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 Sarah’s Mom Life.
Sarah is a working mom of two with busy kiddos and a lot of activities. She understands the importance of setting a healthy example for her kiddos and loves family movie nights and travel.
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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.
Today we’re hearing about Sarah’s Mom Life! Sarah is a very busy working mom of two who loves travel and movie nights. I love Sarah’s stance on discipline and follow-through! When I was working as a behavior therapist, that was one of the most important things we taught. You can find more about Sarah’s Mom Life at Foxy’s Domestic Side.
Sarah’s Mom Life
Tell us about your family:
Hi my name is Sarah, I’ve been married for 14 years and have two kids, an 8 year old boy and a 5 year old girl. They are active kids in so many sports, it’s hard to keep track, it definitely keeps us busy.
I fill my days waking up at 3am go to work for 12 hours, to come home and play chauffeur for the rest of the afternoon. Some days are harder than others, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Watching them thrive in their own elements makes my heart happy.
As a mom, what is the best part of your day?
Working full time, the best part of my day is when I get home and the kids genuinely miss me and come running to give me a hug as soon as I walk in the door.
3 Words that describe your parenting style?
Loving, Disciplined, Playful
What is a parenting rule you never break?
I never break a disciplinary action. For example: If I tell him if X doesn’t happen, then this will be the consequence. If X doesn’t happen, then I ALWAYS follow through with the consequence, but I make sure to make it a consequence I can actually follow through with.
Also Read: Why we should NOT ask our kids questions.
What is a parenting rule you always break?
TV time, sometimes we all need days where we are lazy. We are go, go, go during the weekend, even myself wants to relax and do nothing, so on the weekends, kids tend to watch way more tv than I sometimes like.
How do you prioritize family-time and me-time?
This one is hard, because I typically make me time after the kids to go bed, which means I need to squeeze in me time and husband time and then wake up at 3am everyday. I have made more of an effort this year, to stop thinking about all the things I should be doing, and have started actually sitting down the the kids to watch their favorite show. Cuddle time is their favorite and I want them to look back at this time and remember all the cuddles. They’ll never remember that the kitchen was clean of the laundry was done on time.
What is your go-to, easy weeknight meal?
Pasta with butter for the kids and some sort of protein of the week with frozen veggies. Typically my husband and I eat left overs from whatever I cooked over the weekend. Yes I heat up two different meals. With our busy lives, somethings gotta give and this is it.
Also Read: One-Pot Asiago Chicken Sausage and Broccoli Pasta
What is your favorite family activity?
I would say traveling together, because we love being together and exploring new areas, but not’s not real life, we can’t travel all the time. So currently family movie night. We eat dinner together, then put in a movie and watch it all together. The kids love it and I think/hope will remember this when they get older.
What advice would you give new moms?
Most people say enjoy all the moments with your baby. But I say, don’t forget that you were a person before you had a baby, and that’s it’s okay to take some time for yourself to get your hair or nails done or go out with your girlfriends without the guilt. Baby will remember you being happy (because you are taking care of yourself) not that you left them for a few hours that one week in March.
How do you balance work and home life?
The most important thing that I do to have that work/home balance is that I leave work at work. I don’t think about it when I’m not there, I am 100% here for the family. I wrote a whole post about that here.
Do you make a point to stay healthy and fit?If so, how do you fit it into your busy lifestyle?
I think it’s really important to stay healthy and fit and to set a good example to your kids for a healthy lifestyle. I know some people have guilt (but this goes back to my new mom advise). Taking care of yourself first so that you in turn can take care of your family is my number one priority.
Do the kids complain sometimes when they have to go with me to the gym, absolutely and every time they do I remind them that I am doing this so I can be around a long time to watch them grow up. Sometimes if I can’t get to the gym, when I am with the kids at their various sports practice, I will run around the area we are in, or I let which ever kid I had to drag there play at the park while I do a YouTube video on my phone. Embarrassing yes, but I feel, people see I’m just trying to workout while my kid is playing, they usually give a smile and a knowing nod, like good for you for working out in the middle of a busy park. Other times I try to do at home workouts. These are my favorites.
Do you have a can’t-live-without Mom/family products to share?
Dry shampoo! I used this one and it’s life changing. I’ve tried so many others, but this one hands down the best one EVER!
Family Travel: What is your favorite spot or family travel memory?
I think our favorite family travel memory right now is the first time we went to the Polar Express in Arizona. It’s a 7.5 hour drive, the kids did great and we had such a blast.
We drove out to watch the sunrise at the Grand Canyon, we did Bearizona, we explored. We loved it so much that while we were driving home we booked the hotel for the next year and went back last year too!
Any time traveling with the kids is great, they are now 5 and 8 and are at such a great age, that it’s more fun than work to travel with them. Now we want to take them everywhere!
If you enjoyed reading about Sarah’s Mom Life, check out last week’s Mom Life Interview.
Such a big thank you to Sarah for sharing her Mom Life with us! If you’d like to hear more from her you can visit her at Foxy’s Domestic Side.
I loved reading about Sara’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.
If you’d like to join in on the fun, leave a comment below or send an email to exploringdomesticity(at)gmail(dot)com with subject “Mom Life Interview Series.”
Thanks so much for having me! It was fun to answer all of your questions!
Thank YOU Sarah!! I loved learning about your family!