To All My Stay at Home Moms Out There- The Things Our Moms Didn't Tell Us.

I first want to say that a stay at home mom IS a working mom. We just work at home with our kids :) I had a hard time realizing this the first 6 months I was at home with our daughter. Feeling all I was good for was to nurse my daughter, change diapers, clean, and cooking was very hard and I didn't realize, at the time, that it IS an important job.  It's also very hard when society doesn't see it that way sometimes. I get comments from people, not trying to be rude, that don't count being at home "working" and it's really hard to hear, "oh you have the time to do that, I'm too busy I can't" Um... excuse me? please explain to me what time is and where I can get it??? lol.  We are nannies, maids, teachers, nurses, personal shoppers, cooks, and moms all rolled into one and we, or at least I, have the worst boss at times, ourselves. So give yourself the credit you deserve :)

Now, the point to writing this blog was that the past few weeks I've realized that I am having a hard time balancing being a stay at home mom with 2 jobs now that my craft shop is officially open. So I turned to some blogs to help me out and have found that there are a lot of women that are having a hard time going from working outside of the home to being a SAHM or just having a hard time in general finding themselves and being a SAHM which I can definitely  relate to. I don't claim to be an expert but I'd like to share the things I've felt that are helpful for me, and I'm still learning.

I've been a SAHM for about a year and a half now with our first child. It's not easy, not at all, but I really do love it more than I ever thought I would.

I only have one child so my life may not be as busy as some of yours but we also don't live anywhere close to our extended family so I've had to get a little creative when it comes to finding time to get things done. I've found that organization keeps me sane so I've found a couple really good tools to help me.

For one, a messy house can really make me feel out of control so I try to keep it as clean as possible. I've made monday-friday magnets and chore magnets for my frig and I give myself about three chores to complete while my daughter is taking her naps everyday so I don't feel overwhelmed with cleaning the house.

Monday's chores: Kitchen, Diapers (cloth diapers), laundry
Tues: living room, vacuum first floor
weds: bedrooms, vacuum second floor, diapers
thurs: bathrooms, laundry
Fri: office, kitchen, and diapers

I try to get all of it done within the week so sat and sun can be spent with family or my craft shop. If I don't I don't sweat it, also took me a while to get over lol, I can finish the things I didn't on the weekends while my husband either helps or watches my daughter or just leave it for next week. lol

I also found that planning weekly meals helps as well. See post before this one for more detail

I also make it a point to take a shower everyday and change out of my pjs, which sounds like a "duh" thing to do but you know how it goes when you are a SAHM. Showers are a lux and they  really help my attitude. I bought some really cute comfy sweats and shirts and they are my designated house clothes. I didn't spend much, just bought  3-5 pairs of bottoms and 3-5 pairs of shirts, but whatever your budget is you can find cute comfy house clothes that don't look like pjs but still feel comfy and you feel a lot better.  Cute undies also help a lot ;)

And schedule schedule schedule! even if you don't stay 100% to it you at least have something to go by and you don't feel scattered. Set a time for bath time, shopping/errands, dinner.. ect and it helps. I'm looking at my calendar right now and EVERYDAY is taken up by mommy and me groups, play dates, working on my business, recreational stuff, get togethers, not to mention the choirs and everyday things that need to get done from now till forever, so trust me when I say scheduling is key. :)

I also try to get out of the house at least once a day just to get fresh air

I go to a yoga class once a week around my daughter's bedtime. It gives me a break and also gives my hubby and daughter some one on one time.

AND find a hobby even if it's just once a week. I plan on joining a camera club that meets on weds. Cost is ZERO unless you want to compete. There are a ton of things you can do and hopefully you have a supportive husband/partner that would have no problem with you doing something for yourself.  My hubby does ju jitsu twice a week at night so we both get to do something by ourselves for ourselves mentally and physically and we also have the things we like to do together.

Once a month we try to go out on a date, very important ;)

Find a texting buddy. Someone you have something in common with, like another mom, who shares the same morals and values you do. Mine is my sister -in -law and even tho she works outside the home we both have common interests and we both trust each other and respect each other's opinion even when we don't agree. It really helps to have outside mommy support. We are both very busy but texting is the perfect way to still stay in contact on our own time.

Start a blog. Having little to no adult conversations during the week can get to you. Blogging is a way to get what you are feeling out there and maybe it can help someone else :)

I hope this post might help another  stay at home mom. Again, I'm not an expert and don't claim to be but I'm finding out that most SAHMs have felt in someway "trapped". Even though we may feel it is wrong, it's completely normal and  just know I've, along with many other women, have felt the same way. Why don't we just admit it, mommy life is crazy no matter  where you work and very tiring most the time but you gotta love it!

Please leave comments! I'd LOVE to hear any advise you can give on this topic, anything that helps to make my life easier is a plus especially if you have a home business.

Until next time...



***I support MOMS in general no matter if you are a work outside of the home mom or a work at home, aka stay at home, mom. Everyone of you is important to your family and I don't believe there is a right or a wrong to working outside or inside the home***

***also please excuse my typos and horrible grammar, I'm writing this as my daughter is napping. lol***