Survival Guide: Stay At Home Mom

The world of a Stay At Home Mom (SAHM) can be very isolated and lonely. I am grateful every day that I have the honor and privilege of staying home to raise C and I am NOT complaining, I am just stating the facts. Talking to a toddler all day can leave your brain mushy by 6:00. Being cooped up with a sick child can leave your feeling alone. The monotony of it all can seem like walking on a treadmill, all of the hard work but ending up right where you started. But, along the way I have discovered a few tricks to make myself stay sane...a few little things to make those isolated days more cheerful!

1- Open the blinds! Let the light shine in and enjoy the beauty around you! For me, opening the blinds (or windows if it's cool out) can be the easiest way for an instant pick-me-up! There's nothing worse than moping around a dark and gloomy house all day!

2- Get dressed! There's just something about putting on a little makeup and cute outfit that puts a pep in my step. Plus, the hubs always appreciates coming home to a non-yoga-pants-wife!

3- Turn off the TV. It's just a life suck. I get drawn in, Carson stops being imaginative and playful and my productivity drops. Instead, I set up a good, happy station on Pandora and go to town. I may or may not be pretending that it's the soundtrack to my imaginary life movie.{This sweet friend calls it "happy house music"}

4- Get out! Go to the park. Go to the library. Go on a walk. Just go for a drive! The kids will be happier, you'll feel like you've "done something" and your mood will be boosted! I'm a frequent go-to-Sonic-just-because-I-needed-to-get-outer.

5- Do something for someone else! Bake cookies for a friend, bring in your neighbor's trashcans, do a chore for your spouse. Giving is getting! I especially like doing things for people in secret. It just feels so good!

6- Call someone! Make some sort of adult contact each day. Texts don't count. I can sometime feel my brain getting less mushy by the minute as I'm on the phone with an adult.

7- Move your booty! Treadmill, YouTube video workout, jumping jacks, walk outside, chasing the kids in the yard, etc. The endorphins released are your body's natural "feel good" juice.

8- PLAY! Sometime I reach the end of the day and feel like I haven't spent any time with my son, which is crazy since we are together ALL DAY LONG. I find that if I spend some focused, un-distracted, personalized time with C, the day seems more productive....and I feel like a better parent.

9- Get up before the kids. This one is hard for me, but I feel so much better when I do! C is a late sleeper; he inherited this super power from yours truly. I love nothing more than a good, late sleep. But... If I can get up and ready before C wakes, I feel like I have invested some time in myself. I have gotten to go to the bathroom alone, maybe watch the news, put on makeup and invested time in myself before giving to others for the remainder of the day.

10- Get in The Word! I know that the Bible says to wake early and spend time with God, but ooooh how I hate the morning. I am all groggy and cloudy headed and craving my pillow. But, that being said, I feel like God speaks to us in the morning in preparation for the day ahead. I have an app on my phone with Bible studies to follow. This is a good way for me to stay directed on an applicable topic instead of feeling like I'm opening the Bible blindly. I like to do my study during breakfast and I read/say it all aloud so that C hears it. I like to think that he's absorbing some of the knowledge, or at least seeing mommy in God's Word.

What do you like to do to stay out of the loony bin?
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You know you're a mom when...

-You realize that 99% of things in life can be accomplished using only one hand

-You have become an expert multi-tasker. Take for example...putting on your make-up while nursing and eating breakfast

-You have vacuumed while carrying the baby

-You have vacuumed solely to drown out the sound of your baby fighting a nap (*Don't worry, CPS...he was safely pitching a fit in his crib*)

-You have made a bottle while sitting at a red light

-You have thought, "I can definitely still wear this shirt to the store...It's not that much spit up."

-You have nursed while going to the bathroom (eewwww! I know...but ya gotta do what ya gotta do), walking around Target, sitting in parking lots, restaurants, etc...(behind a Hooter Hider, of course)

-You can get more done in a two hour nap time than you could have accomplished in an entire day before the baby arrived

-Your hands have become the ultimate chew toy

-You can't make it through a single day without getting poop, pee, spit up, boogers or some combination of the 4 on yourself

-You wouldn't change it for the world.

I wish I would've known...

-If you buy nursing bras before the baby comes, buy them one size bigger than your current size because those puppies are gonna get b-i-g! (sorry Dad...hope you skipped out on reading this post)

-Postpartum hair loss: 3 to 4 months after you deliver, you will lose massive quantities of hair. It's totally normal because you grow lots of hair when you're preggie. You're not going bald from baby stress.

-There's a possibility that your knuckles will from still be swollen 4 months after the baby comes. They will go down.

-If you and the hubs are inexplicably cranky, you probably need to have sex. It'll cure it. (again...sorry Dad)

-Bring a bag of change to the hospital for the vending machine. Everyone, including you, will appreciate it.

Mom Jeans

I’m officially back down to pre-preggie weight! **cheers from the crowd**

Unfortunately, and NOT as I expected, I still have a closet full of clothes that do not fit. I thought that pre-preggie weight would = pre-preggie clothes. Hahahahaha. Nope. Not even close.

So now, still about a size bigger than BC (Before Carson), I have no clue how to dress myself. I don’t know if I’m “allowed” to dress the same as before now that I’m a mom. I don’t know what looks good. And, I don’t know how to dress this weird new body. I need a stylist, like pronto. Clinton Kelly, please?

I’ll go into the stores that I used to shop at frequently (mainly Ann Taylor Loft, Banana Republic, Old Navy and Target) and I feel totally lost, totally out of place. I’ll wander around confused, and then leave empty handed. In my former, baby-less life, I felt pretty good…ok, decent, at navigating the fashion scene. Now, I’m like a blind person, clumsily feeling my way around with a cane.

Hopefully I will continue to lose weight (I’m working on it) and will be able to ease back into my old clothes and back into the fashion scene super soon. In the meantime, here are some looks that I’ve been crushing on.

Old Navy


Loft

Anthropologie

I learned a lesson today...

-Never dress your baby in a fuzzy, light colored onesie and wear a black shirt. You will end up gray all day long.

-Always keep one long fingernail. You will need it to pick at something on your baby's head... boogies, ear wax, peeling skin...It's sick but true.

-It's ok to push the Target cart full of (paid for) groceries into the stall with you so that you can go to the bathroom and not leave your baby unattended. It is ok to be that person.

-When you are running late, he WILL poop up his back side. Guaranteed.