Each year our family devotes a little time to think about our year and reflect.
Last year we decided to involve our children in this process.
We found that they struggled to remember the big things that happened in their lives and tended to remember only the most recent things that happened.
That is when we decided to start a new tradition and the annual “memory jar” was born!
Are you a stay-at-home mom or working mom interested in starting a blog?
The world of mommy blogs is a growing industry. Not only do thousands of moms start a mom blog every day to share their motherhood stories, but they also offer advice to other moms from all walks of life.
And more importantly, many of these mom blogs generate income that help them stay home with their little ones for good.
Sometimes I miss the days where I HAD to wake up to an alarm, shower, put on nice clothes and makeup, and be out the door before the kids woke up.
I also sometimes miss that 45-minute commute where I could jam out in my car or listen to my favorite podcast…uninterrupted!
And I definitely miss the office catering amazing lunches, or the boss taking us out (and footing the bill!)
Being an organized mom usually feels as though you’re juggling too many balls with not enough hands.
Keeping everything in order, staying on top of the schedule…it can feel like a delicate balancing act.
But an organized mom knows this: routines are what keep it all chugging along.
Being a stay at home mom was an incredible opportunity that I was able to take advantage of when my son was born.
I took my 12 weeks of maternity leave, returned to work, and quickly realized that being a working mom was not for me at the time.
My son was so young and as a new mom, I was so fragile.
How was my son able to thrive without me? Doesn’t he miss me?
When I was a new mom, I wanted to be perfect. I read all the right books, kept the house clean, the baby bathed and nutritious meals on the table.
We had play dates, took “field trips” and I planned out crafts to do constantly.
I laugh, looking back, because there are things I wish I knew as a new mom that no one ever told me.
But I was going to ROCK this mama thing!
I gave it my heart and my soul.
It’s supposed to be your “dream job,” right? You thought you’d wake up to your favorite tiny faces, play at the park, and snuggle with your babies all day. “It’ll be glorious!” you thought. But then reality sets in.
The benefits of being a stay at home mom aren’t doing it for you at this moment.
Sometimes being a stay at home mom is just hard.
Like, really hard.
I spent years as a librarian, and then a teacher, but nothing compares to these sweet years at home with my children. Being a stay at home mom is the best job I’ve ever had.
Along the way, I’ve learned a few secrets of the benefits of being a stay at home mom and how to love being a stay at home mom for good.
Being a new mom is one of the most stressful things that women experience in their lives.
As a first-time mom, you never know what to expect.
There is a beautiful poem that ends with the line, “Go away cobwebs! Dust, go to sleep! I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.”
It was my mantra for those early, exhausting days of motherhood.
And while I truly love the sentiment, try as I might to live out those words, ignore the mess and simply enjoy being a mom – I couldn’t. I felt trapped, overwhelmed and drowned by mess.
And ashamed and embarrassed anytime people wanted to stop by.
I’d go through phases of really working hard to make a change and keep our home clean, but I couldn’t keep up.
There are days when you are completely crushing it as a mom.
You are making all the connections, validating all the feelings, teaching all the things…essentially firing on all cylinders.
Unfortunately, there are also other days when you just can’t. CAN. NOT.
Everything from the sound of your children’s voices to their tugging on your clothes seems like sensory torture.
Unlike most jobs, there is no option to call in sick from motherhood.
You cannot take a mental health day when the weight of your children’s (seemingly unending) needs is just too much.
This is why it is so important to have a game plan to help you survive a bad day, whenever it occurs.
