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Postpartum Journey

Productive Things to Do While Staying Home

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I’ve been a stay at home mom for almost one year and the thing I’ve struggled with most is how to be productive. It has taken me this long to actually get a routine and structure to get things done. Having an idea of what your day will look like helps have a mental to-do list opposed to sitting in jammies while your toddler runs around. Now I’m no expert on being productive but here are a few tips you can implement to get going!

Meal Plan for the Week

This takes about 20-30 minutes a week to actually write down meal ideas for the week. Nothing takes the stress out of your kid’s “What’s for dinner?” than having it laid out in front of you. I have been meal planning since I started home and it helps me feel less scattered throughout the week. I love this meal planner from Rifle Paper Co.

Choose One Chore a Day

The easiest way to keep up the never ending cycle of a messy home is to chose one chore a day. For example, Mondays are dusting, Tuesdays are the floors, Wednesdays are bathroom sinks, Thursdays are kids rooms, Fridays are the kitchen. You could even pick a room a day to clean instead!

Laundry Each Day

Depending on the size of your family, aim for a load of laundry each day! If it’s just you, then pick 2 days a week to do it. The key is to not let it sit in the basket for days after they’ve been dried. We all know it takes 7-10 business days to fold and put away laundry. So a load a day will help keep it manageable and easy to fold especially while watching a new episode of the Bachelor.

Change out of your PJs

Okay this one is hard for me! BUT, I feel most productive if I immediately get dressed for the day when I wake up. I’m more apt to do more things throughout the day if I get out of my comfy pants and oversized tee. It also helps me feel put together and not so drab.

Turn off the TV

I’m guilty of leaving the tv on with Friends or The New Girl on in the background while I scurry around the house. Then I catch myself glued to an episode for longer than anticipated and before I know it, my little one is up from her nap. Try blocking times out where you turn the TV off and turn on music instead.

Exercise in the Morning

This is the hardest to do because we all want to stay in our comfy pants and drink coffee on the couch in the morning. Gear up and hit the gym in the morning! It’s a fact that you have more energy to last the whole day when you move your body in the AM.

What is your favorite way to stay productive?! How do you get things done? Share with me below!

You’re exhausted, mama. I am too.

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Dear mama,

It’s okay to not want to change another diaper. Its okay to not want to pick up all of the toys day after day. It’s okay to want someone else to feed the kids while you take a shower. It’s okay to want to go grocery shopping alone. It’s okay to not want to do another load of laundry, even if theres a mountain of it in the laundry room. It’s okay to sit in the bathroom for 10 minutes while your kids an husband go haywire. It’s okay.

You’re exhausted, mama. I am too. Some days you just want to be the irresponsible twenty something year old who would take tequila shots and sleep in until 11 on the weekends. You thought hangovers were exhausting? Now you don’t even think of drinking too much because there’s no one else to turn on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for the kids while they run around at 6 am.

But sometimes, it would be nice to just let go and not worry. Go shopping, lose track of time, get a pedicure, stay in a hotel overnight, and not wake up to a crying baby. Those days will come. They’re actually closer than we think. I know it doesn’t seem like it now but doesn’t it feel like just yesterday you gave birth to your first born? Exactly.

I’m trying to say, it’s okay to be exhausted and just want to do nothing. You’re not alone in this. We all feel defeated after a day of chasing kids, changing diapers, cooking meals, and errand running. Being a mom is hard. Hang in there mama, we’re going to miss these crazy exhausting days. For now, take a bubble bath and pretend you’re in the islands.

XOXO

Dear Mama, It’s okay to love your body after baby

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Dear Mama, it’s okay to love your body after baby. We as women have become accustomed to the idea that we are supposed to hate our bodies after children. Well, I’m here to break it to you mama…IT’S OKAY TO LOVE YOUR POST BABY BODY! Even way before kids, we go through the roller coaster of our body image. We get pregnant and get amazing glow as well as being able to blame the baby on the extra cookies. Some embrace it quickly and for some it takes a bit to accept our growing body. We then get this anxious feeling, like we know that we may very well feel the worst we ever have about our body after we give birth. Well, SURPRISE, some of us actually love every extra pound on this new body we have!

I gained an enormous amount of weight during my pregnancy, like double the suggested. I struggled to be happy with my pregnancy body until about 28 weeks when I had a full on bump. The thought of how much I’d dislike my body after birth kept me up at night. I remember looking in the mirror at the hospital the night after I gave birth and expecting to look still pregnant and to HATE it. But, to my surprise, I thought “Dang! I just pushed a healthy baby out of me and I look like this?! Okay, I’ll take it!”. Seriously, I was not expecting to be happy with how I looked. The weeks following, I didn’t expect to have my pre baby body back. My body underwent the LARGEST change it will ever endure. So instead of hatred, I gave myself grace.

Other new moms around me complained of their extra skin, stretch marks, baby weight still on, and so on. They’d tell me of their insecurities expecting me to agree and chime in with what I disliked about my body. In those moments, I realized that I LOVED my body. I appreciated the extra pounds, skin and double chin. All of that is here because I carried a baby for nine long months and am soaking up every second I have with her.

But the other half of me was so guilty that I didn’t feel the same as my other mom friends. I felt guilty that I couldn’t agree with them to make them feel better. It broke my heart that they didn’t feel as great as I did about my extra inches. I wished I could sprinkle my appreciation and love on them so they didn’t have to feel that way. This really weighed on me and made me question if I really was happy with what I saw. In fact, I really do love my body and still do to this day.

Moral of the story, don’t feel bad that you are happy with your body. You are a freaking goddess who just gave birth! Yeah, I don’t care if your 2 days post partum or 2 years post partum…you JUST gave birth. Love that body that created your precious child and never feel guilty for it. ALSO, you’re not alone mama.

XOXO