Being a mom is one of the hardest, yet most rewarding things I have ever experienced. I know that you can relate. It feels impossible sometimes to hold space for ourselves and our spouse, and the many kiddos that need our attention. It can feel so exhausting, lonely, and overwhelming. Which is why I decided to do an episode to bring you a little bit of hope. To bring you a little bit of joy and maybe some laughter.

So, in today’s episode, I want to share with you things that make motherhood easier. I would love for you to answer this question of the episode: What would make motherhood easier for you?

I’ll go through 9 tips I personally use for myself for making motherhood easier. Let’s jump into the good stuff.

Tip # 1: Plan Our Dinners One Month at a Time

The first thing that I want to talk about that makes motherhood easier for me is to plan our dinners one month at a time. Basically, what we do is we create a meal plan for the month with seven different dinners and we just repeat it each week. It makes it so much easier for us to plan and then we have all the ingredients that we need. This way, we’re not wasting things, storing extra spices or breadcrumbs or sauces that we’re only going to use once every few months. We’re able to use up our ingredients, we’re able to cycle through those meals and then the following month we start with a new meal plan.

Tip # 2: Ordering our Groceries

So, to piggyback on number one, we also really have a super simple process when we go to order our groceries because the grocery store that we use saves our favorites, and we can just go through and shop our favorites or things that we’ve bought previously. So that’s something that has really been so helpful and making my life so much easier because we’re able to do this grocery order, and schedule it for pickup. I can just drive right through, they put the groceries in my trunk and we leave and we don’t even have to get out of the car. It’s so genius!

Tip #3: Ninja Foodi

Essentially the Ninja Foodi is is a slow cooker, an instapot, a pressure cooker, and air fryer all in one. It does so many things. You can make so many different meals with just one pot. It’s incredible! And the pot is dishwasher safe which again, just makes everything so much easier. So, we make tons of food in this from just like frozen food like frozen chicken nuggets to pot pie, you can even make Pazuki in it. We have a cookbook that has a ton of awesome recipes. We make teriyaki chicken, like there’s just endless opportunities. Sometimes we do pork chops, and it’s just super simple and that is how I like to cook.

Tip # 4: Have a Housecleaner

Now, this might be something that you’ve had on your list for a little while, and you wish that it could be your reality too. I want to share with you that it’s absolutely possible.

It’s not as expensive as you might think and it’s one of those things that gives you so much more time back in your day, and is life giving.

You will have to shop around and you’ll definitely probably want to avoid those bigger cleaning services. because they’re going to charge more. Look for smaller businesses, look for people that are local in your community. I would start by asking your neighbors if they use someone, that’s how we found our girl and absolutely love her!

Tip # 5: Having a Cordless Vacuum

This one might seem silly; you might already have a cordless vacuum. Maybe I was just late to the game, but we got a cordless vacuum a couple of years ago, and I don’t know how we ever lived without one honestly. It’s a lifesaver! They are so much lighter, so my kids can grab them really quickly, and clean up any spills they have. It’s just so much more enjoyable to go grab the vacuum and do your job and hang it back up on the charger and you’re done. You don’t have to unwrap the cord, plug it in, and then when you get too far away, you have to unplug it and plug it in at the next plug. I don’t know how our parents did it, but I am so glad that we have our cordless vacuum, it has made life so much easier.

Okay, before I get to number six, is ironing still a thing anymore? Do people iron their clothes? Do you just throw your wrinkly clothes in the dryer and do like wrinkle release with like a wet towel in there? Do you hang it up in your shower and turn a hot shower?

Tip # 6: Get a Steamer

We were introduced to this incredible steamer a few years ago and it changed my life. I got this steamer which works so well and I’ll be sure to link the things that we use in the show notes in case you really want to know how that works. But it’s been amazing and it literally takes two minutes to steam a shirt and now all my clothes are pristine and clean.

Tip #7: Regular Decluttering

This has absolutely made motherhood easier for me. This is something that I have taught my children and hopefully, my husband will be on board with this soon. Regular decluttering is something that is so helpful. We do a five-minute tidy at least two to three times a day and this is really helpful. Everyone that’s at home at the time gets involved in this cleaning up. For the most part, they’re just cleaning up their stuff that’s in the room.

This just helps keep their stuff tidy and organized so that their stuff isn’t like bursting at the seams everywhere we go.

Also, something that we started was a family reset day. So, on the first Saturday of every month, I block it out and we spend time going through old clothes or toys. I’ll say go through all of your clothes, try them on and let me know what fits and what doesn’t. I ask them to make a pile and ask themself if this fits and if they like it, and if this doesn’t fit, and don’t want it.

But then I go through and I would say okay, I’ve also been noticing that our playroom is getting a little bit cluttered.  I want you to sort through the toys that you want and the toys that you don’t want. Let’s make sure that we’re only keeping what we want to manage. That’s something that I love to teach my kids is  the more stuff you have, the more stuff you have to manage. This reset can be anything that you want it to be and this is totally dependent on what you and your family need.

But setting aside time, one day a month to tackle this decluttering is going to be really beneficial for you.

Tip # 8: Having Sleep Boundaries

We have a wake-up boundary and a bedtime boundary and basically, what this means is that my husband and I predetermine a time in which our kids are allowed to wake up and come into our room and need us. So, my husband leaves early in the morning for work. It’s just me and the kids at home and my kids are not allowed to expect anything from me before 7:30.

My kids know that and so now they have really just trained themselves to stay in their room until 7:30. Bedtime is the same thing. This is a time where they can go in their room and they can read in bed or play quietly, but then we have a lights out time for them as well.

We still have that boundary where it’s they know that this is Mom and Dad’s time together, and they can come out for emergencies only as I mentioned. So having this has really helped make motherhood easier.

And if you’re listening and you have younger kiddos, this still works. You’re just going to have to adjust it a little bit. Based on their age, you can still go grab your baby in the crib and put them in the pack and play and say, Mommy’s going to have my time while you have your time. I’ve been doing this with my kiddos since they were little, so it’s something that you just have to train them on.

Again, it’s not going to look perfect, it’s going to be hard. Maybe it’s only 15 minutes that you get,

but it’s just allowing your kids to know the boundary that you’re important too and that the world does not revolve around them.

I think that’s one thing that’s really key in making motherhood easier is prioritizing yourself first. We’ve all heard that you can’t pour from an empty cup, so you need to be refilling your cup every day.

Tip #9: Having a Solid Support System

Having a solid support system has made motherhood so much easier for me. I can’t even tell you how important it is to have a community of like-minded people who get what you’re going through. Close friends, business besties that you can call on when you are struggling, or when you are having a rough day. Having family close is such a gift, but I realize that not everybody has family that lives nearby.

So, what I would recommend for you is if you don’t have a solid support system, find a solid support system.

If you don’t have family in the area, find family.

Sometimes friends are the best family because you get to pick them and it’s so important that you are surrounded.

Just a reminder, if you live nearby in Gilbert, Arizona or the surrounding areas, come join our community. It’s called The Purpose Gathering Collective and we get together and it’s such an incredible opportunity to meet other moms who are raising kiddos and growing businesses they love at the same time. I will be sure to link that community in the show notes if you’re local.

I hope that you enjoyed a little bit more of a personal look into my life. If so, share my blog with other mamas you know so more mamas just like you can get a taste into how to make their motherhood a little bit easier and a bit more enjoyable.

As a recap, here are the 9 tips I personally use for myself for making motherhood easier:

1. Plan Our Dinners One Month at a Time
2. Ordering our Groceries
3. Ninja Foodi
4. Have a Housecleaner
5. Having a Cordless Vaccuum Cleaner
6. Get a Steamer
7. Regular Decluttering
8. Having Sleep Boundaries
9. Having a Solid Support System

As always, Mama I am here rooting for you and you are not alone on this journey.

Resources:

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• Have a question for me? Or a specific struggle you’re dealing with? I’ll address your question on the podcast. Submit your ‘Ask Ashley’ question here
• Find me on Instagram: @thepurposegathering