I realize that I have kind of dropped the ball on this whole Outside the Frame piece. Honestly, I’m working hard at this blog gig and this was something that I had really hoped would be awesome. However, it has not taken off like I hoped and that is a little bit sad for me, but I need to know when to cut my losses and when to keep on keepin’ on. So in this case I will be doing a little bit of both. I will still use some of my prompts for blog posts, but they might not come out right on time or even be titled Outside the Frame anymore. Feel free to check my original prompt list here and use any of the prompts for your own blog posts, on time or not! Of course, I’d love to hear from you if you do a post in response to one of the prompts!
Today’s topic is all about balance.
Working Moms, how do you balance work and Mom life?
And SAHMs, how do you balance chores and Mom life?
And all Moms…how do you balance work/chores, Mom life and taking some time for yourself?
Honestly, I struggle with this a lot. I am a SAHM, and it seems like I should be spending all day long doing fun activities with Tera. It seems like I should have a spotless home and be on top of all my chores. I am also a blogger and I’m trying to make it all work with our schedule. I don’t have a perfect answer, but I will share what I do and maybe it will help someone else…and I’d love some feedback on this from you! What do you do? How do you balance it?
I try to wake myself up early enough to accomplish a few things before Tera gets up. I like to accomplish a short workout (30 mins), my breakfast, and my devotions. Then I usually wake Tera up and let her play while I take my shower and get ready for the morning.
I have one daily chore and I will accomplish this sometime throughout the day, usually when Tera is awake. I let her “help” me, but mostly I do see the value in allowing to Tera to know that Mommy has things to do. I don’t spend much time doing chores, but cleaning the house, cooking dinner and washing the dishes are all things that need to be accomplished during my day, and by doing them with her around she can learn that these things need to be done. Hopefully by watching me she will also learn how to do them herself!
One of my goals is to also make sure that I don’t use up Tera-time with blogging/social media. I’m horrible at this and just writing it is reminding me how badly I need to work on this. I need to put my phone and laptop away during the morning and afternoon when Tera is awake. Naptime and after she goes to bed are my blogging and social media time.
During the summer, I have decided to do one activity out of the house a day. This might be either in the morning or afternoon. We do playdates, library story time, Hike it Baby hikes or go to the splash park. If we do something in the morning, I try to stay home in the afternoon so we can stay on top of our chores and just be together.
I should also note that I am only one half of a pretty fabulous team. Theo has a fairly rough work schedule (24 hour shifts), but it also means that he gets to be home during the day a lot. Theo does such a fabulous job of helping me out with Tera and this often opens up time for me to blog or work on chores around the house. We don’t have a set schedule or routine to when he has Tera, but we usually just play it by ear, if I need to get something done, Theo will take Tera so I can pound out a post or two. I can’t take credit for balancing it all without giving so much thanks for Theo for all he does to help me!
So what about you? I’d love to hear how you balance your career/wife/Mom/human roles!
I am with you – being a SAHM sometimes makes me feel like my home should be spotless and that I should be doing all kinds of fun things with my kids. Peer pressure can really be just that – pressure. lol Its not easy balancing life with children at home being a working away from home mom or a stay at home mom but I certainly do try!
I work out of the home, my house is a mess daily, I struggle with giving ENOUGH of myself to my kids, my husband, my house…I surely don’t have it figured out, but we get by and I’m hoping that one day things will get better! My husband works long hours as well and some days doesn’t even get to see the kids. One thing is for sure, I couldn’t do any of this without the help of my parents!
You have an adorable model! I don’t even have children at home and I still have a hard time doing all my house/wife duties + working. I see young missionary moms here really struggling, too. They feel that their husbands have meaningful ministries but they are just wiping bottoms and snotty noses. In reality they are doing a very important ministry: discipling their own children. You and Theo are doing parenting well, in spite of the challenges.
What a cutie! As a mom of 4, my biggest struggle is finding balance. Just when I think I’ve found something that works, something changes and I have to start all over! I don’t think there will ever be a perfect balance. Sometimes we just have to admit that we can’t do it all and let the least important thing on our list of priorities slide.
I think this is an ongoing challenge which is why grace is so important. Honestly, the last time I felt like I was in a truly good rhythm was before I had my sweet Lily. But I had to adapt and find a new norm and even realize it sometimes the new norm changes day today and that’s OK too.
I don’t balance it. LOL. Like right now I haven’t cleaned my house all week, but there is always next week. Ha. These are some great tips. xo ~ Megan The Fashionista Momma