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 Stacey’s Mom Life.
Stacey is a mom of two who works from home and has some extremely useful tips for mom life! She has smart tips for taking kids to the movies, staying on top of cleaning, and finding free activities!
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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.
Mom Life: Real Advice from Real Moms
Today we’re hearing about Stacey’s Mom Life! Stacey is a work-from-home mom of a girl and a boy. She has some of the smartest mom life tips I’ve ever gotten, and a lot of things we moms can implement right now!
You can find Stacey at Families with Grace and read more of her fantastic advice for families there!
Stacey’s Mom Life
Tell us about your family:
My husband and I were high school sweethearts and have been married for 19 years. Our daughter is 9, and our son is 6.
As a mom, what is the best part of your day?
It’s hard to pick one. I’d say my best part of the day is when I pick up the kids from school. I love hearing about their days as we drive home.
3 Words that describe your parenting style?
Structured, gentle, grace-filled
What is a parenting rule you never break?
I’m not sure what parenting rules there are, but one thing I am always aware of is teasing. I will never tease my kids about themselves. We joke and have fun, but making fun of one another is not allowed even if it seems to be in jest or fun.
What is a parenting rule you always break?
I won’t do things to make other people happy at the sake of my children. I am careful to not blame them for things to others to make myself look better or someone else feel more comfortable. So sometimes my kids don’t hug someone or occasionally are too shy to speak to someone. Instead, I just say they don’t feel like hugging or talking right now and move on instead of apologizing for them or forcing them to act otherwise. That said, though, we also do work on manners and how to respond when people talk to them and such.
How do you prioritize family-time and me-time?
That’s difficult. I’m not so great at it, but I’ve learned that I have to figure it out for my own well-being. I’m an introvert and need downtime/me-time to recharge. I try to have some defined times that are dedicated to work, family and myself. Family-time comes before the other times and takes precedence. There are times I make sure that I’m fully present with my family and not distracted with electronics or anything else.
For me-time, I work with our schedule and try to do something for me after the kids go to bed. I watch a television show with my husband, read a book or paint my fingernails. I learned that if I do things like scroll social media, I don’t feel like I actually relaxed and recharge. I also really enjoy the peace and quiet to myself in hot showers!
What is your go-to, easy weeknight meal?
Instant oatmeal and toast is what we have on nights that I’m really low on energy or time. I also LOVE my air fryer and use it for all sorts of things like pizza rolls and chicken nuggets. If we have a lot going on, I usually put together potato soup in the slow cooker. It’s super easy and fast and makes a lot so I have leftovers to send in my daughter’s lunch.
What is your favorite family activity?
We enjoy playing games together as well as watching movies. We’re pretty low-key!
What advice would you give new moms?
Trust your instincts and know that one bad moment doesn’t make you a bad mom. Everyone tells you that it goes so fast – and it really does – but also know you aren’t alone if you feel overwhelmed and need a break. Being a mom is the hardest, yet best thing you will ever do!
Do you have a “Mom Hack” you can’t live without?
This is a small one (and I could live without it!), but it comes in handy. We enjoy going to the movies and sharing some popcorn as well. I buy one big bucket and divvy it up into paper lunch sacks that I cut off to be about 2/3 their full size. They easily fit into my purse and work so well for passing out popcorn and avoiding sharing germs as well!
How do you balance work and home life?
I work from home, so sometimes work and home can overlap. Usually my work time is while the kids are at school. Very seldom do I schedule something for work while they are home. For the times they have school breaks, I plan ahead to do bare minimum work, and they are usually good at entertaining themselves while I do so. My husband also works from home so he can usually jump in if I get in a bind. I also get creative sometimes like when my daughter was home with strep throat a couple of weeks ago. I just took my laptop to the couch and did some work while watching a movie with her.
What is your best Mom money-saving tip?
Check out all the free programs at your local library! We have found so many good programs through the library. We went to a regular story time when the kids were toddlers. It was great to get us out of the house and give the kids a chance to socialize with others. Now they are older, we still find neat programs to go to sometimes during the school year and definitely during the summer. For example, once a month our local library hosts a Bark and Build where kids can practice reading to a dog and build with Legos. How fun is that?!
Do you have any tips for staying on top of household chores?
My biggest thing I’ve learned is to ABC: Always Be Cleaning. It’s so much easier to take a minute to wipe down my bathroom vanity after I finish getting ready once or twice a week than to let it build up and take way more time and elbow grease. With that, I have also learned to buy multiples of cleaning products and store them where I need them.
Family Travel: What is your favorite spot or family travel memory?
My lifetime favorite spot that we’ve shared with our children is a tiny town in Tennessee on a lake. We love going there and relaxing. I also loved taking them to the ocean the first time two summers ago. As I am writing this, we are also looking forward to a surprise trip for them to Disney World over spring break. It will be their first time there and their first time flying. So, I have a feeling that will rank right up there at the top!
Also read: Walt Disney World 2019 Vacation
Do you have a can’t-live-without Mom/family products to share?
Sometimes I feel like crumbs are the bane of my existence! Somehow they even appear right after I’ve cleaned and nobody has even eaten anything! I love my Swivel Sweeper. It works well, but the very best part is that my kids can easily use it. So while I’m dealing with dinner clean-up in the kitchen they alternate nights sweeping around and under the table. If they eat in the living room and drop crumbs they know to grab it as well. For all of the same reasons, I really love the Copper Chef Crumby Mini Vacuum. Whichever kid isn’t sweeping uses this to help clear the crumbs off the table. Both save me clean-up time in general and are easy enough for my kiddos to use. Win-win!
We love our Crumby too! The kids have a turtle and an emoji!
Thanks so much, Stacey, for all these fantastic tips. I personally, got so many ideas and tips that I’m going to start using! We’re going to check our local library for activities this summer, try that potato soup, and get better at cleaning as we go. I feel so inspired!! Remember to find more about Stacey’s Mom Life on her blog, Families with Grace!
If you enjoyed reading about Stacey’s Mom Life, check out last week’s Mom Life Interview.
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