How I Survive

I've had this post in my head for months but I've never sat down to write it.

Working full time + work travel + being a Mama isn't for the faint at heart.  I'm not tooting my own horn, I'm simply saying, it isn't easy.  But guess what, (from what I see and hear) being a stay at home mom isn't easy.  Working a regular 8-5 job plus being a mom isn't easy.  And I even have a crazy friend that works full time and is a stay at home mom!

The fact is, none of it is easy!  

So how I pretend to stay sane...literally a lot of days I'm completely spastic but I try to be halfway normal.  Please tell me your ways in the comments so we can all stick together and get through this season of life!

1.  Exercise which is a mental health appointment for myself.  I do this in the wee hours - around 5:30 or 5:40am a couple days a week.  

2.  On the days I don't exercise, I try to wake up before Molly Anne does - I get so much done in this 30 minutes.

3.  Plan plan plan.  Organize.  I do gifts for people very far in advance.  I try not to wait until the last minute.  One evening during the month, I'll sit down and look at birthdays and birthday parties that we are going to that I need a gift for then I get on Amazon Prime and go to town.  Not going to show up without a gift.  

4.  Harris Teeter Express Lane - gone are the days where I have an hour to go shop.  I'd rather spend that time with Molly Anne.  And I do try to meal plan most weeks so I don't end up getting groceries 5 times a week. 

5.  Kevin - he helps me during the day when he goes home for lunch.  He'll set the dinner table, fix waters, swap laundry (some weeks he does more laundry than I do), he does a ton of yardwork etc.  He's pretty good at helping around the house!

6.  Rosa - my main squeeze who I've never met but sends the most wonderful cleaning ladies to our house.  Best $120 we spend all month.  Not kidding.  She only comes once a month so I do touch up in between but she does most of the cleaning at our house.  

7.  Molly Anne sleeps - essential to my life and most importantly, hers!  She goes to bed at 7pm and I start going to town on my to do list.  

8.  Babysitters - totally necessary and we love our Kathryn!  

9.  Outlook calendar - I operate when I use my phone/outlook calendar.  If it isn't on my calendar, I don't do it.  Tuesday night I had on there "wrap gift" so I have a gift wrapped in advance of tomorrow when I will deliver it.  Today I have on there "cleaners" and "send card for.." etc.  I put EVERYTHING on my calendar.  Way too much for a paper calendar.

10.  Friends - having girl's nights is good for the soul, especially with friends in your same stage of life.  Plus having those girlfriends you can text and say, "my child just did so and so..." and they say oh that's normal.  


That's all I've got...please tell me your secret ways!