I know that this is not the case for every mom, but for me, becoming a stay at home mom was a fulfillment of a dream that I had for a long, long time. I loved being a preschool teacher for many years… but once I had my own kids, all I wanted was to be with them. I didn’t want to miss a moment of their little years.
When I finally took the plunge into stay at home motherhood almost a year ago, I had absolutely no idea what I was in for! Only a stay at home mom can tell you how entirely possible it is to be at home ALL DAY, and still not be able to get one. single. thing. done. Am I right?
My 3-year-old is eating peanut butter toast with banana for breakfast (his request), and we are officially running late for preschool. We need to get in the car soon if we want to miss the morning traffic, but he has decided that he no longer wants the food that he begged for 2 minutes earlier. What started off as a relatively calm breakfast has turned into a battle of wills over him taking a few more bites of food.
“You’re going to be hungry” I say, realizing immediately that he could care less. I can feel my frustration rising and even though I’m trying to stay calm, I’m getting snappy and irritable. In hindsight I can see so many opportunities that fell through the cracks to salvage this morning, but in the moment… there was nothing. Nothing I could do to stay calm, nothing I could do to get this tiny human to eat his food. Tantrums all around.
If you are anything like me, you understand the struggle of finding time to read as a busy mama. Between watching the tiny humans, keeping the house from falling apart, and making sure dinner makes it on the table each night, reading for pleasure can tend to fall pretty low on the priority list.
But finding that perfect book can sometimes be the difference between living in survival mode and really thriving in our roles as Christian mothers, am I right?
Since carving out time for reading doesn’t always happen with such a busy schedule, I make it a point that the books I do read refresh my soul and bring me energy for motherhood. Here are 4 books that will help you organize your priorities, take you back to a simpler way of living and most importantly, bring you peace.
I’m here to tell you about one extremely simple strategy that you can start using immediately to help make you a more patient mom.
Have you ever noticed that some days you seem to be able to handle anything your little ones throw your way, while other days a single glance can set you off? There are, of course, many factors as to what makes a mom lose her patience – fatigue, sleep deprivation, being overworked, not having enough support (just to name a few).
Being a working mother is an exhausting, never-ending cycle. Every day it’s the same – you wake up, get the kids out the door, and drop them off at childcare. You make your way to your job where you spend the next eight hours pouring over work and hoping no one notices the breakfast stain on your top. You fight the traffic home, get dinner, bath, and bedtime rolling, and once your child is finally in bed… you still aren’t done. There are dishes to clean, laundry to fold, and food to prep. When you finally climb into bed you mentally prepare yourself to wake up the next day and do it all over again. In order to survive this crazy chapter in life, working moms have to be practical, organized, and efficient.