#Mom Life – 5 Tips to Make Your Life Easier
Recently my news feed has been filled with a lot of blogs about self-important stay-at-home moms vs. working-moms and vice versa. Who writes this stuff? I want to say this in the nicest way possible – Shut Up!
We are all moms and dads doing our very best each day to get our children on the best life path. I have friends who are SAHM, working moms, working moms in school, moms with part time jobs and full time stay at home duties, and dare I say stay at home dads.
What we should be talking about is: how we can help each other out.
Every one of us parents needs a tribe to relay on.
So here are 5 tips on things you can do to make your life easier and more enjoyable – the way it should be.
# 1. Create a Tribe
Let your friends help you and help them.
Don’t have friends? I hear that all the time. Well, may I suggest picking some up. It’s like dating but with friends – check out parents that look like you could be friends at your kids’ activities and go chat with them – exchange information. I have been picked up by quite a few of my best friends and I must admit I picked up my friend Lisa at gymnastics play gym. I talked to her was for two reasons only: #1 she was wearing 100% Lulu Lemon and #2 I thought she looks like someone I could be friends with. It worked. Sometimes you meet a few people that don’t mesh with your life well – distance yourself from all toxic relationships. To be blunt – you don’t have time for it.
# 2. Cook Meals for each other
Learn more about forming a Soup Group over here.
# 3. Exercise Together
Grab one or more friends and have a standing weekly date(s) to hike, run, go to an exercise class or ski together. Having your friends there gets you out of the house, you don’t feel like you can skip and you get your much needed social time. It’s a twofer.
If you have littles that are always with you pick a gym that has daycare, hike with them in an ergo backpack or use a jogging stroller for walks or runs.
#4. Clothes Share
Pass clothes down to friends with younger kiddos and accept clothes from friends with older. It’s like a chain and saves tons of money – then you can spend on what you really love or something special. My friend Katie did this with me since Carl was born. Now she has one a year younger than Carl so I pass shoes, jackets, snowsuits and anything she is looking for down to him. We have other friends in this chain too and it works great.
#5 Plan kids’ activities together
I am by no means saying that you have to have your kids do all the same activities as your friends. No – not at all. Pick activities that work for your family first. But, if you end up with similar interests as your friends you can put your kids in classes or lessons together and that makes for a lot of fun for the adults as you can visit while the class takes place. It is also good if you need a special time of day or day or the week for a class as many places will do a special class for you if you have enough kids to sign up.
Enjoy your friends, choose wisely and make your own tribe. It will make you and your family happier and healthier all at the same time.
Love to you all and happy New Year!
Alex Shorter
West Coast Shorter Wife
