As the school year comes to a close, many moms will be feeling the pressure to fill our schedules with tons of activities to keep our kiddos busy, engaged, and out of the house. We all know what can happen when kids have too much unstructured time. And as a working mom, you still need daily focused time to GSD! The right balance is key.
While I’m not advocating for NO camps whatsoever, I personally want to keep my children home as much as possible while they’re still young. I’m certainly not immune to the overwhelm and overstimulation that can result from having several small humans in your space all day every day, and the exhaustion from coming up with new home-based activities or even outings (if you’re brave enough). That said, I have found a few ways to not only keep my sanity during the summer, but actually ENJOY being with my kids. It’s all about attitude and perspective. Here are my tips.
Request flexibility at work. As much as you can possibly get! I know this is easier said than done, especially if you do not have a job that can be worked remotely. Even being able to WFH 3 days a week over the summer can help us be more present with and for our kids. If you’re looking for a way to make your own hours, let’s chat – there could be a place for you on my team!
Hire help. There are so many high school or college-aged kids looking for part-time babysitting jobs over the summer. We have a neighbor across the street who is in junior high school and can come over for a few hours here and there in more of a “mother’s helper” capacity (meaning I would not leave the house). Older kids/young adults or experienced nannies are also great resources to have. I could not survive without ours, who has been with us now for almost 3 years!
Set regular hours for working, and regular hours for “momming”. This helps everyone know what to expect, and creates stability for the whole family. For example, my typical schedule is as follows: 3 days a week, our nanny arrives at 8:30am. I leave at 8:40 for a 9:00am Barre3 class. Then I head to my local coffee shop and work from about 10 until 12:30 or 1pm. I make sure to have a plan for what I will accomplish that day so I don’t waste the time. I come home by 1pm at the latest, our nanny leaves, and the rest of the day I’m in mom mode – finishing up lunch, doing naps for the babies, light housework, and quality time with anyone not napping. The other two days a week, I’m in full mom mode. One of these days is usually my big chore day like getting a bunch of laundry done, deep cleaning one or more rooms, meal planning and grocery ordering, etc. The other day is a fun, kid-focused outing or activity. This is the schedule I adopted when I first started running my own businesses in 2021, and it works super well for us!
Remember to nourish yourself. I know this one seems obvious, but if you’re like me, you can fall into a pattern of not really planning for your own needs. Sometimes I’ll do a whole meal plan and grocery shop for the week, and realize I don’t have anything on hand for myself for a high-protein breakfast which is SUPER important for women’s hormones and metabolism. Some of my go-tos are cottage cheese, Perfect Foods peanut butter bars, turkey bacon, and hard-boiled eggs. I also try to keep Epic bars and Mama Chia pouches on hand for snacks.
Try USDA organic CBD. This tip could be #1 in terms of the way it has improved my overall outlook and response to stress and overstimulation. But I saved it for last because no amount of CBD can time block your calendar for you, or fold your laundry, or clean your house. But when things inevitably go sideways, and someone is having a tantrum and there are piles of unfolded laundry on the kitchen table and your boss is pinging you on Slack and someone else is complaining about how bored they are, I pop a jellie and I feel better. The way I like to describe the feeling is if you can imagine your frayed nerves as the end of a piece of string that has been cut and is unraveling, or some ripped-hem jeans that look super messy… CBD comes in and smoothes them out. So you still might be feeling frustrated about something, but you’re not reacting in an angry or annoyed way. I find it helps my patience increase exponentially. Things just don’t bother me and make me frazzled in the same way. If you’re interested but don’t know where to start, fill out my product match quiz and I can recommend the perfect bundle for you.
Remember, from the time they are born, we only have 18 summers with our kids at home. This makes me feel happy and sad at the same time, knowing the days are long, but the years are so so short. Soak it in this summer, mama.