So much of motherhood is stressful. The baby pooped right as you were ready to head out the door, you forgot to pick up diapers and now your kid is sitting in a roll of paper towels while you run to the store. You snap at your partner because he decided the five minutes before dinnertime was the perfect time for him to veg out on the couch watching SportsCenter (YoungDaddy, I’m talking to you.)
It is precisely when you seem to be having one too many of these days in a row …

I don’t know what it is, but a good foot rub can almost be as good as an orgasm. (I said, almost.)
Afterward you have that same light, tingly sensation flowing throughout your lower half and that inexplicable, “Honey, can I make you some breakfast?” desire. Whenever my husband would give me a footrub (and damnit, I don’t know why those offers only come once every five years), I would be floating around as light as a ballerina for the next day or so.
You figure, you’re on your feet so much as a …

Welcome to the Happy Mom challenge. For more on this series, click here.
My purse is a mess right now. Like, seriously. I can’t find anything, it takes me more than four seconds to hoist it up on my shoulder because it’s so heavy, but the worst part of all is that I can’t seem to stop myself. Right now, I have a big roomy purse, big enough for all my essentials and then some.
What’s in my purse right now? Let’s see…

wallet
loose dollar bills
iPod car adapter
day planner
“thoughts” notebook
loose receipts
cell phone
two AA batteries
six …

I found myself in a rut last year, as moms sometimes do.
I would wake up, get my kids dressed, go to work, come home, make dinner, feed my kids, bathe my kids, read stories to my kids, tickle my kids, give my kids goodnight kisses, and then tuck my kids into bed. Then I’d go to my computer to work to bring in additional income to take care of my kids. Every day. The same thing.
But then I started meeting with my friend Arlice for monthly “Writer Mama” meetings at our local Borders, where …

Welcome to the #HappyMom challenge. For more information on the challenge, click here.

This is the flip side to yesterday’s challenge of starting the day before the kids wake up.
Today’s challenge is to give yourself permission to go to bed early. And I don’t mean like 11 p.m. early. I mean like put-the-kids-to-bed-and-then-get-your-butt-in-the-bed-too.
I’ve talked to soooo many moms and they admit that they cherish the time they have to themselves after the kids go to bed, staying up until midnight, 1 a.m. I’m guilty of it too. Then we wake up …

Welcome to challenge #5 of the Happy Mom series. For more info, click here.
So how many of you have living, breathing alarm clocks? By this I mean, you wake up every morning because the kids are awake. Then you jump out of bed, feeling like you’re already 10 minutes behind on your whole day.
Yup, that used to be me. Then I started working out in the mornings. (I know - shocking. If you had told me two years ago that I would be happily waking up at 5 a.m. just …

Welcome to challenge #4 in the Happy Mom series.
I knew motherhood had changed my life forever when I started rejecting movies based on their length. It took me an entire weekend of start-pause-start-pause-rewind-start-”What did he say?”-pause-play to watch the Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which clocks in at almost three hours.

After that, I started watching movies that were a more comfortable hour and a half. But then I realized, if I want to watch a three-hour movie, then dang it, I should be able to watch a three-hour movie!
But …

Welcome to challenge #3 of the #HappyMom challenge. Need to catch up on previous challenges? Click here.
Challenge #3
Everyone talks about stress. “Oh, I’m so stressed. I need a vacation.” Or, “Man, work is really stressing me out.”
But do we really know what stress is? Do we know how to prevent it?
The most basic definition of stress is “physical, mental, or emotional strain or tension.”  Sounds harsh, right?
Well, it is. Stress can cause:
Headaches
Back pain
Chest pain
Heart disease
Heart palpitations
High blood pressure 
Overeating
Crying spells
Anger
Burnout
Decreased Immunity
Etc., etc.
Does any of that add up to being a happy mom to you? Nah, I …

And throw away the old ones while you’re at it.

Ladies, let’s talk. Your boobs have been through a lot. Pregnancy, engorgement, breastfeeding, biting (was it just my kids…?), sore nipples, etc. Let’s treat ‘em right. Here are some tips and stores to check out. They’ll help you get fitted and buy some new bras that won’t cost an arm and a leg (and thigh):
My tips:

Try full coverage bras. They will make your boobs look better. Trust me. Now, for special occasions, by all means, pull out the Boobs Right Under the Chin bra and …

Welcome to the first post of the Happy Mom challenge. For more information about the challenge, click here.
Challenge #1 - Buy some new nail polish
Now don’t give me the side eye - this is a good beginning. Baby steps, ladies, baby steps.
Go to the store, wherever you usually buy nail polish and check out the colors. If you don’t wear nail polish (party pooper), then pick another beauty item. Shampoo, body lotion, face wash, etc. Pick something that you would normally pick up and then quickly put back because you …