When I first decided to become a stay at home mom it was a bit of an adjustment for me. I had always been an on the go person, who liked to be “busy”. Looking back on my pre-child life I have no idea what I was so busy doing….but that’s a whole other blog post. Having a child slowed me down in so many ways that have changed me for the better. However, like any change, even one for the better, it can be tricky while going through it. These things helped me transition to becoming a stay at home mom.
Create a routine
I learned early on the importance of having a weekly routine for both Anika and my sake. The first was created when Anika was just six weeks old. It was a checklist of things we could do throughout the day. I also created stations in our house that encouraged us to move around. I liked it because it gave me a sense of of order and as Anika has gotten older I see how much she appreciates having the routines to our week. She enjoys the rhythm it provides. Of course the schedule and routine is constantly changing as Anika and now Jacob are changing. I plan to provide some of my sample schedules in additional blog posts.
Get out of the house
I quickly learned that for my sanity I needed to leave the house every day, even if that just meant a walk around the neighborhood or go for a drive to put gas in the car or get a coffee in the cooler months. Being cooped up in the house, especially when it’s cold outside just didn’t work for my mental health.
Get some coworkers
Motherhood can be hard. There are times when I’ve felt like I will never be good enough or have done enough for my family. If I let myself go there, I spend a lot of time questioning myself and feeling insecure about my mom decisions. But….when it comes down to it, I want nothing else then what is best for my babies, and the people that I’ve found out there that are awesome at reminding me of this are my mommy friends, aka my “co-workers”. They can truly empathize with my daily life as it is also there daily life. So get out there. Go to library storytime, the playground, heck I’ve even made friends in the diaper section of Target. Play dates are definitely not just for the kids.
Get some time off
No other job and no other boss in their right mind would expect you to work 24 hours a day 7 days a week and anyone who has been a mom knows that in the beginning, yes, that’s how intense the schedule is. It took me some time for figure out that I deserve a break, in fact I need a break to avoid mommy burnout. This goes for stay at home moms and working moms. When I say break I don’t mean going to get a pedicure, although every now and then that might be nice. I mean just a break from being responsible for keeping another human alive. I’ll be totally honest, I still am horrible at taking this time for myself. So this is more of a do what I say not what I do situation. I’m trying to be better because I do notice such a difference when I’ve taken an hour, just to go upstairs and clean the house for a bit while my husband watches the kids. It totally helps recharge my batteries.
