Why Every Mom Needs A Chocolate Stash & Giveaway
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Last week my friend and I texted each other about our day ahead. And each of us had a bit of a crazy haul for the day. Just life with kids. Schedules. Work. So our conversation turned towards chocolate. I thought about it and I believe this is why every mom needs a chocolate stash.
For the morning you crawl out of bed later than intended because you were up all night with a sick child. You ask for just a few moments to take a quick shower before making breakfast and the other kids seem ok with that. But you weren’t as quick as you meant to be and they made breakfast for themselves.
Consisting of pepperoni and red velvet cupcakes. You only pray they didn’t eat them together.
For those moments when you just finished cleaning up the breakfast dishes, hand your son his lunch and he asks:
What’s for dinner?
For that day when you wait in the drop off line, only to wait in the doctor’s office, and then wait after the ball game. Finally you tuck your daughter into bed late due to all the extenuating circumstances of the day and as you reach the door of her bedroom, you hear…
Mom? Wait, I forgot to do my homework.
For that time the babysitter calls and, after apologizing to you for the scare, asks where to push the button for the garbage disposal. At which time, you reply:
What garbage disposal?
For the moment you hear a yell from downstairs and practically fly down the steps to discover the problem. A tiny toddler is covered in chocolate pudding and you breathe a sigh of relief to see no blood. Only to pause for a moment to take in the stench and realize…
That’s not chocolate pudding.
Yes, every mom needs a private chocolate stash.
And in my opinion, every mom could also use this awesome book:
Saying Goodbye to Survival Mode by Crystal Paine
My quick overview of this book?
“Crystal Paine writes from her heart and soul, yet makes life doable in the modern age.I love the organizational ideas and time management tips in this book, as well as the occasional inspirational chat. Balancing discipline and grace can be accomplished and Crystal provides guides with flexibility points. As a wife, mom to 7 and woman of many hats, I highly recommend this book to anyone who needs to simplify and manage life.”
If you’d like to find out more on the book, you can check it out right here on Amazon.
And if you’d like to help someone with their chocolate stash, you can do that here. Or here. (A girl needs options, right?)
Alright, it’s Whimsical Wednesday and all our fine blogging friends are coming by to link up so we can share each other’s encouraging posts. I’m so grateful for their awesome writing skills and appreciate the beautiful community we join in together here!
Before you check out the link up party, be sure to leave a comment and answer:
In what “Mom moment” could you have used a private chocolate stash?
I’ll randomly choose one comment to send a little private stash. Giveaway ends 12am, 1/24/14. No comments after that time will be considered as entries.
See you tomorrow!
Rachel
This God—his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true;he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. Psalm 18:30
Disclosure: Site may be compensated if purchase is made. Post includes affiliate links. All opinions are my own. See full disclosure here.
I needed an emergency chocolate stash the day I had been on bedrest for several weeks already, with at least 10 to go, and our 16 month old climbed out of her crib and broke her arm which brought about a ER trip, which later brought about an emergency trip to the midwife. Thankful for an amazing husband and an awesome God, cuz we got through it all, with or without chocolate! 🙂
I definitely could have used some this morning. Testerone clashed in my house and the simple bowl I wanted my son to clean up escalated to a half gallon bottle of milk shattered all over my fridge and floor, with towels containing glass shards in my hamper and bathroom moments before both males left. I had to scrub both floors, do extra laundry, move the fridge, and oh, yeah, clean up that bowl that was forgotten anyway. I may have finished off the last handful of chocolate chips already… Going to check out the book now.
When my daughter got into my makeup and had it all over her, the floor, and her baby doll .. 🙂
I just scrounged around my house for chocolate and found peanut butter cups so old, the wrappers wouldn’t come completely off…. inedible fail. I would love a chocolate stash for the upcoming move, months away from my husband while he attends school for the military, mothering a toddler, and being too far from family to enjoy the free babysitting. Regardless of chocolate stash or not, I’m thankful for loving neighbors that have become like family, God whose “stash” never fails or runs out, and the help of friends and family as we have to move our small family across the country in June!
I have an old rabbit Milky Way I found in July under the couch (from last Easter). I keep saving it for a desperate moment. 😉
Ooh…chocolate counts as a love language, right? Thanks for the giveaway!
I, my husband, and my 4 children, (ages 6, 3, 2 and 7 months) are currently on round 5 of the flu just for this season…..the only logical thing to me right now is a chocolate stash. Well…..the only thing more logical would be coffee and a chocolate stash. A.K.A “Mommy’s survival fuel”…the countless loads of laundry sitting there glaring at, me waiting to be washed; the “everything we own” waiting to be disinfected…..yep…..I do believe a chocolate stash would help sweeten things up a little and take these body aches away.
I would LOVE a chocolate stash! Thanks for the giveaway and consideration
Chocolate stash!!! Oh boy could I use that!! For the long days at work and the long sleepless nights. Guess it’s the age I don’t know!! (Or maybe it’s menopause). Can’t sleep anymore!! And when I do fall to sleep; here come the small feet of my precious little grandson calling “nana”!!! Putting his little arms around my neck saying “my nana”!!! Just melts my heart! Who needs sleep anyway? Yes I do believe I’ll take the chocolate stash!! :)) And I’m always looking for a good book to read.
Reading all these comments leaves me feeling like part of the “club”…Big snowstorm, lots of shoveling; no nurse for my grandson, Andrew, 6, for overnight; other grandson, Shamus, 2, is sick with a faced and stomach bug; daughter and single mom getting sick…what’s a mom/Mimi to do? Sleep over and try my best to take care of everybody…no chocolate stash here so hot cocoa will have to do! Praising the Lord today for these blessings and the gift of motherhood and grandmotherhood! And the gift of His Presence! to sit here now after rocking the little one to sleep, and sip my cocoa before I head down to the laundry thanking Him for His strength and chocolate! God bless you all!
Amen, Friend.
One of my “I need chocolate moments” occurred while I was in my bedroom cleaning when my ten year old son came bursting in saying, “Mom, Mom, you’ve got to come out to the laundry room and see this cool dog I just found!” I hurried to the laundry room just in time to see a large dog polishing off the crumbs of a bag of Purina dog chow. To make a long story short we ended up adopting the dog, a Chow-Golden Retriever mix,
who was quite a character. But I wish someone had been in my bedroom with a camera to get a shot of my face when I heard the words “cool dog I just found”. I definitely needed to sit down with a cup of coffee and a good chocolate candy bar!
With a 4 year old and 2.5. Year old I have daily “I need chocolate” moments 🙂 One of the most recent instances was when they put playdough in the bath tub and turned on water creating very goopy, messy playdough. They heard me coming upstairs to check on them after I finished the dishes and they ran out of the bathroom which left green footprints and handprints down the halls to their rooms 🙂
My most memorable chocolate moment was right after we came home with our fourth child, our third child had just turned one and our second was three. We had recently moved/renovated an old house and hadn’t put child locks on the kitchen cabinets. While hubby was at the store (calling home every 5 min), I was feeding the baby when I noticed how quiet it was. I walked into the kitchen and found the one yr old sitting in a pool of vegetable oil from the deep fryer I had stored in the bottom cabinet. Between caring for the baby, cleaning him and the floor up, and virtual grocery shopping, I wanted to cry. Another time he and our second child decided to play with the sugar and poured it all over their bedroom carpet and in their toy box.
We have been blessed with five children and he is now 10, I couldn’t have asked for a more fulfilling job than that of a mother and homemaker. It will be worth it all someday!
Yesterday I came home with my kids…. I had just picked them up from school. My youngest daughter is in 2nd grade. She usually has a math homework sheet but tonight her teacher gave them an assignment where we had to create 10 substraction math problems where you have to borrow twice. This was an opitional assignment that would have earned her some extra points. I talked her into the homework so she would have practice. So after I sit down and create 11 problems, one more by accident on my point because I miscounted. After she started on the first problem she told me I did it wrong, that I she is only suppose to borrow once. Which sets her in total meltdown mode and the crying begins. So after we argue, yes I said argue, I help her redo the problems so she only has to borrow once not twice. Then when she starts with these new problems (at this time I crumble up the 11 problems and I throw it away) she realizes that the first time we created the problems was correct and that was the actual way she was suppose to do it, remember she is hysterically crying. So we go to the garbage to pull out the original 11 problems we created and she starts to work those problems still crying and while she is still crying trying to work on this assignment she is dropping tears all over her assignment so she has to stop and let the paper dry. After the paper dries she finishes the assignment still crying because we created an extra math problem. I know you are probably thinking this lasted like 10 or 25 minutes or so but this argument with her lasted over 2 and a half hours. When it was done I tucked her in bed where dhe cried some more. At this point I could have used a chocolate stash.
oh Ashley! I want to cry for you. We’ve had our share of homework issues over the years. 🙂
I have that chocolate stash (which definitely needs replenishing) every time I have to deal with my ex…he’s taking me to court, again…I could go on. And then the days that my son is at his dad’s house and not home with me. I need chocolate then, too.
In need of a chocolate stash to help the stresses of Potty Training! We just started this week, when our toddler decided he was ready. The same day our 10 month has started walking. Making dinner has just become an olympic sport! Mad dash between stove, potty and grabbing baby from wherever he can get while I am helping toddler or working on dinner.
I love this new stage in my life, but I think I am burning enough calories for a little extra chocolate in my life!
Lets just do chocolate for dinner!
Right now I need a private chocolate stash for those night where the 8 month old wakes up crying and is inconsolable. All I can do it hold him and try to comfort him and with those teeth come through NOW! What is sleep, anyway? Or when my daughter gives herself “zebra stripes”. At least those are good for a chuckle.
Making sure all the kids rides were completely organized. All set. Everyone knew their role and location. I came home, started dinner…forgot my son. Grrrr. Late dinner and unhappy boy.
I can think back to the times when my three children seemed to be ravenous animals! LOL It was then that I could have used a private stash of chocolate – enough to pitch towards them to distract the little darlings and enough left to enjoy for myself. Sharing chocolate seems to be the only way to really savor it!
Jeremiah 15:16 Comes to mind. “Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts.”
Every momma needs chocolate! I remember my own mom counting out 5 Hershey kisses each night. I’m sure it was her way to unwind after herding five kids around all day. I also love chocolate and can remember many funny stories when my boys were growing up. Now that chocolate moment comes when one of my grown sons comes to me for advice or because they need a hug. You never stop needing your momma and I have learned this lesson from my own mom and as a mom myself. Be blessed, love well and delight in every moment!
It was a sticky summer day some years ago, and we were at my folks for a gathering with my 5 siblings and their families. Rach was walking outside (we just need to check on her once in a while). Well when I did, I nearly lost my lunch. Rachel was sitting in Mom and Dad’s garage covered from head to toe in grease and her excrement, happy as a lark of course.
I needed chocolate then…badly!
Loved the post 🙂 I dive into my chocolate stash when I realize that our house now consists of four pre-teen/teenage daughters. Life is crazy, busy, chaotic, messy and downright unpredictable. And I love it..though having chocolate on hand is always a good idea for those moments I forget that I love this life. Blessings to you Rachel!
Oh what a wonderful post! I could relate so well to so many of these. I’m sure other moms did, too! Our children really do help us build our patience and character! Now that my 13-year-old has started her period, I have another chocolate lover in the house so there’s always at least a bag of chocolate chips in the fridge.
I’m not a mom & I’m not married, but even us single girls need a chocolate stash. I take care of my grandmother so for me it’s those days where I am “fixing” the TV every time she wants to change the channel but she can’t remember how to work the remote. Or those days when she has a doctor’s appointment and insists that she needs a wheel chair even when she is perfectly capable of walking. Or the days when she decides to help out by cleaning the kitchen and leaves it in a bigger mess than it was in because she got tired in the middle of it. Or when she thinks that I need to drop everything and come running just because she doesn’t want to get out of bed and wants to tell me something. (If it is urgent, it’s not a big deal, but most of the time it is stuff that can wait.) Or those days where she is so confused that I look at her and just want to cry.
Oh Girl! Prayers for your grandma- such a stage of life. And prayers for you too! For grace and mercy and your chocolate stash to be aplenty.
Just the other week, my son spilled his drink all over his library book. Then my cat decided to vomit right beside the mess! Ack, those stinkin’ hairballs! Thanks for the giveaway!
I could have used a chocolate stash for when I would have to hold my daughter’s hand in order for her to fall asleep at night. I would lay on the floor and stick my hand through the slats in her crib, and then I would end up falling asleep and wake up 3 hours later and have to get myself ready for bed!
My son was grocery shopping with me and I was reading the back of a yogurt container when I heard laughter from behind me…lots of people laughing. My son had taken off his shirt and was making funny faces and rubbing his chest…he had a crowd of people watching him. I needed chocolate…I needed a stash right then!
When your four-year-old wakes up in a never-happens good mood….only for it to be squashed by the fact that his red pants are dirty and he can’t wear them. Or any other not-his-idea thing that happens in the morning.
My four year old refusing to potty train, and had eight “accidents” in one day on the floor, and me telling him “when we make messes, we clean up our messes” and he is screaming, and I am spraying the disinfectant on the messes and handing him paper towels, and he is NOT wanting to clean up the messes, and my dryer is not really working and making a huge racket……me with extra laundry, and I am supposed to be making dinner…..and the three year old is making his own mess and I know this because he is way too quiet…..
I could do with a stash every night when I get them into bed. As a homeschooling mom, some days are really long.
When my son comes home from school with an attitude and it’s only been 2 seconds since he walked in the door that I hear screaming from both him and his sister. {chocolate.needed}
I could use a chocolate stash when my girls are constantly fighting, the dog has peed on the rug and my son just sits there, and especially when that beautiful attitude and eye rolling my tween son has learned comes out whenever asked to do something.
I know that when children are very quiet–too quiet, you should CHECK on them. But one morning I embraced the quiet, ignored the warnings in my head, and enjoyed my 10 minutes alone putting on my makeup, getting ready for church. Once my face was on, I proceeded to my son’s room to “check” on the unusually quiet baby. Sleep hadn’t overcome him. He was fully awake. I walked in to find that he too had been putting on his makeup. He had found an old lip-stick that I (during a brainless mommy moment) had given my 3 year old daughter. (A-hem…) Chocolate please. Lipstick all over his face, cute little sailors outfit (he was dressed for church) and white socks and shoes. That was 20 years ago. He and his sister did survive despite my bad mommy days. Even though they have flown out of the nest, his brother is 16 going on 30. Need I say more? Blessings to you Rachel! Thank you for all you do, all the encouragement and ministry, and the link-party. I’ll link your blog back to mine. Happy Wednesday!
I could have used a chocolate stash when we had to completely remove the toilet from our house to remove the tooth brushes our son flushed. And again, when we had to remove it the second time for the same reason. Oh, and again when we realized those might not have been the only times he experimented with our toothbrushes in the toilet.
oh Lori!! I don’t have an emoticon for my face right now. Bless you!
When I realize I’ve taken on too much and am losing myself in what I do…prayer and a chocolate stash are the solutions!
I am thankful for the kids though(I don’t want to seem complaining).. God has given me the greatest gift of my kids….and the love of chocolate and coffee to help me get through it all! I appreciate your website and the many times your words have encouraged/helped me. I do not have friends –so, websites like yours are a blessing. thx
oh Su! There’s a bit of freedom when Moms are vulnerable enough to say, “Yep, we have those days too!” Love my family like no other and wouldn’t change a thing for the world. Betting you do too! But God gives us grace and yes- chocolate and coffee are gifts from Him too! 🙂
Thank you! :0)
Boy, you have got that finish one meal what’s the next one down! That’s exactly what goes on in my house. It’s kind of like the spilled whatever on the just barely dry from cleaning it floor. Yup. thx
I could use a chocolate stash right now as I try to fall back asleep after getting up to change my 3 year old’s wet underwear at 2 in the morning. He was doing so well with no Pull Ups! Just need some chocolate and some patience now (:
I run my own home daycare on top of homeschooling and keeping up with my house. So I could definitely use a chocolate “getaway” on days when I jump out of bed late and have to start the day without time to myself or even much time to get into the Word, no long showers or much time to wake up. When one child is throwing up, the other has explosive diarrhea, the other is cutting his sisters hair off and one child is hitting another. On days when I have to leave immediately from my house as soon as my daycare kids leave to get to a church event or practice with my 5 year old son somewhere, and I haven’t really had time to clean myself up and dinner isn’t made and on the table waiting for my husband….days when I am so worn out that I can barely keep my eyes open by the end of the day…. I love my life and am so thankful for what God has blessed me with, but it can be exhausting and wearying many days!! 🙂
Days like today: one dog barfs, the other pees a lake on the floor, kids blank stare instead of helping and then move at a snail’s pace to get towels, homeschool doesn’t go quite as it should to start, I feel unglued because of current circumstances and trying to make those work, and I wasn’t even in to my 2nd cup of coffee (though I’m thankful I choked one down)…..all in the first 20 minutes of my day. Thankful for good music, good friends, and a great God to get me through on days like today
Amen!
How every time that I lay the sleeping baby down to get some work.done, my 3 year old wants to play with him? Or during the 20 min melt down my almost 6 year old has because his brother spilled his milk and he doesn’t care that his brother apologized, cleaned it up, and even offered to get new milk for him. Yup, chocolate stash in the laundry room.
I just want to add that I feel like I’m complaining about my kids but they are truly fantastic boys and I’m so blessed by them (almost) every day. But there are certainly moments that I need to just walk away from to calm down and regroup 🙂
Oh girl! It’s a safe place to “complain.” We all get it. I love my kids to the moon and back. But those mommy moments require extra grace. And chocolate. 😉
Thanks so much for giving me a secret chocolate stash last week!! And I can’t wait to read the book. I’ve needed a chocolate stash for those times when I think I can’t muster up the strength to make one more sandwich, or do another load of clothes, or break up another argument!!
The book is so very helpful. Really provides focus for the many hats women wear. You know I can’t say enough about it- and I don’t say that about every book I read . 😉