Jill: The topic of sleep seems to be super hot lately. Is it because we are just truly seeing the scientific evidence that we NEED more sleep than we thought to be healthy and productive or is it just another trendy theme? The key topic of Arianna Huffington’s recent TED Talk was SLEEP and its immense importance. Last night, I checked my email right before heading to bed (I had only shut down my computer moments before…) only to find 10 new emails and I thought, “Oh, I will just read them quickly and respond tomorrow”, when I suddenly realized an hour had passed. Sure, I just completed 10 more emails but what I really need to focus on is the loss of 1 hour of sleep! We get stuck on Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn/email/work on our ipads/itouches/iphones/blackberries/TVs. With information coming at us from all directions (including our kids) throughout the day, it is even more important for us to wind down at a reasonable time and truly head to bed. Hey, it might even mean more intimate time with your partner. I think there are some health and wellness benefits to that as well!

Tasha: Yup I think we are both guilty of late night email responses from the east coast (aka moi) and early morning responses from the west coast (toi!).

I completely agree with everything you said and we haven’t even touched on the subject of kids… whoever coined the phrase “sleep like a baby” clearly never slept with one! I often think it would be quite hilarious to video a night at our house and watch it back in high speed. It is often a game of musical beds with my 4 year old trying to sneak in (and me being the one of course who hears him and brings him back to his room!) and don’t get me started on my youngest! Most nights he is in our bed and I swear does at least a dozen 360 degree turns per night… I wake up feeling like I have been mauled by a pack of wolves! It is one thing to get to bed at a decent hour but another to have 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Hmm… I wonder what that is like? It has been 6 years since I have had that experience. Let me ask my husband – he gets his sleep time every night!

Alas the key is not to stress about getting enough sleep. That for sure will have you staring at the ceiling for hours! In the meantime I will focus on the joy of hearing the tip toes in the night…

Jill Earthy & Tasha Richard, National Owners of momcafé

The other day my four-year old proclaimed to me in casual conversation that she is a SUPER POOPER.  I was impressed with her level of self-love—even if this particular self worth was based on regular bodily functions. Her pride was evident in her confident demeanor and she practically pranced an inch off the floor as she headed for the bathroom to prove her point.

Kids are so good at APPRECIATING themselves. They always put themselves first and are very focused on their own needs and how to satisfy them. Naturally around 6 years old we all begin to see the world in a less than 100% egocentric fashion BUT too often at 16, 26, 36 and onward we lose our connection with our own sense of awe for who we are.

Are you your own best friend? How do you express gratitude for you? How about some self love?

CONGRATULATE YOURSELF. Give yourself a star on a calendar for a good job—when your partner or kid asks what it means share what you achieved with them. It could be for landing a new client, meeting your exercise goals or even getting the laundry clean AND put away.

Try to make it a habit to say “Good job!” and “Way to go!” to yourself DAILY. How we think defines our experience in life—work on thinking positive thoughts for who you are and what you do and POSITIVE THINGS WILL HAPPEN. I can place my own personal guarantee on that!

Create a GRATITUDE JOURNAL. If you are not keen to have a separate book where you write what you are grateful for try making daily notes in your agenda book. The process is the same…focusing on what makes you proud and happy will only reap greater satisfaction with all things YOU.

So while, as adults, we may not see ourselves as super poopers, each of us has so much to appreciate about ourselves. For many this takes FOCUS and WORK—we don’t change how we THINK overnight. Self-judgment is a powerful force.

The good news? We all possess the choice to be our own great friend. Enjoy the journey.

Trisha Miltimore is a national speaker, mom of two princesses, radio announcer and retail business owner. Her passion for EMPOWERING Mompreneurs and youth takes her across Canada spreading her message on the POWER OF KARMA (Knowledge, Attitude, Respect, Motivation and Action!).

momcafé members receive a special discount on all of Trisha’s programs, see www.contagious.ca for more information.

Check out this great blog entry by guest blogger Wendy McCallum of Simple Balance (www.simple-balance.ca). Wendy is a member of momcafe in Halifax and has an amazing knack on simplifying nutrition!

Busy Mom’s Guide to Forming a Healthy Habit (For Good, This Time!)

by Wendy McCallum, RHN, LLB., Nutritional & Wellness Consultant

It’s that time of year again:  We are all trying to make positive changes and start 2011 off right.  With the best of intentions, however, most of us end up making exactly the same resolution 12 months later, because we could not follow-through.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful to never have to resolve to eat better, lose weight, exercise more, or work less again?

The solution is simpler than you think.  The main reason why resolutions do not lead to permanent change is because they involve drastic, unpleasant, and unmaintainable goals.  Taking it one step at a time, and setting reasonable goals that can be reached through smaller, successive changes, is the only way to effect permanent change.

Science suggests that it takes 21 days to form a habit, and 6 months to make it a part of your lifestyle and personality.

With that in mind, this year, why not try this approach instead:

Take your 2011 resolution, let’s use “lose 10 pounds” as an example, and break it down into manageable and realistic stages. Write these “mini-goals” down.  For example: lose 4 pounds in January, 3 pounds in February and 3 pounds in March.  Write down a corresponding reward you will be giving yourself when you reach each goal.  Then write down all of the benefits of the changes you will be making, such as: feeling better, looking better, decreasing risk of chronic illness, increasing your energy, sleeping better, and fitting into all those clothes again that you’ve stuck in the back of the closet.  Put this list somewhere you will regularly see it, for motivation.  Better yet, make copies so it can motivate you at work and at home.

Before you start, set yourself up for success.  Remove temptation and anything that will make it easier for you to fail.  Get a support network in place, and let the people who matter know what your goal is.  For example, tell your family you are going to be regularly making small permanent changes to be healthier, and you would love their support, or seek out professional support from a nutritional coach group.

In January, commit to making one healthy change every week that will help you achieve your first goal.  For example, in the first week, commit to practicing “mindful eating”.  Think about what you are eating before you eat it.  Will it nourish you or is it a non-food, void of any goodness?  How will eating it make you feel, will you be empowered or feel guilty?  Start making all of your food choices based on this reasoning.

The next week, continue to eat mindfully, and chose one more healthy change and commit to it.  For example, eliminate sugary beverages like juice and pop and replace with them with filtered water.  Do that for a week.

Week 3, continue to eat mindfully and drink lots of water, but commit to one more change.  Maybe start tracking your fresh fruit and vegetable intake and aim for 5-7 servings daily.

Week 4, keep up the changes you’ve already made (mindful eating should be a “habit” by now), and add another small change.  You could try switching to whole grain breads and pastas, to increase your fiber and nutrient-intake.

Step on the scale – lost the 4 pounds?  Probably.  And in the process you have picked up at least one very healthy, maintainable habit, and are well on your way to making three other permanent positive changes!

Don’t stop now, start February off with a commitment to add one walk into your exercise routine every week.  By the end of the first week of February, you will have successfully formed two healthy habits.

You get the picture, right?  This approach can be successfully applied to any type of resolution.  Healthy changes need to be made slowly, and consistently to be manageable and habit-forming.  Take your time, what’s the rush?  Slow and steady really does win the resolution race.

For support in permanently reaching and maintaining your New Year’s goals this year, or for any questions you may please contact me, Wendy McCallum, at:

by Trisha Miltimore, Contagious Leadership Training

3:30 in the afternoon. A busy day of “trying” to get things done around the house with my two and four year old girls creating bombs of messy disasters everywhere they go.  It’s a clever game of I clean one room while they destroy another.  Today is a whiny day. Both girls competing with the other for the Most Effective Whining Award.  So far, between the two of them and their precise strategy of ending every statement and cry with down inflection, it is a mind-blowing tie.  My anxiety level rises…..”Please be nice to your sister.” “Please don’t throw anything in the toilet.” “No! Peanut butter on the couch? Where did you get that?” “Let go of her leg…..don’t pull her hair!”

At the point of no return. I sort of….well….snap. Cereal box bounces of the counter from me “putting” it down rather quickly. Both kids look at me like sweet fawns staring wide-eyed into headlights. Moments later both are in their own rooms with doors closed…I am in my own room with door closed. Need to take a breather. Need a moment to collect my cool.

So much about life involves being resilient. I admittedly lack that from time to time (especially when it comes to persistent whining).  High levels of stress can send, even the most centered person, on an emotional roller coaster. What most of us need are some great techniques to managing personal and professional moments of CRAZY.

Recently I had the privelage of talking with an INCREDIBLE man who is showing the world just how powerful RESILIENCY can be. Steve Beseke (www.resiliencyfirst.com) has written more than 60 articles on all types of resiliency we face everyday. As a person with a life-long physical disability (Cerebral Palsy), Steve also does resiliency and motivational speaking with hospitals, colleges, disability groups, associations, career organizations, rotaries and other organizations about life resiliency and work issues in this complex and challenging world. He is truly an INSPIRATION!

Here are three ways, according to Steve, to deal with the challenges of life, be it business or personal.

Be Positive – See life as challenging, dynamic, and filled with opportunities. Of, course, this sounds like an infomercial. But, no matter how my day is going, I try to think of one resilient positive I can rely on to bring meaning and context to this day.

In my mompreneur world this may be reminding myself to be GRATEFUL for how healthy and vibrant my whiny kiddies are–they are their own champions of ENJOYING THE MOMENT.

Be Focused – Determine where you are headed and stick to that goal so barriers do not block your way. I am a person who wants to do 12 tasks at once, which can be very tiring and ultimately unsuccessful. Whether at work or home, I now try to limit myself to juggling no more than three tasks at a time.

Yap…trying to clean the whole house and answer work emails was NOT a solid plan for success.  Focusing on doing less will net more productivity and less stress!

Be Flexible – Open yourself to different possibilities when faced with uncertainty. I know friends who have the exact same routine everyday and then get upset when a co-worker or family member forces them out of their comfort zone. I am an introvert and a person with a disability, but I try to get out of my comfort zone to see what is “outside the box.”

Good one Steve. Maya Angelou once said, “Because of our routines we forget that life is an ongoing adventure.”

Here’s to EMBRACING the adventure (whiny kids and all)!

Trisha Miltimore is a national speaker, mom of two princesses, radio announcer and retail business owner. Her passion for EMPOWERING Mompreneurs and youth takes her across Canada spreading her message on the POWER OF KARMA (Knowledge, Attitude, Respect, Motivation and Action!).

Momcafe members receive a special discount on all of Trisha’s programs,
see www.contagious.ca for more information

Last night I took my family (hubby plus 2 girls, 3 & 6 yrs old) to Walking with Dinosaurs at the Rogers Arena. I had no idea what to expect. I was worried it would be too scary for my kids and maybe a bit boring for the adults. I was wrong. My kids were on the edges of their seats the entire time, well until my 3 yr old fell asleep in my arms late in the second half as it was well past her usual bedtime, in a good way. They were totally interested and engaged and not at all frightened. The narrator/Palentologist did quite a good job of entertaining us as told the story of the evolution of dinosaurs over 170 million years. For the most part, it moved quickly and the dinosaurs grew progressively bigger, and louder! The dinos were very real looking and were actual life size which worked very well in the Arena setting. I would recommend this show as a fun, family activity, especially if you have youngsters who love dinosaurs. It was a good basic history lesson for the adults as well. For more info visit www.dinosaurlive.com