I’ve had a fair amount of relatively hard jobs throughout my life, but being a stay at home mom exceeds them all.
I can tell you right now, every single job I’ve ever had is 100 times easier than staying at home with my kids.
(I’d like to note that one of those jobs was to provide medical records to mostly patients who had been there for some sort of mental disability. Moody, irritated… ANGRY ex-patients. Enough said.)
If you’re already a stay at home mom, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
And if you’re just joining the club, don’t worry! You’ll get the hang of it in no time.
To make things just a tad easier, here are some tips and tricks I’ve learned along the way of my stay-at-home-mom, sometimes overwhelming-never a dull moment journey.
Tips that keep me sane.
Tricks that make my job as a home keeper exciting and fun.
Let’s get to it!
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1. Meal Prepping
When you have one less thing to worry about, like meals, it can make life a little bit easier. Especially when you have a teething baby and a 3 year old who won’t let go of your leg. I like to cook up some chicken, rice and veggies on Sunday nights for the week. You probably won’t get every single meal for the week down, but at least a good amount. It helps, believe me and it’s also nice to know that you’re feeding your children healthy food instead of something quick that may not be as healthy. Totally guilty of this.
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Write it Down
Life can get pretty hectic, from baseball practices, to doctor’s appointments, planning birthday parties and keeping up with finances, my planner is my absolute best friend. Having a planner or some sort of system where you have everything you need to do in order is another thing that just makes life easier.
I like to keep my mind clear from things I need to do and have it available for things that really matter. Along with meal prepping on Sundays, I also like to transfer what’s on my planner onto a big calendar that’s put up right by my fridge. Mostly because there’s been times where I went 2 days without checking my planner and ended up missing something. Write it down and put it up!
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Get Out Every Day
This one thing changed everything for me. Staying at home all day can be a little overwhelming at times, so getting out of the house at least once a day helps a lot. It doesn’t necessarily have to be anything that requires spending money either. There’s many places in Corpus Christi, Texas that are free and kid friendly during the day. One of my favorite places to go to is the MOMS and TOTS program at the Art Museum of South Texas. Since, I live in Robstown, TX though, it’s easier for me to go to Keach Family Library, they have a room just for babies and tots to play in. If going out somewhere isn’t possible because you don’t have a way to get there, taking a walk is just as effective! The point is to simply refresh and get out of the house.
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Set a Routine
Having a 1 year old and 3 year old has pretty much forced me to stick to (or try to stick to) a routine. My kids are happier when they know what’s coming and when my kids are happy, mama’s happy. For example, I’ve learned that my toddler can not take a nap later than 1 pm, because it will get in the way of his bed time (he has a harder time falling asleep), but naps before 12 do not. I’ve only learned this by implementing a routine and now I don’t have to deal with a toddler who doesn’t want to go to sleep. Routines can be the key that unravel certain things you may not have realized about your child before, making things a lot easier. Routines are just awesome.
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De-clutter, de-clutter, de-clutter
I’ll admit it, I’m definitely a hoarder. Especially when it comes to old clothes that don’t fit anymore, but are just too cute to get rid of. My favorite excuse is telling myself that I need to save it for when I lose those 10 extra pounds. Ha! So, getting rid of things I don’t really need isn’t something that comes naturally to me, but it is something that I’ve learned to do. Getting rid of clutter makes for a home that won’t require as much work to clean up and anything that makes my cleaning life easier, I’ll take. I like to keep a basket around my house to put things I see we could live without. At the end of each week, we take the basket to Goodwill and donate it. Then repeat. The clutter gets out and stays out!
So there you have it, 5 things that have truly helped me (and kept me sane) as a stay at home momma.
Will things always go smoothly and pan out perfectly every day? No!
There are days where every single one of these things goes out the window because one kid got the stomach flu. There are days where I’m completely exhausted and pizza for breakfast happens. Those days exist too and that’s okay.
Things will never be 100% perfect, but the fact that we are trying is enough. We’re enough.
