Hey moms! Find all sorts of useful tips and parenting hacks from other moms just like you. The Mom Life: Real Moms Interview Series is a place to get support and advice from people who have been there… or are there. Today we’re hearing about Emily M’s Mom Life.
Emily is a mom of four little ones 6 and under. She is a great example of the power of simplicity and togetherness for families.
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I love hearing advice from other moms. Learning tips from moms who are rocking motherhood is so inspiring to me! Moms who have tips for easy weeknight meals, creating family moments, cleaning hacks, money saving, family travel, and just Mom Life in general.
Emily M’s Mom Life
I’m so excited to share Emily M’s Mom Life with you! She runs a fantastic blog, The Orange Slate, and shares gorgeous photos on Instagram. You can also follow her on Pinterest.
Her commitment to keeping a clean house and working to encourage independent play are my goals!!
Without further ado, here is all about Emily M’s Mom Life!
Tell us about your family
My husband and I have been married for almost 7 years and have four sweet babies ages 6, 4, 2, and 4 months.
We currently live in the greater DFW area. We spend a lot of time together as a family reading books or playing outside or spending time with friends. We love traveling together to see family far away and to explore new places.
As a mom, what is the best part of your day?
With or without my little ones??
I treasure the early mornings, before my little ones get up Making time to have quiet time with God, to drink some coffee, and to work on projects that are meaningful to me in the early hours before my family needs me is so refreshing to me and a really important part of keeping myself refueled.
The best part of our day as a family is normally in the evening before bedtime. We do a lot of cuddling and reading and playing together for a little while before bed and no matter how hectic the day has been, it’s a great way to reset everyone and reconnect.
3 Words that describe your parenting style?
My ideal parenting style is “Chill! Relaxed! Patient!” The parenting style that comes most naturally to me is probably closer to “Type A and structured.” I spend a lot of time working for a balance between the two!
What is a parenting rule you never break?
I don’t think a single day has gone by without my husband and I telling our children “I love you!” and I certainly hope one won’t ever!
Also, I’ve never let my little ones sleep with a bottle of milk.
What is a parenting rule you always break?
Oh my goodness, SUCH a long list for this one!
A couple areas that jump out to me – we do a ton of co-sleeping. At least one someone (and often all 3 kiddos!) ends up in our bed by early morning every night. I breast-fed all of our babies past a year and co-sleeping when they were very young played a really important role in making this happen.
I am not really a “fun mom” – I don’t take my kids to a lot of play-spaces or activity centers or “fun” restaurants like Chuck-E-Cheese. They totally overwhelm me! Most of our playing is done at home or at friends’ homes or out in nature.
I never really pay attention to when our little ones give up bottles and pacifiers – these milestones fall waaaay to the bottom of the list of things I worry about!
How do you prioritize family-time and me-time?
Like I said, getting a little time and space for myself in the morning is really critical for me, so I set my alarm and try to get up even if it’s been a rough night with the kids. I also try to make sure I go to bed at a reasonable hour so that I have enough rest so that I can push myself out of bed in the morning – if I do this, we’re all happier!
My husband and I have worked really hard to help teach our kids how to play independently. This takes a lot of work and diligence but in the end, it actually gives me a lot more space to get chores and things done while the kids play happily nearby. Mark is also great about helping make time to keep all of the kids so that I can run errands kid-free or grab a meal with my girlfriends.
We work really hard as a couple to keep our commitments limited so that most evenings during the week are quality family time. We try to be intentional about carving out weekends that are commitment-free and time for an occasional family trip too. It’s a constant battle to say “no” to fun or worthwhile things so that we have a lot of time as a family but it’s worth it!
What is your go-to, easy weeknight meal?
I’m learning that my kids really don’t care if I make ham sandwiches for dinner occasionally, so that or pasta with pesto and Parmesan cheese are great backups. If I’m feeling tight on time, I’ll make a big batch of waffles and we’ll have breakfast for dinner and then I’ll freeze the leftovers and have breakfast for the week knocked out too.
What is your favorite family activity?
We love spending time outside together. Whether it’s a new exciting beach or just our neighborhood streets or our backyard, we have our most fun as a family outside together.
What advice would you give new moms?
Your baby doesn’t need a ton of toys or the latest technology or fantastic entertainment. You don’t have to plan a million activities. You don’t need to stress about all of the milestones. Just focus on being emotionally present and do what you need to do to be a rested, joy-filled mama and everything else will fall into place.
Do you have a “Mom Hack” you can’t live without?
Extra-washable markers and paper! My little ones will color for literally hours and the extra-washable markers wipe off absolutely everything, so I don’t have to constantly nag them or worry about where the colors are going. When moods are bad, I can turn on a playlist like this one and it helps all of us.
What do you do when you need a break?
Leave all of my kiddos with my husband and go to Target for groceries! If he’s traveling for work and I’m feeling burnt out and need backup, I’ll invite friends over and the kids will entertain each other while we refuel each other with conversation.
Also Read: The Mental Exhaustion of Motherhood
What are you reading with your kids?
Our favorites right now are The Ox-Cart Man and Stone Soup. We try to read at least one story from The Beginner’s Bible almost every day also.
How do you balance work and home life?
I don’t! I used to work from home but I “retired” when I was pregnant with my third. I have a couple of freelance writing projects and I love to maintain my blog, but these definitely just fit in around our family’s schedule and needs. A lot of my writing happens early in the morning or during naptime.
What is your best Mom money-saving tip?
Ebates (now Rakuten)! My referral link for Ebates is here if you want $10 back for trying it – I’ve saved us a lot of money shopping for clothes and things online using it. I also use Shipt grocery delivery and not hauling three little ones into the store, being really organized about menu-planning, and ordering groceries to fit a menu are steps that save us a lot of money.
Do you have any tips for staying on top of household chores?
I have some non-negotiables – the beds get made EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. The kitchen gets at least cleaned up after breakfast and after dinner/before bedtime. Our bathroom gets straightened up and is civil every day after we get dressed in the morning. If these things don’t happen I can’t even think straight.
I have a housekeeper who has been coming since our third was born – every other week mostly. It is amazing to have someone else tackling the larger chores and just helps lift that constant mental load of mom-tracking on when the shower has last been cleaned or when the kitchen floor has been mopped. She’s been a huge blessing and I know it’s a totally luxury, but it’s helped me to be a more present, happier mom and it’s definitely been worth the extra expense during this busy season of babies.
Do you make a point to stay healthy and fit? If so, how do you fit it into your busy lifestyle?
I try to generally plan healthy meals for our family; we eat a lot of produce and whole-grains, cook from scratch, and avoid a lot of prepared foods. I drink a lot of water. I have never really been the best about dedicated exercise time but I try to stay active alongside my kids. This is probably the area I am the worst at, to be honest.
Family Travel: What is your favorite spot or family travel memory?
We have been blessed to make so many fun memories as a family traveling. It’s really hard to pick.
One year my husband (who is in the Navy Reserve) had two weeks of work in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. We all went together and when he wasn’t working, we spent a lot of time exploring the area around Boston and New Hampshire together. It was SO fun and watching my kids enjoy the trip was really special.
I’m from northern Michigan, so when we can all spend time there and explore and make memories in a spot that’s so special to me, I treasure it!
Do you have a can’t-live-without Mom/family products to share?
My Zoe stroller. Hands down, world’s best stroller. We take it everywhere. It’s light enough to pass all of the airline restrictions. It folds easily. I don’t know what we would have done without it all of these years.
Thank you, Emily!
If you enjoyed reading about Emily M’s Mom Life, also check out all of our Mom Life Interviews.
I’m so thankful to Emily for sharing with us. If you’d like to follow along with Emily M’s Mom Life you can find her on her blog, The Orange Slate, Instagram, and Pinterest.
I loved reading about Emily M’s Mom Life. Meet more moms and read their advice and experiences every Saturday! You can also find more Mom Life tips on our Mom Life Pinterest Board.
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