Books
The Ultimate Self-Care Routine for Busy Moms
Finding a rhythm and routine that keeps you sane as a mom is of top priority. Read along as I share with you my ultimate self-care routine for busy moms.
Recognize the season
Being a mom is one of the toughest jobs on the planet. You will never be able to convince me otherwise. So before I launch into this ultimate self-care routine, please note that each mom has various seasons in motherhood. Some seasons are way more time consuming than others. With that being said, use this self-care routine simply as a suggestion and uses it to fit your needs. Hang in there, mama! You are doing great!
My Ultimate Self-Care Routine for Busy Moms
- Walk and/or run
- Devotions
- Wash face twice daily
- End the day with a book
Sleep
No matter the season of motherhood, adequate sleep has always been an issue. When my children were infants, sleep was hard to come by because I was meeting their needs (feedings, diaper changes, as they got older – chase away the boogie man). Older ages brought late night sports activities or waiting up for them to return home from dates. Now, in my mid-forties, lovely perimenopause is reeking havoc on my sleep schedule.
For the past few months, I have been attempting to go to bed earlier because I am getting up early in order to exercise. While the activity is good for me, it has also been good for me to attempt to go to sleep earlier. Now, if I can just sleep through the entire night!
Knowing that I will be waking up at 5:00 a.m. forces me to put aside the mindless scrolling and get to bed at a decent hour. First thing in the morning, I wake up, have a cup of coffee, then meet a couple of friends for a 3 mile walk.
Devotions
In a previous post, I’ve shared the importance of a quiet time. Why does this make the ultimate self-care routine for busy moms? Because a few moments of solitude to pray and meditate on what is most important in life gives me a purpose to my day-to-day.
Wash Face Daily
Why is this simple task so important? I’ve found as I age, the condition of my skin impacts my mood. When my skin is dry and the eye bags are heavy, I feel a little down. A little moisturizer goes a long way to boost my mood! And your skin care routine doesn’t have to break the bank. Recently, I discovered @lorafied on Instagram and she has some great tips for finding good skincare hacks. Below is some of her ideas for Dollar Tree Dupes.
End the Day with a Book
Reading did not become a hobby for me until adulthood. Now, ending the day with a book is a sweet treat for me. Reading allows me to unwind from the day and getting ready for sleep. Reading actually makes me sleepy and I look forward to becoming too tired to read. This habit is a part of my self-care routine because it helps my mind and body to slow down. Check out my Goodreads link at the top of my blog page!
Please share with me your ultimate self-care routine or feel free to copy mine!
How to Start a Daily Quiet Time
Craving a word from the Lord? Or simply wanting moments to center yourself? Let me share with you how to start a daily quiet time.
1. Designate a purpose.
This blog post is for individuals who feel a strong desire to center themselves and align their ideals with God in a daily manner . Practical tips for establishing this time will be given. From the inception of my blog, I would say my target audience would be women whose main role is the chief executive operators of their home. You can learn more about me and what my passion is here. As the chief excecutive operator of your home, quiet time can enhance the productivity of your home. When initiating a quiet time, designate your purpose for creating a time alone. Do you want to grow closer to God? Need a time to quiet the noise of the world and discover what drives you? Determining your purpose will motivate your plan.
2. Choose a platform
What do I mean by a platform? Any avenue to assist as a conduit of your time alone is considered a platform. A variety of platforms can assist with creating a quiet time: devotional book, Bible, or podcast. Here is a top selling Bible on Amazon. The beauty of study Bibles is you learn about the culture of the time of each particular scripture as well as context clues and background information. One platform I used this past year was a podcast, The Bible Recap. This podcast revealed so many aspects of the Bible that I simply did not know (and I have read through the Bible before). This podcast helped me to deepen my understanding of the Bible and God’s message. The appropriate platform can give you knowledge and knowledge is power.
Women’s NIV Study Bible. As an Amazon Associate, I am eligible for commission on any viable links. 3. Pick a consistent time.
Picking a consistent time is a habit I have been crafting for DECADES. I am in no way a morning person and for a L O N G time did my quiet time at night. In 2023, my first challenge for the year was to do a daily quiet time first thing in the morning. As a night owl, a little bit of preparation had to take place in order for this challenge to be a success. Getting sufficient sleep, purchasing a journal, keeping my devotional materials near my bed, making sure my coffee supplies are stocked and ready to go are necessary preparations for me to be successful.
4. Give yourself grace.
In my opinion, as long as you are making an effort to have a quiet time, the exact time of day it happens is not of top importance. Now, three decades into this habit and I can definitely see the benefits of starting the day out in quiet time. For me, a cup of coffee is tantemount to being able to pull of any successful moments of quiet reflection. Am I successful each day? No, but giving myself the grace to let go of my shortcomings and start again as soon as I can has been helpful.
Whatever your purpose for starting your own quiet time, I hope you have much success in your endeavor. My desire is for these tips to help motivate and guide you. Share with me in the comments any tips or tricks that have been beneficial to your own quiet time journey.
School Supply Shopping
Are you a spender or a saver? A tightwad or a spendthrift? For me, I find myself wanting to find the best deal on anything I can. To pay full price for anything just about kills me. School supplies is an area that agitates me. I want to get the best deal on items that are needed for the classroom. Waste and excess are two words I do not want to hear when getting ready for going back to school and have me looking for deals when school supply shopping. Planning for the routine and needs of school gets me thinking of other areas of our home that need preparation such as meal planning. A good refresher course for how to meal plan can be found here.
Purchasing Options
To acquire your school items, you have a few options. You may shop for each school supply on your own or order the school supply list from your school. Many schools are now crafting school supply lists then shipping them directly to the homes that have pre-ordered.
The benefit of ordering your school supplies from your local school is you do not have to go out and buy your items on your own time. One potential drawback is the overall cost of supplies tend to be higher on the pre-order list.
The down side of taking the time to shop for your own supplies is you are spending your precious time hunting down the best deals. Another option when searching for your own deals is completing a pick up order from Walmart or Target. You can order what you need then drive by and pick it up without having to go in the store.
Price Comparisons
I have wanted to know for a long time exactly how expensive school supplies are. Typically, I run into whatever store of my choice and throw in school supplies last minute with no knowledge of the cost until checkout.
This year, I did a price comparison between Walmart and Target on school supply prices. I will list the supplies I was shopping for and the price comparisons.
Item Walmart Target 1.5″ Avery Binder $7.64 $7.69 5 tab/poly dividers $3.33 $4.49 Wide Ruled Marble Composition Notebook $.50 $.55 #2 Dixon Ticonderoga Pencils 12 count $6.42 $2.99 Plastic Pocket folders with brads $.50 $.50 Crayola 12 count Erasable Colored Pencils $14.99 $3.99 Fisker 5″ scissors $1.47 $1.49 Elmer’s gluesticks .77 ounce $.52 $1.06 Comparison of prices between Walmart and Target For this week, Target has some great prices and selection so I purchased most of my school supplies from there. I was able to find binders cheaper than the Avery binder pricing. The Target brand binders were $4.69 each. Also, the price for the erasable pencils from Walmart seems just too high but that was the only price I could find online for that particular item. It was just too high compared to the Target price and I am hopeful that I simply made an error in looking up that item.
Ways to Save
Money tight in your household? Frustrated with buying the same supplies each year then getting them back at the end of the school year? Create a space to house all school supplies then at the beginning of each year, shop your stock pile first before you head out to the store. Below is a post from my friend JeriKay about a beautiful piece of furniture she has designated to house all her school supplies.
At times we have reused the plastic, pocketed folders with brads year after year. And with the use of pencil boxes and/or pouches, we have held on to crayons and colored pencils that are barely used. Shopping weekly sales in the days and weeks leading up to a new school year is another way to save money on school supplies.
If holding onto leftover supplies and hunting down the best deals is not worth your time, I totally understand! Do what works best for you and your family. School supply pre-orders may be just the option for you! Whichever you chose, may your school year be filled with peace, learning, and fun!
Let me know in the comments how you shop for school supplies. I would love to hear from you!
Back 2 School Ready!
For fellow Alabamians and many across the south United States, school begins within the next few weeks. I’m spending some time now preparing in order to be back to school ready. Read along for some quick tips for how to ready yourself and your family for the upcoming school year.
Out with the Old
A couple of weeks before school begins is a great time to go through your children’s closets and see what items no longer fit or have been stained or torn. Get rid of any of these items that are taking up precious space. Determine what needs to be donated and what needs to simply be thrown away.
Take inventory of what materials and supplies you have available at home. Do you have left over school supplies from last year? Will last year’s backpack still be a good choice for this year? From your assessment, create a list of what is missing for the upcoming school year.
Plan for the New
Once your children’s closets and backpacks have been cleaned out, determine what your needs are. Does your son need more pants? Has your daughter’s shoe size grown? Make a list of all needed items for the school year. Include school supply lists to your master list of needed items. Now, shop! Look for some great deals. Like to Know It has some amazing influencers to follow that will show you wonderful deals to check out.
I found a few clothing deals for my kiddos and linked them up here. You can also check out my Liketoknow.it images on the right sidebar of my blog.
In addition to clothing items, school supplies such as: colored pencils, binders, and pronged folders will all be on sale at area grocery and box stores. Publix usually does a great job of running Buy One, Get One sales on school supplies in the weeks leading up to school. I am so excited because I was recently able to purchase the Bentgo Kids lunchbox I have had my eye on for a while from Amazon during its Prime Day sales.
Establish or Reestablish Routines
Lastly, think through what your school days will look like: nightly routines, morning drop off, and lunch plans. As I shared in an older post, I had the privilege of sitting in an Organized Mom small group led by one of the children’s ministers at our previous church. This woman is amazing! She shared so much wisdom for back to school routines. Her guidance on preparing for each school week and how my morning ride to school should look like still has a positive influence on my family’s lives.
What did I learn? 1. Prepare your family’s outfits the weekend BEFORE the upcoming school week. Iron each day’s outfit if necessary and place with the appropriate shoes, underwear, and socks together or in a hanging organizational bin such as this one. (*As an Amazon Associate, I may earn a commission off any viable links.*) 2. Prepare lunches the night before or get one of your kids to help prepare lunches. The last semester of last year, I worked in long-term substitute positions and my daughter would make our lunches every morning. This act of service was greatly appreciated! 3. Rides to school should include NO LECTURES. Proper preparation before the school week helps to avoid running late to school. Not being in a rush, reduces the chances of frustration and parental lectures. Play worship music and pray together. 4. Don’t bail your kids out. This one was and is a challenge but man, it has some good fundamental lessons for kids. Your kid left their lunch at home? Don’t deliver it. Homework come up missing from their backpack? Don’t go searching for it. Sometimes our children need to fail in order to learn how to thrive on their own.
Now You’re Ready!
Taking some time to purge the old, plan for the new, and establish positive routines will have you and your family back to school ready!
