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 Shari’s Mom Life.
Shari is a work-from-home boy mom of two. She has wonderful advice for balancing family time and me time as well as work and home life. She also has some great thoughts on kids and screen time!
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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.
Also Read: My Mom Life… these days
Today we’re hearing all about Shari’s Mom Life!
Shari Medini is co-owner of Adore Them Parenting. She is a boy mom who has a lot of fantastic Mom Life advice to share!
Shari’s Mom Life
Tell us about your family
My husband and I have been married since 2007, live in Pennsylvania, and have two boys! Our boys are 9 and 6 years old currently, which are such fun (and relatively easy) ages.
As a mom, what is the best part of your day?
Definitely NOT mornings… I have never been a morning person and having kids hasn’t changed that unfortunately.
Also Read: Morning Routine for Kids: Set yourself up for success
I do really enjoy afternoons with my boys though. I pick them up from school around 2:30, and then we spend some downtime together before worrying about homework, dinner, and activities.
I treat it as a modified afternoon siesta where a lot of times we just sit on the couch together and watch shows or play video games to unwind and recharge!
3 Words that describe your parenting style?
Common Sense, Positive, Natural Consequences (more than 3 words, but you get the idea 🙂 )
What is a parenting rule you never break?
The Golden Rule. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
This does not necessarily come from a religious place – it just means… be a good human! If I don’t want my children to yell at me, I shouldn’t yell at them. If I want my kids to be kind and accepting of others, I better model that behavior as well.
I try to keep our home a place of mutual respect.
What is a parenting rule you always break?
Screentime. My kids get a lot of screen time. They play video games, they watch YouTube, they play iPad games. I don’t have any specific rules for limiting their use.
In my experience, strict limits tend to lead to obsessions (whether we are talking about screens, food, or other issues). Recent research has also shown that the issue of screen time has been blown way out of proportion! This study shares that kids that use digital technologies have better social and emotional skills than kids who don’t.
I think it really comes down to allowing kids to fit in. As adults we talk about our favorite Netflix series and message each other on our devices all day long – it helps us stay connected and feel like we’re a part of something. Our kids are the same way. They want to feel like they fit in with their peers!
The other key part of this argument is that our children are simply living in a digital world, and it’s only going to get more complex. I love that my kids are well-versed in the ins and outs of apps and game design because I truly think that it will serve them well in the future.
Also Read: Rainy Day Activities – with and without Mom
How do you prioritize family-time and me-time?
This balance has become a lot easier since my boys are both in elementary school now.
Since I am not a morning person, I usually use my mornings for me-time. I catch up on favorite TV shows and social media while I drink my tea. I enjoy my few quiet hours each day by spending it writing, working on the website, and doing other odds and ends for work. The goal is to knock out enough of the work stuff so that I can shift gears and focus on the boys for the few hours that I get to see them in the afternoons/evenings.
It is a much easier balance to maintain, and it has allowed us to get into a good rhythm as a family. The stay at home mom days were a lot trickier! How do you carve out me-time or work from home time with a baby and a toddler? Somehow, you just make it work; but it can make you feel a bit frazzled in the process!
I also really feel like family time and me time don’t have to be big occasions. It is the small, regular moments that have a bigger impact. It is being there for my kids on a consistent basis instead of focusing on planning big family moments in an effort to “catch up” on family time.
What is your go-to, easy weeknight meal?
I have Home Chef meal kits delivered every Tuesday, and it is incredible! I actually did an entire video comparing it to Hello Fresh and explaining why I love it so much (not sponsored – just a fan!) I only order it for my husband and I so that we have 3 well-balanced and delicious meals each week that don’t require me to meal plan or go to the grocery store. Then since our kids are such picky eaters, I just make them their usual go-to favorites.
Also Read: Hello Fresh Review
What is your favorite family activity?
Games! We love playing games together – board games, card games, video games… it’s all so much fun! We have a huge collection of games in our house so that it’s easy to pick out whatever we’re in the mood for and spend an hour having fun together.
What advice would you give new moms?
Oh boy… where do I start?!
I wrote an article about how to become a more confident mom, and I touch on the following points: practice following your instincts, ask those closest to you for stories, do not open yourself to opinions, find a few good mom friends, remember that biology is a huge factor, try your best, and work on your confidence as a person – not just a mom.
Also Read: Advice from Moms: 23 Moms share one piece of advice
What do you do when you need a break?
It depends… Only recently did I realize that recharging can mean very different things at different times.
We all have days where we feel like we’re in a slump. We’re extra tired, a little cranky, and definitely unmotivated. And while those days are normal, there are things that we can do to help ourselves feel better! The key to this whole process though is figuring out what you actually need in that particular moment…
There are four key areas to help you figure out what you need most: Rest/Relaxation, Companionship, Expression, Health/Spirituality. I’ve put together ideas for each of these areas here!
What are you reading with your kids?
My older son is really into The Adventurer’s Guide series, and I love the books too! They are fun and original with great characters and adventures.
My younger son is still in that phase where we read the same book most nights. The current favorite is Llama Destroys the World by Jonathan Stutzman.
How do you balance work and home life?
I am lucky to be able to work from home and have flexible hours. I really don’t know how moms with typical 9-5 jobs do it! Karissa (who is the co-owner of Adore Them Parenting with me) shared great time management advice with me a while back, and I have been implementing it ever since! You can read the full article here, but essentially her advice is to pick different days for different focuses…
She recommends having house days, work days, and family days. On house days, I focus on things like laundry, dishes, deep cleaning, etc. On work days, I sit in front of my computer and allow myself to really get into the flow of things without distraction. On family days, I make the effort to ignore the messes and the emails and just focus on spending quality time with my kids.
Too often we try to find a perfect balance within each and every day, but this isn’t optimal! Instead, we should look for overall balance over the course of a week or even a month. There have been plenty of times where I felt like I ignored my children for 48 hours straight while I worked on a new book proposal. But then I tuned back into them and balanced out our week.
Also Read: Cleaning Tips from Moms
Family Travel: What is your favorite spot or family travel memory?
My parents have a lake house in the Adirondacks, and we are so spoiled to get to go there every summer! We paddle board, wakeboard, fish, hike, ride four wheelers, and just enjoy the beautiful scenery. My boys love having a familiar home away from home to visit each year.
Also Read: Family Boating Essentials
Do you have a can’t-live-without Mom/family products to share?
It is such a simple thing, but these Lotus Trolley Bags make me so happy! Between these bags and our grocery store’s self scanner options, I am super organized and super speedy at the store. Anything that streamlines daily life brings me joy 🙂
Thanks so much for sharing your Mom Life, Shari!
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