The Busy Mom's Guide to Staying Connected to Family & Friends

As a busy mom, keeping in touch with family and friends isn't always as easy as I would like it to be. Between the kids and my husband, the two cats and the dog, appointments, sports, school, I can hardly find the time to connect with the people in my life. I've had to get creative and find new ways to let the people in my life know that I'm thinking of them.

Most days, by the time things settle down around our house, it's too late to call a friend to meet for coffee, or even just to chat. I purchased a few packs of cute note cards and when I sit down to watch TV at night, I often write a little note to a friend during the commercials, and I put it out for the mailman before I go to bed. This is a great way to let someone know they're on your mind, and everyone loves fun mail, right?

When you're out and about, try to route your trip so you can swing by a friend's house to drop off a book she might like to read, a pot of spring flowers, a valentine handmade by your kids; it's easy to just leave it on their porch or in their mailbox and it's a fun surprise for them to come home to. Since it's not scheduled, you can easily drop in and out without tying up your day. It's okay to say "I just wanted to drop this off for you, but I've got to run, we're late for school..."

A fantastic way to keep family and friends updated on what's going on with you and your family is to create a blog. Blogger is a great site and it's easy to use. You can upload pictures as well as write entries detailing the day-to-day or week-to-week activities of your family members. Readers can leave comments, it's a fun way to stay in touch with people you care about, especially those from out of state.

Email is another way to keep up with the important people in your life. At the next event, be sure to jot down everyone's email address, almost everyone has one, and you can type one "newsletter" type email weekly, quarterly or even yearly, to update everyone on what's been going on in your corner of the world.

It's important to remember that even though you may not have time to be the friend you would like to be, it's still possible to let people know you're thinking of them. When you use these quick, semi-impersonal means of communication, be sure to follow up with responses, never leaving the relationship one sided.