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.