Over on my Instagram, I get this question a lot:
How do I handle work/life balance?
I have a love-hate relationship with this question. On the one hand, it’s an honest question. I work full-time out of the home and I have a family and other stuffs going on that need my attention. How do I manage this someone might wonder. But on the other hand, I know this whole balance phenomenon is really another way to make women feel badly about themselves because we go straight into the comparison game. Because the truth is, what works for one family and one working mother is different than what works for another family. Balance is a myth, an illusion. Because everyone’s balance scale is made differently. How we divide our hours or household duties or parenting responsibilities is completely unique to each family. So now that that’s out of the way, I can tell you what works for me.
I’m always learning and our situation is always changing and our stage of life is ever-evolving, so this is what works for me right now. (Legal disclaimer - I have no idea what I am talking about. Okay, maybe not a legal disclaimer, just my general motherhood motto, ha! *upside down smiley face emoji*)
Get all our stuff ready the night before.
Heading out the door, I’ve got to grab my lunch, the kids’ lunches, pumping parts, purse filled with my planner and wallet and anything I’ll need, jackets, spare diapers, tuition checks, breakfast, etc. I have found that our mornings run much more smoothly when we have things ready the night before. Emma lays out her clothing. The lunches are packed. Bottles are clean. My outfit and accessories are folded nicely in a little pile. That way, I can wake up early, get ready in the bathroom, then wake the kids and feed them breakfast and head out the door. It’s much easier than wondering WHERE THE DANG SHOE WENT. You know what I mean.
Read MoreHappy New Year! 2019 is upon us an of course, so is the obligatory goals and resolutions post. My words of the year are fiat and comfort and I tried to keep that in mind as I planned my goals for the year. I am looking forward to staying accountable this year using my planner and journals. IMMA DO IT.
Read MoreI don’t know about you, but I usually have several books going on at once. I have a few paperbacks, a few ebooks, and a few audiobooks all going at the same time. I like to bounce between books depending on my mood. Is anyone else like that?
I have a goal in 2019 to read 26 books, I figure that’s about a book every two weeks. It seems like an easy enough goal, but with three kids and working full-time, I will be hard pressed to find alone time. I think this goal will encourage me to spend less of my “free time” on social media and more on my hobbies.
Here is what I’m reading this month — some are old favorites and some are new to me. What are you reading this month?
Read MoreNow, I know there is a contentious battle between those who decorate for Christmas after Halloween and those who decorate after Thanksgiving. Growing up, my family would decorate for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. We would decorate the tree, listen to Christmas music, and jump into the Christmas spirit, but we always waited until after Christmas.
But since having my own children, I wanted to place more focus on the Advent season leading up to Christmas and then keep the Christmas spirit going well after the stores put the decorations on the clearance shelf. Where does that put Thanksgiving and the remnants of autumn? Well, sometimes it gets pushed to the side.
So in honor of poor, forgotten Thanksgiving, I wanted to write down a few things I hope to do during the remainder of fall.
Spend a few hours in a tea shop reading books and having a pot of my favorite tea.
Sipping hot apple cider and going on an afternoon walk in our neighborhood.
Raking leaves and letting the kids jump in a big pile of them.
Making a Thanksgiving meal for our little five-some (well, Theo will be having milk from the tap).
Taking a family trip to Lake Tahoe.
Read MoreWhen you live with someone for a while, you sometimes forget all the little quirks you have about yourself and those you live with. Everyone is pretty used to each other so those little idiosyncrasies about one another go unnoticed or, at least, we become desensitized to them. (Well, that is until you’re over-tired or over-worked or just had it up to here then all those traits about each other come screaming back and they suddenly become annoying, buuuut that’s a different story.)
It got me to thinking about my own quirks. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, good or bad, normal or not so normal, they just scream Samantha. So in honor of one of my favorite Instagram hashtags, here are some #Fridayintroductions, quirky edition.
What are your quirks? Drop them in the comments below and help me feel more normal, ha!
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