Looking after yourself, children and a home seven days of the week can be a daunting task.
There’s a lot to do and knowing where to start can be a real struggle, but one stay-at-home mum has recently shared her top tips for staying sane and in control while trying to do it all.
The woman, named Anna, shared her advice in a Facebook group called Mum’s Who Organise, Clean, Cook and Chat, providing fellow parents with a handy guide on how to get through the day.
She began by explaining how she found daily life “so hard” when her little ones were aged about one and three.
“I was physically, mentally and emotionally drained,” she recalled.
(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Anna says she tried several different things to make life easier, including following a cleaning routine, where you do certain jobs on certain days. But it didn’t help.
“I so desperately wanted a feeling of balance in my life,” she wrote. “To achieve this, your days need to be a balance of connecting with yourself, connecting with the kids and connecting with the home.”
So she came up with a step by step guide that allowed life to “flow” and gave her “space to breathe during the day”.
And one of her most interesting suggestions is to only give each child 15 to 20 minutes of one-on-one time each day – but it’s not the amount of time that counts she claims, it’s how you spend it.
(Image: Getty Images)
She explains: “They say that by turning off all distractions (i.e. your phone) and letting your little ones know that you would like to spend some time with them, that they feel more connected and therefore better in themselves and they’ll actually bug you less because they know you’re actually ‘present’ or emotionally available.
“Announce ‘special time’ and simply hang out, distraction free, doing what they want to do.
“Who wouldn’t feel great as a child knowing the centre of your world A.K.A mum, wants to hang out with you?”
As well as this, she encourages fellow parents to do just one wash load and one load of the dishwasher each day, make breakfast and a lunchbox of healthy snacks for the kids and yourself first thing in the morning so you don’t have to think about food until dinner time, get out of the house if you can and make sure to take a break for yourself, doing something “mind-numbingly nice” like watching TV or flicking through a magazine.
She finished her post, saying: “When you simplify your world, you feel calmer and more in control and it will have a knock on effect to everyone in the house.
“Implement just one or a couple of things that interest you/seem manageable at first. And then when you’re confident with that, try something else.
“We really do need to start slowing down and building the wellbeing of ourselves, our children, and in turn our world.”
Many people were grateful to her for sharing the tips, and praised her in the comments.
“I love this so so much,” wrote one fellow mum.
Another said: “I’m really enjoying your posts, they are so practical and useful! It never occurred to me that I can make lunch and snacks for my toddler and I first thing in the morning! This might be a game changer for me.”
“Such a great idea,” added someone else.
