Being a stay at home mum (SAHM) is not easy but it is incredibly rewarding. Sometimes it can drive to thinking you could be losing your marbles but they are plenty of ways to bring your sanity back from the brink and put a structure back into your home and family life.
1. Treat taking care of the house and family as a job
This means creating structure. Successful SAHMs get up at the same every day, shower and put real clothes on. For those willing to go the extra mile, that means make up too. Looking good helps you feel good! Treating this lifestyle as a job will help give you a sense of purpose. Breaking up your day into some form of schedule will help clear your mind. Create blocks of time for certain responsibilities, such as taking care of the washing while baby naps.
2. Stay active
Give yourself a burst of energy with some exercise, whether it’s in the form of yoga or a jog before the sun comes up. It keeps you busy and feeling good.
3. Play with your children
This may sound obvious, but it gets overlooked. A lot of times SAHMs are busy keeping up with chores and creating structure for their kids. It’s important to set all of that aside and just spend time playing with your kids instead of getting stressed about cleaning and feeding. Do this when they’re happy, not demanding attention, as you’ll both get more enjoyment out of the experience. One day, they’ll be too grown up to want to play pretend with you.
4. Find a play group that you can enjoy
Of course it’s important to give your children a chance to socialise with others, but this is more of a mum support. Find one that you enjoy going to, where you can become friends with other mums and swap stories. This will give you an outlet for grown up time, and help you realise you’re not going through the struggle alone.
5. Take some time for yourself
To be a parent you have to be selfless, but not all the time! Taking some time to yourself allows you to regroup. Make sure to get away from the house, even if it means doing the food shopping in a shopping centre over the other side of the city. Give yourself some non-mum related hobbies to work on, or take an hour to get a mani-pedi with a friend or by yourself. You matter!
6. Teach your kids how to have independent play
Not only is this an important life skill for all humans to have, it’ll give you some much needed time to get tasks done!
Remember to never take everything too seriously! No matter how hard you try, things will go wrong. Your toddler will flush something important down the toilet, your baby will throw up on your brand new dress. In the grand scheme of life, it’s really not a big deal. So sit down and laugh, and enjoy these moments when your children are little and yours forever.