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Why is it that we moms put ourselves last? I am including myself in this category. Whether it’s about our health, careers, friendships – we put kids, errands, even laundry ahead of taking a moment to breathe and focus on ourselves.  Yes, even laundry! Makes me feel like that proverbial hamster on a wheel.

When I had my first son, Jonah, my mom came to stay with us, which was a godsend. One of the first pieces of advice she shared was to feed yourself first before you feed the baby. You need sustenance, strength, energy, and clarity before you can offer it to anyone else. Common sense, but I needed this pointed out to me.

I followed her advice during this phase and promptly set it aside, jumped on the hamster wheel, and here we are today. I know it’s not just me. I see it in my circle of friends and now in my work with the many talented women I meet. Women who took a career break to nurture others – their children, their aging parents, their spouses etc. The thought of nurturing yourself and your dreams is put on the back burner. Until one day, when you set that intention to make a change and take one small step.  This could mean signing up for a yoga class or having a coffee date with a friend every Friday, or even scheduling 30 minutes with yourself to read. When it comes to your career, for many in our community, the one small step was coming to a Vermilion event or telling a friend that they want to get back to a career.

So, bringing this full circle for you and the next chapter of your career. What do you want in the next chapter of your career? Is it re-entering the paid workforce? Is it starting a business? Or perhaps, making a career change. Have you given it some thought and attention? And what have you one to achieve this goal?

As I tell my kids, you don’t have to have all the answers. But, it all starts with curiosity and setting an intention for yourself. Next? Surround yourself will people that will support your goals. Finally, take one small step, learn from it, and repeat.

Wherever you are in your journey, from just thinking about what to do, to career discovery or conducting an active job search – join us at the Art of Career Re-Entry Conference on March 29. We have designed a day of inspiration AND action just for you. Need more motivation? See all details here.

Remember, no one can do this for you, but you. I think it’s time to set the hamster free.

RSVP Here & Use this Special PROMO CODE to save 50% off: https://bit.ly/2IGvNkY

​Anju Kurian is a Westchester resident, former stay at home mom, and social entrepreneur. She, along with Anne-Barbara Lemmens co-founded Vermilion Talent based on their experiences in re-entering the workforce after a career break. Vermilion leads women to the next chapter of their career with confidence, inspiration, and happiness. Vermilion offers compelling content, coaching, community, and connections with companies.

Visit us at www.vermiliontalent.com
Curious about how we do what we do? Watch our video!

Spring is upon us and the spring cleaning itch may be as well. Here are 5 ways to get your home organized, looking great and clutter free! 

Donating your gently used items benefits everyone. First, your used, or in some cases unused, clothing and other household items can make a real difference to someone less fortunate. Second, you help the environment by diverting your things away from the landfill. Third, donations are tax deductible. 

Family Services of Westchester makes donating your stuff easy. Donate children’s clothing to The Sharing Shelf, who will ensure it is given to local families in need. Specifically, they collect and distribute new and gently used clothing in sizes from newborn through XXL, for children and teens from infancy through age 19. They also accept  gently worn or new shoes, strollers, pack-n-plays and new school supplies. Donate at 47 Purdy Avenue, Port Chester (near Costco and the Port Chester movie theater) or for more information contact Deborah Blatt, Program Coordinator at 914-305-5950 or email [email protected].

Big Brothers Big Sisters in Westchester accepts all kinds of donations- everything from clothes to toys, strollers to furniture. Check out their full list of acceptable items. You can schedule a pick up with just a few days notice online (even from your phone, that is how I did it!) or you can drop off at one of many convenient Westchester County locations. See the details or schedule a pick here. No need to be home for the pickup.

Another idea is to donate used American Girl Dolls to GirlAGain, a local non-profit organization dedicated to developing job skills for young women with autism. They accept donations of good condition American Girl brand (and Pleasant Company) dolls, doll clothing, furniture, accessories and books. Bring or mail to GirlAGain, 4 Martine Ave, White Plains, NY 10606. For more information visit their website.

Another way to free up some much needed space in your home is to resell or recycle items you no longer need through consignment. This can earn you a little bit of cash, while making them available at a bargain to someone who wants them. 

The Be Green Consignment Sale
Dates TBD
Purchase College Athletic Facility, 735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase, NY
Sign up to consign your items as part of the annual spring Westchester Be Green Consignment Sale. They accept clothing, sports equipment, baby & toddler equipment, toys and more. Register in advance on their website.

​Once Upon A Child, 2 Convenient Locations
Scarsdale - 455 Central Park Ave, Scarsdale, NY, phone: 914-874-5535
Somers - 80 Route 6, Baldwin Place, NY, phone: 914-621-0003
Once Upon A Child is a wonderful consignment store. Each site is individually owned and operated. The concept of the store is that each location buys and sells gently used children’s items including clothes, shoes, toys and more. All locations feature unique items sold in their surrounding neighborhoods. From strollers to baby carriers these stores have so much individuality to offer.

The Preppy Turtle 
2 Depot Plaza Suite, Bedford Hills, NY , phone: 914-666-8500
The Preppy Turtle is a consignment boutique that serves the needs of women and children looking for clothing at bargain prices. The Preppy Turtle buys and sells clothing, shoes and handbags, as well as toys, books, and gift items for infants to teens. Toys, books, gift items, and certain non-seasonal clothing are accepted year round. The Preppy Turtle features a mix of new and barely used items. If you are interested in donating clothing items make sure to check out their Consignment Calendar on the Homepage as they only season items during a specific date range.

Image Source: LED World

​Organizing can be a great way to clean up your home without purging. You can check out Real Simple or Pinterest for great organization ideas or you may want to consider bringing in some help.

If you would like to hire an expert, check out Let's Sort It Out, who can transform your home into a more functional, relaxed, organized space. You can also find a number of other local organizers in our Directory in the "Organizing and Interior Design" sub-category. 

If you are looking for a total playroom makeover, check out Learnique's Design-to-Learn service. They can help you to create livable, learnable spaces for your family at home. Design-to-Learn combines interior design principles and organizational systems with a full understanding of child development. The results are learning spaces uniquely inspired and fun for the whole family. 

Okay, so this one sounds pretty obvious. But a little elbow grease and some clorox can go a big way. Cleaning encompasses a lot of things, everything from standard house cleaning, to season carpet or furniture steam cleaning, outdoor power washing, window cleaning, car washing & detailing and more.

If you're not up for doing all of this work yourself, check out some of the local services in our Directory in the "Cleaning" sub-category or Submit a Request. Hint: when submitting a request, try putting in your budget and desired date to find available local businesses who can work within your timing and budget. Goodbye cobwebs, crumbs and stains! 

Let's face it, sometimes things are just junk. Broken, torn or simply worn out. If that is the case and you have something big you want disposed of you may need some help. If you want to hire someone, there are plenty of handymen and junk removal companies in our Directory in the "Moving" or "Contracting, Renovation, Home Repair" sub-categories. Or of course, Submit a Request. Sure beats carrying it all yourself!

Wishing all of our readers a happy spring! 

​Perhaps one of the biggest misconceptions about STEM is that it is too challenging, or too hard to break into -- that getting your kids involved requires buying a big, expensive 3D printer or having the background to give them an advanced understanding of artificial intelligence or machine learning. Actually, such thinking couldn’t be further from the truth!
 
Here are a few ways you can spark your child’s interest in STEM at home, along with some tips on how to take those interests to the next level!
 
Get Started with Online Courses
If your child would prefer to learn to code, use Photoshop, or build a website from the comfort of home, there are a variety of fun and effective online STEM learning platforms. Get started with the free Code.org tutorials! Code.org features fun, valuable tutorials across a number of topics and activities. CodeAcademy, Khan Academy, and Scratch all provide excellent online learning options as well.
 
Create Excitement Close to Home
Getting kids involved in STEM could be as easy as heading down to your local library or museum, or participating in STEM activities and programs those organizations are offering. Find a STEM museum near you!
 
Maker Faires serve as collaborative showcases for passionate creators of all ages. Find a Maker Faire near you and ignite your child’s imagination. They’ll discover one-of-a-kind tech inventions and interact with talented, inspirational innovators.

Have Fun and Learn with STEM Toys
These toys aren’t just fun -- they also provide hours of STEM educational value!
 
Cozmo is your child’s AI companion with a mind of its own! Cozmo relies on your child to keep it going by feeding its basic needs through maintenance, care, and play! The bot progresses with each interaction. What makes this even greater for STEM learning is that Cozmo maker, Anki, has also released a new Code Lab, giving kids access to Cozmo’s core functionality, which can be controlled through visual programming or Python for more advanced learners.
 
Another excellent STEM toy option is littleBits, offering easy-to-use electronic building blocks that teach children the basics of electrical engineering! If your kids like Star Wars, check out the littleBits Droid Inventors Kit, which allows students to learn circuitry and motors to power their very own Star Wars droid.
 
If that sparks an interest, check out iD Tech summer courses featuring Cozmo - Code-a-Bot: AI and Robotics with Your Own Cozmo - and littleBits--CreationLab: Inventing and Coding with littleBits.

Become the Student
If you give your kids the chance to teach or talk to you about what they’re learning, the odds of them wanting to learn more and retaining what they learn increase. You don’t have to leave the house to spark or enhance STEM learning, and you don’t need anything “extra” here -- simply have a conversation based on the things they are already doing. Add these tips to those above:

• When you give your child STEM toys to play with, play alongside them. Ask questions!
• If your child is working through online tutorials, hold them accountable for the time they’re spending and ask for updates, progress reports, and more.
• And of course, video games can be mindless at times, but with some conversation and questions, they can be the valuable tools you read about previously.

 
This role reversal will encourage kids to take ownership of their learned topics, and empower them as the “expert” who can’t wait to teach mom and dad something new!
 
If you do send them off for a week or two at a STEM camp like iD Tech, fully vest yourself in the experience. Have a conversation about what course they want to attend, and talk about how
learning those skills will better prepare them for school and future careers. Once camp is
over, talk about next steps with your child, and what the next stop along their coding, game
development, robotics, or design pathway might be, and how to best get there.
 
After camp, you can supplement your child’s learning with additional resources, like live, one-on-one college advising sessions with iD Tech instructors (certified by Synocate, a leader in college prep). In these sessions, students can spend an hour (or more) diving deep into high school course recommendations, the college application process, career paths, and more, all with experienced, passionate, tech-savvy iD Tech instructors who have gone through it themselves and are eager to share their knowledge.

More about iD Tech
Exclusive to Westchester NY Moms readers, receive $75 off when you register with code WNYMOMS18 before 5/31/18!
 
Why iD Tech?
iD Tech has been the #1 summer STEM program for 20 years, with 350,000 students passing through their programs.
 
Students ages 7-18 learn to code, design video games, produce videos, mod Minecraft, create with Roblox, engineer robots, model and print 3D characters, work with AI and machine learning, build laptops, learn about cybersecurity, and more!
 
Programs are held at 150+ locations nationwide, with many convenient to Westchester residents, including Manhattanville, Sarah Lawrence, and Fairfield University, and others nearby at NYU, Columbia, NYIT, Marymount Manhattan, and SUNY New Paltz.
 
iD Tech students often go on to launch startups, found nonprofits, and land dream internships and jobs at companies like Facebook and Google. Get inspired by these awesome success stories.
 
Different program options include iD Tech Camps (weeklong, co-ed, 7-17), Alexa Café (weeklong, all-girls, 10-15), and iD Tech Academies (2-week, teen-only, 13-18).
 
Courses sell out quickly, so get started today. Visit the iD Tech website or call (888) 709-8324 for personalized course recommendations.​

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