Adult Interaction

I just read a thread in a mom group that asked, "How many hours of adult interaction do you get, as a stay-at-home mom, a week besides with your spouse?". About 95% of the women said they got none. Throw on sleepless nights, crazy days, and no friends and you'll find a depressed and stressed out person.

Mama's, you have a very special job of holding down the fort, you GOTTA take care of yourself FIRST! (Crazy right) Accept company at home, no one cares, truly, that a hurricane frequently passes through your home leaving chaos in its wake. We all understand. Go out with a friend or 2, even if it's just to sit around. Join a local play and support group and come to their meet-ups. Socialize outside of the Internet.

To family and friends: Try not to take no for an answer when we say we don't need help or want to go out. It's not easy accepting help from others when we feel that we're supposed to do it all. We don't realize that sometimes we're drowning and need a hand or just someone to talk to. Heck! Come over and just let mama shower alone and sleep alone while you watch the littles in the living room. Bring a meal, even if we don't ask. Help tidy up, even though we all know it won't last long. Every little bit you do makes a difference and that mama will appreciate you more than words can describe.

Lots of love to all mama's out there! You're doing a GREAT job!

Blog written by Ashlie King

Ashlie King is the mom of Isaiah. She enjoys volunteering at Amaya Papaya and keeping cupcakes away from Amaya Papaya's mom! Ashlie is the Happy Momma Orlando for Happy Family Brand Foods.

Vision Board Planning for the New Year

When I was a counselor one of the coolest things I did with my girls was to have them create vision boards.  A vision board is a really simple project that helps you to reflect on goals you may have or things you may want to manifest in life.  When I was in the preparation phase for Amaya Papaya I created a huge double sided vision board.  The board helped me to organize my ideas about various play areas and the type of toys I wanted to have at my facility. This really helped me in establishing my vision for Amaya Papaya as a creative play space called a playlounge that mostly offered kid powered & classic toys.

Creating a vision board is simple and only requires a few simple items that you most likely have sitting around your home. Gather the items below, set your intention and start creating!


Materials needed
Blank piece of card stock or poster board (8x10 or larger)
Glue
Scissors
Various Magazines

To create a vision board follow these simple steps
1.) Set your intention, think about your goals and the things you want to manifest in your life. 


2.) Cut out pictures and words from magazines that related to your goals or things that you want to manifest in your life.

3.) Organize the cut outs how you would like to have them on your board.

4.) Glue the cut outs to your board


Putting your vision board to work

Once your board is created you can share it with your friends or keep it to yourself.   Ideas of sharing with friends are posting a photo of your board to social media and explaining your board in a post.  You can meet up with a friend or friends to discuss your goals and intentions. Talking about your goals can often times be therapeutic and help keep you accountable.  If you should decide to keep your board to yourself,  keep it in a place where you can see it and reflect on it often. The more you are reminded of your goals and have them organized the better it is to achieve them.  You can add items to your board over time if you would like or create a new board for various aspects of your life.

Today through next Friday at Amaya Papaya I will invite parents to create a vision board for 2015.  If you are in the area stop by to let the kids play and create a vision board for yourself.  If playtime at Amaya Papaya is not a part of your plans next week, set your intentions and create one for yourself at home! I plan to create a series of boards this week. My intention is to create a family board, personal board and business board. There will be some overlap as everything I do as a mom, wife and business owner make up my whole self and one would not be complete without the other.  Happy new year and happy vision board creating!