into, which should never be the case with a home based job position.  They will also say they’re virtual jobs, when they’re truly just call center or sales positions.

While there’s nothing wrong with these types of jobs, they aren’t often what most people are seeking when trying to find home based work.  Avoid the scammy positions and look elsewhere for your new position!

Word of mouth

Listen closely! Friends, family members, and current co-workers might have the in when it comes to home based jobs.  Sometimes a business owner will need a Virtual Assistant or Admin.  Maybe your hair salon is looking for social media management, or maybe you can offer your editing services to a family member who’s an author.

There are many ways to find freelance home based positions, which can transition to full-time work.  Listen to those around you, and see where you can offer your home based services in ways that can help others.

Look to the traditional

Don’t fear the traditional job postings.  Sometimes, in a sea of “regular” jobs, you’ll see that they’re open to remote or virtual candidates.

When you search, try words such as: “remote,” “virtual,” “telecommute,” “home-based,” or “work from home.”  You might be surprised to find that a lot of traditional office environments are open to ideal candidates who might not live in their cities.

Make it a transition

Sometimes a work from home career can come out of a traditional one.  You might find that you start in an office-based job position and have that conversation with your boss about transitioning to remote work.  Just because your current job is in an office, doesn’t mean that your boss isn’t potentially open to exploring the option of virtual work.  You don’t know if you don’t ask!

Maybe you can transition to 2-3 days per week at home, and eventually, full time. Show your boss that your productivity levels have increased, and be as effective as possible in your trial or transition time period.  Show that you have mostly eliminated sick days and overhead.  There are tons of benefits to working from home, and it’s up to you to do the convincing to make this a viable option for you.

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August 10, 2017 0 Comments

4 Top Concerns When Working From Home – And How to Address Them

When you start to consider a work from home job position, certain challenges and concerns might creep in. How will I get anything done when the TV is right there? Will I talk to anyone all day? There are a lot of valid concerns in a home based career, but most have simple solutions.

Read along for some of the most prevalent challenges, as well as ideas to address them.

Social Isolation

One of the main concerns with working from home is that you’ll become isolated. Even if family is around once in awhile, it’s not the same as an office environment.

It’s good to know going into a home based job that you won’t be in a traditional environment with traditional co-worker relationships. This seems obvious, but the allure of a work from home job can cloud this kind of thing. Be aware of the potential isolation and make plans for it!

Schedule working days out at a coffee shop, meet friends during your lunch break, or network at night. It’s important to get out, and also maintain relationships and contact with your co-workers. It’s very possible to be just as close to a work from home co-worker! It just takes some effort to communicate on a more consistent basis.

Distractions

If you’re going to be working from home with kids, pets or other family members, it can be very distracting! In addition to that, you have the freedom to watch TV, listen to loud music, and be distracted by any (and every!) thing around the house.

To help with distractions, ensure that childcare or pet care is in place for very important calls or meetings. Do your best to schedule crucial things around your family’s schedule, and then do your best to seclude yourself for that time period.

Distractions will come when you work from home – the laundry, neighbor kids, the UPS truck. But you can work around it! Set your schedule, keep boundaries, and set up outside care for when you truly need it.

Office Space

While it’s tempting to lounge on the couch, it’s important to have a designated space that’s just your own for work. Take the time to set up a workspace that is both functional and comfortable, and leave it for work only.

It’s important to separate work from home. The easiest, most distinctive way to do this is by working and living your home life in separate spaces. Focus on ergonomic chairs, paint and decor that is calming to you, and office supplies that make your life easier.

Productivity

Many people assume that if you work from home, you don’t get anything done. Nothing could be further from the truth! There have been many studies done, and almost all of them point to the fact that working from home is much more effective than going into a traditional office.

Click here to view a recent study.

Between less sick days, decreasing employee turnover, and fewer office distractions, it’s easy to see why working from home is the ultimate in productivity.

Don’t fear the home based career! While there are considerations that vary from the norm of an office job, it’s nothing that can’t be overcome with a bit of forethought. Enjoy the flexibility, productivity boosts, and quality of life that working from home can afford!

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August 10, 2017 0 Comments

4 Ways to Be a Successful Leader

Leadership is a hot topic these days, and if you’re a boss or manager, it’s very important to be the best leader possible. There’s something to be said for effective leadership – it produced happier, healthier employees, keeps retention rates high, and encourages your employers to work more effectively.

Although there are so many ways in which one can be a great leader, we’ve compiled some of our best, most effective ways to do so. Read along for our tips and advice to be a successful leader!

Listen

So many of us listen with the intent to respond, instead of listening for the sake of listening. Whether receiving a complaint, listening to a client issue, or simply discussing something mundane, it’s important to be a good listener as a leader.

When your employers feel heard, they’re more likely to keep you in the loop and trust you. According to a study by IBM, “83% of employees experienced a more positive work environment when they felt there was trust in their managers/organization.” It’s clear that trust is important, and listening is one way to gain and maintain trust within your organization.

Give Feedback

Whether positive or negative, feedback is highly important! If employees have no idea if they’re working effectively or not, they can’t improve very easily. You can give negative feedback in a positive, constructive way that shows your employees where they can improve. It’s never helpful to put employees down or compare employees to each other.

On the other side, employees need encouragement when they’re producing positive work and ideas. If no feedback is ever given in this space, they start to feel underappreciated. Take note of the work quality of your employees – the good and the bad. Speak up and help your employees improve or feel encouraged.

Lead by Example

Supervisors who are never around, behave inappropriately, or ask employees to do things they will not do are not successful leaders. It’s highly important that you lead by example in attitude, work effectiveness, and leadership ability.

If you hope to encourage a workplace that works in harmony and produces great work, it has to start with you. Your employees will feel far more inspired to bring their best to work when they see their leader as a beacon of example. When you also do what you’re asking them to do, you’re also seen as more fair, trustworthy, and hardworking.

Communicate

There’s nothing worse than a boss who doesn’t communicate! The work environment truly starts to suffer, morale is lowered, and business organization starts to drop. As a leader, you’re in charge and responsible, and this begins with communication.

Keep your employees in the loop when you won’t be available, communicate all kinds of feedback, and encourage effective meetings and conversations. When issues pop up with clients or products, take the time to communicate about them as soon as possible. Keeping tabs on all items and having those conversations will keep your business moving much more smoothly.

Being a successful leader takes a lot of vigilance and effort. It’s a fulfilling job that has the opportunity to bring out the best in your employees and business. Take the time to build up your skillset as a leader, and you’ll find that you have engaged employees who truly want to do great work for your company!

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July 24, 2017 0 Comments

5 Top Tips for Work From Home Success

Working from home is often the goal of many moms.  It affords flexibility, more time with family, and a comfortable work environment.  While it’s a goal that can lead to a big increase in the quality of your life, it also comes with challenges.

Between distractions and the lack of traditional work environment, it can take a while to find your footing in the home based working world.  Read along for some best practices for a smooth work from home life.

Separate your spaces

While it might be comfortable to work on the couch for a while, it can lead to posture issues and a lack of focus.  It’s better to establish an office or a separate space in your home specifically reserved for work.  If you don’t have the extra space to make a bedroom into an office, you can set up a space at the dinner table, or place a small desk in another room.

It’s best to eliminate as many distractions as possible, while keeping the environment as “businesslike” as possible while being from home.

Get out of the house

Some people find home based work too isolating and mundane.  If you start to feel this wya, it’s best to get out of the house as much as possible.  You can even work from a coffee shop, park or office space daily.  Even if you obtain a “work from home” job position, you might still look into something more social like a coworking space.

Coworking spaces combine people from a variety of industries and businesses into one location.  This provides the social, office environment while allowing you to keep a flexible schedule and unique working arrangement.

Treat it like work

Working from home is still work! It can be easy to see it as a way to work less and spend time all day with family or friends, but unfortunately, work still needs to get done.  Use the first few weeks to find a good balancing act between the two, and then be sure that you’re working when you should be.

Of course, the benefit of home based work is flexibility, so there will be times when you can use evening or early morning hours to work.  Going outside of the schedule is more than permitted, but a routine work schedule (most days) makes for more effective, productive work.

Unplug

While you should treat your home based career like work, it’s also important to unplug! As home based workers, it can be tough to turn it off.  Your computer is essentially your workspace, but it needs to be turned off once in awhile.

This is why it can be helpful to establish specific work times, so it’s not too tempting to work well into the evening.  Use your off time for friends, family, and personal time, and work on a schedule that works best for you.  Avoid the trap of working around the clock – it can cause unnecessary burnout, stress, and fatigue.

Set your boundaries

Boundaries are important when you work from home.  Since you typically become the point of contact, person who’s there for appointments in the home, caregiver, and so on, it’s important to maximize your schedule and set boundaries so you can still get work done.

Working from home requires some forethought and effort between you, your employer, and your family, but it can be done.  It’s a wonderful working arrangement that affords more flexibility and less missed good times, but ensure that you’re being smart about it and setting boundaries that keep you healthy, happy and productive.

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May 30, 2017 0 Comments

5 Ways to Get Your Employer to Let You Work From Home

While there are plenty of work from home jobs out there, sometimes it takes a less traditional route to get there.  If you’re currently in an office setting, but would like to make the case for working from home with your employer, read along.

We’ve compiled some best tips to work with your boss on a home based arrangement.  While it’s becoming more and more common, there are still traditional bosses who see the office as the only way.  Fortunately, we know that working from home offers flexibility, increased productivity, and other benefits that may sway their decision.

Present the benefits

This is the time to make your case! It’s proven that working from home increases productivity by a large margin.  According to remote.co, “two-thirds of managers say employees who work remotely increase their overall productivity.”

According to Forbes.com, productivity increases can be attributed to more well-timed distractions, the environment of working at home, and optimized communication, to name a few.  One might initially think that productivity would decrease, but it’s exactly the opposite.  Additionally, sick days are reduced – yours and your kids’.  You might still be able to work from home while ill, and also care for a sick kid without taking hours away from the office.  There are a host of work from home benefits that directly benefit your employer!

Give a demonstration

If you can get your boss partially on board, now is the time for a demonstration. Ask if you can set up a trial for 2-3 days per week for a couple weeks.  This is the time to be productive, show that you’re still available for communication, and generally show why you should be allowed to work from home.

Show the costs

Since saving money is a large benefit with remote workers, you can also give statistics on monetary savings from an employer’s perspective.  From commuting, to office space, to computers and office supplies, a lot of money can be saved by remote workers.

Additionally, there are fewer travel costs, far less sick days, and higher retention rates, due to higher job satisfaction reported in remote workers, according to Entrepreneur.com.

Show your productivity

Show what you can do! While it’s important not to go all out and exaggerate the amount of work you can get done from home, really focus your efforts during your trial period.

It’s important to show that while you’re not in a traditional office setting, you can still get your work done – and then some!

Negotiate

If your work from home experiment goes well, do your best to negotiate something that makes everyone feel comfortable.  Since your boss may be more traditional, a full-time home based arrangement may not be best in this case.  Working from home doesn’t need to be all the time, but perhaps begin with 1-2 days at home per week.

If this arrangement continues to go well, and your employer is seeing your productivity and the benefits, you may be able to arrange it into a full-time position.

If your goal is working from home, it’s worth the effort to have an honest discussion with your employer.  It might not fly for everyone, but it’s worth the conversation.  Working from home saves money, boosts productivity, and allows for better work-life balance and happiness!

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May 22, 2017 0 Comments

4 Ways to Prepare for Summer Break

As the school year winds down, we’re all starting to prepare for one of the best times of the year – summer break!

While this is a great opportunity to spend more time with family, it also takes a bit more juggling.  As work from home moms, we have the flexibility to adjust our schedules and truly make the most of this time of year.

Childcare

Since the kids are home now, it’s important that you have readily available childcare.  Look into options now – whether it’s family, friends, or outside help.  Make sure you discuss scheduling and see where you might need some time for yourself.  Depending on the ages and schedules of your kids, you might need more or less help, but it’s always a positive to have people you can call on.

It can also be helpful to look into activities and set up carpool to help during these times as well.  Look into fun things for your kids and see if some of the other parents can alternate driving obligations.  This gives you more time to get things done and manage your workload!

If you need to take a conference call during the day, or you need a few days to get a big project done, you’ll be glad you’ve pre-established some options for your kids.

Review your workload

Some businesses are less busy in the summer, and you may be prioritizing differently and rearranging your workload.

This is a great time of year to review everything on your plate for the next few months.  Does it look the same as always, or are there gaps?  Do you want to fill this time or allow for more space with family?  Sometimes taking on more hours is a good thing if work is sparse, and this is common in the summer months.

This analytical process will help you to better manage your work schedule in the summer, as well as the schedule of your family.

Summer schedule

Once you’ve taken a look at your summer work obligations, delegate some time off in the afternoons for your kids.  This doesn’t necessarily have to be the afternoon, but any time that works best in your schedules.

It’s a unique time of year when your school-aged kids are home, so it’s nice to take advantage of this when you get the chance.  It’s also a great time to rearrange your schedule a bit, so that you have that free time each day, or a few days per week.

Plan some fun

Summer is full of fun! Spend an afternoon by the pool, go for hikes, and generally enjoy the summer months.  It’s also perfect to plan a vacation or staycation, and enjoy more time with friends and family.

You don’t have to leave your area to have fun either! Schedule work meetings outdoors, or in coffee shops with outdoor seating to enjoy the weather.

Summer is a fleeting time of year and one that brings a lot more fun – and juggling.  Review your schedule, make time for family where you have it, and enjoy their time off!

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