I am super excited about the extra free resource post this Friday.  It is the very first guest post on this blog and comes from my very favorite person in the world, my wife, Megan.  She has a great write up on iMom, the partner site to All Pro Dad which I reviewed earlier today.  Enjoy her post and please leave a comment telling her how wonderful she is!

When my husband told me about iMom, I was not expecting to be as excited about it as I am.  This website is a great resource for moms.  It has materials to help you be a better wife and mother.  Plus, there are plenty of articles for you to read in your alone time (if you can find any!).

As a mother, teacher, and children’s pastor’s wife, I love the idea of iMom Mornings, in which mothers work with their school to have a monthly breakfast and encouraging talk with their children before class starts.  The materials to start this are cheap (especially if you split it with other moms) and it even equips you with a video to show your school principal.  The mother in me thinks how great it would be to spend such precious moments devoting real breakfast time to my child, instead of a hurried bowl of cereal.  With this, moms commit to spend time talking and eating with their children, their friends, and their friends’ moms.  As a teacher, I think that iMom Mornings would not only be a healthy start to a child’s day, but also an emotionally encouraging one, as they would start the day off feeling happy and loved.   The pastoral side of me sees how important it is to pour love and encouragement into our children.  This is a unique and very special way to do just that.

Their free resources are high-quality and attractive to kids.  Some things are too rigid for my family’s method of parenting, such as “Song Request” forms or “Screen Time Tickets.”  However, I can see where these would be helpful in dealing with children who have issues of watching too much TV or listening to inappropriate music.  The beauty of them, in any case, is that you can take them or leave them.  The resources are there as you choose or need to use them.

The “Build Relationships” section of free resources has fun printables for you and your child:  lunchbox notes, conversation starters if you need help having meaningful conversations, guides for talking through tough issues like bullying, and even an adorable family tree that you can fill out together.  I stress the word “adorable.”  These free resources really are cute.  The look of the Family Fun Time cards alone will make you want to schedule a movie night with your kids.

Another free resource is the Music Monitor.  In a short and easy-to-read-over chart, it lists the week’s top 15 songs and some of their main lyrics.  As the mother, you can pick or choose what you approve of and what you don’t. 

Since my baby is just a baby (well, almost a toddler *sigh*), I don’t have a need for many of these resources quite yet (except the ones that I can use with my husband).  If you’re in that situation, don’t write this off or think that iMom is just for the future.  There are also articles for different stages of motherhood.  They range from “Moms to be” all the way through “Moms of Moms,” when your kids are grown.

The only negative that I see is that their “cute” printable resources are not too friendly on the ink cartridge.  However, spending a little more to print these may be a good investment in your family relationships.  If you stand using your colored ink, put your print settings on grayscale, or take their ideas and make your own cards with a pen and paper (maybe a marker if you’re going for cuteness). 

By the way, this site is run by Lauren Dungy (former teacher and wife of recently retired NFL coach Tony Dungy) and Denise Jonas (yes, as in the mother of the Jonas Brothers).