Being a mom is hard work. Even when it feels like too much, there are always steps to take to lighten the load and connect with a deeply rooted sense of wellness and resiliency.
I’m so grateful for my children. They have taught me, and continue to teach me many profound lessons. Most recently, I am learning how to step into my full power as a mama bear. I’m learning to advocate for my children, and in turn, learning to advocate for myself. The power of the mama bear…
Being a mom is the best thing I am doing in this life. It is also hard. Recently, I’ve been having a particularly tough time. I have been drowning in negativity and seeking support where there is none, which only fuels more negativity. I’ve been focused on the lack of community in my life, my…
I wrote about Building My 33-Item Stay at Home Mom Capsule Wardrobe a few months ago. I followed Courtney Carver’s Project 333 Challenge guidelines and was excited to embrace a minimalist approach in my closet. I chose 33 items to wear for 3 months (excluding pajamas and workout clothes) and boxed up my remaining clothes…
Losing yourself in motherhood is a pretty easy thing to do. Kids have a lot of needs, time moves fast, and life gets busy! Plus, many mamas have little to no support network. I have lost myself countless times in motherhood. It’s usually somewhere between overwhelm, exhaustion, and overstimulation that I get disoriented and lose…
The Moon Mama: A Motherhood Illustration She is crafted from many layers; love, exhaustion, joy, overwhelm, resilience, and uncertainty.Her body is a formless mass, capable of morphing into many strange, vulnerable, and spectacular forms.She cradles the sweetest and purest love in her arms.Together, mama and baby rest and float in a protective cocoon across the…
Being a motherless mom can make motherhood feel extra lonely. Becoming a mom without your mom can feel like sailing out on the open ocean without the comfort and safety of a life vest. There are other crew members and lifeboats on board, but that one life vest you really wish you had, hugging your…
Life gets hectic with young kids, and adopting some solid mom organization hacks has saved me a lot of time, money, effort, and sanity! Plus, staying organized at home keeps my family rocking and rolling and models important organizational skills to my kids. Here are some of my favorite ways to maintain an organized home…
This is Part 1 of my stay at home mom capsule wardrobe series! I have started the Project 333 Challenge and have selected 33 items to wear for the next three months. Here I will be sharing how I went about creating my perfect capsule wardrobe and the 33 items that made the cut! What…
SAHM life has not always been easy for me. I struggled with SAHM shame my first couple of years as a stay-at-home, and then with mom overstimulation and mom rage after my second child was born. 5 years into this gig though, and I am finally figuring out a great SAHM routine. While I do…
I’m not unhappy as a stay-at-home mom, but I could be happier. The stress, struggles, and mental load of motherhood could be less, and the joys and inspiration could be more. So I want to share what I have learned about becoming a happier stay-at-home mom over the past 5 years. Motherhood has been (and…
In her book Hunt, Gather, Parent, Author Michaeleen Doucleff travels around the world to Mayan, Inuit, and Hadzabe villages with her young daughter. She learns about the parenting practices of these cultures and shares her findings along with some practical parenting tips. Doucleff explains how the parenting practices from these ancient cultures help produce helpful,…
Welcome to part 2 of what has unfortunately become my angry stay-at-home mom series. Ugh. Part 1 of the series is all about Understanding Causes Of Mom Rage And Taking Back Control. I discuss what it’s like to experience mom rage and some of the ways I am dealing with emotional dysregulation. In this second post,…
If you are a stressed mom looking for ways to get some relief, I’ll be sharing my top 20 stress-relieving tips below. As a stay-at-home mom, I’m around my two young children (1 and 4 years old) pretty much all of the time. I know the stress that comes with the mental load of motherhood. I also know…
My journey as a stay-at-home mom has been full of ups and downs. High-highs and low-lows. This blog post is about the low-lows. Specifically, the following 10 stay-at-home mom struggles; SAHM (stay-at-home mom) life is of course not only made up of these struggles. There are incredible parts too! You can read about those in…
As a mom of two young children, I often question my parenting practices and wonder if I am doing the right thing. Am I too strict with my kids? Or too lenient? Do I coddle them too much, or not enough? Am I scheduling too many playdates? Or too few? Are my kids’ days overscheduled,…
I have spent a lot of time writing about my struggles in motherhood here on the Shiny New Parent blog. While sharing these struggles is important, I also want to share what I love about motherhood; and specifically my life as a stay-at-home mom! So in this post, I’ll outline some of the greatest benefits of being a stay-at-home…
Most people who know me would probably describe me as a quiet and calm person. They might be surprised to hear me talk about a topic like “mom rage”. But here we go. In the last year or so (since having my second child), I have repeatedly had the soul-sucking experience of getting caught in…
Whenever I start to feel overwhelmed (which is often as a mom of 2 young kids), I get obsessive about decluttering my home. It has become a form of stress management for me. It’s a small way to feel a little bit more in control of my own life and less weighed down by all…
Content Last Sunday I took my 16-month-old daughter to her gymnastics class (aka a bunch of toddlers wandering around in circles). As everyone gathered in a circle at the start of class, the instructor went around and asked everyone what they did the previous day (a Saturday). Every parent explained some wonderful outing they went…
Keeping a whole family fed is such a task! So I have finally made an official family meal plan to simplify grocery shopping and meal prep. I can not believe it has taken me all of these years to sit down and take the time to do this. I am at a point in motherhood…
The biggest issue I have struggled with as a mom of 2 young children is exhaustion and sleep deprivation. An out-of-whack sleep schedule has made me feel physically and mentally unwell. It has become a vicious stress cycle of staying up late to unwind and then waking up exhausted and unequipped to manage the day….
All parents need some type of support network when raising young children. What this support network looks like though, can vary. Different parents need varying levels and sources of support depending on the following; For example, some need a strong emotional support system, while others need support in the form of childcare due to a…
An overstimulated mom is tired, stressed, and overwhelmed. Her nervous system has been bombarded with sensory information in the form of shrieking rambunctious children, crying babies, and the countless demands of motherhood. She may experience strong feelings of anger and irritability, and feel like she is losing control. She may even experience feelings of anxiety…
If you are dealing with stay-at-home mom burnout, you are not alone. Raising children full-time is hard work and can get the best of anyone. While all mamas have the occasional hard day, a burnt-out mama lives in survival mode. She has a torturously hard day everyday, or most days. She feels depleted, disconnected and…
As a mom of a rambunctious baby and a high-energy preschooler, I can get pretty overstimulated and overwhelmed. Sometimes my nerves are completely fried by the end of the day. This is when I start to feel angry, resentful, and burnt out. The constant motion, noise, and general chaos of raising two young children is…
With sunshine and fun-filled days ahead, finding the best baby wrap carrier for summer is a must! A cozy wrap is great to use while out and about or at home getting things done. Features of a Great Summer Baby Carrier Wrap A great baby carrier wrap promotes bonding, provides comfort, and offers convenience. When…
My first birth was an emergency c-section and my second was an unplanned VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). The best-laid plans, right? Birth plans gone awry are the quintessential example of one of life’s favorite maxims; control is an illusion. My Unplanned VBAC Birth I went into spontaneous labor in the wee hours of the…
Let me tell you about my postpartum anal fissure and how I got through it. A fissure is defined by the Mayo Clinic as a small tear in the lining of the anus. A postpartum fissure is among the most painful issues a woman may experience after birth, yet one of the least talked about. Given that…
Considerations – When Should Family Visit Newborn Baby? 1. Know Thyself 2. Protecting Immature Newborn Immune System 3. Establishing Breastfeeding 4. Processing Postpartum Emotions Establishing Boundaries with Newborn Visitors 1. Give Yourself Permission to Have Boundaries 2. Practice Clear and Kind Communication Around Boundaries There are a lot of…
As far as my hospital bag was concerned, I was wildly unprepared after the birth of my first child. I had not yet prepared a bag when my water broke at 37 weeks, and I had not anticipated staying in the hospital for 5 days (I ended up needing a c-section, plus my son needed…
My second pregnancy was brutal in terms of morning sickness. Or should I say 24/7 sickness? Why it’s called “morning sickness” makes no sense to me. I often felt the worst in the evenings and the middle of the night. In the movies, the woman who runs to the bathroom to vomit once at the…
According to Pew Research, the “sandwich generation” describes, “those who have a living parent age 65 or older and are either raising a child under age 18 or supporting a grown child”. They explain that the sandwich generation often provides financial and or emotional support for both their children and aging parents. This can be a lot for…
After meeting someone new, I always dread the question, “What do you do?” This question used to be a source of pride for me when I was working (in a paid position) and/or studying in school. Now though, I feel a touch of shame when I answer, “I’m a stay-at-home mom taking care of my…
While a “chemical pregnancy” is often referred to as an “early miscarriage”, it is not technically considered a “miscarriage” (at least not always). A Lack Of Clarity Around The Term “Chemical Pregnancy” Confusing, right? As a woman who had 1 blighted ovum miscarriage and 2 chemical pregnancies, I remember feeling very frustrated with this lack of clarity….
While TV ads and hallmark cards often suggest that all “good” mothers want to spend Mother’s Day with their families, I am here to tell you otherwise. Most moms with young kids that I know just want some guilt-free, luxurious alone time. To simply be away from screaming wiggling children. Just some quiet and stillness…
Intergenerational family patterns are made up of behaviors, beliefs, and family dynamics that are passed down from generation to generation. These patterns become deeply entrenched within family systems. And in the case of unhealthy patterns, this is problematic because they can be difficult to break. Family members may accept certain patterns as the norm, or…
‘Parent exhaustion’ is the particular flavor of overwhelm and depletion that comes from meeting the demands of a small child day in and day out (and night in and night out). And when the exhaustion becomes chronic, it leads to parent burnout. WebMD aptly describes parent burnout as, “a condition in which you’re so exhausted that…
Miscarriage… not a topic I thought I would ever write about. But here we are. I was completely blindsided both physically and emotionally by my miscarriage. I knew practically nothing about the process, and I felt alone and disoriented. I had never really thought about the question before, “What is a miscarriage like?”. So I…
During the first year of my child’s life, I told myself that sleep deprivation was normal. And it is, to a certain extent. Night feeds and wake-ups are just a part of the initiation process into parenthood. So I did not worry too much that first year about my sleep habits, as I was caught…
