4 Budget Tips for the New Year!

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Creating a budget and sticking to it is always a major New Year's resolution for business owners. However, we all know that resolutions are hard to keep and can often get broken. Luckily, meeting your money-saving resolution is easier when there's a place you can buy office essentials for just $1.

With a little help from Dollar Tree, here are four ways you can reach your business budgeting goals for 2021.

1. Stay on schedule in 2021! Use calendars and planners to help you get organized and stay on track so you can meet all of your important deadlines. From wall calendars and desktop calendars to pocket calendars, choose the ones that work best for your planning needs. 

2.  No matter what type of business you're in,  personalization is key. Create loyal relationships with your customers or clients by showing small tokens of gratitude and appreciate throughout the year. An easy way to do this is to send personal greeting cards on special occasions. Receiving a hand-written birthday message makes people feel special, and it will definitely make your business stand out. 

3. Did you know that shipping rates are expected to rise this year after the holiday season? You may not be able to avoid this cost, however you can avoid paying too much for your packing supplies. Help offset the cost of high shipping rates by purchasing $1 packing supplies from Dollar Tree .

4. Keeping a clean home office is very important. Cleanliness promotes an organized, clutter-free environment, and can help prevent germs and sick days. Why wait for spring cleaning to roll-around? The start of a new year is a great time to get the office in tip-top shape, and you Don't have to spend a ton to do it! Shop $1 cleaning supplies in bulk at DollarTree.com to last a whole year!

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Happy New Year! 2021!

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It has been one heck of a  year! Between the pandemic, social distancing Amazon, Uber, Groceries and total strangers knocking on your door and a new strain of the COVID-19...I was honestly ready to say good riddance. But I digress. 

I hope that you are mentally strong for what is to come for 2021. We still have to get over 20 million people vaccinated and we have only done about 2 million. Worst yet, I heard it through the grapevine that if we stay at this pace, it will take us another 10 years to get everyone vaccinated....TEN YEARS!!!! 

My hope and prayer is that this nightmare will be over soon because we are tired(at least I am) of all the mess. So many people have been touched by all that has gone on since the pandemic hit our world. I will continue to power on and advocate for my family, my autistic son, my adult daughter and hopefully my sanity. I don't think I have done this much yoga since my son was very little, but am so glad that I re-discovered its benefits to keep me sane, limber and overall relaxed, in the midst of it all. 

Make 2021 a year that you triumph and hit every goal for all your New Year Aspirations. We are all in this together and counting...

Until next time, keep it real and stay positive. 

~Mom Advocate

When is There a Right Time to Stop Accommodating your Special Needs Child?

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Every Year we have to usually get on our local school district to continue to accommodate for our son, especially when he is having a challenging time, whether it is about opening his locker to if the Gen Ed Math teacher is going to fast and he cannot keep up with the middle school pace.  This is a constant theme in all the years that we have been advocating for our autistic son. We understand that school districts are short staffed and/or that he may have had a substitute today for class, but this still does not answer the underlying question of who decides when an autistic or special needs child does not need to be accommodated for anymore? 

We have had a school district psychologist tell us "Well, we want to see what he can do on his own?".  So what you are really saying is, 'well since he doesn't 'look' autistic and seems to be of strong body and can walk on his own, then he'll eventually fall in line.' I can't count how many times we have had to reiterate this point with school staff and our local school district, but it happens time and time again. 

As your child's advocate it is of utmost importance that you make sure your child gets the support he needs NO matter what. By law, it is in the school district's best interest to support your child with all of the resources available to him. Some school districts are aware of what they provide, but may not even mention this to you, so in this particular case, ask them and they should be able to furnish for you all the types of accommodations that do indeed exist. 

In my personal experience, while speaking to a former educator, who is now retired, we were able to acquire a list of special needs accommodations that our local school district had in their possession and unfortunately in this former educator's 20+ year career she had never seen this list. So if you never ask about specifics, then you will never know.  It also depends on the amount of staff they have available to support your child, if there are funds available, if the para-educator involved with your child's academic needs has the training/experience and the list goes on.  

The bottom line is that you, as your child's advocate and parent decide when it is time for accommodations to stop, decrease and/or increase for that matter. Ask lots of questions at the annual IEP meetings or whenever, you have that right as your child's parent to do so. If there is a teacher or therapist insisting upon doing away with any accommodation in particular ask him/her to provide you with a progress report showing how your child improved, when they improved and why they feel your child no longer needs a particular accommodation. If they are unable to provide valid progress or proof that your child is improving then ask for a progress report. This all depends also on the time of year the IEP meeting has taken place. If at the beginning of the year, the progress report can most certainly be attained; whereas if at the end of the year, it will most likely have to be addressed the following year. 


Keep Advocating and do what is right for you child so that he or she can succeed and live life successfully, to the best of his/her ability and with the right resources. 

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WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Mandu Usoro, US Army Veteran, Experienced Homeschooler, Parent Advocate and  founder of Homeschool Special Needs Tidbits, a website/weblog about homeschooling, public school education,  special needs children, personal resources, and articles about educating special needs children and the tools needed for success.

Give to Those In Need During this Time in Christmas 2020

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** This post also contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links

              Give to Those in Need! Shop $1 Care Package Supplies at Dollar Tree!

Good Afternoon, 

How are you doing this rainy afternoon? (or whatever the weather is like in your neck of the woods). Christmas time and the holiday season should be a time to spend with family and friends, but this time is different. 

There are many people in the world that are hurting right now, especially with all of the losses that businesses are going through right now. If you can give what you can from your pantry, closet or heart please do. Every year our family makes it a point to give to the homeless shelters and food pantries in our area because we all know that tomorrow is not promised. 

Covid-19 and the year 2020 is one that our family will never forget. Our now adult daughter missed out on a lot of firsts as the graduating class of 2020 but in the end she is able to be flexible with change and use this time to reflect and look towards the future as we all should. While our youngest missed out as well by not being able to graduate with his 8th grade class and/or be able to step inside his high school building, as he and my daughter are all in remote learning since March of this year. This is is not going to be forever, but we should definitely do our part to keep each other safe and alive. 

Have a great rest of the week and stay safe!

By Mom Advocate

When You Just Want to Give In and Say Enough is Enough.....

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"Being the mother and parent of a special needs child is NOT easy, but I know in my heart that I am doing God's Work. The only thing that I need to do as my son's mother and parent is be the best advocate I can be, To make sure that when I lay down my head for the last time I will know that I have done all that I can to make sure he can take care of himself. Other parents with atypical parents have NO idea what a typical day, month, year can be like for parents of special needs children. We are tough and do what needs to be done. " 

By Mom Advocate

We Are in a Lockdown for 4 Weeks....****SIGH***

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This past weekend our governor pretty much "shut most everything down" with some new restrictions because of COVID-19. These are his most hardcore restrictions yet. Unfortunately for us, in our state, the numbers are increasing sharply and are not going down. So we are going to be shut in for awhile. Now what can we do to keep ourselves sane during lock down?

Some things that come to mind are:

1.  Watching A Movie

2. Take a Nap

3. Exercise

4. Play a Game

And last but certainly not least we can, 

5. Read a Book

Have an awesome day today and stay safe out there. Practice safe social distancing and please wear a mask. 

By MomAdvocate

Veteran's Day 2020

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"Happy Veteran's Day to my fellow soldiers who are still serving our country and for those who have fallen for freedom. I am a woman & a US Army Veteran and I am thankful that I am able to live in a nation that embraces our freedom to think and vote for ourselves. Everyone deserves a life where they no longer have to worry about their loved one's safety or life each time they walk out the door. Let Freedom Ring".

By MomAdvocate