10 ways to lighten the “Mother”-load because, Motherhood is what I consider to be the most difficult yet most rewarding time of my life. There were things I have had to learn and continue to learn to make my load of duties lighter. I personally am a married, stay at home mom of 2 under 2, with a home bakery. So when you lump all the responsibilities together it turns out to be a lot but changing these things helped me to lighten the “Mother”-load.
- Creating a weekly Family Dinner plan. The truth is no one will know how time consuming it is to make a meal plan but once it’s done, IT IS DONE! And you’ll be so relieved you did it because you will not have any questions about what to cook, what the family is eating and also this helps you create your grocery list. Truth be told, I like to create my family dinner plan for at least two weeks, if you are living paycheck to paycheck (according to CNBC about 60% of Americans are, so if you aren’t consider yourself blessed Article), two weeks of planning will get you from one pay period to the next. I personally enjoy shopping weekly but plan our families meals for two weeks at a time. Typically the meal plan begins and ends on Saturdays. “ Why?” you may ask? Because I typically do my grocery shopping on Friday evenings (at Kroger, if you know you know…now if you don’t know I’ll have to make a post about this and all my grocery shopping tips) despite shopping then or sometimes at the butt-crack of dawn on a Saturday…I enjoy having a couple of hours to reorganize the fridge, wipe down the shelves and view my inventory. So having a menu that covers me fully through Saturday evening, allows me not to rush or be frantic about creating something with the new groceries
- Implementing LEFTOVER nights!
- Okay hear me out, I am not a lover of leftovers usually but doing this will be a game changer! If you are thinking to yourself, “yuck, I hate leftovers” start slow with one day of the week instead of two. Start with something simple like Spaghetti or Chicken alfredo. Or one of my personal favorites is Hamburger Helper by https://www.saltandlavender.com/homemade-hamburger-helper-recipe/ Salt & Lavender this recipe is a family favorite over here! But back to my point, an evening or two dedicated to leftovers helps with clearing out the fridge, it helps by alleviating the need to cook that day and it gives you the opportunity to have sometime to do something else (maybe squeeze in a little “me” time) also reduces the amount of dishes used that day. For us leftover night looks like multiple pyrex dishes (3-5) with food hot & ready to eat sitting in the center of the table. This way food can be portioned out onto your plate and can be enjoyed immediately. Now considering we have a toddler and infant at this point we are plating their food for them but with older kids I can imagine that this night might be exciting considering there are many options available!
- Recreating Meals with Leftovers
- I can’t suggest this enough, cooking is not for the faint of heart, and cooking for your family isn’t easy. So why not lighten the “Mother” load by making one meal into another. “What could you possibly mean Faith?”. Let me explain, if you have Roasted Chicken, Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans on your menu Monday night but happened to finish all of the chicken but still have a surplus of mashed potatoes and green beans. Guess what I’m making? “Shepherd’s Pie”. I’m going to cook some ground beef, mix in those green beans (or keep them to the side to serve along side the shepherd’s pie), pour the ground beef into a casserole dish,spread the leftover potatoes on top, garnish with cheese if you like and a little dried parsley, Bake in the oven and boom! There you have it, you’ve created a whole new meal from last night’s meal! This is something you can plan for by intentionally making extra portions on your meal plan. That was kind of fun for me so lets take that same meal but this time instead of having mashed potatoes leftover, it’s the roasted chicken! If it’s a chicken breast or a rotisserie chicken it will all still work the same, remove the skin and shred the chicken, heat some tortillas, enjoy some chicken tacos or chicken quesadillas served with a side of green beans. I think when it comes to food, and planning meals it’s easy to get stuck in the mindset that “ this doesn’t go with that, or I can’t eat this with that.” Guess what! Your groceries, your rules! Being a Chef I recently had to remove the thought process that if I was going to enjoy tacos, I needed to make sure I had Charro beans or refried beans and rice served with it. Just because that’s the way it’s served at the restaurant doesn’t mean that’s how I need to eat it at home. So if you are having taco or burger night and only have Kale or Spinach and no lettuce, swap it out, saute that Kale for your taco or put that raw spinach on your burger. Life already has its challenges, don’t make your meals another one!
- SCHEDULE your day!
- Stay with me here, I know so many people say this but it’s true. I honestly feel being a mom means you have to turn twenty-four hours into thirty-six magically. How do you do this? By planning your day! I started simply by creating a google calendar schedule that consisted of the things I want to do and when I want to do them. Does that mean that everyday I got them all done or finished each task when I wanted to? Absolutely Not! But everyday I look at it I know what I am aiming to achieve on a daily basis. Simply put start creating time blocks for the things you want to do for yourself or tasks you need to get done and slowly but surely you’ll begin to take that morning walk at 8am or empty that dishwasher every morning at 7am while your kids eat breakfast and load it each evening while your husband bathes the kids or vice versa. Just like you write down your dreams and goals, writing a schedule is no different as it sets you up to become the mama version of yourself you desire to be.
- CURBSIDE
- Pre-kids I enjoyed a lovely, quiet stroll through the grocery store where I contemplated which avocados looked best. Now, I literally do not have the time or leisure to do such things. I recently tried doing my weekly grocery shopping in person because I enjoy going to get my groceries early on Saturday mornings before my husband and kids wake up. But let’s be honest, I’m just not as quick as I used to be. Also side note, I do our grocery/household item shopping at multiple stores! I KNOW! I KNOW! You might think that is insanity but I am particular about a lot of things and I get specific items from specific places. From Sam’s Club, Target & Kroger or sometimes H-E-B. Sometimes I like to sprinkle in a monthly visit to our local Sprouts store! Despite my desire to shop where I please, curbside can be a lifesaver in multiple ways, it can save money (not always the case, but it can), it saves you time and you can schedule your curbside orders to be picked up during your littles nap time! I consider this a huge win or an opportunity for a win! When my curbsides are scheduled around our kiddos nap time, I get the opportunity to listen to my motivational podcast that I love or an audible. My kids get the rest they need and I get that much needed quiet time I’ve been craving. It’s a win, win! The plus side about Targets curbsides is that if you order 2 hours before your grocery store curbside, you know your target order will be ready to pick up while you’re out picking up the other orders per their (ready in 2 hours or less promise). When I do my grocery store must know posts I’ll share all the need to know about curbside too. But until then schedule your picks ups!
6.) Delegate! BE Honest!
I talk about this in my other post in the aspect of releasing control and being okay with someone else doing task that, you don’t care to do or just that you need help with for now. If you can financially afford to hire help, Girl why are we even discussing it, DO IT! Be it someone to come fold laundry, deep clean the house or cook meals if you can do that, take the stress off your shoulders and do it. If you are currently unable to hire someone, see about recruiting a friend or loved one to help. Maybe a simple, “Tonight is taco night at our home. Would you consider folding laundry while I cook and then we enjoy a meal together.” I know this might sound like a crazy ask but we all know someone who’s love language to give is Act of Service.
7. Embrace a Minimalistic Mindset
This is the hill I will die on. I’m even going to make my expansion on this minimalistic. Less things equals less stress. Declutter your home, you’ll declutter your mind. I promise your kids will be okay if they don’t have every new toy, in fact they may find going to different places so exciting because they don’t have that item in their home.
8. Say No, More
I’m here to remind you that if you need to say no to others, events, things in order to say YES to yourself and your needs than maybe you need to start saying no more often. If you don’t find joy in attending the weekly PTA meeting about school decorations, then don’t. If you don’t have the energy to bake something for the church bake sale then don’t. When you become a mother you will naturally feel like yes is always the right answer. That’s not always true sometimes, NO is the best answer for you and your family. I’ve recently begun saying No to any and every invitation once a month. Our family calendar can get overbooked easily so we block out one weekend a month just for our household. We have absolutely no plans that weekend, we can lay around in our pjs all day, go for a swim at the community pool, watch the sunset but we don’t obligate ourselves to using our social battery by hosting or going to events that one weekend plus we love the bonding time we get as a family.
9. Wake up before everyone else
I know this might sound ridiculous but if you even wake up 10 min before everyone else you will feel less rushed. Waking up before everyone will give you a moment for YOU before you put everyone and everything else first. Most days I wake up a couple hours before everyone else to give myself time to sit with God, my thoughts and take a moment to do some self-care. Be it, journaling in my gratitude journal, reading my bible or working out. I cherish this time because it allows me to take care of ME first, so I can’t take care of those I love better.
10. Give yourself grace, surrender the idea of perfection
Extremely tough one for me but I remind myself that I don’t want my children to feel the stress I feel when I strive for perfection rather than progression. If my children came to me and said “Nothing is perfect, I’m a failure” etc. I would tell them to give themselves grace and surrender the idea of perfection. Remember your children are watching what you allow to consume you daily so be as gracious to yourself as your would want them to be to themselves. You got this Mama!
xx Classically Faith
