Mommy Tips to Organization

All working mothers have a similar routine.

Each hour of the day already reserved for a member of the family.

Here is a sample of my old schedule.

6 am – wake up the entire house, cook a well-balanced breakfast and get everyone dressed

8 am – arrive at work

4 pm – leave work to pick up children and take them to dance class, band practice, soccer, and

basketball (whatever seasonal sport they have decided to join this year)

6pm – Prepare a dinner that is healthy and includes all the major food groups

7pm – Review homework with children

8pm – Bath and bed time – Baking and prep for cakes and catering

10-11pm- Review plan and itinerary for next day – workout

There was a point when I found myself drowning by the weight of expectation.

As a working wife and mother of 2 this routine got old pretty quick. How can I be 100% for my family

when I can’t even show up for myself?

When reviewing this daily schedule with my husband, it became painfully obvious that I was leaving zero

room for myself. I was setting an example to my children that looking busy and stressed out was

synonymous to “mommy.” I knew that I had to make a change. The change could not include, quitting

my jobs, hiring a personal chef or nanny.

A little bit of organization goes a long way.

Here are a few tips I have included to eliminate some daily stressors.

1. Meal Prep. Sundays became “Weekly meal prep and cake prep” day. I go to the market on

Sundays and purchase the groceries necessary to make 3 meals. By preparing the meals ahead

the children can help and my husband can even prepare the nightly meal if I have decided to go

to Spin class or take a run around the reservoir. I set a budget and stick to that budget to

purchase our weekly meals.

2. Delegate. I saw a picture once and it was a woman walking with her husband and two children

on her back. Carrying everyone’s weight is exhausting. So I began to ask for help from other

mothers. You and your friends can create a Facebook group where you barter your skills and

services to help other mothers. I have a network of friends that are moms and we share

babysitters to reduce cost and allow us some mommy time.

3. Kitchen Organization. Now that my children are older, they are able to pick and choose what

lunch items they want. I purchased 10 containers from the Dollar Store. The containers include

small cereal boxes and cereal bars or fruit for breakfast and fruit cups, fruit snacks, bags of

chips, individual cookie bags, soups, and crackers for lunch. The children are now responsible for

grabbing their own breakfast and assembling their own lunch bag. That way they can create

their lunch. This is great because when the children pick their lunch, less of it is wasted.

A little planning goes a long way in organizing my family. Your first step can be to write down what is

important to your family. What are your goals? Post the goals for all to see. The transition will not be

easy but once it is accomplished, your family will thank you. You will thank you.

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Stacy Rowlett is a wife, mother of 2, full time teacher and owner of Frecklefacecakes.com.