Ok, so it’s overcast and a bit chilly outside, it’s one of those days you wish you could’ve stayed in bed late…and on top of that it’s a Monday…uggh, I hate Mondays…I was tired before the day even began! That was the conversation I was having in my head this morning at 5:45am when my alarm went off…should I get up and workout? Should I get up at all? Uggh, do I have to? I’m sooo tired…. But ya know what? I did get up – in fact both me the hubs got up at 5:45am and did our T25 Beta workout together. I really dislike working out, but I always tell myself it’s only 25mins and once it’s done, I feel awesome for the rest of the day! So by 7am I had already worked out, showered, dressed, and was in my kitchen packing school lunches and having my favorite cup of coffee (which I look forward to like Christmas morning). Talk about making the morning count! I don’t write this to make you feel bad if you are struggling with getting up and going in the mornings, but I write this to encourage you to make every moment of your day count.

As moms, we juggle so much everyday – from making sure we take care of ourselves, to then making sure we manage our household, our kids, and our marriages. It’s a never-ending To-Do list that gets very little praise. I feel like as soon as I finish washing laundry and putting it away, the entire process starts all over again (of course, laundry is seriously one of my least favorite chores to do…if I didn’t loathe it so much it probably wouldn’t take a week to wash, fold, and put away…but still…). Same with the kitchen floor – as soon as I sweep and mop it, the very next child that walks through the kitchen inevitably leaves a trail of sand, dirt, leaves, food, crumbs..etc and the floor is a mess again. It’s frustrating huh?

But you know what? I’ve learned over the years that having the cleanest house on the block doesn’t mean I win an award. And having all the laundry washed, folded, and put away as soon as possible each week, it’s going to make my kids love me more. And although having a spotless kitchen floor does keep the ants away, my kids have never begged me to please clean the floor vs. playing with them instead.   I do love a clean house, and I do like things to be tidy, but having my house spotless ALL the time doesn’t make me a better wife or mom. You have to find the balance in it all and make every moment count.

Here’s how to Make Every Moment Count:

1. Get Up Early – exercise, spend some time with the Lord, get ready before your kids are up
2. Make a To-Do List
3. Schedule time during the day to specifically check Social Media – then turn it off
4. Don’t get distracted by little things, pick a big item you want to tackle and just get it done
5. Schedule your day and stick to it
6. Build in time to rest and play with your kids
7. Involve your kids as much as possible with your tasks

Did you wake up this morning to toys on the ground, kids raring to go asking for Cheerios before you’ve even had your first cup of coffee? I did, and I’m sure a lot of you are in the same boat. I feel like I’m a veteran Stay-at-home-mom now that I’m almost 9 years into it, but I know for sure that I’m not an expert – just a mom who loves my kids and longs to be a voice for more than just my kids – I want to be a voice for who the Lord made ME to be. I’m so much more than diaper changes, fruit snacks, laundry, dishes, story time, and homework helper. I’m a sister, wife, friend, daughter, lover, teammate, entrepreneur, AND a mom. 

A little about me, I’m in my early 30’s, I’ve been married to the man of my dreams who is my complete opposite for almost 13 years, and we have 3 awesome kids. I’ve been a Christian since I was 5 years old and knowing the Lord has made me who I am today. After we got married, we waited 4 years to have children because we’ve both always been very entrepreneurial and we were 3 years into our first home business and we both wanted to be working from home to spend as much time as we could with our kids. It was a nice dream at first – we started our first business and things went great – we worked hard and made a great income and had our first son, Coen. When our second child was born, Makenzie, working and taking care of them both was becoming very hard for me to manage at the level I was trying to maintain. When our third child, Rylyn, was born I looked my husband in the eye and told him I was done working. I felt the Lord whispering to me that I needed to step away from working and focus on the kids for a while. And that is exactly what I did. I very slowly pulled away from work and really devoted my time and energy to my kids. As a result the business closed. Which was really heartbreaking, but also good for us. It was very hard on my husband to close that business – we had poured our hearts into it. But, we both know it was the right thing to do – as a result, three years later, we can look back and learn from it. We found out that we make a dynamic team in the business world, we can absolutely run our own business and succeed at it, and we know we will do it again in the near future.

When I stepped away from the business world into mommy world I was completely lost. The two worlds are so different, and hard to compare. One is high heels, suits, meetings, contracts, high fives and fulfillment. The other is diapers, spit-up, yoga pants, playgroups, referee, and feeling unappreciated and alone.   But all of those can change within minutes, either good or bad. It took me a few years, yes, a few years, to finally come to grips with the fact that I left my business world where I was successful to become a mommy and feel totally blessed on a good day and completely drained and unappreciated the next day. Being a mom is a high calling from the Almighty. Being a SAHM is an even more divine calling from the Almighty. Some of us do this ‘mommy’ thing really well – or at least that is how it seems.   Most of us are all the same, we all just love our kids and are trying the best we know how to be moms. I can’t speak for everyone, but I know for myself that it’s only by God’s grace in my life that I can even call myself mom and I like to think I do an ok job at it. Everyday I ask the Lord for patience and wisdom on how to be the best mom I can be. Most days it’s a day-by-day thing. When I mess up, which I do constantly, I try not to dwell on it and am always thankful for the Lord’s grace. But just because I’m a SAHM today, doesn’t mean that I’ve put my dreams on hold or that I’ve turned off my entrepreneurial brain. In fact, being a SAHM opens up a whole need world of business opportunities! There are all sorts of ways to earn a side income during naptime each day!

If you find yourself as a new SAHM and wonder what to do next, do what I did:

• Take a deep breath and know that you are exactly where God wants you.
• Take it a day a time. Don’t stress about tomorrow, live in every moment today.
• When you are focusing on your kids, put your phone and iPad away and truly focus on your kids. AND enjoy them and the moments you have with them.
• Remember that your kids grow up – enjoy them while you can, but also make sure to do something for yourself daily – enjoy a special cup of coffee, paint your toes, take a shower without one of your kids, cook dinner while they watch a movie – anything that you enjoy – build it into your life daily.
• Keep dreaming! I keep a notebook handy in my kitchen that I add ideas, thoughts, dreams, goals, etc to every day as I go about my life as a mommy.
• Join a playgroup; MOPS (Mother’s of Preschoolers) group to socialize with others SAHM.
• Invest in relationships with other SAHM and share your lives together!
• If you miss the income you left to be a SAHM then do some research on how you can generate an income from home.
• Take a moment to pray and thank God for your amazing kids that He has blessed you with – even if it’s while you are changing a very stinky diaper!