So for this almost always organized mom (or never organized at the moment), it’s time to go back to the beginning and set some goals for 2010 and the next three years. I wanted to share some free and affordable tools I located online to help you set goals for yourself and as a family.

Free setting goals workbook

Mom Goals offers tips and steps for setting goals for moms.

101 goals in 1001 days. Offers a list of goal setting and goal tracking worksheets and printables.

Tony Robbins has a great article explaining how to set your Personal mission statement. A first step in goal setting. Click here

Of course there are a lot of great goal setting resources for moms over at ListPlanIt.com as well.

Here are Tara’s interview answers and tips for moms to get organized:

How do you keep your children’s schedules together ?
My household is a family of 2 – me and my son. I’ve been divorced for 5 1/2 years now, run my own business out of the house and my son just got his driver’s license… some days it’s a tad busy!

I have a combination of schedule managers but use a write-on-wipe off calendar on the side of the refrigerator for anything that is on my son’s schedule or that will affect my son.

For example, it doesn’t really matter to him if I have meetings, appointments or conference calls while he is at school – those don’t make the fridge. But if I’m speaking or have a teleseminar that is in the evening, it is there so he could see it.

Of course, he is a 16 year old boy so verbal repetition and texting seems work a little better than my calendar system. :) At the beginning of the week I’ll do a litte, “Here’s what I have going on, here’s what you have going on… anything you haven’t told me about?” (There often is.)

Then each morning while he’s getting ready for school I’ll remind him of anything that day. Then when he doesn’t remember after school, he texts, fesses up that he didn’t really listen, I tell him for the 5th or 6th time and it sinks in. (They say people need to hear things 7 times to really hear them, in my experiencethat is extra true for teenagers!)

Do you use a particular day planner or mom planner?
I have a Mac and recently discovered this wonderful system called “Daylite”. It may be more than an average mom needs but if you are a mom that is also working from home in any way – check it out!

It has a calendar, contact list management, connects emails to people automatically, politely reminds you of upcoming events… it does everything but clean the bathroom! I have it on both my iPhone and Mac and they sync very nicely – so if I make an appointment away from home I just hit “sync” and don’t have to retype everything.

Daylite has helped me save time, find communication threads and remember when to call people back, send in art for consideration and more. I truly can’t say enough good things about this software!

Do you own a blackberry?
No. As an artist and avid Mac lover, I went from a basic phone to an iPhone. Now I couldn’t live without it!

What is you most used ‘time saving tip’ when it comes to running your house?
Don’t obsess over dust. If you have a choice between dusting and relaxing with your kids, spouse, significant other or a good book – choose the latter. (Do dust sometimes of course!) I often feel like I’m ‘falling down on the job’ if my house wouldn’t be ready for a white glove test or photo shoot with a home interiors magazine but the truth of the matter is, we live here. I work here. Kids hang out and play guitar here. It can’t be 100% clean all the time. So save time by dusting 1/2 as much as you are compelled to and spend a little more time having fun!

Tell us the truth ? What would we find in your car right now ?
If you asked my sister she would say ‘dirty floor mats’. As well as some stray leaves and bark dust, you would find crackers, a bottle of water, reusable shopping bags across the back seat, a book, umbrella and I think if you went under one of the seats you might find some McDonald’s Happy Meal toys… (I go for the Happy Meal when I break down and crave fast food.)

What advice would you give to other moms who feel the pressure of trying to be ‘super mom’?
“Give up the ghost!” Who defines what a ‘super mom’ or ‘perfect mom’ is or does anyway? I never got the handbook which makes it that much more confusing.

Especially after I got divorced and started working full-time plus building my business, I quickly discovered that there was no way I could do everything “perfectly” by myself. So I made choices about what was important and at what frequency (dusting, being a prime example) and how to balance being a mom, a business owner and let us not forget, myself.

I think that sometimes mom’s think they need to look like they can do everything seamlessly for their kids – never let them see that you get tired, burnt out or any other negative emotion. And while it is important to provide the safety and security that comes with being consistent and there for your kids, it’s ok to show them that some days, you just can’t do it all! Think about how much better they will feel when they have a day like that too!

I guess my real point is “Super Mom is a myth. Being a Real Mom is a gift you can give your kids – talents, strengths and weaknesses all rolled into the mix.”

What is your number one goal for the year ? How do you plan to reach it ?
This year I hope to really spread the word about my latest project – PrintYourOwnBunco.com. My main business is art licensing – I create art that manufacturers license to put on their products. (Fabric, rubber stamps, dishes, gift wrap, coasters, etc.)

The majority of my end-consumers are women. Loving to play with business ideas on the internet as well, I started my “Bunco” project in October. Over 7 million women in the US play regularly but unless they are very crafty and creative, they haven’t had a way to get fun, themed party supplies. I am now offering that and working on connecting with the Bunco women everywhere through social media, the website and blog, affiliates, traditional press (coming soon I hope!) and more.

Tara Reed is an artist, author and speaker who creates ‘art that will make you smile!’. Her art can be found on hundreds of products in retail stores as well as online. Learn more about Tara and her work at www.TaraReedDesigns.com

Follow Tara on Twitter

Stop by and find out what they are ;)

This  morning found me up an hour early and my day seems off to a great start. While getting caught up with some emails I stumbled across a great little contest I though I wold share.

Organize 1 2 3 is offering a back to school contest giving away their books:

Three Steps to Decluttering
Three Steps to Organizing Your Child’s Room
Three Steps to Organizing Your Kitchen
Three Steps to Planning Dinner (ebook)
Hassle Free Dinners (ebook)

Click Here to enter

While you are there check out the HouseHold Helpers Guide to Time Management for moms.

My question was ” What meal ideas do you have for those days when you get the kids home at 5:30 and have to be at the Soccer practice by six !”

Of course this is because I am now dealing with this issue every Tuesday and cheese sticks and cold meat just aren’t doing it for the kids anymore !

If you have some quick on the go healthy meal ideas for my Soccer Mom delima please do comment !

Here is the cause of my Tuesday Dinner concerns:

You can earn up to eleven entries.

Tell us what you served for dinner for one entry.

Download the free trial version of the Home cooking software and tell us what you like about the software for five entries.

Post our contest and a link to our sponsor on your blog for another five entries. (Be sure to post your link in the MR Linky below after you post on your blog :)

Download your Free Trial

“Recipe software should be easy to use, accomplish the tasks you need most, and not be complicated with rarely used features. Home Cooking Menu Planning software have over 15 years experience developing recipe programs, and has listened to the suggestions of thousands of users.

I have been busy using this software customizing it for my family’s meal planning and grocery lists.

I have paired up with three other moms and started an overnight babysitting exchange . Here’s how it works; one weekend each month I host a sleep over for all three families (8 children). This evening usually consists of playing a game, followed by movies and a sleep out on the living room floor in sleeping bags. The following morning I pull out my waffle makers and the children feast on waffles and oranges.

Each mother hosts a pajama party at her home as well. Leaving me with two glorious evenings to clean, blog, even sleep. One of the mothers uses her evening to have date nights with her husband and the other to work on school assignments.

So how do you start a babysitting exchange ? Start by determining your needs. An exchange will work best if you can find families needing the same type of help you need. When each family has different needs (over night versus Saturday mornings) the exchage can become complicated. Begin asking around to friends, moms at different events to see who all might be interested in starting a childcare exchange network with the same requirement as you.

Planning a weekend away with your partner or husband ? Look for a family who may also like to consider a weekend away. If you don’t have friends you know well enough for an over night exchange, consider short term babysitting swaps or groups.

I have an exchange with another mother who like me needs to attend her children’s school PAC meeting each month. My meeting is the first  of each month hers is the second Tuesday. This exchange works great 10 swaps a year all pre-booked. We drop our children with their pajama’s and tooth brushes and pick them up ready for bed.

The Baby sitter exchange offers a venue for meeting other parents looking for childcare exchanges. Be sure to require EACH adult over the age of 16 in each home to have a criminal record check performed. GreatAuPair.com offers Criminal record checks for all of the USA and Canada.

Meet with all the parents ahead of time to discuss, agree upon and write down what each parents responsibilities will be. Be sure to provide information to each parent regarding your children’s likes, dislikes, important medical information, and a secondary emergency contact. Medical release forms should be provided to each member of your exchange.

Utilizing a childcare exchange may help you free up some time in your busy life to care for yourself or catch up on your to do list. You may be surprised how many people are open to the idea of exchanging childcare once you start asking around.

Let me know what sort of childcare exchanges are working for your family.