Tips for Balancing Life and Kids...while keeping your sanity!
Posted on October 24, 2012 by Keisha M Green, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
There are things that you can incorporate into your daily schedule to bring balance, organization and stability into the home..
Although there is no magic pill that you can take as a mother that will make parenting any easier, there are things that you can incorporate into your daily schedule to bring balance, organization and stability into the home.
One thing that is most frustrating for moms is finding that no matter what you do, there just is not enough time in the day. The unfortunate part is, “That will never change.” You cannot add time into your day; however, you can gain more time by making your children accountable for things that you don’t have to do for them. If you could remove one thing from your day each day for the next five days, it will make reading this article so much more rewarding; doing this will help alleviate stress, gain valuable family time, and create time in the day for YOU.
Now remember, not every solution that works for one household will work for another; especially when dealing with children. The key to being successful at ANYTHING is education and adaption; that is, adapting what works best for you and yours. However, I’m sure you will find that many or all of these 7 tips will make life much more manageable for you and your family.
1.Allow your kids to be a part of adult conversation. That is, appropriate adult conversation; such as finances. This will help your children understand what’s involved in running a household, and help to prepare them for, one-day, managing their own. Discussing finances, for example, takes the stress and anxiety out of getting them to understand why they can’t always have the “latest and greatest”. They will have a better appreciation for what you have to endure. Just remember that they don’t understand all things the way you do, so cater the conversation to their age and generation. 2.Remember that kids mimic what they see. Let them see that you’ve carved out a specific time in your day for paying bills or finalizing things for work. Let them know that this is mommy time or quiet time. This will subconsciously train them of the importance of hard work, planning, organization and time management. Kids are like sponges; they will soak it up. 3.Set expectations and keep them. If you have scheduled for homework to be done immediately following school, then that’s when homework MUST be done. If chores have to be completed prior to going outside or playing video games, then don’t feel like you have to negotiate every time they say, “But mom, Johnny is outside now.” Oh well, Johnny will have to wait. This is pretty self-explanatory. 4.Incorporate family meetings. I can’t stress enough how important it is to have schedule, mandatory family meetings. You can do this as often as you’d like (whatever fits the schedule of your family), but make them consistent. This is the time where everyone has an opinion and a valid point; have respect for all things brought to the table. Family meetings help to eliminate the “surprises” that you don’t like or don’t have time for; report cards, projects, supplies from the store, FINANCES, frustrations or disagreements. If you address things before they become problems, you can eliminate issues. 5.Incorporate family night. Here’s the catch, and most important part of making this work, NO CELL PHONES and/or LAPTOPS. Your family deserves to feel like they are the most important thing to you, and why not, because they are; right? It’s good to have the kids pick what they would like to do on this special night ahead of time, so that you are prepared and relaxed. 6.Have a NO WHINING policy. Of all the moms that I’ve spoken with or been around, one thing that they agree on is how much whining drives them crazy. So why do we allow our kids to get away with it? No matter what you’re doing, on the phone, paying bills, career work, or cooking dinner, whining is going to cause you to lose your cool. Here are a few tips in dealing with this problem:A.Talk to your kids in a calm, relaxing, but stern voice; this will encourage them to do the same.
B.Let them know that you can’t hear people that whine.
C.Don’t be a whiner yourself. Sometimes, adults do it and do even realize they’re doing it.
D.Acknowledge their mature conversations and behaviors. Everyone enjoys a pat on the back.
7.Continue being the GREAT mom that you are. Of all the tips that I can offer, the most important is just continue loving, supporting and caring for your children the way that you already are. No one’s perfect, no matter what they say. Just enjoy being a mom. You’re doing GREAT!
