Hi there! My name is Veronica and I’m so excited to be a regular Family Time contributor on Or So She Says. I’m a very happy mom of nine fantastic kids. I have no magical answers, no superhuman powers, but I do love my family and feel grateful every day for the life I have with them. You’ll learn plenty about me and my crazy bunch through my posts, but if you want a glimpse into our fun life you can catch me at Nine a Plenty. I’ve thought a lot about what I could hopefully offer as a contributor, and if you gain anything at all from my posts, I hope you’ll gain this:
Give what you can, do your very best…and that will be enough.

I’m not your ‘typical’ mom, and we definitely aren’t your ‘typical’ family…whatever that means. We are a “his, hers and ours” family. We have all been through the ringer, but somehow we have managed to pull together a pretty spectacular family in spite of it. I think my kids are amazing, and I’m lucky to share my life with the biggest kid of all…Big Daddy. He’s a darling Southern boy and I adore him!

People often say, “NINE KIDS?!? I don’t know how you do it!” And I’ll tell you the truth…I don’t know either!! HAHAHA! Actually, I do it just like you. I get up every day and give it the best I’ve got! And somehow it works. 🙂 I’ll share with you the things that work for us along the way, and hopefully you’ll be able to take something and make it your own.
ANYHOOO!
This month, just like many of you, we have been readjusting to routines, setting our goals and just getting back into life as we all know it. The holidays are magical in my home. I magically have a home full of kids who have extra incentive to get along. They know Santa likes good kids! 🙂
But then the holidays are over.
And so is the ‘magic’. 🙂
So, this momma has some tricks up her sleeve.

I’ve seen a lot of ideas using “jars”. Goal jars, conversation jars, favorite memory jars, etc. There are some great ideas out there. But, I’ve got my own jar. And it’s my secret weapon.
I would do a fun tutorial on a fancy jar, but you don’t need one! Just make it your own or find any container that works for you. I just used this cute tag that I made.

Introducing my “Catch Some Kindness” Jar.
Here’s how it works.
Every time you catch someone doing something kind, you put THEIR name on a piece of paper ALONG WITH the act of kindness. Then you SIGN the paper with YOUR name and put it the jar.
Once a week I’ll draw a paper out and BOTH people get a little treat. Some weeks the treat may be a candy bar or a pack of gum. But, sometimes I’ll throw in some bigger items, just to keep my older kids motivated. 🙂
Here’s the reason why. I think it’s very important to teach kids to be kind. They are the ones who really gain the greatest reward. But I think it’s also really important to teach our kids to RECOGNIZE kindness. Because we are surrounded by it every day. We just have to look for it. And I want my kids to KNOW how to look for it.
Hopefully our “Catch Some Kindness” Jar will help both parties recognize that GREAT things come from a LITTLE kindness.

MOM TIP:


Speaking of kindness, don’t forget to be kind to yourself! There are no supermoms or perfect wives, just cute girls who get out of bed every day and give it the best they’ve got! (YES! I called us all CUTE!) My house is not perfectly decorated. I have fingerprints on more things than I’m willing to admit to. As I type this, I have 4 batches of laundry sitting in baskets waiting for my loving hands to work their magic in the morning. I have mystery sticky stuff on my floor that I stepped in a few minutes ago, and in spite of my best intentions, my shower never happened today. 🙂  BUT…my kids are all in bed, with full tummies, in semi-clean rooms, so I can say, “good job mom!” To you…the cute mom reading this right now…be kind to yourself. You are awesome.