How I keep my sh*t together – The Newbie Takeover #3 Mommy: Home Manager

How I keep my sh*t together – The Newbie Takeover #3 Mommy: Home Manager

Happy Hump Day everyone! It’s time for my weekly guest post for my new series The Newbie Takeover. This week I have Lexie from Mommy: Home Manager, this is a lovely post about perspective and how ‘keeping it together’ as a parent can be challenging at times but our children don’t care about perfection and neither should we. Over to you Lexie..

How I keep my sh*t together

Being a working mom is hard. I think that every mom feels guilty about saying it out loud, but there are definitely days that I feel like I am barely able to keep it all together. Somehow we all find a way to push through and keep going for our families.
While I was doing research before writing this blog, I posted on Facebook asking for content suggestions. A dad friend suggested “Topic #1: How do you survive??”  and I responded “Coffee, Pilates, and baby snuggles.” It may sound silly, but those three simple things really do help keep me mentally healthy. Two more important ways that I keep myself motivated are prayer and perspective.

Let me tell you about the roller-coaster morning that I had.

This morning I took Peanut to my cousin’s house because our babysitter is unavailable this week, and he was kind enough to agree to help us out. I drove the half hour to his house without feeling put out because I was grateful that I have family members who are able to take care of my son for me. As I was parking, I realized that I never packed the container of formula that was sitting on our kitchen counter. Of all of the things to forget, formula was the worst one. Anything else, my son could do without or my cousin would have for his own baby.

I kept moving as I thought about what to do next, but the only option was to go get formula. I went into action mode – I quickly explained to my cousin, asked where I could go, and hastily handed him my baby before running out the door. I drove the short distance to the nearest grocery store. I went to the baby aisle, and did not find formula! I felt defeated and frustrated that I could do something so stupid as forget formula for my infant. I texted my husband to call his dad about dropping some off, and then asked a cashier just to make sure that I was looking in the right spot.

She told me that the store carries formula, but they have to keep it behind the counter because it is so frequently stolen. Talk about putting things into perspective.

I purchased the formula, took the container back to my cousin’s house, kissed my son, and left for work. I work in a very casual, understanding office, so I knew that running late was not a big deal. In the end, I made it to work just a few minutes after my start time and everything is just fine.

A few times during this experience, I really wanted to just cry. I started to think about how I wouldn’t have to deal with things like this if I didn’t have to work. Sometimes, I really resent that I don’t have the option to stay at home with my son. Then I remind myself why I work so hard. I work hard so that my family can have the materialistic things that help us to live well. I work hard so that we can afford to take trips and make memories down the road. Most importantly, I work hard to set a good example for my son. I want to teach him that hard work and faith will be rewarded.

All of that being said, we live on a very tight budget, and sometimes I feel like all of our hard work isn’t being rewarded the way that it should be. The truth is that we live on a very tight budget because we have been blessed enough to take care of ourselves well. We own our home, we own our cars, we are paying for our educations. All of those things are much more important to us than having extra money to spend. The most important blessings that we have are the things that we didn’t have to buy – our family, our health, the ability to work and be self-sufficient as a family. God has taken care of us through each other, and sometimes it is the bad experiences that remind me of that.

In the scheme of things, having to run to the store to buy an extra container of formula is not a big deal. At least I am able to buy formula. I am frugal about my grocery budget, but I have always been able to feed myself and my family. That in itself is a wonderful gift from God. I thank Him everyday for my home, my family, and our health. Tonight I will thank Him for the ability to put food in front of my family without having to even think about stealing from the grocery store.

So that is how I kept my s*** together today.

I wasn’t a perfect mom, but I took care of my son. While I was at work, I took care of him by making sure that he was with someone who loved him. I know that Peanut won’t remember the day that I forgot to take formula to the babysitter’s house. I know that he won’t remember the day that I accidentally washed the dishes with hand soap (yesterday…) or the days that the house wasn’t as clean as I would like it to be. I hope that what he remembers is how much his mom and dad love him and how hard we work to take care of our family.

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A bit about Lexie:
I’m Lexie, a working mom who loves spending time with my family, coffee, yoga, pilates, wine, and making lists.
If you enjoyed this post then be sure to follow Lexie’s blog Mommy: Home manage on Twitter , Instagram and Pinterest

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Thank you for this brilliant post Lexie, I really hope my children remember how loved they are and forget all about the dump of a house they live in! What do you think? Do you struggle to keep your shit together when parenting starts to go wrong? Are you calm under pressure and could at keeping perspective or do you freak out? I would love to know your thoughts.

If your blog is less than 12 months old and you would like to get involved in The Newbie Takeover, you can check out all the details in this post and send your submission to wendy@naptimenatter.com

 

new blogger guest post series
You can find this post linked to some of these amazing blog link ups –

Maternity Mondays | Marvellous Mondays | Posts from the Heart | #MG | Big Pink Link | Twinkly Tuesday | Dream Team | Tried and Tested | Blogger Club UK | Best and Worst | Family Fun | Cool Mum Club | A Blogging Good Time | The List Linky | PoCoLo |For the Love of Blog | KCACOLS  …and of course #BlogCrush, the linky I co host every Friday.

Find me on Twitter ..

@naptimenatter

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8 Comments

  1. June 21, 2017 / 3:24 pm

    I confess, I fall apart a few times a week and it’s probably because I’m very hard on myself. I read this and thought “easy mistake to make when you’re running out the door, but she handled it really well” but if it had been me who’d done the same thing I’d have been crying in the car on the way to buy the formula, berating myself for forgetting it. Crazy! But I think the point of perspective is the key to that – kids wont realise or remember if the house is a bit messy or if you served them fish fingers because you were too tired to cook, so we should cut ourselves some slack for our own sanity!
    #best&worst
    Sadie recently posted…5 things i hate about having a babyMy Profile

  2. June 22, 2017 / 7:53 pm

    Reflecting on how little other people have certainly stops you in your tracks – I was struggling to declutter recently until my Aunt asked if I had anything to give to her client and her 6 month baby who had nothing. It whipped me back to reality and I couldn’t give enough after that. It sounds like you have your head in the right place, and above all else have your priorities right.
    Thanks for sharing with #coolmumclub
    MMT recently posted…#coolmumclub Linky week 70My Profile

  3. June 25, 2017 / 5:48 pm

    It’s not easy to juggle really is it. We can’t all be perfect and pristine, just don’t beat yourself up about it and focus on everything that is positive 🙂 chores can wait! Thanks for linking up #bestandworst
    Helen Gandy recently posted…Best and Worst Linky #99My Profile

  4. June 26, 2017 / 9:08 pm

    Thanks for sharing this; It was something I needed to read today. We all lose our shit and noone is perfect. #PostsFromTheHeart