Stay-at-Home Mom Stress: 7 Ways to Find Relief

Family / Motherhood
stay at home mom stress relief

Inside: Unnecessary stress can steal your joy and make being a stay-at-home mom completely miserable. Get stay-at-home mom stress under control with these 7 must-have tips!

Who knew that being a stay-at-home mom could be so stressful? When I left my job to stay home with my first baby, I never imagined the stress caring for a single, tiny little human would cause.

Combine a screaming, clingy baby with a huge life change (a.k.a. motherhood), plus general household responsibilities, and you have a recipe for extremely high levels of stress.

A few years (and a few babies) later, I finally learned how to manage stay-at-home mom stress and keep it at a manageable level. You can find stress relief as a stay-at-home mom: I promise!

You just need to know where to start.

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The Terrible Twos: How to Love This Stage (not just survive it)

Family / Parenting
how to survive the terrible twos

Inside: The terrible twos is a stage of childhood many parents dread. With a perspective shift and the right strategies, you don’t need to just survive this fun childhood stage. You can love it, instead!

When I was a new mom, everything I heard about the terrible twos was negative.

“Just wait until you get to the terrible twos.”

“Oh man, the terrible twos – they’re coming. You’d better be ready!”

“The terrible twos are gonna be rough. Hang in there!”

As you can imagine, this negativity drastically affected how I approached this phase of my child’s life. Before my daughter was even close to two, I was getting ready for battle and dreading the terrible twos. I expected the terrible twos to be what everyone said they were – terrible.

There wasn’t any room in my mind for a different point of view.

Thankfully, I’ve come a long way since my first child’s “terrible twos”. Now that I’m experiencing them the fourth time around, the twos is by far my favorite age.

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The Mother’s Day Gift Moms of Littles Really Want (and so desperately need)

Family / Motherhood
Mother's Day Gifts Moms actually want

Inside: Mother’s Day gifts are on the brain, but the Mother’s Day gift moms of littles really want (and so desperately) need can’t be bought at a store. And the nature of the holiday itself makes us feel too guilty to ask for it.

As a blogger, I use Pinterest all the time to promote my blog posts and share good stuff with my readers there, and what do I see this time of year?

  • Mother’s Day Gift Guides
  • Mother’s Day Brunch Ideas
  • Mother’s Day Crafts for Kids

What’s so terribly ironic about these posts is that us moms will be executing most of this Mother’s Day stuff ourselves!

WE are the ones searching for it.

WE are the ones reading it.

WE are the ones budgeting for it (so very ironic).

WE are the ones sending gift guides in our hubby’s direction.

WE are probably the ones putting together the brunch for a holiday that celebrates US.

Mother’s Day: the one holiday that is supposed to be all about moms, but ironically, it somehow adds pressure to moms, especially when you still have little ones in your crew.

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Moms: Your Free Time is Yours. Do What You Love. (you’ll be a better mom – promise)

Family / Motherhood
moms free time

Inside: Do you ever feel pressured to use your free time as a mom doing things you don’t love? Then, you need to read this.

“Make cookies, please, mama?” pleaded my two year old for the second time that week.

The horrible scraping sound of kids pushing stools across the kitchen floor.  The awful anticipation of kids surrounding me on all sides.

The stress of keeping three kids from dumping ingredients into the bowl unbidden, trying to remember whose turn was last so each kid got a chance to help.

I started hyperventilating just thinking about it.

So I pacified my son with a few chocolate chips and a murmured promise of making cookies at some later (unspecified) date.

And I tried to stop feeling guilty.

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How to Survive the Stomach Bug with Kids (+ Cleaning Checklist)

Family / Parenting

Inside: The stomach bug with kids can be a nightmare! Follow these 7 tips to make surviving the stomach bug a little less painful.

The Stomach Bug. I’m pretty sure there are few things parents dread more than dealing with the stomach bug. It’s right up there with potty training!

We just survived another round of the stomach flu with kids last week. It made its way through all four kids, age 8 down to age 2.

Thankfully, having been through it before, I’ve learned a few tips that made this time a hundred times easier than before.  The stomach bug with kids is messy and unpleasant, but you can get through it with these tips from a mom who survived the stomach flu just last week!

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9 Tips You Need to Prepare for a Successful VBAC (from a mom who’s had three)

Family / Motherhood / Pregnancy
tips to prepare for a successful vbac

Inside: Want to know how to prepare for a successful VBAC from a mom who’s been there? Get realistic tips from a mom who’s had three.

When I found out I was pregnant for the third time (my second pregnancy ended in a missed miscarriage), I knew right away that I wanted to attempt a VBAC (Vaginal Birth after C-Section).

I absolutely did not want a doctor telling me how many babies I could or couldn’t have.

As confident as I was in my decision, attempting a VBAC was scary and unfamiliar territory for me, and I didn’t want the medical-sounding, “hospital-approved” facts and advice from doctors who had never experienced a VBAC.

What I wanted most at that moment was more realistic and personal advice from fellow moms on how to prepare for a successful VBAC.

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38 Easter Basket Ideas for Kids (Candy and Clutter FREE!)

Family / Parenting
easter basket ideas for kids

Inside: Looking for Easter basket ideas for kids that don’t involve candy or clutter? Try these 38 creative ideas for clutter and candy-free Easter baskets they’ll love.

Easter will be here before we know it. If you missed the last major holiday (we definitely celebrated Valentine’s Day two days late) or you just love being extra prepared, then it’s a good idea to get your Easter baskets ready NOW. I created this list of clutter-free and non-candy Easter basket ideas for kids to help you get a head start!

Before I launch into my list of ideas for your awesome Easter baskets, I’m going to let you in on my super simple secret for clutter-free Easter baskets (because who needs more junk in their house when you have little kids?).

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Nighttime Potty Training Supplies You Can’t Live Without

Family / Parenting
nighttime potty training products you need

Inside: When you’re in the throes of nighttime potty training, you don’t want to be stuck without the supplies you absolutely need. Make sure you have everything on this list for nighttime potty training success!

We just started nighttime potty training our second child. As with our oldest, we kept waiting for it to happen naturally. I expected him to start having the occasional dry pull-up a year ago.

Six months ago.

One month ago.

Those dry pull-ups never came.

Unfortunately, some children just have small bladders. They get them from us, you know! Sometimes, getting older is the only thing that will make nighttime potty training easier, but it doesn’t mean you can’t try at different intervals to see if you can ditch those pull-ups.

(If you don’t succeed the first time around, these pull-ups are the only ones I could find that didn’t leak.)

No matter when you choose to start nighttime potty training, it is absolutely essential that you have all the supplies you’ll need before you start. You really don’t want to wake up two days in to realize you don’t have extra sheets or any clean underwear.

Nighttime potty training can be rough, depending on the kid. Everything on this list will make it SO much easier.

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Little Passports Review: Everything You Need to Decide

Family / Geography / Homeschool / Parenting
little passports review

Inside: Get an honest review of Little Passports from a homeschooling mom of four so you can know whether it will be a good fit for your family!

Our first Little Passports subscription box showed up in the mail two months ago, and the kids were jumping up and down with excitement.

What kid doesn’t love to get not just letters, but ENTIRE BOXES in the mail addressed to them?!

They tore open the box, eager to dive into the activities inside. They examined the shiny blue Little Passports suitcase, flipped through the pages of their new “passport”, and sat down together to start on the written activities inside.

They worked steadily through each activity, happily occupied for a good half hour.

What more can a homeschooling mom ask for?

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Valentine’s Day: Handmade Cards for Kids

Family / Parenting
valentine's day handmade cards for kids
Inside: Skip the identical, boxed card sets this Valentine’s Day! Handmade cards are the perfect way to help kids make Valentine’s Day more meaningful.

I walked into Target yesterday a few days after Christmas, and guess what? Yep, the Valentine’s Day stuff already decked the aisles!

Earlier and earlier they roll these things out. Pretty soon the Christmas stuff will be up before Halloween. We’ve all thought it, and I’m just waiting for the first retailer who dares to cross that invisible October 31 boundary.

But I digress.

As I glanced through the Valentine’s Day card offerings, my eyes fell on box after box of pre-made, cheesy, identical Valentine’s cards. If I sent my children to school, I’d probably be shopping for those. They provide the speed and convenience that busy parents crave.

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