Mommy Survival Tips

With two babies, two years apart, I have picked up a few things along the way. Life is still a daily circus, but I can pretend to have some control over things.

1. Don’t fold clothes-I folded the girls clothes until our oldest started to dress herself. In that processes she would mess up all the folding I did. I realized it was a waste of my time and I didn’t want to get annoyed at her, so I just organized her clothes into sections and stopped folding it. Life changing!
2. Don’t sit down-Sorry, not fun advice. However, most meals I stopped sitting down because I was getting up every 30 seconds anyway. This way I’m not annoyed during meal times and get a lot more done. I usually try to bust out a chore during lunch time. NOTE-We all sit down for dinner this is just for breakfast and lunch when I am solo.
3. Clean as you go-Another benefit of not sitting down, especially during lunch time, I vacuum, pick up toys and have everything cleaned up by nap time, sometimes even prep dinner.
4. Have a stopping time-This one is really hard for me, but I learned that if I force myself to stop moving at least an hour before I want to be in bed, I am less frustrated by having a never ending to do list. Currently this time for me is 7 or 8 pm.
5. Work with partner instead of against-My husband and I don’t fight much, but we are human and of course super annoy each other maybe a few times a year that would result in an argument. Once we had kids that ratio went WAY up. Still working on this one, but figuring out what we both do best and prefer to do has helped, along with constant communication and dividing of labor.
6. Dirty clothes…Don’t care-Since my toddler dresses herself, that sometimes means re-wearing clothes from another day. I cared at first, but learned that if it was really dirty, I just had to put it in the laundry room so she couldn’t find it, underwear included.
7. Take the long way-This is probably the most annoying “advice” I am going to give. Young children rarely do things the way you want them to. They always seem to “take the long way”, so instead of resisting against that, go with the flow and let your toddler buckle herself in or put her own socks on. Even if it takes 1 minute longer, its quicker then a meltdown. Honestly, its not easy for me at all to do this, but when it works out, it helps everyone!
8. Do little things ahead of time-I spend a good portion of Sunday preparing for the week. From meal prepping, restocking diaper bag, my car (I do this on Friday when I get home from work), my purse, organizing the house etc. I know I will have no time to make sure the diaper bag is packed with snacks or think about what to make for dinner after a long day at work or home with the girls all day.
9. Go to bed early at least once a week-This was the best thing during the first year of our oldest’s life. We still do it, usually on Mondays, we plan out that once the girls are in bed, we go to bed too. Which is usually around 7 pm and I will read or whatever, just no TV and I try to limit screen time. Its a way to refresh, get some extra rest and hopefully have a little one on one time with my husband without being interrupted a million times.
10. Stop caring about what you can’t control-I will let you know when I master this one, but the better I get at it, the easier it is to let stuff be. I’m not great at letting stuff go, but if I “let it be”, its better for me.