Motherhood is hard and simplifying is a must! Here are 5 Ways to Simplify Motherhood that will help your life and your home run smoother!
If you’ve followed my blog at all, you know that I love sharing ways that I simplify my schedule to help make my life run a little smoother! My youngest is in preschool now and I feel like I’ve had a lot of trial and error over the years, but I have found a few small & simple things to really help!
We all go through stages where our kids are so hard! I remember this moment 4 years ago when I thought my life would never run smooth again! I had a baby, 3 year old and 5 year old! I had been up most the night with a teething baby, my 3 year old had refused breakfast because I wouldn’t let him have candy and my 5 year old was mad at me because I just didn’t have it in me to host a playdate that day. I decided that we needed to get out of the house to snap us all out of our crappy moods.
After an hour of trying to get me and all 3 kids looking decent, we finally got out of the house. Three minutes into the drive my 3 year old HAD to go potty RIGHT THEN! Gratefully he didn’t pee in his pants, but it was a non-stop complaint fest for the 15 minutes to the store. We then rushed in and went straight to the bathroom. Then we finally started the grocery shopping. Aisle after aisle my kids were complaining and asking for everything known to man! Then in aisle A9 (yes, I remember) at Walmart my 3 year old threw a bottle of ranch and then started playing in it! Yep! Needless to say, I had to go back that evening to get the groceries I needed!
Point in all this — motherhood is hard! In my opinion it is a MUST to simplify whatever areas you can! Parenting kids in itself can be so hard, let alone all the other tasks that come with this mom job! Over the years, I’ve found some things that have helped SO much in me keeping my sanity!
5 Tips to Simplify Motherhood
#1 Routines, routines, routines
I’m big on routines, but I know they can be challenging! But, I can say that after you put in the initial effort to get them into place, they are worth it! They 100% will make the entire house run smoother.
My Morning and Before Bed Routine are VITAL to me keeping my house clean! Without fail if I skip a day of doing it — my house goes to pot! It gets overwhelming and then I swear it takes an ENTIRE day to get it back together!
Morning and Bedtime Routines Printables were what I used to create my kids’ routines!
Now my 2 elementary aged boys get up, clean their room, get ready for school, eat breakfast, read and brush their teeth 100% without my help! I usually pop in the bathroom to help them comb their hair and then I’ll sign any papers that I need to and send them out the door to the bus!
As for bedtime, same. I just send them upstairs to get ready and then 20-30 mins later I go in and tuck them in and say our goodnights!
I have also been big on basic chores! I understand that if you take the idea of chores too far, it can create more work than it is worth. But, a little job here and there is all I’m talking about. When my kids were little and home all the time we used my Little Kid Chore Charts! They were perfect!
Their responsibilities now include making sure their rooms and bathroom are picked up before school. Then one or two days a week they have a couple chores they have to do after school.
#2 – Meal Planning
All the meals don’t have to be a big production! I meal plan on Sunday, generally get groceries on Monday (see #3) and then have a handful of easy meals that I always have the stuff on hand if needed.
My 5 Easy Go-To Dinner Ideas are the meals that I always have the stuff on hand and usually plan one night a week for one of them! You can find more details on my Menu Planning Tips here!
Freezer Meals
I am also a BIG fan of Freezer Meals! I make freezer meals about 4-5 times a year and schedule them on my menu for the nights that we are extra busy with extracurricular activities.
#3 – Walmart Online Grocery Pickup
Being that my days are pretty busy and because I just detest taking my kids into stores (remember the story I shared above) Walmart Online Grocery Pickup has become a LIFE SAVER and it’s completely FREE! I’ve been using it now for a little over 18 months! It’s the best and allows me and my kids to just hang out in the car, while they bring out my groceries!
It’s so easy! I usually start my online order mid-week as I remember things I may need! That also allows me to reserve my Monday pickup time that I like. Then on Sunday, after I meal plan, I login and finalize my order.
They even have an amazing and super easy phone app! It will alert you when your groceries are ready and then you can even check in on it, so that they know you’re on your way!
When you get there, you just call the number listed on the signs and let them know what pickup spot you’re in!
If you’ve never tried it, then I HIGHLY recommend it!! It’s life changing! And if it’s your first time trying it, use the code WOWFRESH for $10 off your first order!
Also, the first time I went I didn’t really know what to expect and I didn’t know if I was supposed to tip them or what! But, they actually aren’t allowed to accept tips! So, it really is a complete FREE service!
#4 – Laundry doesn’t need to take over your life!
Laundry is hands down the chore that haunted me ALL THE TIME since I had kids! It was ALWAYS there and always made me feel like my house was messy! It took quite a few different trial and error routines to find one that made me feel like it wasn’t always overflowing my laundry baskets or covering my master bedroom floor needing folded.
The key — GET THE FAMILY INVOLVED! Again, this is kind of like the hard part of creating new routines, it can be hard a first. But, after a few weeks, you’ll be SO glad you did it! My kids have embraced it now and rarely ever complain! You can read more details for what I think the Best Laundry System for Families is here!
#5 – Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help
Guess what ladies? It is IMPOSSIBLE to do it all perfectly the way we want it done! That is unless you’re a robot! One of the biggest moments in my life (since becoming a mom) was when I finally accepted that it’s okay that I can’t do it all! I am NOT superwoman!
Case in point — if you hate cleaning your car, then budget a car cleaning every few months!
If you can’t keep your house deep cleaned like you want, then have some cleaners come twice a year and scrub your house from top to bottom.
If you need a little help with your kids, so you can work in peace or run errands in peace, schedule a babysitter once a week just for that purpose! I had to do that when my kids were younger and it was one of the best things I ever did!
Asking for help does not make you a bad mom or a weak mom! It makes you a SMART mom!!
I hope that these ideas have helped you discover some ideas that you can do to simplify your role as mommy/wife/taxi driver/coach/business women and more!
If you loved these ideas — then I’d love you forever if you wanted to pin the image below!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Walmart. The opinions and text are all mine.
Leave a Reply