How to Flourish as a Stay at Home Mom in 2020
Psalm 92:12-14 (NIV)
"The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
planted in the house of the Lord,
they will flourish in the courts of our God.
They will still bear fruit in old age,
they will stay fresh and green."
I’ve been thinking about this blog post for a while- truth be told, I’m trying to figure this out for myself and thought I’d share with you guys what I'm learning along the way!
But before we go any farther, I wanted to give a quick shout-out to all the working mamas! I see you juggling a million hats and doing your absolute best to serve and love your family! I bet something in this post will speak to you too and just know I'm cheering you on!
For those of you who don’t know me personally, I come from a long line of strong, kind, amazing women- wonderful mothers and teachers! I grew up babysitting, teaching swim lessons, working at summer camps and taught Kindergarten for 5 years before I had Emma and absolutely loved it! I felt pretty confident going into Motherhood- I had a LOT of experience with children, I really love kids and enjoy playing with them, I had a lot of great advice and mentors to rely on. I knew I would be a great mom. LOLLLL
Now, I’m not saying I’m not a good mom because I love my kids and think we do a lot of things right but you know what, NOTHING and I mean NOTHING can fully prepare you for becoming a parent. It’s so much harder and better than I ever imagined and I’m truly thankful for it.
But, I’m not one of those people who had a breezy pregnancy, a baby who sleeps all the time, or someone whose body bounces back right away! I was super sick with both pregnancies, Emma was a fussy, colicky baby, and Ellie had eating issues. To say that the first years of both of their lives were stressful and exhausting would be an understatement and honestly many if not most of my mom friends would probably agree that their experiences have been similar if not much harder! Especially when you say home with your littles, you are on call every second, the needs are endless and if you aren’t careful it is easy to lose yourself a bit in the sleeplessness and monotony!
So when the Lord gave me the word Flourish for 2020 I thought this was the perfect way to kick off the year! (Yes, I've been working on this post since January LOL)
10 Ways to Flourish as a Stay at Home Mom-
#1. Get in the Word every day!! Even if all you can do is read one verse, God will meet you in that moment and He promises that His word will not return void.
#2. Listen to great, encouraging, Biblical, inspiring, practical, informative Podcasts or books on Audible!
Here are a few of my favorites podcasts-
At Home with Sally
Risen Motherhood
And some great books include-
The Power of a Praying Mom
The Life Giving Home
The Mission of Motherhood
I also recently asked for suggestions from all of you on one of my latest posts if you want to check that out!!
#3. Create a daily and weekly schedule that works for your family and stick to it!
It doesn't have to complicated and super busy but little ones thrive on consistency which will make your life happier! For example, I try to plan something for most mornings of the week and then we are home for nap time every afternoon. Mondays we usually go to the library and get groceries, Tuesdays the girls go to my mom's for me to get in some work time, Wednesday morning is Bible Study, Thursdays we usually do a play date or I have a babysitter if I need to finish up more work for the week, and Friday we plan something fun as a family or work on projects! It's all subject to change but it gives us a framework to fall back on!
#4. Find like-minded mom friends in a similar stage as you and spend time with them!! If you don’t have any, ask the Lord to send you some! Be the initiator and encourager and the type of friend you want to have.
#5. Ask for help! This was huge for me!
#6. Be ok with letting some things go for a season- for me this looked like stepping down from a service role at church temporarily, being ok with dirty dishes in the sink some nights, etc...
#7. Plan date nights with your spouse as often as possible- I think twice a month minimum!
#8. Go on lots of walks and get outside as much as you can!! Fresh air and sunshine can work wonders on everyone's attitudes!!
#9. Find a fun hobby or a side hustle that you enjoy working on and thinking about that is not about you as a mom! This could be gardening, painting, decorating, exercise, reading, etc... I honestly struggle with making time for fun for myself but I think it's important every now and then.
#10. Make healthy food choices! Eat less processed junk and I promise you will feel so much better and have more energy for taking care of your family!
I'd love to know your thoughts and hear what encourages you in your motherhood journey! I look forward to connecting!
-Erin
