Motivated Moms

This is a review for Motivated Moms.....specifically, Motivated Moms Ebooks.



If you are a mom, do you consider yourself "motivated"?

If you are anything like me, the answer is a resounding....

"Sometimes!"

I really am fantastically organized and motivated to get things done....sometimes.

I am a list maker, except when I am not. 

I love my lists!

But, they end up written on whatever I have laying around at the time.

They look like this.

and this....

And, if I don't keep close track of them, I lose them....or a helpful soul ends up throwing it away because it looks like garbage.....because they are usually written on the back side of something.

Remember the movie Jerry McGuire and the line Renee Zellweger says to Tom Cruise..."You had me at Hello"? 

Well, Motivated Moms had me at, "The system is designed to help you complete chores and tasks throughout the year so that you don’t spend your entire day doing housework."  (Italics emphasis from me   )

When I was selected for the review, I got to choose the format that I would prefer.  You know, like half-page or full page....with Bible readings or not.....color.....black and white.

I chose full page, black and white, with Bible readings.  Like this:

(See?  I still made a few of my own notes....plus, I apparently spilled something on this....but, it is still better than my lists, right?)

Here are a few of the other layout options:









I downloaded the full year to my computer, but I only printed a month at a time.  That works well for me because it didn't seem so daunting.  Plus, Rainman and I  sit down monthly and work on our budgets, so it was helpful to have this in case there were cleaning supplies, furnace filters, or something we would need during the upcoming month.

Did I like my Motivated Mom planner?

Definitely.

Did I follow it perfectly?

No, I did not.

Some of the tasks on the lists made me smile, like "Pamper yourself"....because you know we moms need approval/permission to do something nice for ourselves. 

Sometimes, they made me smile because it was so obvious that the things needed to be done, but I wouldn't have necessarily thought of until it was too late.

Things like:

Pull dead leaves off plants.  (something I don't usually do until there is a whole pile of crunchy leaves on the floor)

Replenish stock of toilet paper in bathrooms (something that doesn't happen until we are caught yelling for someone to bring us a roll....to be answered with....we are all out!)

Clean out vehicle (something that doesn't happen until the total embarrassment of the avalanche of falling papers, crayons, books, socks, shoes and jackets reaches epic proportions!)

Clean out purse/wallet (something that doesn't happen until between the kids and I, so much stuff has been shoved in that it won't close anymore!)

Clip the kids fingernails (something that now that I have so many kids usually doesn't happen until I spot their long, dirty, fingernails when we are out in public somewhere and they are pointing something out to strangers.)

The Motivated Moms Planner has the specific daily chores listed, but on the left side of the paper, there is also a list of basic daily chores that probably need to be done.....things that if they were actually done daily.....would alleviate a lot of stress in my life.

• Make beds
• Load/Run/Empty dishwasher
• Sweep Kitchen
• Wipe out kitchen sink
• Plan dinner
• Quiet time

Even though I didn't follow this life planner perfectly, the beauty of it is that it takes the thinking work out of planning.  Yes, I still had to add a few of my own personal things onto my lists, like paying sports fees, or work projects, but, for the most part....it did the "pre-thinking" for me.

I was really looking forward to having the Bible readings all picked out for me.  I had dreams of getting back in the habit of daily Bible time, quiet time, and prayer time. 

The unfortunate part for me was that I happened to join the Motivated Moms planner during the slightly "boring" Bible verse time.  You know, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers.  I know it makes me sound like a bad Christian, and I know that God included these in the Bible for a really good reason.  I am just not "motivated" by most of these passages. 

But, what it did do for me was get my Bible in my hand.  So, I would read (or skim  ) the assigned reading and then flip somewhere else with the hope that I would get some new inspiration for the day. 

No matter what, it is better than what I was doing before.  Nothing.

There are a total of 16 choices for Motivated Moms ebook planners, as well as "app" choices.  I don't know....is "app" an actual word?  Could I just use it without the quotation marks? 



Even if you don't end up using one of their planners, the Motivated Moms website has a lot of good information.  Head over to the Additional Resources tab and you will see recommended readings (most are clutter/organization related with some financial planning thrown in too), homeschool products the creators like, baby,children and cloth diapering resources, and lots of miscellaneous stuff that doesn't fall into a neat category.

But, even if you aren't a natural list maker like me, give the Motivated Moms planners a try.  You can go take a look at sample pages from all the different formats.  There might be one that is just right for you.

You can try out one of Motivated Moms Planners for $8.  Or, if you are hi-tech, the apps for iPhone are $1.99 and the apps for Android are $7.99.

Take a look at how other people on the TOS Crew used their Motivated Moms planners.