Last two years, my eldest daughter gave me a watch as my birthday gift. It is so precious to me that I wear it every time I go out of the house. That was the first watch she gave me. Well, the only one too. So, I really take good care of it.

As time goes by, scratches and marks become more and more obvious. That is okay with me, I still use it since it is still giving me the right time. The only problem is the watch band. It’s supposedly two tone steel. Of course it is still that way. But it breaks off and I could not wear it.

I feel like I should not tell my daughter about it. She might think that I did not take good care of it. But, I can’t help myself from worrying that soon she will find out that I am not longer using it. I should look for Replacement Watch Bands immediately. I found one on the web that looks exactly like mine. I’d better hurry. Sadly I have no means of paying online.

I am left with no choice but to be honest with her. Good thing she never gets mad. She even told me that she will replace my watch with a new one on my birthday. That is much more interesting. I will not expect. Hopefully she does.

I’m sure all moms like me well agree that we live in such a very hectic and stressful lives that the only moments we get entirely to ourselves are while we sleep – or so we might think. As it happens, we often take most of our worries and problems to bed, which prevents us from getting a restful night slumber. This, in turn, means that our health is suffering from the lack of rest but, happily, there are a couple of housewife tricks that should work wonders for us and, at the same time, help us wake up in the morning feeling refreshed.

• Having routine, this must be the one of the oldest rules in the book that have its benefits, at least in what regards our sleeping habits. Keeping late hours and a hectic schedule may sound like a lot of fun when we’re still young, but by the time we reach our early ’30, we all feel as if this simply does not cut it anymore and we’re constantly tired. To avoid this from happening, it’s best if we kept regular hours, both for bedtime and for waking up in the morning, with an 8-hour interval dedicated solely to sleep.
• Eliminating stress from our life is yet another housewife trick that can’t but come in handy. It may sound like an impossible feat to achieve, but the least we can do is to “program” our mind to think of work or other problems we may have as little as possible before going to bed. This is why the bedroom should be a place where we only sleep – no computer, no TV, and definitely no paperwork. If a good book does not work with taking our mind off daily problems, a glass of warm milk might.
• Cutting down on caffeine, this is the purpose of eliminating stress. While few are those who can still function throughout the day without it, it’s highly recommended that no caffeine drinks be consumed after lunch. This means not only coffee, but also carbonated soft drinks, all of which should be avoided lest they make us agitated and hyper-active. However, if for one reason or another we simply can’t help ourselves, then a walk a couple of hours before bedtime should be more than enough to drain us of energy and prepare our body for a resting sleep.

Time runs so fast these days. It’s just yesterday that I finally breathe fresh air thinking that summer break will give me space from all the school expenses. But, again I have to prepare again since enrolment is coming. By the end of May, three of my kids will go back to school once again. This means new books, notebooks, pack bags, uniforms, tuition fees, shoes and the list goes on. I am just lucky that two of my children finished already, three are left. That will be a month from now, but it feels like tomorrow. I guess I just have to stretch the days for me.