Mom Just Got Real – How I Combat the Stress of Motherhood

Do you ever find that you want other moms to get real and admit they too combat the stress of motherhood?  I have. So many people act like it’s a walk in the park.  WRONG, it’s not. I mean, don’t get me wrong, being a mother is great and I wouldn’t change it for anything, but it’s not without stress. I mean, kids fight, scream, yell, make messes, don’t put things up, break things, get into stuff, and gosh, I could go on and on.  Not to mention all the other stuff you are responsible for doing in 24 hours – cleaning, dishes, dinner, laundry, grocery shopping, bills, and everything else we somehow manage to fit into a day.  It’s no wonder I have had to teach myself how to deal with the stress of not only being a mom, but daily life.

Mom Just Got Real – How I Combat the Stress of Motherhood

Being a parent is a blessing, but it doesn’t go without its stressful moments and I wanted to share a few ways I combat the stress of motherhood with you. I hope some of these techniques (if you can call them that lol) help you as much as they do me.

1.) Learn signs of stress – If you pay attention to the way you are feeling, there is usually a quiet before the storm.  If you learn how to identify your stress before it happens, you can take a few minutes to breathe and focus on not allowing the stress to control you.

2.) Moms get time out too – Seriously, give yourself a timeout if you need one.  I typically hide in the bathroom, which works sometimes; however, if I need a mommy timeout to collect my thoughts, I will step into my walk-in closet and sit on the floor. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s the only place I can take a healthy timeout.

3.) Count to 10 and breathe – I have been teaching my kids how to count to 10 and take deep breaths when they get frustrated with something since they were itty bitty, but I didn’t take my advice until recently.

4.) Scream into your pillow – I don’t do this a lot, but I have been known to walk calmly back into my room, pick up a pillow and just scream as loud as I can lol.  It helps, and I don’t yell at the kids, because that is the last thing I want to do just because I can’t handle my stress. I think it’s normal to scream in your pillow from time to time, isn’t it?  Gosh, I hope I’m not the only one who screams in my pillow.

5.) Meditation – OMG, this is by far one of my favorite ways to combat stress. After a nice session of meditation, I always feel so light.  It’s like it gets rid of all the negativity I built up.

6.) Workout – Whether you run, walk, or head to the gym, just get up and moving.  Being active makes an incredible difference when it comes to fighting stress.  It also gives you time just to think, which is decently nice.

7.) Get organized – Do it while the kids are at school or send them to grandma’s.  You’ll never be able to do it if the kids are home.  Well, at least I can’t.  By the time I start on it and have everything pulled out, the kids come in, and I end up getting frustrated and do something else.  I do recommend getting organized while the kids are away.  I have to admit not looking for things multiple times a day helps me keep my cool.

8.) If it doesn’t fit, get rid of it – There is no reason your five year old should have 2T clothing in her drawer.  NO, my 5-year-old child did not have 2T clothing.  Okay, she totally did, but I finally cleaned her drawers out because I got sick of washing clothing I knew she couldn’t even fit into, much less wear.  I’m sure you have washed a few thousand items that were not dirty too.  Well, help yourself out and donate all the clothing your kids no longer wear.

9.) Label – I hear it all too much, “But I didn’t know where to put it, Mom.”  Oh, and it’s not just the kids, my husband doesn’t seem to know where anything goes either.  Yes, after ten years nobody knows where anything goes but me so I’m always looking for things.  I don’t need help with misplacing things, I already lose my keys, purse, and wallet and I don’t even have to leave my bedroom for this to happen.   Rather than working harder, I decided to get smarter and help my family put things where they belong.  Want to know how I did this?  Well, just get yourself a cheap label maker from the store and label where everything goes.  To you, it’s common sense that the blankets go where the other blankets are but to my 11-year-old, they go wherever she can fit them, and it doesn’t matter how many times I tell her otherwise.  So I started labeling EVERYTHING – towels, wash clothes, pots, pans (more for my husband lol), blankets, etc.  There is no excuse for everything not to end up where it belongs.  It’s even proven to be husband proof!

10.) Calendar – Since I work from home, I have a good planner that I keep all my work appointments and due dates in.  I recently decided to start adding personal appointments and activities to my planner, and it’s helped me focus on what needs to get done.  Rather than just plan my workday, I plan my whole day, and it’s worked great.  I get more done, that is for sure.

11.) Keep socks in an extra drawer in your room – I don’t know about you, but my kids can’t keep track of their socks for anything, and there is nothing worse than running late for school because your children can’t find any of the socks you JUST bought them.  Yes, this is why I keep all the kids’ socks in my room in a drawer.  I put them where they go right away and make the kids put them in my dirty clothes hamper right after they take them off so I know where they are.  It’s crowd control in a way lol.

12.) Organize kids clothing – My kids used to be horrible about taking down six different outfits for school and somehow still not match, but they are too stubborn to let mom help them, so I decided to get smart.  That’s what they say, “work smarter not harder,” right?  Well, rather than fight with them, I make sure to hang their clothing in pairs.  On every hanger, there is a shirt, and bottoms that match!  Yes, they can choose what they want to wear, and they are mom approved lol.

13.) Don’t fold all that laundry – Seriously, the undies and socks are all we fold, everything else goes on hangers.  I used to fold clothing, but kids don’t keep things nice and neat like I want them to.  They rip, wad, and shove any clothing in their dresser, so it’s nice and wrinkly when they wear it.   It’s easier when it is hanging for them because they can see it.

14.) Prepare healthy snacks – I like to make my kids baggies with grapes, orange slices, apple slices, celery, and other good fruits and veggies so they can grab them and go.  It’s so much easier to have healthy snacks ready, especially if you have kids in sports after school.

15.) Meal plan – I got to the store every two weeks.  Before I head out the door, I plan our meals for the next two weeks, not only so I get everything, but also because it helps me stay on track with my day, which means less stress for this mommy of four with another on the way.

16.) Holiday shopping all year – Start shopping now to save on holiday stress.  With four kids, you better believe I shop all year round.  The few times I have waited, we spent too much money, and I was super stressed out.  To save myself stress, I started buying little things I see that remind me of the kids all year.  I always have something for birthdays and Christmas.

17.) Don’t be a “grown-up” – Just because you are a mom, doesn’t mean you have to grow up.  You and your kids will have more fun together if you just let loose and be yourself instead of trying to be a grown up.   There isn’t a “grown up handbook” that says you have to be a certain way.  So be you, have fun!

18.) Go on date nights – Don’t feel bad about needing time with your spouse. It’s important and date nights make mommy and daddy happier, which makes the kids happier.  Plus, if you talk to your kids, they will understand because they want their mom and dad to be happy together, too.

19.) Say YES to playing – If my daughter asks me to play with her, I know that means she just wants to boss me around, but I still never say no because it’s fun, and I will never get these days back.  Plus, if I am ever feeling stressed, it’s a sure fire way to put a smile on my face.

20.) Organize medication – Grab yourself a few bins big enough to hold all your medication.  Store your medicine in one, and your children’s medicine in another. Don’t forget to make sure to keep both bins out of reach of children as a precaution!

21.) Keep it stocked – Since being a parent is not easy, make sure you have a fully-stocked medicine cabinet.  We don’t want to see our children sick.  Having medication on hand makes being a parent, and a child at this point, a little easier for Sick just got real.™ moments in your household, especially during cold and allergy season.

My daughter Vayda has horrible allergies, especially once everything starts blooming and growing.  We use Children’s Dimetapp® Cold & Allergy for Vayda because it’s a non-drowsy daytime formula that helps relieve allergy symptoms such as a runny nose, congestion, and sneezing.

Being a parent isn’t easy but it’s important that we as parents don’t let our frustrations out on our children.  I hope you find something in this post that helps you combat the stress of motherhood because enjoying the good times and creating memories is so much more important than being stressed out.

Now it’s your turn to tell me how Mom Just Got Real!  Share with me how you combat the stress of motherhood or fatherhood?

 This post is sponsored by Pfizer Consumer Healthcare, but all opinions are my own.