I really think the theme of part one was taking time to think, and time to spiritually grow. Make sure to check out tips 1-5 there.

The first five tips were all about what mom should do so that she can be more for herself. Advising her to trust herself, trust her kids, trust her spouse, and not to be hard on herself.

The next five tips are all about what mom should do so that she can be more for her kids. Be an example.

6. Your kids are part of your life, your whole life. I take my kids to the grocery store, Jiffy Lube, the bank, and Great Grandma Jones’ antique-saturated home. If you learn to integrate your kids into your normal everyday life, you will get to spend more time with them, you will teach them how to behave in different situations and you will be able to get all the necessary tasks of life done.

7. Try to be organized. This can be a hard one, but it really makes a difference. When your physical surroundings are chaotic, so is your mind. At the bare minimum, organize the parts of your life that directly affect your parenting. I have a giant box of household papers that I know I will never file; I stuff them in the sump pump closet in the basement. But, my the closet my b/g twins share is organized by gender and type of clothing. I have hundreds of recipe clippings that I stuff into a folder, making them useless. But, we keep our 25+ piece Mr. PotatoHead set all together in a lidded plastic box with his picture taped to the side.

Oh man. We learned so much from our mothers on errands – which were always too long for me when I was a little girl. I think that our children learn so much from us in the way that we do things. If we want our children to behave well in public, we should take them with us, and set that example. If we want our kids to be organized and calm, we should give them a calm and organized experience at home.

8. Keep your sense of humor. Stepping in poop that fell out of someone’s droopy pull-up is funny. Explaining why some peepees have hair on them is funny. Realizing that someone let the hamster out is funny. Cutting a patch of maple syrup-encrusted hair out of your daughter’s ponytail 5 minutes before the bus comes is funny. Hearing your son belt out “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” at the top of his lungs at the bank to hear the echo is funny. You might not realize it immediately, but its true. If you don’t think so, try telling one of your stressful parenting stories to the Grandpa and see if he laughs. If he laughs, its funny.

9. You reap what you sow. Screamers beget screamers. Whiners beget whiners. Do you know why Geetle listens to me when I tell her to pick up her toys? Because I listen to her when she tells me her theory on why car tires have silver stars in the middle (hubcaps). Why is Pookie willing to sit still in the doctor’s waiting room? Because I sit quietly and cuddle with him on the couch at home.

There is a pretty clear theme on all of the mommy blogs. Don’t take yourselves too seriously; let’s all have a laugh at motherhood. And so often the funniest things our kids do is follow our example.

10. Let your first thought and consideration when making any decision or action be “what about my kids?” Really, if you do this one, you can skip all the other rules you read here or in any parenting book. This is the silver bullet of good mothering.

Mom + Kids is all about what it equals: love. Everything we do should be for our kids. The greatest joy in my life is the love I feel for my little girl. It takes a lot of energy to think about my little girl all of the time. But that, I believe, is what makes a mother good.

We have to fill our cups and believe in ourselves. Ultimately we can be a great example to our children of what we want and hope they can be.

If you have any tips or ideas, I’m sure the other readers would love to hear them. I certainly know that these 10 tips aren’t everything. What’s the greatest tip you recieved on how to “be a good mom”? Tell us in the comments.

And go follow “Be A Good Mom” – Her posts are great!